Lesson 3: Perfect life: the life we never saw!

 

Genesis 1:26-30

Welcome back, students, to Lesson 3 of the Scope Bible School’s online Bible study program! In the previous two lessons, you were taken through introductory and foundational phases. However, in Lesson 3, we will delve into studies derived right from the Salvation History Timeline.

For reminders, the Salvation History Timeline is a layout and map-out of events across time in the Bible that, when woven together, show God’s plan for salvation.

This timeline, if fitted into what we studied in lesson 2 (The Kingdom Blueprint: Before the Beginning) makes the second phase of the Kingdom Blueprint, which starts after the devil corrupts God’s plan.

 

This timeline, as depicted by Pr. Asaph Afuga of Rest Assured Fellowship, Jinja, Uganda, is divided into 4 parts:

1. The Sin Problem
2. Promise to Abraham
3. Covenant through Moses
4. Gospel by Jesus

It also defines the life states of man in what is called the ABCD arrangement (i.e. Perfect Life, Cursed Life, Saved Life, and Redeemed Life. Please get in touch with Rest Assured Fellowship for an elaborate lesson on the ABCD by Pr. Asaph Afuga.)

However, to make it more comprehensive in this lesson we divide it into seven parts:

1. The Perfect Life
2. The Sin Problem
3. The Promise to Abraham: Part A and B
4. The Covenant through Moses
5. The fulfillment of Part A: The Holy Nation/Kingdom
6. World Kingdoms, Prophecies of Future Times
7. Fulfillment of Part B: Gospel by Jesus; Nations; fulfillment of many prophecies; Eternity

While we’ll touch on other topics in a few moments (with an aim to create a flow and continuity of the major story/study plot), our focus and emphasis will revolve around the above major points along the timeline.

As we said in Lesson 2 God created man according to His outlined plan. Remember the Kingdom Blueprint? Exactly that!

This plan also involved creating a spacious place (Garden of Eden) where man would live happily. When you refer to our reference scripture above in the lesson title, you note that this is basically what happens in the earlier verses of Genesis 1 (It is important to remember from what we assumed in Lesson 2 that the earth where man was placed, though it was created for man’s bliss, it was a pseudo-earth and not as beautiful as the ideal ‘Original earth’ that God had meant for man in His Blueprint in Revelation 21).

So in Genesis 1:26, we see God finally creating the long-awaited man—the pinnacle of God’s design! While Genesis 2 offers a more detailed account of this creation process, emphasizing the physical aspects (please do read and study this portion to fully observe the love with which God created man, explained from the physical point of view), Chapter 1 (verses 26–30), on the other hand, sheds light on the spiritual aspects.

Chapter 1 portrays the creation process from a spiritual angle, and this is where our emphasis is mostly grounded. Let us interest ourselves in this; bring forth your magnifying glasses! At creation, the life of man was a perfect life! A life only Adam and Eve ever experienced We do not even know how it felt like; only those two do. But we can use Scripture as a lens to imagine. Let us borrow the word Perfect life to illustrate this life: this perfect life was characterized by God’s own image, Nature/Character/likeliness, Authority, Dominion and Blessings (Gen 1:26-30). Simply, man was created with five very important attributes, attributes that are missing in today’s world as we see it. These are the 5 Spiritual aspects. We shall discuss them in detail here:

 

NATURE/LIKENESS/ CHARACTER

Genesis 1:26-27 (NIV): “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.”

This attribute signifies that man was created with qualities and characteristics that reflect the nature of God. The likeness suggests a spiritual and moral resemblance to God. It implies that man was created to share in God’s capacity for reason or ration, love, morality, and other attributes that distinguish them from the rest of creation (which were not created in His image).

 

AUTHORITY

This concept indicates that man was granted power and dominion over the created world, both physically and spiritually. This authority is a delegated responsibility from God to govern and steward the Earth. This concept also indicates that man was created with authority over the devil and spiritual forces, fully equipped to resist and overcome the influence of the adversary in the following ways, as well as to manifest things from the spiritual into the physical:

 

Authority over the enemy:

Luke 10:19 (NIV): “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”

Matthew 28:18 (NIV): “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.'”

In both scriptures above, Jesus was restoring the authority that had been robbed from man (as we shall see in the next lesson) back to him.  This quotation qualifies all the other New Testament scriptures quoted below because it is through Jesus that this authority was given back to man. Once again, I remind you that we haven’t yet looked at how it was lost, and that is for the next lesson.

 

Resisting the Devil:

James 4:7 (NIV): “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

 

Putting on the Full Armor of God:

Ephesians 6:11 (NIV): “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”

 

Victory through Christ:

1 Corinthians 15:57 (NIV): “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

Authority in Christ:

Colossians 2:15 (NIV): “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

 

Psalm of Protection:

Psalm 91:13 (NIV): “You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.”

Psalm 8:6 (NIV): “You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet.”

 

The references from the New Testament emphasize the victory and power achieved through Christ’s work on the cross whereas the Psalms reflect the assurance of divine protection against dangerous spiritual forces.

 

DOMINION

Genesis 1:28 (NIV): “…and (God) said to them…Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.'”

Dominion, as mentioned above, emphasizes the idea that man was called to rule over and govern the Earth. This rulership extends to the animal kingdom, the birds of the air, and every living thing on the Earth. It’s a position of responsibility and stewardship.

 

BLESSING

Genesis 1:28 (NIV): “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.'”

The blessing suggests abundance, favor, joy, success, potency, prosperity, and fertility. It implies that, in the beginning, man was in a state of favor with God, enjoying His abundance and goodness. This blessing encompasses physical, spiritual, and material well-being.

 

GOD’S OWN IMAGE

Colossians 3:10 (NIV): “And have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV):

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

 

Psalm 139:14 (NIV)

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well.”

This verse is a beautiful expression of the psalmist’s awe and gratitude for the intricate and marvelous way in which God has created them. It emphasizes the divine craftsmanship involved in the formation of each individual, highlighting the uniqueness and value of every person as a creation of God.

 

In summary, the Genesis 1:26–30 narrative beautifully illustrates God’s initial plan for mankind—a life of absolute harmony, marked by intimate love, fellowship, and oneness with God. This perfection, encompassing both spiritual and physical dimensions, emphasized that spiritual perfection naturally manifested physical perfection. The attributes we explored—likeness to God, authority, dominion, blessings, and being fearfully and wonderfully made—were intricately designed to cultivate a life of beauty, ease, satisfaction, and a profound connection and fellowship with God.