A trip into Eternity
If you were asked to guess what might have been God's greatest desire as He planned the world, what would you say?
It is reported that one day Martin Luther was asked the question, “What was God doing before He created the world?” Being frustrated by the question, Luther replied, “Probably creating Hell for people like you who ask idiotic questions!” Uhhh, probably not.
What was God doing before He created the world? Well, ignoring the fact that in eternity there is no past, present or future, we can say one thing was happening: God was drawing up plans. This study is about these plans, God's master plans that were designed in eternity, began to be implmeneted at creation and will continue to be implemented through the return of Christ and into eternity.
If you were asked to guess what might have been God’s greatest desire as He planned the world, what would you say? While I’ve heard many different answers, probably the best answer would be His desire to have an intimate relationship with man. This was His desire before man was created, it has been His desire since creation and it is a desire that will be realized perfectly in Heaven. It is His desire for you! The Bible is not only a record of how well this has gone, but also a description of how it can be personally realized..
Genesis 1 reveals two necessary elements to start the plan - the creation of man and creation of a place for him to live. Verses 1-25 describes how God created the perfect place for man to live. Then comes the pinnacle of God's creative work.
Genesis 1:26-27
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.”
There you have it: people and their habitation. The habitation was perfect and the humans were in the "image of God." Image of God? Does that mean God has two eyes, one nose, two hands, etc.? No, God is a spirit. He created Adam and Eve with many of His attributes: holy, loving, reasoning, moral and perfect knowledge of Him.
Remember, this was God's original desire for His relationship with man. The next study will find us answering the question, "If God is a God of love, why is there so much suffering in the world?"
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