God is Our Father
Who are you? You are the product of your parents who were they products of their parents who were…so on and so on until we get all the way back to the first parents. And, who were they? They were the products of their Father, the Creator of the universe. “And God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’” (Genesis 1:26).
While the physical DNA of each individual has been mixed and remixed throughout the centuries, it still identifies unique individuals who are distinct from every other individual forensically. DNA has been called “The Finger of God” as it shows beyond any doubt the creative power and splendor of each person that no form of evolution can be submitted as the source of it!
This uniqueness of each individual, however, does not dismiss the fact that we are all alike because we have all descended from the same Father. We, therefore, carry His DNA, His image! This image unites all of us. There are 5 traits of that DNA that are present in each person. While not every person feels the same intensity of each of them, they are nonetheless present in the human experience. The 5 traits are: spiritual, mental, physical, emotional, and relational.
Lets notice the 5 traits as they are expressed in the account of the creation. The physical is obvious as each one was given a physical existence. In that garden, Adam and Eve were given responsibilities—“tend and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). We were designed to do something with our physical bodies. Therefore, God gave this instruction, “…glorify God in your body…” (I Corinthians 6:20).
The emotional part of the human experience can be seen in the creation narrative when it is revealed that “the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight…” (Genesis 2:9). The beauty of the creation affects our emotional nature. We are drawn to a beautiful sunset, to stately trees, and to awe-inspiring waterfalls!
God used the mental nature of the man He created when, “Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.” (Genesis 2:19).
Man’s relational nature is seen in what God said some time after creating Adam. He said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” (Genesis 2:18). Though His words concerned Adam, by bringing Eve to him God also made her a relational person.
The final, but most important part of the human experience, is the spiritual nature. God have them spiritual instruction when He forbid them to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Not only was this prohibition necessary to allow them to exercise their free will, it was intended to give them the guardrails for their lives. If they were to eat of the fruit, they would die. The effect of their disobedience was the loss of a spiritual standing that had allowed them access to their Father in that beautiful garden, apparently as He would walk in that garden from time to time (Genesis 3:8).
His fatherly walk in the garden was as familiar them as any other sound in the garden. They knew the sound well, but now it sounded different. It was a walk that caused them shame rather than solace. Their spiritual nature was tainted and they now hid from the sound of His walk.
We are still who we are as God made us with these 5 traits. We need all of them to be a whole person. This wholeness should be our individual goal and it should also be the goal of the church to aid this wholeness.
— Mike Johnson
