In Romans 1 Paul lays out what happened in the Garden and which continues to happen now in the descendants of those first parents.
For having known God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but they became pointless in their thinking {a false story of self}, and their non-comprehending heart was darkened, asserting themselves to be wise, they became foolish. And they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God {which they were – the likeness of God} for the likeness and image of dying man, and birds, and quadrupeds, and creeping things {the serpent as the image of God.} JSV
Adam knew God.
God made Adam in His likeness and image
The Serpent in the garden appeared in all his gleaming splendour–unlike Adam’s human frame.
Adam chose between himself being the image and likeness of God and the Serpent presenting himself as the image of God. Adam chose the Serpent over a man-Christ Jesus, to be the very image of the Father.
Adam was unthankful in his mind regarding being the image of God as he was in all his human weakness. He appeared to be weak whereas the Serpent appeared to be strong.
Adam worshipped the outer appearance and chose not to see the true reality. The true reality of man is that we are created as God’s express image to reveal God to all creation, but only in union with the Father through Christ Jesus dwelling fully in us.
Instead man rejected being weak and being joined to a humble Saviour who gives his life for his enemies. Man chose superiority and arrogance over humility and inability.
In other words man chose Lucifer over Jesus. Man chose power and dominance over love and freedom. In doing so man became a prisoner of fear and anger, a child of wrath…when he could be a child of God and peace and love.
Whenever we reject ourselves we reject being God’s image. Thus we hate ourselves and thus hate God.
Whenever we try to better ourselves we reject being weak and imagine ourselves to be our own source from which we can try to better ourselves. Never works!
Far better to turn away from that false story of self and accept in quiet faith that Jesus is the image and likeness of God…and that Jesus has come to dwell in you and me to make us the image and likeness of God.
Far better to give thanks to Father for our weak frame as being His temple and His body that He fills full with Himself….even though it is weak and unable to do anything…so that the power of God, the sufficiency of God is seen in and through and as these bodies of weakness.
God in the flesh–that is who we are! Two persons sharing the same form.
Giving thanks to the Father that we are just like Him, just as we find ourselves to be right now, right here…having no other life than the life of Jesus Christ.
