Fully Devoted: Creationنموونە

God Created Relationships

We are created in the image of a three-in-one God. This is what Christians mean when they say God is a trinity. God is one being who exists as three distinct persons. Those persons are God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 

The concept of “relationship” is woven into the nature of God. This means that being made in the image of God includes being made for relationships. 

This is illustrated through three very powerful texts in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2.

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 NIV 

It doesn’t say in the image of God he created him or her. In the image of God, He created them. We cannot be fully human on our own because it is only in relationships that we can accurately reflect the relational nature of our three-in-one God.  

In Genesis 2, we’re introduced to the first part of God’s creation that He says is not good: 

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18 NIV

It is not good for someone to be alone. We were all created to live in community—with one another and with God. This is why isolation is so dangerous. Isolation isn’t neutral, or even just unpleasant. To be isolated is to miss out on the fullness of what it means to be human. Part of being human includes that we are created in the image of our relational God.

When we’re living outside of relationships, we’ll always be left with a space that cannot be filled by anything else. This idea is shown when God has Adam name the animals. After he gives a name to all the different kinds of creatures with him, we’re told:

... But for Adam no suitable helper was found. Genesis 2:20 NIV

If none of those animals would be a suitable helper for him, then why did God show them all to him? 

Maybe it’s because God wanted to show Adam how different humans are from every other living creature before introducing him to a suitable helper. And while human beings and other animals might be similar in some ways, human beings are unique because we are made in the image of God. As a result, the relational needs we have can only be satisfied in community with God and those made in His image. 

Journaling Questions 

• Write down one of the verses from today’s reading. Have you placed the appropriate emphasis on relationships in your life? Why or why not?
• How can you choose to reject isolation and build community, starting today? 
• Does understanding God as inherently relational change your view of Him?

Memory Verse

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 NIV