In God’s Image

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Genesis 1:27.
After the earth with its teeming animal and vegetable life had been called into existence, man, the crowning work of the Creator, and the one for whom the beautiful earth had been fitted up, was brought upon the stage of action. To him was given dominion over all that his eye could behold….
God created man in His own image. Here is no mystery. There is no ground for the supposition that man was evolved by slow degrees of development from the lower forms of animal or vegetable life. Such teaching lowers the great work of the Creator to the level of man’s narrow, earthly conceptions. Men are so intent upon excluding God from the sovereignty of the universe that they degrade man and defraud him of the dignity of his origin. He who set the starry worlds on high and tinted with delicate skill the flowers of the field, who filled the earth and the heavens with the wonders of His power, when He came to crown His glorious work, to place one in the midst to stand as ruler of the fair earth, did not fail to create a being worthy of the hand that gave him life. The genealogy of our race, as given by inspiration, traces back its origin, not to a line of developing germs, mollusks, and quadrupeds, but to the great Creator. Though formed from the dust, Adam was “the son of God.” …
His nature was in harmony with the will of God. His mind was capable of comprehending divine things. His affections were pure; his appetites and passions were under the control of reason. He was holy and happy in bearing the image of God and in perfect obedience to His will.6
He [Adam] was more than twice as tall as men now living upon the earth, and was well proportioned. His features were perfect and beautiful…. Eve was not quite as tall as Adam. Her head reached a little above his shoulders. She, too, was noble, perfect in symmetry, and very beautiful.
This sinless pair wore no artificial garments. They were clothed with a covering of light and glory, such as the angels wear.7
Conflict and Courage p. 11
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Prayer Requests
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Dear Friends,
Some years ago, we, along with all other Sam’s Club members, received in the mail a key that we could take down to a car dealership and see if we had won a car. Since Eileen and I both received one, all we had to do was compare keys. Of course they were exactly alike and we could tell by their thickness and lack of grinding that they would unlock nothing. It was only a “come on” so they can try to sell us a car while we were there.
How much like the great battle between good and evil that is. The enemy of souls is constantly setting “traps” for us to fall into. The devil is smarter than we are because he is, after all, an angel fallen. In our own strength, we cannot even discern his allurements. He covers them with “come ons” that seem so innocent, so pleasant. How carefully he tailors them to fit our own personality, our own likes and dislikes. How easily we become ensnared without daily help from our Great Protector. How dreadful satan’s laugh as he sees that we have “swallowed the bait.” “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith.” 1 Peter 5:8,9
How much we need a Saviour! We are so helpless without Him. We are so weak. We so easily fall into sin. How much we need the gift of spiritual discernment that we may be able to realize a trap of the evil one before we walk unknowingly into it. How steadfastly we need to resist becoming ensnared no matter how many promises the evil one uses to cover his purposes. Jesus tells us what we need to keep safe, “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear, and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” Rev 3:18 He pleads, “wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?” Jer 4:14 “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isa 1:18
He has promised, “I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD. And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.” Jer 15:20,21 “Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes, cease to do evil, Learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.” Isa 1:16,17 “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, Holding forth the word of life.” Phil 2:12-16
May we daily accept God’s great offer of salvation, that we may discern the enemy’s entrapments and turn from them before it is too late.
Rose