“. . . then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” (Genesis 2.7)
One of the most notable differences between the creation account in Genesis 1.1-2.3 and Genesis 2.5-25 in that in the second creation account God uses the dust of the earth in the creation of man. Up to this point creation had been ‘ex nihilo’ meaning that God spoke it into existence out of nothing. In the creation of man God creates ‘ex partum’ he forms man out of that which is already created, out of the dust. Something else that God does different too is that God put his own breath into man. The symbolism is unmistakeable, man is god-breathed, the inspired revelation of God, about God. Inspiration is a word thrown around all too loosely these days, but it literally means the breath of God. When God said that he created man in his own image and likeness, he was already saying something about humanity’s unique status. So it should be of no surprise that we are uniquely the inspired revelation about God, that we uniquely reveal the character, heart, and nature of God in a way that nothing else in creation does. Even what we do has a way of making statements about God, even when those statements are wrong. For instance the classic, but poorly reasoned, cliche, “If God is so good how can there be so much evil in the world.” My response to my fellow image bearer is look in the mirror at yourself, as the jewel of creation, and ask yourself why do you do evil. When you figure that out, then you will know why there is evil in the world.
So then, as the inspired revelation of God, our lives either speak of God’s glory or our own fallen condition, either of which still point to God. Either because we are like him, or our lives declare our need for him. But what else might our lives say about God? If we continue through Genesis 2 we can read about our dominion over the earth and all the creatures within and we can certainly see how Psalm 82.6 might declare that as children of God we are like gods over the earth, and then we can look at our footprint on the earth and ask to what degree has God been glorified by our actions? Or not? We can read about the creation of woman, the implied intimacy of that relationship and ask to what ends has marriage declared the glory of God? And to what ends have we proved that the justice of God and the final judgment been provoked by the way we have treated others created in God’s image?
What does it mean for you and I as human beings to be the inspired revelation of God? What does it mean that we get to make known who God is? What are the implications of that? What are the implications of living in a way that does not glorify God, in a way that makes false statements about who God is? What does your life, your actions, your words, your family connections, and the treatment of your animals, possessions and spouse tell the world about God?
We are the most beautiful reflection of God, when we are most human. We are least like God when we run on animal urges and selfishly use, consume, and abuse everything that God has given us here in his creation, from resources, to animals, to other human beings. Why not be a great revelation?
