In “The Arena” blog we looked at the context for the creation of the heavens and the earth, and I offered that in this creation, God prepared a dwelling place perfectly suitable for His children. Further, I shared my belief that Love is understood by experience. Therefore, Love must be demonstrated.
So, God chose to create recipients for His Love; ones He could share His Love with and demonstrate His Love through. In all of creation, including angels, He chose humanity to be the relational recipients of His Love.
The human creation is unique, set apart from the rest of creation. Mankind was created with a spirit, and with a soul, and each one was placed in a physical body with which to navigate time and space. In this design, a human being has the capacity to contain both heaven and earth. Inherent to this design is the capacity to love. No other creature has the ability to choose to love (including angels, which have the choice to serve (Hebrews 1:14) but cannot and do not love).
In giving each human a spirit, God enabled him/her to relate to Him, Spirit to spirit. This is where God fellowships with us – in our spirits, via the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwells the redeemed person. Each human also has a soul, and the soul contains the human personality – that which makes each person unique – “the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual’s distinctive character.”
Here, I want to pause and quote from a book entitled, “My Father! My Father!” written by Sam Soleyn. In Chapter 6, Sam writes about the relationship in the human creation between spirit, soul, and body. With regard to the soul, he states, “Within man, the soul bridges the gap between the natural world and that of the spirit. The purpose of the soul is to translate the realm of spirit to the natural.”
Genesis 1:26 (NKJV): “Then God said, Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
God is Spirit. He is also a corporate Being – this is why it says “Let Us” make mankind. The scripture next says “in Our image, in Our likeness.” To be made in the image of God is to be a spirit being. God gave each human a spirit. One that came out of God and that will eventually return to God.
To be made in the likeness of God is to possess the ability / capacity to love. Another unique quality in the likeness of God is the ability to choose. God chose us from before the foundations of the world (Ephesians 1:4,5). He created us with the ability to choose Him, in return. This choice is known as free will.
He was intentional in the way He created mankind (in His own image and likeness) because He predetermined the purpose for humanity. The purpose for the human creation was to have another with whom God could engage in relationship. This relationship is to demonstrate Who God is – Love.
So far, we’ve laid some basic foundations / provided some preliminary context for the creation of the heavens and the earth, and now specifically for human creation. This has been a brief exploration of undoubtedly expansive topics and by no means meant to be exhaustive in content.
Rather, it has been to set the stage for future topics so that as I continue to share my thoughts, we have a common backdrop from which to consider / ponder this content.
Next time, I want to look more specifically into this relationship for which humanity was created.
