The Creator’s Vision &
Values for Humanity
is embedded in the stories of the Sixth
and Seventh Days in Genesis 1:1-2:4a. It is one of the most powerful texts
in the Bible and has influenced lives for over 2500 years. One of the most powerful
phrases in the Bible is also in it – “the
image of God.” Those words played a major role in the founding of the
United States of America!
Below
is a quick summary of key parts of the Creator’s vision:
1. Gender equality of females and males.
They are two parts of ADAM (Hebrew word for “humanity”). They are counterparts created to work in harmony
together as equals that are adequate for each other in every way. Equality and Male and Female working in
Harmony are Lives 1st Values.
2. Fathers and Mothers that work as a Team.
They are to bring forth the next
generation of children and be the caretakers, protectors, teachers and mentors.
They are to meet all of their needs of the children – physical, psychological,
and emotional. Parenting is a Lives 1st
Value.
3. Impulse Control and Self-Discipline. Humans are created with an Earth soul like
the animals and the Spirit of the Creator. They have instincts that are driven
by early appetites, desires and longings, while also being driven by the
Creator’s Spirit to do things like the Creator that are TOV – protect and
preserve lives, make lives more functional and increase the quality of life. Freewill and the Capacity to Do Things
that are TOV are Lives 1st Values.
4. Eat Green Plants and Fruit from Tree.
Humans are to eat plant-based diets of
green plants, herbs and fruit from trees. All of those things are to produce
seeds that reproduce their own kind. A
Plant-Based Diet is a Lives 1st Value.
5. Co-Shepherds of all Life on Earth.
Humans are endowed with godlike roles of
acting as the Creator’s vice regents and Co-Shepherds -- exercising power like
a shepherd exercises power over its flock by doing acts that protect and
preserve lives, make lives more functional and increase the quality of life. The Shepherding Model for Exercising Power
is a Lives 1st Value.
6. Reflect the Image of the Creator on the
Earth. Humans are collectively
created “in the Image of the Creator” – ADAM. “The image of the Creator
requires the presence of male and female humans – the minimum requirements for
creating a new human life. Reflecting the “image of the Creator” requires male
and female working together doing things that measure TOV -- protect and
preserve lives, make lives more functional and increase the quality of life. Reflecting the Image of the Creator on
Earth is a Lives 1st Value.
7.
Recall and Teach the Creator’s Vision.
Humans are to gather, recall and teach the
Creator’s Vision on the Seventh Day. They are to let the entire community hear
the ancient words read aloud weekly, do their best to make it a reality in
their lives, and pass it down from one generation to next. Sharing the Creator’s Vision is a Lives 1st Value.
Of
all people on earth, the Jewish people know the power of holding fast to a
vision of God. They held his vision of restoring them to their homeland from
450 BCE until 1948 CE – before it became
a reality.
How
would you like to live in a world described in the Creator’s vision? In many
ways, it reminds us of descriptions of what Heaven is supposed to be like. The
Creator’s vision is about life on Earth while we are alive. It is about what the Creator wants all
people to experience while they are alive!
Words become thoughts,
thoughts become mental images,
mental images become plans,
and plans + actions become realities.
In
closing remember this, the man and woman created in Genesis 1 never say or do
anything. They are not Adam and Eve. The words the Creator spoke about them are
his vision for what human lives should be like. From the perspective of the
Creator’s vision – Adam and Eve blew
it! But by reading their lives in
light of the Creator’s vision, readers learn much more about to live their
lives. That’s what the stories
were written to do!
Thank
you for reading this. Please share and discuss it with others.
May
your be blessed with, and bless others with, an abundance of TOV,
Jim Myers
Jim Myers
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