Man

God spoke:

Let us make human beings

in our image; make them reflect our nature

so they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,

the birds in the air, the cattle, and yes, Earth itself,

and every animal that moves on the face of the earth.

God created human beings; He created them godlike,

Reflecting God’s nature.   He created them male

and female.  God blessed them:

“Prosper!  Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take Charge!

Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,

for every living thing that moves on the face of the Earth.

God looked over everything He had made;

it was good, so very good!

It was evening, it was morning –

Day Six.

Genesis 1:26-28, 31

I remember as though it were yesterday the birth of each of my three daughters.  To hold in my arms a precious little one that came from me, born of my love, like me in ways that just waited to be discovered was the highlight (times three!) of my life.  They were flesh of my flesh, and I could not have loved them more.

If we, as human beings, have such an emotional attachment to the children we create, imagine the depth of love of the God of the universe as He created a person – a man – in His image and likeness.  Some (actually, many) call this a myth.  For me, the myth is the thought that our amazing, intricate, intelligent race came from a primordial slime pool, or that my ancestor was a fish that walked on four legs.  I do understand the desire – the need – for an explanation other than a Creator God.  After all, that four-legged fish is long gone and has no strings on me, whereas a Creator God, who could still be around, just might desire to have an input into my life that I neither need or want.  Better to align oneself with the evolutionary slime pool than to accept the possibility of Divine direction.

Better for some, perhaps, but not for me.  I align myself with the Creator God – the One who threw light into darkness, who placed the stars in the heavens, who spoke every creature into existence – then formed the human race with His hands and with His heart.  

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Mine is the sunlight, Mine is the morning

Born of the one light Eden saw play.

Praise with elation, praise every morning,

God's recreation of the new day.

The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 145