City Life Starter

Written by Scott Fiddler

The Word

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make man^[a] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:26-27 (ESV)

Commentary

Genesis is the first book of the Bible, and in Genesis 1, we first meet God. First impressions are important, particularly when it comes to meeting people. As the saying goes, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” The all-powerful God, who can do anything He wants and accomplish all He desires, is the only person who can control 100% the first impression He makes on people. And in the first chapter of the first book of the Bible, there are three conspicuous characteristics God reveals about Himself.

Creativity. “In the beginning God created…” Genesis 1:1. The first thing God reveals Himself doing is being creative. The earth was “formless and void,” a blank canvass over which the Spirit of God hovered imaging all the possibilities of a beautiful painting. The act of creation was inherently creative. We wrongly assume the world that was created was the only possible world, when, in fact, it is that way only because God created it that way. And rather than have us miss this attribute of Himself, the Lord devotes the first chapter in His written revelation of Himself to man, showing Himself being creative.

Integrity. “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.”  Genesis 1:3. What God said is what happened. God’s prophet Isaiah would later say that His “word not return void,” meaning we could bank on His word. See Isaiah 55:11. God will do what He says He will do, and what He says will happen will happen. This is one of the first things God reveals about Himself.

Productivity. “God saw all that He had made . . . And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.” Genesis 1:31. In the first chapter of Genesis God reveals Himself as productive. He created all that we know in six days. It was the largest construction project in history. Then when Jesus was working on the Sabbath, the religious leaders challenged Him. Jesus responded by saying, “My Father is working until now, and I myself am working.” John 5:17. God is as worker, and He is productive.

Application

Toward the end of Chapter 1, after revealing His creativity, integrity, and productivity, God does one more remarkable thing: He makes man in His image. Genesis 1:26-27. The characteristics of creativity, integrity, and productivity God has revealed in Himself He imparts to man.

Prayer

Lord help me to display creativity, integrity, and productivity in my life, so others can see in me the latent image of You. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.