Created in the image of God. Given the command to take dominion, and be fruitful and multiply. What a great identity! What a great mission! It makes you wonder why Eve and then Adam would throw it all away for food. What - Were they not having enough joy already? Did they not find completion in their daily relationship with God?
But of course, the fall was more than a violation of God's command. It was a denial of His sufficiency. It was a failure to trust His sovereign will.
The temptation of the serpent began with an attack on dominion. "You mean, you can't eat from any of the trees of the garden?" he asks. The temptation continues with an attack on her image. "You will be like God," he promises. Wait! She's already like God! But Satan understands that he can attack her identity in order to get her to focus on herself instead of God already reflected in her. In both cases, Adam and Eve had to stop believing God, and begin to trust in themselves instead. They had to see sufficiency as their responsibility. They lost faith and certainty in God's sovereign will for their lives.
Satan attacked image and mission. Adam and Eve both fell vulnerable to this deceitful attack.
And so do we.
Your identity and mission must reflect Christ, who is the true restored image of God. Can you do it? Of course not. But with Christ in you, the answer becomes a confident "Yes!"
The key to restored righteousness is Christ in you. Confess him as your risen Lord today, and follow Him. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved from the punishment you deserve as the result of your failure to reflect His image and fulfill His mission. Even more wonderful, Jesus gives to you His righteousness - He who perfectly shows His image, and perfectly fulfills His mission.
But of course, the fall was more than a violation of God's command. It was a denial of His sufficiency. It was a failure to trust His sovereign will.
The temptation of the serpent began with an attack on dominion. "You mean, you can't eat from any of the trees of the garden?" he asks. The temptation continues with an attack on her image. "You will be like God," he promises. Wait! She's already like God! But Satan understands that he can attack her identity in order to get her to focus on herself instead of God already reflected in her. In both cases, Adam and Eve had to stop believing God, and begin to trust in themselves instead. They had to see sufficiency as their responsibility. They lost faith and certainty in God's sovereign will for their lives.
Satan attacked image and mission. Adam and Eve both fell vulnerable to this deceitful attack.
And so do we.
Your identity and mission must reflect Christ, who is the true restored image of God. Can you do it? Of course not. But with Christ in you, the answer becomes a confident "Yes!"
The key to restored righteousness is Christ in you. Confess him as your risen Lord today, and follow Him. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved from the punishment you deserve as the result of your failure to reflect His image and fulfill His mission. Even more wonderful, Jesus gives to you His righteousness - He who perfectly shows His image, and perfectly fulfills His mission.
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