Beloved, we are God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be—but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
1 John 3:2
At the climax of the first creation narrative, the author dictated a stunning proclamation from the Creator:
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”1
These remarkable words unveiled the essential nature of mankind as being “in [God’s] image, after [God’s] likeness.” As God’s representatives on Earth, we are commissioned by God to be the lords of all Creation, the glorious culmination of all that is. Truly, there is no greater declaration nor higher praise than that which is contained in those ancient words.
To be completely honest, though, I always disliked this passage. First of all, it does not require spiritual perception to see that mankind has, by and large, been a scourge upon the Earth, ravaging the abundance and beauty of this place for the sake of our own selfish endeavors. Additionally, I have been repeatedly frustrated with the lack of clarity regarding how to interpret this essential revelation. What does it mean that I am made “in [God’s] image, after [God’s] likeness”? And how do I make sense of God’s command for us to “multiply,” “subdue,” and “have dominion”? From a twenty-first century perspective, that sounds rather ominous.
When academics attempt to interpret this perplexing passage, they often examine the meaning of the words “image” and “likeness,” delving into their etymology and contextual usage. Most modern scholars claim that there is no significant distinction between them and that the two words are fundamentally interchangeable. The early Christian writers, though, tended to adopt a different stance, explaining that the word “image” describes something inherent within us at conception, while the word “likeness” refers to the result of spiritual progress, a grace achieved through prolonged effort. During my academic studies, I found that both conclusions had their merits, making it very difficult for me to know with confidence whom I ought to believe. Once again, I found myself trapped in the quicksand of opinion, trying desperately to grasp hold of something solid, yet sinking ever deeper into confusion.
Laying aside the burden of my academic training, I returned to the scriptures with the openness of a child. When I did so, resting in the stillness of my soul, I discovered that the key to interpreting the ancient vision of our creation lies within the Garden of Eden. Standing upon the soil of that ancient paradise, I saw firsthand the purpose and potential of our lives on Earth.
The Garden of Eden
Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, but a mist came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.2
Entering the spiritual landscape of Eden, the first thing I saw was a luminous mist, swaying and swirling above barren ground. The mist was Life “water[ing] the whole surface of the ground” and forming the Garden that was to become the home of mankind.
The mist covered everything. Then, only a few yards in front of me, I saw the mist rise up and slowly coalesce into the shape of a man. With arms outstretched and head tilting toward the sky, the man opened his mouth and received the first breath of air. By breathing Life into his lungs and body, God formed the first man as a “living being,” composed of the seeds of Life.
At that moment, the Garden began to change. Out of the luminous mist, I saw a lush landscape emerge. As I studied this terrain of low-growing plants, I noticed that the foliage was swaying rhythmically from side to side. The entire ethereal paradise seemed to be dancing, and everything sparkled like ice-covered branches illumined by the morning sun.
From these observations, I realized that the Garden was formed through the same divine means as was the first man, for everything was an exquisite expression of Life overflowing. There were no shadows that could tarnish the purity of that place. Nor was there anything that could enhance it, such as the seeds of Light or Love. There existed only Life, laying the foundation for that which was to come.
In my curiosity, I wanted to identify the location of this living Garden. Still standing in my soul, I drew upward, so as to view the Garden from above. As I did so, I saw that the luminous paradise was actually a sphere, suspended within the center of the sphere of Heaven. The Garden of Eden was the Earth in its original state, pure and untouched.
Through my vision, I discovered that the Garden of Eden was a vision of infancy. All was Life, yet lacking the fulness of God’s Word. Whereas Heaven was created from the union of Life, Light, and Love, Earth and her first inhabitants were a foundation awaiting completion.
The Tree of Life
Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.3
I beheld in the center of the Garden a thick column of brilliant white light. It rose slowly into the sky, eventually ascending to such a height that I could no longer see its top. Beams of light spread outward from the entire length of the vertical shaft. I was awe-struck by this immense spectacle of sparkling light illuminating the Garden in all directions. As I stood and stared, I suddenly realized that the light was in the shape of a tree. I was observing the Tree of Life.
Eagerly moving closer, I sought to investigate the radiant wonder. The trunk and branches were ablaze with a blinding white light. The leaves were a soft white color, exactly like everything else in the Garden. The fruit, however, looked different. I beheld, dangling from every radiant bough, hundreds of resplendent white pearls. These pearls were the fruit of the Tree of Life—which God gave to the first man, that he might “freely eat”4 of it at all times.
According to Genesis, the fruit contained a remarkable power, such that those who ate it would “live forever.”5 In his vision of the New Jerusalem, John also described the fruit of the Tree of Life:
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.6
According to the Prophets of old, the fruit of the Tree of Life is the food that will sustain those who are to reign with God “for ever and ever.”
Day after day, I returned to the Tree of Life, longing to know the spiritual significance of its sacred fruit. Not until I observed the first man consume one of these resplendent pearls did I realize what the fruit actually was. As he ate, I saw the seeds of Life, Light, and Love suddenly appear in his body. By eating the fruit, the fulness of God’s Word began to abide in him. This fruit is a “pearl of great value,”7 the source of God’s Light and Love on Earth. Through the man’s act of freely eating it, the fulness of the Word was being introduced into God’s blossoming Creation.
