Created for a Purpose

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” ²⁷So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27

Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7

The story of creation is fundamentally a story about God and story about humanity. God is the creator of all life and all that exists. The wisdom of the creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2 is that they offer us an answer to the question of "why" God created humanity and the world. While science can answer the "how" question it cannot address the "why" question scientifically. While these creation accounts tells us a great deal about the nature of God, (see this previous blog post for more In the Beginning) I would like to focus on what the story of creation says about us.

Genesis tells us two important things about humanity: (1) we are created in God's image (2) we are handmade by God. Both of these insights are extremely important for us to understand and have profound implications for life.

 

There are many different ways scholars, theologians, preachers and people of faith have interpreted the phrase "created in the image of God." For some this has meant that people have the authority to dominate, exploit, and abuse creation for their own purposes. While Genesis 1:26 does suggest that being created in the in the image of God endows humans with responsibility for nature, it implies that our role is one of caretaker or steward rather than that of owner. God is the creator of all things and everything belongs to God. We have been given the privilege and responsibility to care for creation in ways which honor our creator. We live into our God created image when we care for God’s creation and all that is in it. To be created in the image of God means that I am person of value, with inherent human dignity and deserving of respect. It also means that each person is also created in the image of God and anything that diminishes disrespects, denigrates, or degrades another person is a violation against God’s creation.

While being created in the image of God singles us out as a species, being created by God’s hands from the dust of ground implies a much more personal connection to creator and created. The first human, Adam, was formed when God took the dust and mud of the ground and formed it into the shape of a person and breathed life into its nostrils. This is no longer creation by speaking from a distance, but handmade and intimate creation by a personal God. While the proper response to the creation account in Genesis 1 is awe and wonder, the appropriate response to Genesis 2 is relationship and connection. God made us personally and made us each unique and beautiful. When we bemoan our body size, physical limitations, or incessantly compare ourselves to others we are in reality rejecting God’s handmade creation. Instead we are called to embrace who God made us to be and seek a life-changing relationship with a God who loves us just as we are. You and I are who we are because God created us. If we truly believed this about ourselves and others imagine the difference it would make.

From both creation accounts we can conclude that human beings were created for a unique and important relationship with God. We are designed on purpose to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor (cf. Matthew 22:24-40). This is built into the fabric of creation and central to our faith. May God give us the strength to live out our purpose!