BACK TO THE BEGINNING: AWAKENING TO THE LIKENESS OF WHO WE REALLY ARE - by Joel Pollard

Genesis 1:26-28 in The Message says, “God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature (likeness). So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, and yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth. God created human beings; he created them godlike, reflecting God’s nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.” God’s ultimate achievement was to reproduce Himself in Genesis. When He wanted to make us, He spoke to the substance from which we were made and spoke to Himself and said, “Us”, bring forth man—our image, our likeness. Mankind’s first conscious moment is when “God blessed man”. The Hebrew here is barach, meaning “kneel, act of adoration”, so when someone wanted to honor somebody else, they’d kneel and bear gifts, bringing gifts to honor. The first thing God did when He first created us is He adored us. The most natural thing for beings that are made in the image and likeness of God is to reflect adoration that they receive. The only accurate way to value our Creator is to reflect the adoration and honor that He gives us. The matter of the fact started with the lie in the Garden. Adam and Eve were already like God. They fellowshipped with God in the middle of the evening but the serpent tricked them, “If you eat of this, you’ll be like God”. They were tricked and bought into the lie of the very thing that they already were—they already had the likeness of the Father, Son & Spirit. In looking at The Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil, our mindsets can tend to trick us to the point where we think if we can eat off that tree, that we would be like God. What is happening when we do this? We’re trying to become who we already are; we’re trying to acquire the fullness that’s already in us; if I can just do this one thing or try harder, then maybe it will be enough to be acceptable or worthy before God. We need to believe the truth about ourselves that reveals our authenticity of who we really are, rather than the lies that have no value and keeps us in a counterfeit-mindset of captivity. How does God do that? Through being part of a healthy family, healthy connections, vulnerability, honesty, transparency, receiving unadulterated love, learning, unlearning lots of things and being led by Holy Spirit. If we allow the perception in our minds that God is withholding the Tree of Life because He wants it for Himself, obviously this Tree of Life, God desires above all other trees, then the tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil becomes the most desirable tree there is because we’re reflecting the desires we perceive. When we lose sight of God, we start looking at and reflecting one another. The truth is that we are made as beings to reflect. The purpose for likeness is to introduce us into the place of the greatest intimacy where adoration is met with adoration; where affirmation is met with affirmation; where love is received, reproduced and reflected back; where the creative movements within God finds a creative resonance within us. The Holy Spirit is resounding to us in our heart, “Quit trying to become who you already are”. Until we realize that we’re enough, we’ll keep pretending to be what we’re not. It’s not about trying to become, it’s about knowing who we already are. The only agenda God has is to set us free, to be fully and truly ourselves. He has no suspicion towards His own image and likeness. What is the Magnificent Trinity revealing and restoring to us? The glory of the perfect Garden where we live and thrive from a place of wholeness, of purpose, calling, destiny that we were formed with before the foundation of the world, formed in the likeness and image of the Father, Son & Spirit. It has always been God’s plan, desire and design for us all along to live from the  Garden of Glory. We are to rule and reign in this world. to incarnate Jesus in this world for it is, “Christ in us, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). When we no longer say “yes” to things our spirits are saying “no” to, that’s the beginning of eating from the Tree of Life. Holy Spirit, thank you for continuing to lead and guide us into our very likeness where we live, move and have our being. In the words of Wm Paul Young, “Thank you Holy Spirit, and we’ll have more please.” With Love, Joel