Omag

Why did God create man?

What impact does or should this have on our natural lives?

If what God did does not make sense …
and …
If it does not add to (enhance) our lives …
then …
What God did has no meaning …

Yet, what we do know …
… is that everything God did was intended to enhance our lives …

I have come that they may have life,
and that they may have it more abundantly.
--- John 10:10

and nothing that God made was wrong or imperfect!

Then God saw everything that He had made,
and indeed it was very good.
--- Gen 1:31

When we understand what God intended and did …
… we will understand our lives better …
and we will be able to live that life God intended for us to live …

Life in Abundance...!

Life and creation is more than just something that God did,

... it is an expression of God's character
... in fact it is an expression of God Himself!
It should impact our lives much more than it actually does

So why did God create us?

God is everything … God has everything …
… and God actually needs nothing!
But God WANTED something …
What?
Something or someone that also wants Him!

Not an angel … not a heavenly robot!
… without the right to make a choice!
Neither an animal nor a plant …
… that has no spirit in them!

Somebody just like Himself …

Having life (spirit life)
Having a soul (will, emotions and the right to choose)

In His image and likeness …
… Like God, but just not God!
What then?

Then God said,
"Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;
let them have dominion …
over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
--- Gen. 1:26

MAN … in God’s image and likeness …
Uniquely made ...
Having God’s character, His attributes and His position!
… But just not His power!

Covenant Relationship...!

A being exactly like God …
… that can live and operate without God …

Independent of Him,
Yet dependent on Him!

Through a special relationship …
… an independent dependence …
COVENANT…!

As God said to Abraham …

And I will establish My covenant between Me and you
and your descendants after you in their generations,
for an everlasting covenant,
to be God to you and your descendants after you.
--- Gen 17:7

Which God elaborated on saying …

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD:
I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts;
and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,'
for all shall know Me,
from the least of them to the greatest of them.
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness,
and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."
--- Heb. 8:10-12 (Jer 31:33-34)

A Personal … Covenant … Relationship !

What is Covenant?
What does it mean to be God to you?
Who exactly is Israel?

Maybe Israel, the first Israel, has the best example or answer for us …

And He said, "Let Me go, for the day breaks."
But he said," I will not let You go unless You bless me!"
So He said to him, "What is your name?"
He said, "Jacob."
And He said,
"Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel;
for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed."
Then Jacob asked, saying, "Tell me Your name, I pray."
And He said, "Why is it that you ask about My name?"
And He blessed him there.
So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel:
"For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."
--- Gen 32:24-30

Jacob ... selfish, sinful, self-centered man,
... a taker, the opposite of what God is ...
finally found out that in himself he was not self-sufficient!

Realising that God is the Source,
… he starts to see what covenant really is …
… grabs hold of God and won't let go …
… until God did what He had promised to do …
to bless him!

Israel ... regenerate man!
… who chooses God to be His God …
… who accepts Covenant and starts acting on Covenant!

Israel = Yisra’el … to prevail or rule as God.
(sarah – to prevail) (el – God)
The restoration of man to what he was created to be!

From Jacob to Israel …

First there has to be a realization of God’s Covenant …
… there has to be an acceptance of that covenant …
and there has to be action in accordance with that covenant …

Seeing the potential and taking hold of that potential!