You animated?

It amazes me sometimes how much human beings strive to be "gods" in their own right when they are already created in the image of God.  Fame, fortune, privilege, honor - all seem to attract human beings like moths to the open flame.  Why?  There is a void in us which clamors to be filled - a void created to house the very presence of God himself, but which we clamor to fill with all manner of things other than him.  Scripture doesn't tell us we were created to "be gods", but created "godlike" - in other words, we are created in the image of God - with a spirit.  The spirit is what gives us the ability to stand apart from all other manner of creation - and what gives us the ability to commune with God himself.  It is the spirit which allows the connection between humankind and God - a void created to afford his infilling and constant presence.  So, why is it we try to fill our "emptiness" with anything other than that which it was actually created for?  Maybe it is because we are "creative" beings ourselves - after all, we are created in the image of God, and his very nature is to create!  We might just set about "creating" to fill the void because we think the void is "ours" to fill!

When God created the human race, he made it godlike, with a nature akin to God. He created both male and female and blessed them, the whole human race.  (Genesis 5:1-2 MSG)

Truth is, no human being can fill the void as it was intended to be filled - no matter how hard we try.  At best, we will create mere imitations of grace, peace, and the like.  We truthfully cannot give and maintain peace apart from God's intervention in our lives.  We definitely cannot move into grace, forgiving ourselves of our sin and then forgiving others of theirs apart from the grace God gives.  All we can produce is cheap imitations of the real - we might let "some off the hook" for their offense, but the next time they do it, how likely are we to take the same course of action?  Not very likely, right?  The saying, "Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me!" would probably be an outcome of us trying to actually "create" some form of "grace" to extend to either ourselves or another.  There are just some things we cannot "create" - they come directly as a result of God inhabiting the spirit of man.

The spirit is different from the soul - but both can be thought of as "immaterial" in nature.  The body is "material" - in that it can be felt, explored, analyzed, etc.  The soul is made up of mind, will, and emotions. Many have tried to explore these three, but I daresay none has come close to tapping into the depths of any of these three!  The spirit is entirely separate from either the soul and the body - it is the direct "place" of connection between God and man.  Think of it as the 220V outlet you plug into to get a current flowing!  Without this connection, man is "devoid" of that which was truly meant to animate and give purpose to his life.

Notice the scripture says we were made godlike - not made as gods, or to attain "god-ship" at some point.  Any religion which teaches we rise to new heights as we do good works/deeds, deny self, etc., and thereby get a little closer to being "gods" in our own right is really not Christianity.  God created us already in his image - godlike - complete with body, soul, and spirit.  Man has struggled with this desire to rise to the "level" of "god" for quite sometime.  Ever since Lucifer made the determination in his heart that he wanted to be like God and tried to elevate himself to the place which is only meant for God himself, mankind has struggled with this same idea.  What Lucifer failed to recognize is the place of communion (the spirit) was never intended to be the place of enthroning oneself as god.  It was designed to be the place of allowing God to indwell and fill to overflowing until all of life was animated by his presence.

Think of the spirit as the place of animation - without God indwelling the spirit, we are indeed still created in his image, but our life is like a puppet without anyone to animate it.  I am not saying we are puppets in God's hands, but think of a glove - apart from being worn on one's hand, it serves no purpose.  It was designed to protect, provide warmth, act as a barrier for our hands.  When the hand is absent from the glove, the glove just lies there! Without God's presence our lives are rather "flat", as well.  We might look like we are "alive", but true life is experienced only when the "glove" of our lives is filled with that which gives the "glove" its purpose!  Just sayin!