#80 In God’s Image: Justice
Because of likeness to God we have many similar desires to God. Such as in Genesis 9:6, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man” (Genesis 9:6). This here showcases our need for justice. In this context God explains that when we act contrary to our nature God, earth, or our fellowman will seek to restore things back to their proper order. This all comes about because God is a God of justice, Man is in God’s image, and we are called to create not destroy.
God is a God of justice. When Adam and Eve harmed their relationship with God in the garden by eating the fruit God sent them out of the garden as a reflection of the new reality that Adam and Eve created. Which is that they stepped away from God. Consider “therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.
So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:23-24). God’s justice is a response to human action.
In turn, our sense of justice arises like God’s sense of justice. When others sin against us or others our sense of justice may be activated like God’s was in the garden. This is why in Genesis 9:6 it says, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man” (Genesis 9:6). Our desire for justice is a reflection of our likeness to God.
We are meant to create not destroy. Genesis 9:6 continues in verse 7, “As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it” (Genesis 9:7). This call to action is part of our God like nature, as our God is a creator God. When we create things we feel a bit of what God must ‘feel’ when he created us. When a father or Mother sees their child they have a sense of love and care for that child which is a reflection of how our God sees us. Yet justice is called for when a child is disobedient.
