God Created Man With A Free Will
Then God said, “Let us make man in our own image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” – Genesis 1:26
In all the creation of God it is only the earth that has life as we know it. God has appointed man to be caretaker of the earth and the life that is on it. That is an aspect of the kingdom of God that we do not speak enough about. God has given man the responsibility of protecting and caring for the earth, its resources and the life that is in it.
The entire creation of God is an expression of his love and grace. We look at it all and are awed by the magnificence of His handiwork. Yet, when we look at the earth around us and the life that it sustains, we too often think of them in terms of how they can serve us.
The environmentalists and the animal activists have a point. God created the earth to be self sustaining and all of the rest of creation cooperates with him. It is only man that arbitrarily kills off life for his own pleasure and destroys the eco-system for his own consumption.
God created man with the potential to be in unity with his own mind and to be a reflection of his own glory. It was God’s choice to create man in his own image. Man was created with a free will and he was influenced by his spirit person – the part of him that was in the image of God. Man had no “soul” knowledge, that is, he had no experience outside of the God influence.
God’s desire was to have an object of love – and you can’t truly love, in the agape sense, an inanimate creature, or a mind-slave who has no will of their own; so God created man with free will. It was the choice of man to pursue life on his own terms.
As man experienced life on his terms his “soul” nature was awakened and his soul became the dominate influence in his life. The soul is that part of our nature which drives us to satisfying the desires of our physical nature. It is often called our fleshly, or sin nature.
The kingdom God intended in creation is recreated in the hearts of those who trust Christ. We can choose Christ or not – it’s up to us.
Prayer: Lord, grant me repentance to being resistant to your plan and give me the grace to surrender to you. In Jesus name. Amen.
Message: God created man with the potential to be in unity with his own mind and to be a reflection of his own glory. It was God’s choice to create man in his own image. God’s desire was to have an object of love – and you can’t truly love in the agape sense an inanimate creature, or a mind-slave who has no will of their own; so God created man with free will. It was the choice of man to pursue life on his own terms.
Affirmation: God gave me the freedom to choose and I have chosen to follow him.
Reflection: How does the free will of man play into the story of the fall? Why do you think that man, given the choice, will usually choose to gratify his own desires rather than being committed to a higher purpose?
This month of devotions on the King and His Kingdom is something you won't want to miss. Beginning with creation and moving through Abraham and Moses on to the birth of Christ and finally the eternal kingdom. To get the book free of charge and absolutely no obligation, just fill in the form below with your name and email address then click "Yes - Send It"
In all the creation of God it is only the earth that has life as we know it. God has appointed man to be caretaker of the earth and the life that is on it. That is an aspect of the kingdom of God that we do not speak enough about. God has given man the responsibility of protecting and caring for the earth, its resources and the life that is in it.
The entire creation of God is an expression of his love and grace. We look at it all and are awed by the magnificence of His handiwork. Yet, when we look at the earth around us and the life that it sustains, we too often think of them in terms of how they can serve us.
The environmentalists and the animal activists have a point. God created the earth to be self sustaining and all of the rest of creation cooperates with him. It is only man that arbitrarily kills off life for his own pleasure and destroys the eco-system for his own consumption.
God created man with the potential to be in unity with his own mind and to be a reflection of his own glory. It was God’s choice to create man in his own image. Man was created with a free will and he was influenced by his spirit person – the part of him that was in the image of God. Man had no “soul” knowledge, that is, he had no experience outside of the God influence.
God’s desire was to have an object of love – and you can’t truly love, in the agape sense, an inanimate creature, or a mind-slave who has no will of their own; so God created man with free will. It was the choice of man to pursue life on his own terms.
As man experienced life on his terms his “soul” nature was awakened and his soul became the dominate influence in his life. The soul is that part of our nature which drives us to satisfying the desires of our physical nature. It is often called our fleshly, or sin nature.
The kingdom God intended in creation is recreated in the hearts of those who trust Christ. We can choose Christ or not – it’s up to us.
Prayer: Lord, grant me repentance to being resistant to your plan and give me the grace to surrender to you. In Jesus name. Amen.
Message: God created man with the potential to be in unity with his own mind and to be a reflection of his own glory. It was God’s choice to create man in his own image. God’s desire was to have an object of love – and you can’t truly love in the agape sense an inanimate creature, or a mind-slave who has no will of their own; so God created man with free will. It was the choice of man to pursue life on his own terms.
Affirmation: God gave me the freedom to choose and I have chosen to follow him.
Reflection: How does the free will of man play into the story of the fall? Why do you think that man, given the choice, will usually choose to gratify his own desires rather than being committed to a higher purpose?
This month of devotions on the King and His Kingdom is something you won't want to miss. Beginning with creation and moving through Abraham and Moses on to the birth of Christ and finally the eternal kingdom. To get the book free of charge and absolutely no obligation, just fill in the form below with your name and email address then click "Yes - Send It"
RSS Feed
