Made in His Image & Likeness - Pt II

In my last blog post, I talked about how we are made in God’s image and likeness. It talks about how God is intentional and how He essentially tells us that we physically look like Him (Image) and how we have similar character traits as Him (Likeness). If you haven’t read it, I’d encourage you to start with that because this blog post, Part II, builds on that foundation. You can find it here.

While the last blog post focuses on our physical and attribute resemblance with God, which by itself is enough to show how special we are. The thought of knowing you look, talk, walk and have the same quirks as God alone should send shivers down your spine. However, this post aims to dig deeper and show us how precious we are to God. We’d scrutinize every word, almost nitpick, Genesis 1 to highlight to you how God sees you.

Many times we read Genesis 1 and just glide through it because we all know the story of the creation of the earth, animals and man. But recently while reading, it seemed like the words came alive and God showed me the thought that went into creating the world. And then the process that went to creating mankind - you and me!

To address this, I’m going to take it from different angles - God’s actions (words) and the compliments He gave to every one of His creation. Let’s begin!

The God Only - No Compliments Group

For days 1 and 2, God spoke into existence light - day and night (v 3-5) and space to separate water into two parts - the sky (v 6-8). Not much was said about this group besides speaking them into existence. Just imagine creating day, night and the sky and not being overly excited about it. I can imagine God just thought ‘that’s a good start’ but didn’t even bother vocalizing His thoughts because maybe it wasn’t really a big deal to Him. Now for the next category.

The God Only - Good (Some) Compliments Group

By day 3, God commanded the waters under the sky to be gathered together. Thus, speaking into existence earth (dry land) and the seas. He then commanded the earth to grow grass, plants and trees (v 9-13).

Day 4 He created the sun, moon and stars by simply speaking them into existence. I can only imagine how gassed (excited) He must have been or at least should have been to create the sun, moon and stars (v 4-19). Just thinking about the importance and magnitude of these lights alone would get any creator to go bananas.

Day 5 was time for fish and birds to get created. Once again, God speaks all types of fish and birds into existence (v 20-23). And once again, I believe this must have been the most exciting creation yet. There’s no way you fill the seas with fish and the air with birds all over the earth and not be stupendously excited about your work. I just think it’s not possible.

Now Day 6, God creates animals - many different kinds of animals. Just think about it, elephants, lions, lizards, giraffes, rhinos, geckos, deers, (your dear) puppies - every animal! (v 24-25). The ones you like and the ones you don’t like. The ones you’re cuddly with and the ones you run away from. The ones you see and say ‘awwwn’ and the ones you say ‘ewww.’ The ones you see just about everyday and the ones you pay money to see at the zoo or at safaris. Absolutely all kinds of animals! God spoke them all into creation.

Do you know what all the creations of days 3, 4, 5 and 6a (as we use for bible verses 😄) have in common? God took it upon Himself to speak them into existence. It was an executive decision; He didn’t have to consult with anyone. The bible says “And God said that it was good” at the end of each of these creations and days. This time, He didn’t only have the thought (my assumption), He actually gave props to His creation. Unlike the creations of days 1 and 2, God actually looked at these creations and saw that they were good. By the way, I’m sure you’re asking who else was there to consult with anyway? I’m glad you asked; I’m getting there. You will find out in the third and final category of creation.

The Us - Very Good (High) Compliments Group

Part of Day 6 of creation, God spoke man into existence. Or did He? I’d get to that. Before I speak about the creation part, let me point out what the process was. For every other creation, God said. Like I said, in the previous category, it was an executive decision. God made the decision unilaterally to speak those things into existence. However, for the creation of humans, He brings other parties (you guessed right - Jesus and the Holy Spirit) into the decision making because this particular creation (you) was going to be a big deal. Instead of ‘God said,’ this time there was a ‘Let us’ (v 26). The bible clearly says ‘Now let us make humans who will be like us.’ Except He’s crazy like some of us, he wasn’t talking to Himself. This tells me the decision to make humans - to make you - was huge.

Now back to speaking man into existence. In case you were wondering, He did not! Notice that for every other creation He said ‘Let there be…’ but that wasn’t the case with humans. For humans, he MADE us. His hands were involved. He took the time to mold you to look like Him. You were not spoken into existence, you were made by hand by God Himself in collaboration with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Hope you are now getting a glimpse of how important you are to God.

If at this point you are saying, “boooyyy you’re just nitpicking,” I absolutely am! And I already warned you haha. And I’m not done

Now to the compliment given after creating humans. The bible says ‘God looked at everything he had made. And saw that everything was very good’ (v 30). The other creations only got GOOD, you got VERY GOOD. Now take a moment to think of all the amazing things God made - sun, mountains, rainbow, rabbits, snow, rivers and seas, giraffes, etc. God looks at all of that and says “that’s good” then He looks at you and says “that’s very good.” 

He doesn’t only consult with all members of the godhead, take the time to skillfully craft you, then say you’re very good. That by itself, if it ended there, that would have been awesome! He then goes on to say “see all these amazing things I’ve created? Rule over all of them! You’re now the boss of them.” If that isn’t enough to show you how highly rated you are by God, I’m not sure what else will. Not money, cars, clothes, friends or any accomplishment. 

Every Christian has probably heard that they are made in God’s image and likeness so many times that it has probably lost value to them. I believe God wanted to use these two blog posts (read part one here if you haven’t yet) to not only remind you that you are made in His image and likeness, but to show you what being made His image and likeness really entails. He wants to show you the thought and intentionality it took in creating you.

I am convinced that sometimes, because of our words or actions, God looks at us, shakes His head and says “only if you knew how I see you, you won’t say that about yourself or accept when someone redefines you.” He really longs for you to see yourself the way He sees you. God longs for you to see yourself only the way He sees you, not the way others or life defines you. If God says you are very good, no one can say the opposite. Heck! No one can say you are only ‘good.’

You were not only handmade by God, you carry His breath.

Humans are the only creation God made by hand. He sculpted you by hand from dust and the best part is He breathed the breath of life into you (Gen 2:7). You were not only handmade by God, you carry His breath. Take a moment and try to imagine what this means. When you’re done, let that, along with all the intricacies of your awesomeness, be what defines you. Let that renew your mind on who you are and how you see yourself. Don’t discount the work of God - the masterpiece He created you to be.

This is why Kanvves exists. To help inspire you to see yourself the way God sees you. To help you tune out the lies of the enemy, discard false identities and walk in your true identity. But the truth is we can only try. Our messaging and dope urban Christian streetwear clothing can only go so far. If you don’t believe it to your core, you’re discounting God’s priceless work on you. As a brand, we will continue to strive to call out the gold in you with our message and Christian clothing because we truly believe we are God’s greatest creation - that you are God’s greatest creation.

We hope you see the thought and work that went into creating you and you never see yourself any less than God sees you. We hope that from today, you do not let what others say, your past experiences or culture define you because you know how the Father sees and calls you. Your identity should be firmly rooted in Christ and His love for you. Never forget when He looks at you, He says “very good.” In case you’re wondering what very good means, some synonyms for very good are superb, outstanding, terrific, splendid and magnificent.

This is how God sees you. This is how he calls you. Let go of any false contradictory identity. You are priceless in the eyes of the Father - a masterpiece. You are made in God’s image and likeness, and that’s how you should carry yourself.

Thank you for reading. I hope this post blessed you. As always, feel free to leave a comment. Also, don’t forget to share with others. Stay blessed and continue to walk in your God-designed identity!