I had to ask God to give my eyes fresh lens as I have read this passage far too many times. If you are like me who make a commitment to read the Bible as part of your New Year's Resolutions you most likely begin with this passage, too. And if you trail off your commitment sometime in the later weeks, and choose to begin again, then wham! You're back with the Creation story.
But God did give me fresh eyes. My friends laugh at my choice of Bible translation: The Amplified Bible. It's "the Bible for the talkative folk," and I have to agree. Lots of words in parentheses and brackets show shades of meaning and turns of phrases that highlight the text. When I first read the Bible, I used the very readable and friendly New Living Translation. Now I plan to read the Amplified.
My imagination caught on fire as I saw the big bang of God creating light, and the firmament, and the land and sea, and all the creatures. I realize that ancient civilizations saw God as powerful, the Source of all, and lavish. God spoke everything into being. And there isn't just one kind of flowers, there are thousands! There isn't one kind of birds or fish, there are countless! And of many colors, too! And the snowflake, think about it. No two alike! Just like our fingerprints! A God of Infinite Creativity and Variety!
And He kept blessing each work. "God saw that it was good." Good... good... good... echoing through the birthing Universe.
This account was written in Poetry. I remember an epiphany I once had that I forwarded to many friends via sms: "Universe. Uni-verse. Poetry! The very fabric we and everything is made of is Poetry! The world and stars and planets orbit on a Song! How and why did it take me thirty-three tag-araws and tag-ulans of life to figure this out? The uni-verse is thriving poetry! Even Genesis 1 is told in poetry. Most ancient Creation mythologies are told in poetry! Our very DNA is a poetic dance of genes: A, C, T, G!"
God said, "Let Us make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness..."I-Mage is the title I chose for this online magazine, and is partly inspired by that passage above. We are images of God. This personal God. How could we bear to hate others?
There are people in this life I hate. The facetious colleague who spread lies. The money-hungry landlady we once we lived with. The egoistic boss who yelled at me in front of everyone. I used to imagine, each time I flush the toilet, that I am flushing their negative energies down with my poop, too. It's hard for me to see God in this people.
But the truth is, God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them (Gen. 1:27). I have no excuse for my hatred. But I can ask God to change my attitude.
From the Lion, I realized that the first three days set the pattern of God separating, or making space, like a framework, and then, filling up that space with creation. Wonderful, isn't it? There's also that mandate to eat plants and fruit, which are good for us.
I also am reminded of the importance of taking one day rest out of the week, and I can be, like God, as creative as I can for six. Good! God intended man and woman to be like Him, to be like God, to be like Father, Son, Holy Spirit. This is why God made us: to be His image-bearers.
Creator-God, who are you? I want to know you. Let me know you. What image of you did you assign me to bear and reflect?
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