Image of God - Understanding His Character

         So this past Monday night was the beginning of a small group Bible study being held in one of the student residences at the Mount. The piece of Scripture that we studied was Genesis 2: 5-25 (which constitutes the majority of the chapter). This is actually a first for me in the past two years that we have conducted an inductive study in the Old Testament, as with Inter-Varsity, it is usually focused more on the story of Jesus. However, this year's study theme for the Mount is focused on living life and the things that corrupt and restrict us from living a prosperous life.


         From the text, my group had noticed that the text gives us a good general idea of God's character, which is that He is a loving, caring creator and provider who enjoys interacting with His creation. His goodness is greatly reflected in this passage as it depicts how everything He made was good, and that there was no shame that existed. He provided food for Adam by creating plants that were edible, and later provided him with his helpmate, Eve. God was also talking toward Adam, even giving advisable instruction not to eat one of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

         I had been meditating on this passage throughout the week, letting it all sink in as I was moving forward with my life. I believe that this is a really great image of God that the original author had made here; however, we often misconstrue this when we're having a rough time with life. It is sad to see that the image of God we use in our hard times is not the same as the one mentioned here. I know I have often fallen prey to doing this. But I want to remind you all that we don't have to be alone in those hard times. God is always going to be with us, even when we think He is too far away to be reached. We have a comforter in the form of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus has mentioned a few times in the Gospels (He tells us more in particular about Him in John 16). Since the Spirit lives in and among us, we can know that everything will be OK in the end.

         I hope that these thoughts have challenged and encouraged you. I hope that all of this has gotten you to think about what you believe about God, and to strive to build more on your relationship with Him. I know that not everyone is going to completely agree with me, but God works things out in many ways, ways that are difficult for us to fully understand while we are living in this world. But as we focus on Him and Hos promises, then our lives will be blessed.

Take care, everyone!