In the Likeness of the Creator

Genesis 5:1 

When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God.

Why is it so easy to forget that I was lovingly made in God's likeness?

My human frailty, the thorns in my flesh, the insecurities that fall around me like ashes - they all try to detract from the Creator of all who made us and said it was good.

I run and work and toil to be the image of something that will still be in the likeness of my God.

I ignore and beat down and overwork (and overfeed) this body that was created in His image.

He knows every name within long genealogies of people in the Old Testament - generations of humanity. He cherished them and knew the years of their lives. And He knows me. He cherishes me.

When I wordlessly insult me, I insult His likeness, His creation. He made me and it was good. 

My Brother's Keeper

Genesis 4:9

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

I walk on rocky dirt paths and pass huts made of the clay that also paved this road. People call out to me, delighted to see a visitor, and say, "Greetings, sister!" 

Sister Emily. I know this title and give friends similar ones. Brother Francis. Sister Ruth. Brother Lawrence. 

"Greetings, sister," I say warmly to the mother who has lost three small children from preventable diseases. 

So long ago, Cain asked, "Am I my brother's keeper?" We echo this day-by-day. 

Brothers and sisters in Syria, Nepal, Congo, Haiti, Mexico. Our brothers and sisters in Christ and of this earth - but do we keep them? Do we intervene when access to basic human rights have fallen away? Do we even care to intervene? Will these be questions of accountability from God one day? 

I am my brother's keeper. I may fail at this duty often, but the responsibility has been given to some degree. A union set forth by God and His tender heart for His children. James 2:16 says, "If one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?"

Ultimately, the Lord is our keeper and our provider, but He has charged us with the task of feeding His children, of loving His little ones. 

Are you your brother's keeper?

Wanderer

 

Genesis 3:9

But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

The Lord knows all, but still He whispers: urgently, fervently, persistently.

"Where are you?"

These are the times I am hiding, or think I am. Covering my wretchedness with dirty leaves and cowering behind a threadbare bush like it offers any protection.

"Where are you?"

He finds me because He had me all along, and I show my muddy face and tear-streaked cheeks and swollen eyes. Sometimes I blame, like Adam. Sometimes I deny, like Peter. Sometimes I crumble.

And sometimes there is discipline for my wandering and my waywardness. But always there is relentless, abounding grace. Forgiveness that clothes and protects and restores me, that knocks me to my knees.

"Where are you?"

Here I am.

One Flesh

Genesis 2:18

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

I am the helper suitable for my husband. I am the bone of his bone and the flesh of his flesh. The Lord put us together for His glory, for companionship, for unity. We are the reflection of Christ's love for His Bride: the Church. 

I left my father and my mother to become one with my husband. The transition is not an easy one. Our sinful flesh so easily rebels against what God created. I ache for my parents some days; we forget that we are no longer two independents but rather one.

One flesh.

The Lord rejoices in this union. It is He who said, "It is not good for man to be alone." It is He who brought Eve from a rib and Adam from the dust of the earth - put together in union. It is He who placed me at Lance's side and he at mine.

Even when my flesh aches for worldly ways and stubbornness, my heart and soul delight in a union given by my Father. 

One flesh. Never again alone. 

Good.

Genesis 1:31 

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

It was good.

I have recently been caught up in loss and chaos and the little parts of my days that cause concern. My thoughts have moved to the rushing waters and tearing winds of hurricanes - first Harvey, which stole the breath from my own states and now Irma, which threatens to snuff further hopes of children in small, impoverished nations. The Kenyan re-election looms overhead. A drowned CRF child who tried to teach himself how to swim in an active river. Disastrous wildfires. 

In this world there is trouble. But the Creator formed it with His Words. His hands, His breath. Even when we try our best to break this place, it is good. 

It is His. 

It will always be made by Him, held by Him, cherished by Him. He is good. It is good. There is no need for fear. 

The Favored One

Genesis 6:7-8

"I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Noah was a testament to the boundless mercy of God.

When the Lord regretted His creation of humanity, He favored Noah. A man from the same dust and the same breath as other men worshiped God and found favor in a dark and broken earth. 

God kept Noah - but not only Noah. He kept those that Noah cherished. Three sons. Three daughters-in-law. His beloved wife. The Lord knew the desires of Noah's heart and met them, even while feeling the anguish of every soul that fought against Him on that earth. 

The mercy of our Father is immeasurable. We deserve the worst - and He has given us His best: His Son. He has kept a remnant in the flood, in the brokenness, and He meets the undeserved desires of our hearts.