Guest Post: Given the Choice
I have a special treat for you all! Please enjoy this guest post by my sister, Paula Watson.
Genesis 1:1-3 ESV – In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
In Genesis, we hear the story of how God created the world. We see His words bringing light, order, and abundant life to a formless, void, and dark world. With His words He gave light, moved the seas into place so land could appear, and brought forth plants and animals from His creation. Then when God makes man, He speaks to Himself:
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and
over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” Genesis 1:26.
Through most of His creation process, God speaks to His creation to initiate the formation of the things of His world but here in verse 26, He directs His words to Himself. Here He tells Himself to make man in His image, and to let man have dominion over the earth He just created. It seems to me like God could have just as easily said, “Let there be man in our image and let him have dominion over all the earth.” However, I believe God did this purposefully to show how man would have a choice in his being.
For example, when God created vegetation, it was His word that was put in it. “And God said, ‘Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.’ And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:11-12). Vegetation is just what God made it to be. Vegetation grows from the earth according to its kind because God’s word tells it to.
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11).
By telling Himself to make man, God’s word is placed into Himself and it accomplishes what He intends – to make a man in His likeness and give him dominion over the earth while allowing the man to have the free will to accept His word or not to.
Just as God gave Adam the freedom to accept His word or not, we are given the same opportunity to accept His Word or not through His Son, Jesus.
Genesis 1:1-3 ESV – In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
In Genesis, we hear the story of how God created the world. We see His words bringing light, order, and abundant life to a formless, void, and dark world. With His words He gave light, moved the seas into place so land could appear, and brought forth plants and animals from His creation. Then when God makes man, He speaks to Himself:
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and
Through most of His creation process, God speaks to His creation to initiate the formation of the things of His world but here in verse 26, He directs His words to Himself. Here He tells Himself to make man in His image, and to let man have dominion over the earth He just created. It seems to me like God could have just as easily said, “Let there be man in our image and let him have dominion over all the earth.” However, I believe God did this purposefully to show how man would have a choice in his being.
For example, when God created vegetation, it was His word that was put in it. “And God said, ‘Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.’ And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:11-12). Vegetation is just what God made it to be. Vegetation grows from the earth according to its kind because God’s word tells it to.
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11).
By telling Himself to make man, God’s word is placed into Himself and it accomplishes what He intends – to make a man in His likeness and give him dominion over the earth while allowing the man to have the free will to accept His word or not to.
Just as God gave Adam the freedom to accept His word or not, we are given the same opportunity to accept His Word or not through His Son, Jesus.
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