Sons and Daughters of God
[The Word] was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.8
John was not the first to use the phrase, “children of God,” for all Jewish people viewed themselves as the “sons of the LORD.” And as a Jew, John knew that if he failed to follow the Law given by his Father God, he would forsake his status as God’s child:9
They have dealt corruptly with [God], they are no longer his children because of their blemish; they are a perverse and crooked generation.
In his writings, John expounded on this well-established tenet. First, he declared that we must become a son or daughter of God through a process of spiritual birth, in which we are “born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” Then, in his first epistle, John revealed the mechanism behind the mysterious act of being “born anew”:
No one born of God commits sin; for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. By this it may be seen who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil.10
Thus, to be born of God means that God’s “seed” is present within us. All who receive the Word are given the “power to become children of God” because the seeds of Life, Light, and Love are laid up in their hearts. This results in an actual spiritual change, by which they are transformed after the likeness of the seeds themselves.
The process of new birth is the phenomenon I observed while watching the first man eat in the Garden. God gave the fruit of the Tree of Life in the beginning—and will give it again in the end—so that by freely eating of this sacred food, the seeds of God’s Word enter into us. And when God’s seeds abide in us, sin loses its stronghold because we are being born of Life, Light, and Love.
Keeping and Cultivating the Garden
The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.11
I loved to watch the first man move about the Garden. Once, I saw him kneel and gently pick up a small round stone. As he gazed at the stone, eyes beaming with joy, he breathed upon it, and the three seeds of God’s Word poured from his lips. Life, Light, and Love surrounded and entered the stone, resulting in a sudden burst of white light. Then, to my great surprise, the stone transformed into a living animal.
Another time, I observed the man walk into an expansive meadow where soft white grasses gently swayed. The man paused and surveyed the vast landscape. Stretching out his arms like a priest giving a blessing, he breathed upon all he beheld. As he did so, God’s seeds poured forth from his lips, and the grasses of the prairie suddenly changed into a multitude of exotic plants, each shining with the brightness of a star.
According to Genesis, man was placed in the Garden of Eden for the purpose of keeping and cultivating it. The Hebrew verb translated as “keep” means to act with vigilant protection, like a shepherd keeping watch over his flock. God commissioned the first man to protect the Garden by keeping out those who seek to destroy, in the same way that a good shepherd ensures the safety of his sheep by fending off predators. The Hebrew verb translated as “cultivate” means to labor with the soil. The Creator commissioned the first man to work the soil of the Garden, changing and improving the land through his faithful service.
While reflecting on those Hebrew verbs, I realized that they convey the full purpose of mankind. God placed us here to protect the Garden from forces that seek to do harm, while simultaneously improving the Garden over time. In my vision, when the first man breathed upon the stone and the meadow, he was performing these two tasks. By sowing seeds of Light, he infused the Garden with that which could conquer any encroaching darkness. By sowing seeds of Love, he animated the Garden with that which created it anew. In the Garden of Life, God chose us to be the ones to introduce Light and Love, thereby filling all things with the fulness of God’s Word.
Every time the first man ate the fruit of the Tree of Life, he laid up God’s seeds within himself. Continually born anew by the boundless grace of that great tree, he received the power to become a son of God, increasingly capable of doing the work of God within the Creator’s Garden. God gave him unrestricted access to the Word so that he could be like God and sow these seeds into the soil of Earth.
Holding these insights in my heart, I saw clearly that if I—a man created by God—will faithfully sow the seeds of Life, Light, and Love into all that I see and touch, then I too will cultivate God’s glorious Garden. I was created to become a doorway through which the fulness of God’s Word can enter and transform all of Creation. The Garden of Earth is a foundation of Life, eagerly longing for us—the sons and daughters of God—to participate in God’s work of creation by breathing Light and Love into all that is.
Image and Likeness
What is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou dost care for him? Yet, thou hast made him little less than God, and dost crown him with glory and honor.12
In the beginning, God spoke the seeds of Life, Light, and Love. We, as the image of God on Earth, have the capacity to do the same. When we eat freely of the fruit of the Tree of Life, the Word enters and abides within us in increasing measure. As we lay up God’s seeds in our hearts, and then give them out into the world as freely as we receive them, we become like God.
When God chose to “rest” on the seventh day, the work of creation was still unfinished. Earth was a paradise of Life, innocent and incomplete. God rested because the work that remains is now ours to fulfill. We are the lords of Earth, created to keep watch over the Garden by vanquishing shadows with the seeds of Light and cultivating the Garden so that it blooms with Love. Our great commission is to fill all things with the fulness of God’s Word, thereby completing what God established in the beginning.
Genesis 1:26–27
Genesis 2:5–7
Genesis 2:8–9
Genesis 2:16
Genesis 3:22
Revelation 22:1–2
Matthew 13:46
John 1:10–13
Deuteronomy 32:5
1 John 3:9–10
Genesis 2:15
Psalm 8:4–5