Sermon Tone Analysis
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Discussion Questions
CHAPTER THREE
Once and Future Kings
We’ve had a brief introduction to God’s heavenly council—his unseen family and task force.
There’s a lot more to all that—we need to look, especially, at how major players like Jesus and Satan fit into the picture.
But before we return to what goes on in the unseen world, we need to think in a fresh way about ourselves.
God’s rule in the unseen spiritual world through his council is a template for his rule on earth—what theologians call the kingdom of God.
All of that began in Genesis, in the garden of Eden.
Eden—God’s Home Office
What’s the first thing you think of when you hear “garden of Eden”?
Most people I’ve talked to think of Adam and Eve.
Eden was their home.
That’s where God put them (Gen.
2:15–25).
But Eden was also God’s home.
Ezekiel refers to Eden as “the garden of God” (Ezek.
28:13; 31:8–9).
No surprise, really.
What might be surprising is that, right after calling Eden “the garden of God,” Ezekiel calls it “the holy mountain of God” (v.
28:14).
In many ancient religions, luxurious gardens and inaccessible mountains were considered the home of the gods.
The Bible uses both descriptions for Eden.
Eden was God’s home and, therefore, where he conducted business.
It was his headquarters, or home office.
And where God is, his council is with him.
God’s Imagers
One of the most important verses in the Bible tips us off that both God and his council were in Eden.
In Genesis 1:26 God says, “Let us make humankind in our image” (LEB, emphasis added).
God announces his intention to a group.
Who’s he talking to?
His heavenly host—his council.
He’s not talking to the other members of the Trinity, because God can’t know something they don’t!
And here the group he’s addressing learns what God has decided to do.
The announcement is easy to understand.
It would be like me saying to some friends, “Let’s get pizza!”
Let’s do this!
Clear enough.
But there’s something else we don’t want to miss.
God actually doesn’t include the group in bringing about his decision.
Unlike other divine council sessions we’ve seen, the members of God’s council don’t participate in this decision.
When humankind is created in the next verse (Gen.
1:27), God is the only one creating.
The creation of humanity is something God handled himself.
Going back to my pizza analogy, if I followed my announcement by driving everyone to the pizza place and insisted on paying, I would be the one doing all the work.
That’s what we see going on here.
It makes sense that God would be the only one creating humans.
The divine beings of his council don’t have that kind of power.
But that produces another oddity.
In Genesis 1:27, humans are created in God’s image (“God created humankind in his image,” LEB, emphasis added).
What happened to “our image” from verse 26?
Actually, nothing.
The exchange between “our image” and “his image” in Genesis 1:26–27 reveals something fascinating.
God’s statement—“Let us make humankind in our image”—means that he and the ones he’s speaking to share something in common.
Whatever that is, humans will also share it once God creates them.
Not only are we like God in some way, but we are also like the divine beings of his council.
That “something” is communicated by the phrase “image of God.”
A better translation of Genesis 1:26 would be that God created humans as his image.
To be human is to be God’s imager.
We are God’s representatives, so to speak.
The image of God isn’t an ability given to us by God, like intelligence.
We can lose abilities, but we cannot lose the status of being God’s imager.
That would require not being human!
Every human, from conception to death, will always be human and always be God’s imager.
This is why human life is sacred.
How do we represent God?
We saw in the previous chapter that God shares his authority with the divine beings of his unseen task force.
He does the same thing with humans on earth.
God is the high king of all things visible and invisible.
He rules.
He shares that rule with his family in the spiritual world and the human world.
We’re here to participate in God’s plan to make the world all he wants it to be and enjoy it with him.
Eventually God showed us how we should do that.
Jesus is the ultimate example of representing God.
He’s called the image of the invisible God (Col.
1:15) and the exact imprint of God (Heb.
1:3).
We are to imitate Jesus for that reason (Rom.
8:29; 2 Cor.
3:18).
Two Councils, One Destiny
There’s a drift in all this I hope you’re catching.
Humans are basically God’s administration—his council—on earth.
We were made to live in God’s presence, with his heavenly family.
We were made to enjoy him and serve him forever.
Originally, that was meant to also happen on earth.
Eden was where heaven and earth intersected.
God and his council members occupied the same space as humanity.
But to what end?
God told Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion … over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen.
1:28).
This was the task for God’s imagers.
They would serve God as steward-kings over creation.
Humanity’s job was to overspread the earth and extend Eden to the entire planet—to grow the kingdom of God.
That job was too big for two people, so God wanted Adam and Eve to produce children.
As we know, Adam and Eve and their progeny failed.
Humanity sinned.
Had that not occurred, the earth would have been gradually transformed to a global Eden.
We would have had everlasting life on a perfected planet, living with God and his spiritual family.
God loved humanity, so he forgave Adam and Eve.
But the rest of humanity from that point on was destined to follow in Adam and Eve’s footsteps.
We all sin and deserve death without God’s intervention (Rom.
6:23).
We are mortal and, therefore, sinners.
We need salvation.
The idea of God wanting us to join his divine family, to be part of his council and live in his presence, helps us understand some amazing things the Bible says.
It explains why the Bible refers to believers as “sons of God” or “children of God” (John 1:12; 11:52; Gal.
3:26; 1 John 3:1–3).
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