Have you ever wondered what the Trinity—Father, Son and Spirit—were doing in eternity past? Before the galaxies, before the earthworms, before the giraffes, what was the triune God doing? C. S. Lewis would say, “In Christianity, God is not a static thing—not even a person—but a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life, almost a kind of drama. Almost, if you will not think me irreverent, a kind of dance.” In other words, God—the three persons—danced around each other in self-donating, loving relationships. God lacked nothing. Within the Trinity was perfect love, goodness, relationship, and joy. So, why did God make us?
Love Begets
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
love gives
Love has a tendency to give. Boy meets girl, they start a relationship. That relationship begets a marriage.
Families grow and so on. The overflow of the triune’s love gives creation. And, at the culmination of all of creation, sitting at the top above the moon and sun, the good Niagara Falls, the good stegosaurus, was the best of all of God’s creation: humanity. Out of the goodness of the triune relationship, God made humans in his image.
He created male and female to have dominion and to rule over all of creation. We had perfect fellowship with God, and we enjoyed the figs from the trees, patting the lion on the head, and the coolness of the river on our bare feet as we walked through Eden. We also enjoyed each other. Adam and Eve, our first parents, lived without anxiety, despair, jealousy, hatred, and fear. God made the world and everything in it, and it was good.
gospel starts here
When we think about the gospel, we should train our minds to go back to the very beginning. The gospel begins with God, then humanity, then sin. We tend to bypass the first two on a race to get to the bad news. Yet, the gospel is good news. We celebrate that God created out of love, not need. We celebrate that God created out of goodness, not loneliness. We celebrate that God created out of joy, not boredom. And, we celebrate that we bear God’s image. Humanity—though separate from God, since he is creator and we are creation—still maintains the ability to do God-like things: create, love, divest of power, dance, commune with others, and so forth. Humans, in a partnership with God, rule, reign, and seek the good of the world around us. In the fabric of our humanity, God infused us with the ability to do beautiful, redemptive, and meaningful things.
We celebrate that God created out of love, not need. We celebrate that God created out of goodness, not loneliness. We celebrate that God created out of joy, not boredom. And, we celebrate that we bear God’s image.
The next time you think about the gospel or share it with someone, put on your dancing shoes and consider the Trinity orbiting in self-donating loving relationship. The gospel starts with God, and so should we.
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Daily Question
When you consider that God made you from an overflow of love and goodness and made you to be like him, how does this inform your self-image? How do you see yourself imaging God in your life?
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When I think of how God Made Me In His Image and out of love everything else melts away. All of the insecurities and self-doubt no longer matter because I realize how good he is and how beautifully he made me and all of man. When I think about how beautiful Niagara Falls is and think that I’m even more beautiful in his eyes, I am astounded and overwhelmed
It gives me a sense of calmness and validation knowing that God made me from love and goodness. God loves me for who and as I am eternally.
To me, it is such a mind-blowing thing to realize. In His eyes, I am perfect. I am flawless. I am loved beyond any known measure. Being made from God is something that makes me appreciate my life here on earth. I am overjoyed that I can live a life of God when I read the Word and pray and give my daily struggles and challenges.
God is the owner of it all, the giving Father. I only exist because of Him and his goodness. My life should be in his image which portrays love and goodness. Does it always portray love and goodness? Not always but as I strive to be better, I want to be more like Him by following the Word, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’" (Matthew 22:37-39
I am amazed thF God made me like His image. It makes me feel special and loved. We, human, are created differently from other animals, not even monkey😃. We are His image bearer. We are also made out of love.
That is a real deal of good news. I am inspired to share this goodness and this love to people around me.
The reminder that God created us out of love, goodness, and joy, and not need, loneliness, or boredom makes me want to dance!! It is "freeing" to know that those bad things didn’t even exist. We are the image of God: beauty, ability to do God-like things, wow!!! We have been infused with amazing qualities to share with others. I just cannot understand why every single human would try to change that! It is all so perfect!
I love this Bible Study and inspiration from God through those leading this!! THANK YOU GOD! This is deepening my awareness of my purpose to let go of "stuff" and be full of His goodness!!
If he made me out of love (kind of like a parent making a child out of love—the way the Lord intended as it’s patterned to look like Him), it makes me whim He lives even more special. Like Carson, Colemon, and Sophia—they look like Zach, they have little quirks like Zach and I love them even more because they are little images of Zach and were brought to life because of my love for Zach.
I love the parallels where God shows us Himself in how he created us. My self-image (something I have often struggled with because of the way the world’s expectations on looks, material stays, and even brain function and capabilities—thinking about all the ways we struggle with parenting and keeping house because too much is an ideal of expectation)…my self-image has struggled often, but I would never want that for my kids. It reminds me of a Kristina Kuzmic video where a mom says negative things to herself and then has to say them to a picture of her as a little kid which reminds many of their own children. They didn’t want to say those things to the picture. My God loves me way more than I love my kids and I need that reminder than He truly cares about me and sees me like this.
Love tends to give and to multiple. Knowing that we were made from an overflow of love that God has for us, provides a sense of security, and builds self-worth. We can be secure in knowing that while we may not find the earthly love that we desire, our heavenly Father loves us so much. He took His time to form us and impart pieces of Himself throughout our being; a means of connecting with us. Our self-worth has an opportunity to grow from knowing that we were worth His time; uniquely formed in His image.
It’s so helpful to think about the Gospel starting with with God “in the beginning” rather that at the fall. If I start my thinking about the Gospel at the fall then “I” broke relationship and “I” must restore it. Inadvertantely, I’ve made that mistake in my thinking. The fruit of this distorted thinking about God and the Gospel has led me to believe God feeling God feels about me similarity to what he said about people in the times of Noah, that he was sorry he made man. This led to a cycle of trying harder, failing, rinse and repeat.
Instead, when I think about the Gospel starting with God, knowing he not only had a plan for my redemption from the beginning, but desired that restored relationship with me, then I rejoice in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It suddenly IS good news because God restored what I could not fix. Jesus has done for me what I cannot do, even after I choose to follow him. My walk will still be messy. My failure will still come more often that I’d ever like to admit. But the Gospel of Jesus Christ tells me God does, in fact, love me. And He likes me! Even as I consistently fall and constantly fail the Gospel informs my heart I am loved, I am valued, and I am treasured, not because of what I can offer God but because of the complete redemption he offers through his Son. Indeed, it is finished.
made to be like God. Lord, help me.