“In the beginning God created… and it was good… it was good… So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female He created them… it was very good.’ – Gen.1
Human beings, we are told, were created by God, in the image of God. And it was very good. What, however, does this image consist of? Intelligence? Morality? Reason? In Colossians, the Apostle Paul describes Christ as the image of God, IN whom we have been created and TO whom we are being conformed completely through the work of redemption and sanctification. (Hughes) As such, we may surmise, then, that the true image of God, and therefore the foundational essence of humanity, is Christoformity. The intent of God in the creation of humanity was that we, created as the image of that essential humanity present in Godself and embodied by Christ, would, in the natural expression of that essential image, be bound in loving relationship with God; even as Jesus, the Son, is in loving relationship with the Father through the Spirit. ‘As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you…’. God’s creation of mankind was, in essence, an invitation for humanity to participate in the mystery of the divine relationship itself; out of the overflow of that relationship, God created in order that He might share that profound, powerful and life-giving love with us. It is through the lens of this purpose for being that we may accurately know that we are created in the image of God; for, like God himself, we were created for relationship with God.
In the light of this inexplicable holy generosity that compelled creation, we come to realize that it is only through the sovereign will and love of God that such an interaction would ever be possible. For what can the not-yet-created, that which is yet nothing, do to participate in the work or will of the eternal, uniquely pre-existent Creator? That we exist at all hangs upon the will and pleasure of the sovereign God, creator and sustainer, who by his grace holds us above the nothingness from whence we came.
What, then, do we speak of when we speak of the Fall?
Most simply put, Man, created in the image of - for relationship with - God, opted for nothingness and bondage rather than the freedom for which we were created and, as such, denied ourselves that essential relationship upon which our very life and existence hangs. When Calvin speaks of total depravity, he is drawing our attention to the fact that the very image of God in which we have been created – our essential bond and source – has been so corrupted by sin; our rebellion and denial, that who we are presently is totally unrecognizable in comparison to that which we have been created to be. We were created for relationship, and we denied that relationship; this is the essence of the Fall.
But, we may ask, isn’t choice the essence of freedom? If this relationship with God were to be genuine and real, did humanity not need the option of denying it? Is not free will contingent upon this? And if so, can we be judged for simply exercising that freedom in the manner we saw fit?
While this logic rings true for us, this fact exposes the reality that we have thoroughly lost sight of our own essence, having handed it over in exchange for a lie and a world of deception. For the chief lie of the enemy of our souls is that real freedom; that ideal which we hold so dearly, consists merely of CONTRARY choice. The lie that we bought in the Garden was that unless we have the ability to choose AGAINST something (namely, God), then we aren’t genuinely free. In opting for this, the devil’s definition of freedom, what we thought we were purchasing was autonomy and independence, but this freedom was not freedom at all; but merely freedom from existence; from the source of life. This ‘freedom’ was death. It was, and is, bondage. To this day, however, we fail to acknowledge this; seeking to approach God through the same old farce of a definition of freedom. The enemy is laughing.
For the essence of real freedom was not to choose against something; it did not need a ‘No’ in order to be genuine. Rather, the freedom of the Garden, and the freedom of that relationship with God for which we have been created, is the freedom of choosing from among the infinite ‘Yes’s’, the infinite possibilities available within the character and essence of God’s divine, overflowing love and creation. We were created with nothing but potential before us; upheld and spurred on in the sovereign love and will, all of creation waiting to be grown, developed, shaped into the fullness of all that it could be. We opted, rather, for nothingness; and all of creation groans. Because of God’s sovereignty, however, when we hand him evil and nothingness, he knows what to do with it. He has created from nothingness before. The story of our redemption is that of this sovereign, loving God, condescending to our fallenness, in order to take our nothingness, and bring about that fullness of his original intent; for our salvation and life, and for his glory and infinite joy that we might find ourselves in right relationship with Him once again.
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