Hepzibah

The Bible started with the history of Creation . One may wonder why did God decide to go through the process of creation! The Ancient of Days wanted to reveal His Glory, show His Power , Majesty and Love for His images (Isaiah 43:6-7). God wanted to make the world a colony of His Heavenly Kingdom. God definitely has an Agenda!

Creation of Man was part of His Agenda for the universe. After the fifth day , God said in Genesis 1:26 , ” let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” and in the next verse, Genesis 1:27 , God CREATED man in His image, in the image of God. He created him, male and female He created. Amazing two genders, a unique characteristics of Man! Man has the character of God, a reflection of God’s Glory, so man is Spirit- Man or god- man, no wonder He called man god in Psalms 82:6. Why did God create male and female? He wanted to lay emphasis that male and female are divinely separated but He gave them the same mandate in Genesis 1:28: Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Both Male and Female were both given responsibilities by God Dominion, Fruitfulness and Multiplication . equal spiritual opportunities and rights were bestowed upon of each of the images . Their glorious destiny depends on their individual devotion to the Lord and obedience to His words. God will use His images regardless of the gender in whatever capacity He chooses. God however recognizes the images as gender- neutral and refers to the images as “Man”in the Bible. Image depicts ownership, thus God has ownership over their lives , He expects accountability and they would be subjected to external judgement as individuals.

Genesis 2, was about formation of beasts, rivers trees and man. God FORMED man, the first man Adam out of dust of the ground and breathed life through his nostrils and he became a living being or body with life ( Genesis 2: 7). Subquently, God made an helper for man from his rib and called her woman by name ,Eve and joined them together to become one flesh. It was in the formation process that roles were defined(Ephesians 5:22-24). Eve was formed as an helper to Adam and to be submissive to him. After, the formation, God put the man , Adam in the garden of Eden which He planted as the custodian. The first assignment, He gave Adam was the naming of other creatures that were equally formed from the ground( Genesis 2:19). These were more physical than spiritual in nature. God also gave commandment to the first man, Adam, He said “eat of all fruits but the tree of knowledge you shall not eat , otherwise you will die”( Genesis 2:16-17). The formed man, therefore has tendency to die ( withdrawal of the breath of life) his continuous existence was threatened with disobedience from the beginning.

Let us examine the use of words in the Bible in this process , first , the word ” creation” was used and when the act was successfully finished in the sixth day , God moved to the next stage of ” formation”.after resting on the seventh day. These are two distinct processes. The English dictionary describes, creation as an invention or artwork , while , formation is processing structure or form. God created male and female images out of pronouncement of His Word alone, by His mightyness. God formed man from the dust of the ground which has been watered by mist( substance) and breath of life ( Genesis 2:6-7) .

The word ” creation” and “formation” should therefore not be used interchangeable, they are not the same and are not substitute. They are two different processes and the resultant products were spiritually and physically distinct, each serving different purposes in the agenda of God for the universe. God has to move from creation in His likeness to formation of Man with body and life because images cannot fulfill His Agenda on earth. A vessel or body was needed to express God’s Glory and manifest His Words on earth. The assignment of fruitfulness and multiplication can only be carried out by a male and female bodies in the persons of Adam and Eve, otherwise , God would have created so many images of Himself. The formation of Man is so important for God to have an expression or access on earth, no wonder that He attributes so much importance to man(Psalms 8:4-5). As odd as it might sound, God needs man for execution of His Agenda on earth, thus the need to move from “creation” to “formation”process. God created and formed Man.

I hope this article has blessed someone! Comments and Contributions welcome.