Jump Start # 1016

Genesis 2:19-20 “Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.”

Adam was alone. God knew that. God expressed that right before our verses. This was not an oversight on God’s part. He didn’t forget. God’s not like that. Before God made Eve, Adam had to see that there was nothing suitable for him. He had animals, but he was alone. He could help the animals, but there was no one to help him.

Three thoughts:

First, Adam was intelligent. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 that Adam was the “First man.” He was the first. Adam was not a cave man that grunted and pulled his woman by the hair. He could tend the garden. He could name the animals. He could communicate with God. Evolutions attempt to merge ape and man is without evidence and is counter to what the Bible shows us. Jesus said that God made man and woman from the beginning. At the start, there was man. Smart, talented, functional, and probably more advanced that most give him credit. He wasn’t flawed by sin, mutations or disease. He was the perfect person. God made him, so you know, like the rest of creation, Adam would have been the best. I’m glad there are no pictures of him around. It would probably make most of us look in the mirror and cry.

Second, Adam saw what God knew, there was no animal that was compatible to him. Adam was made in the image of God. The animals were not. God made Adam a living soul. The animals weren’t. Now there is a bond between man and animals. Many of us have pets. We adore our pets. No matter what kind of day you’ve had, your dog will greet you at the door with tail wagging. Our fellowship and friendship with our pets is on their level, not ours. They are limited by who they are. My daughter has a little dog named Roxy. She’s a beautiful Yorkie. I love when Roxy comes around. I’ll throw the ball over and over. We play hide and seek and she has zillions of squeaky toys that she loves to tug on. It’s a blast. But our fun is on her level. It’s a dog’s world. She can’t go beyond what she is. She can bark, and she does. Sometimes when I talk to her, she turns her head sideways. It’s funny to see. But she doesn’t relate to my level. She can’t. Our relationship can never be parallel or equal because she is limited. There is a gap between us that can never be bridged. I’m in the image of God and she is not. Mankind is not part of the animal kingdom. Genesis shows us otherwise. Man has dominion over God’s creation. Man is on a different level than the animals.

Animals can’t talk on their own. They do not have a will or a conscience. They lack a soul. They are governed by instinct. Man is master of his decisions and choices. Man is responsible for what he does. An animal can’t help what it does.

So God made Eve. Compatible to Adam. She was made not from dust as Adam was, but from his rib. She was God’s solution to man’s problem. She was the solution to man being alone. She was suited for man. Soul mates. Living souls. Communication, feelings, decisions, ideas, thoughts, and spirituality shared. Man had true fellowship with someone that was like him. Man had fellowship on an equal level. Man had someone like him.

Third, unlike the animal-man connection, we have a greater connection with God. We are made in God’s image. There is a bond of understanding between us and God. There is a limitation, simply because we are not God, but we have similar characteristics. We can be holy as God is holy. We can be a servant like Jesus was. We can forgive. We can have compassion. Our scope is limited and we can never do what God does, but we have similarities. We are more like God than we are like animals. Animals are not made in our image. We are not made in the image of animals. There is a man-God connection. The more we develop our godly characteristics the closer we become to God. We are more like God than we are like animals.

It seems that some act more like animals than they do God. They run on feelings, doing whatever they feel like, giving no regard to laws, rules or other people. That’s like an animal. We are not like animals. We are like God.

So Adam found in Eve more than someone he could talk to, but someone who could pray with him. He found someone who built character with him. He found someone who could bring out the best in him. He found someone else who was like him, who was made in the image of God.

We are more like God than we are like animals. That’s a thought evolutionists can’t handle. That’s a noble thought. That lifts us up. That compels us to reach for the good and right things. That makes us look at past actions and decisions. Selfishness, stubbornness, indifference—seem to be the three companions found in too many homes, is not from God. Those things are not like God. You won’t learn those things from God. The less we develop ourselves spiritually, the more we find ourselves alone and without one we are like. We will never be equal with animals. Without God, there is no one else like us. The development of the spiritual side of us pulls us closer to God. We find more in common with God. We act more like God. Our fellowship with God grows and is strengthened. And the results of such spiritual development, are the very things that God does—goodness, kindness, patience and helping others.

Those that live without God are lost. Lost, more than just spiritually. Lost, more than not going to Heaven. Lost, in the sense that they no longer have fellowship with one that they are like. We are like God. When we walk away from Him, we’ve lost that connection. The more ungodly we behave, the less we have in common with God. It doesn’t take much of that before a person has truly LOST all connection, fellowship and things in common with God. The very thing He made us, like Him, no longer exists when we turn our backs on Him. Lost. Lost the connection. Lost who we are like.

We are like God. Is it any wonder that Paul would say that Christ lives in me, or let the word of Christ richly dwell within you. This is who we are made after. This is what we are like. We have more in common with God than we do anything else.

We are one day closer to Heaven…

Roger