Thoughts from the Narrative Class at Radius, dntn Greenville.
So, Genesis 1:26-28. God makes us, man and woman, in His image, 'after our likeness'.
Genesis 3:5 When the snake temps us, he claims that the fruit on the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil will make us be like God.
The odd thing is, to some degree, they already were like Him. Satan tempts them with the desire to be like God, while already they have been made in God's own image. The fall comes when Adam and Eve stop resting in what God has done for them (made in His image) and to them (breathed His life into them) and instead strive after fulfillment outside of God.
James 1:12-15 talks about being tempted and lured (not by God, but) by our own desires, and thus falling into sin.
The very next paragraph reads "Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures" (16-18).
Check it- we, like Adam and Even are the new creation, born again, firstfruits of His creatures. Satan's temptation against us is the same: 'go, be like God- find the fulfillment to your desires, your longings, elsewhere.'
Yet James speaks to us, saying 'Do not be deceived. All good is of God; fulfullment of our desires, true life, hope, love, is of God. He made us what we are, by His will.'
So, our call then, like that of Adam and Eve, is to rest in what Jesus Christ has done for us (dying on the cross as a substitute for our sin) and to us (living within us by His Spirit). We can't be more like Him outside of Him- we simply are made righteous in Christ. In Him is our hope, the fulfillment of our desires, true life, hope, love. Here is our identity, our imago dei, complete and whole.
cool aye?
-drew
