Tonight, we begin a series of studies with the intent being a fuller understanding of the relationship between God and man. You see, if you are going to fully understand the dynamics between God and man and the doctrine of redemption, you must begin your study prior to the message of the gospels. Salvation makes sense in light of the history between God and man so, we must go back to the beginning to truly understand today. Genesis tells the story of creation. The first two verses tell us the story of the very beginning of the heavens and the earth.

The earth was a dark, empty place in the beginning. It needed some things to become a suitable place for the story of God and man to take place or it might be better to say, it needed Someone with resources - A Visionary - A Scientist - A Romantic - A Sage - A Father - A Hero. Every great story needs a protagonist – a lead character; the premier person in the story.  God fulfills every facet of the lead role. The story revolves around Him. Yet, His parental nature of loving protector, provider, teacher – needed another person in the story. This was not to be just any creature – although God could and would create many fascinating ones – to be His child, this one must be created like Him.

So, God created mankind in His likeness – a tri-part creation with His emotions and His creative nature. A creation with the ability to think, name and categorize. A being of dominion – with a freedom unlike any other created thing: a freedom to choose his own way. To be created in the image of God required him to be made this way. To have the possibility to experience what God experiences required him to be created this way. But, for man to experience the things that God experiences he must also have another person to bestow his love and care upon. With this creation, God had a child to love and nurture. Man had a Father to lead him into experiences that were beyond his own ability to achieve. And, man had another with which he could share the nature of God and with whom he could experience the unity of the Godhead and the God given purpose he was created for.

It all looked perfect but to make it all real, it was still missing one thing – for man to experience what God experiences, it still lacked one thing. For it all to be real, it must contain a choice. For love to be real, it must contain an object to love and a choice to do so or not to do so. For dominion to be real, it must contain a chance to overcome. For man to get to experience what God experiences to be like God, there must be the same choices available to man that are available to God. But for man to experience God experiences, there was one more thing necessary.

Today’s Scriptures:

•    Genesis 1:1-10, 26
•    Genesis 2:21-24, 9, 16-17

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