As recovering alcoholics participating in a 12 Step process, it is vital to understand the biblical God. Having a concept of God as an imaginary genie (choose your own meaning), leaves us without any realistic approach to the truthful meaning of the human life process. The biblical story found in Genesis can explain our personal life experiences that underly our need to accept the concept of powerlessness, which is essential for recovery. A major point in the creation message is that God made us in His image. Thats a significant truth. We can better understand ourselves and our need for God if we can define what that image is and what it represents.
Theologians and laymen alike have attempted to provide that definition since the Genesis account first existed. The search of Scripture yields only partial clues and there are varied interpretations and theological debates still going on. We do know that we are a special creation of God and He created us lower than angels but higher than other earthly creatures (see Psalm 8:5-7 NIV). This gives us special dignity in God’s entire created world. Human dignity reflects our ability at a creature level to reproduce within us a reflection of the holy ways of God.
We will not elaborate on a comprehensive theological discussion about the image of God in humanity, except to say that it includes an intellectual, moral, and a volitional (having a free will) likeness to God. This gives us a godlike capacity for knowledge, thought, and action. This can be seen in how we operate in our environment through the use of our mind, will, and emotions. We are also like God in the sense of having a sense of sovereignty. In Genesis 1:26b we are made to reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground. God’s sovereignty (reign) is over everything that exists, while ours is limited to achieving His purpose for us. Because God is sovereign, our purpose is to serve, that is, to be of help to achieving the fullness of God’s purpose – not to dominate over the creation.
God’s image in us also includes our body and soul, where the image of His attributes of existence and power reflect themselves. In addition, God designed us to have communication with Him, so we also have a degree of spiritual likeness. However, we are human beings with a physical (material) body and an immaterial soul, while God’s presence on earth is Spirit. We do have a spiritual component which gives us the ability to perceive God. Since God created us, we not only share God’s moral characteristics, but desires for godliness as well. This could explain our distorted belief that we could be the gods of our own life. Fortunately, in our 12-Step recovery program we have discovered that to have real peace in life, we must give up that insane quest and depend upon God to help us manage our life.
For the recovering alcoholic, as the Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) third Step suggests, our major goal should be to understand enough about God and ourselves to be effective at turning our life and will over to His care. That response to God implies that we need a level of understanding that empowers us to trust in that choice. That is an achievable goal and progressively we gain confidence enough to manage a proper relational response to His desired Will. It is an analysis of the image from the attributes (positive characteristics) of God that will help us gain confidence, since these can be experienced. In the book, Eternal Sobriety, these positive characteristics were identified as Spirit, Creator, Infinite, Eternal, Immutable, Perfection, Omniscience, Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Truth, Holy, Love, and Grace.
These attributes give us a good understanding of God. We cannot see God and He is intangible. He is Spirit! We know that God can create. He enjoys making things out of nothing. We know that God is without end. He has no limits or bounds. We know that God is alive and will live forever. He is permanent. He does not need to change because He is perfect in all ways. He has no flaws. We know that God has knowledge of everything. He has everlasting power and control over everything. God is in charge. He is present everywhere. We know that He is the source of all truth. He knows the way it is and everything else is relative to that truth. He is Holy. God has personal love and affection for each of us. He cares about us. His unmerited favor toward humanity, proven with His plan of salvation, is loaded with forgiveness. All of this we know about Him from His written Word.
God placed His image in us in such a way that we can experience and understand that His image is there. The fact that we sense our own existence is because He exists. He created us with needs that will lead to seeking Him. Only through a personal relationship with Him are we able to experience the joy of fulfilling these needs in our life. These needs are not the human needs, based upon selfishness and materialism, which we so often pursue, but represent our “spiritual needs.” Spiritual needs are the deeper substance of all our needs, and it is only by satisfying them that we will find true peace and serenity. With this given, we can define the fundamental spiritual needs that are in us as a reflection or image of the character of God.
God, being a Spirit, translates in to an inner “need to be spiritual.” Humanity has had this desire since time began. Everyone has some idea that there must be more to life than the physical and emotional world we live in. As we learn to grow spiritually, we validate our own spiritual needs.
Our own “need to create” is reflective of God’s creative nature. Consider where our world would be without human creativity. We find this ability of creativity in all lifestyles and in everyone. We pursue many avenues as we attempt to create a life for ourselves in this world. However, our real need is to know our Creator. Only when the Spirit of God is alive in us can we meet this need. Our 12th Step defines this as “spiritual awakening.”
God’s infinite nature contrasted with our finite nature gives us the “need to perpetually grow and to seek answers.” The first recordings of early history to modern day ventures into outer space, confirm this need. Our deeper need is to know God.
Our “need to live and survive in our worldly environment” and the “need to live forever” come from God’s eternal nature. Sadly, man seeks immortality in many ways other than the way God intended.
God’s immutable nature contrasted with our human instability gives us the “need to change toward stability.” The emotional relief we feel when confusion leaves us, and we gain stability in our mind (thinking) is reflective of the value of this need. The need we have for variety in our life is a part of our continuous seeking and searching for stability. There will be no real satisfaction from the world’s way. It is when we experience the steadfastness of God, that this need is met.
Our “need for progress toward perfection” is an image of God’s attribute of perfection. We are constantly trying to improve everything and everybody – sometimes to the point of annoyance. The Bible is clear that the way to perfection is through Jesus Christ.
We also have an incessant “need to know everything.” Do you know someone that thinks they have met that need? Some of us think we have. This comes from God’s omniscience.
God’s omnipotence is reflective of our “need to control,” which we so easily get confused about in practice.
Our “need to be a part of something greater than ourselves” is due to God’s omnipresence. Generally, most of us do not like to be alone.
God’s absolute Truth translates in to our “need to always seek a higher truth.” We see this at work everywhere. Truth can be difficult to find. Reading God’s Word is a good way to start meeting this need.
We also seek after holiness because God is holy. Our own impurity contrasted with His purity establishes our “need to feel cleansed.”
Our own “need to love as well as to receive love” is demonstrative of God’s nature of love.
Our own “need for forgiveness,” as well as our “need to forgive others,” is reflective of God’s grace.
All of these needs God created within us – to harmoniously blend in to an underlying need to know our Creator, to know the purpose of our existence, and the need to accomplish that purpose. (excerpt from the book Eternal Sobriety)
This basic understanding will be the stepping stone in to a new series of articles that deal with the image of God as expressed by His Attributes and our progress in fulfilling the needs He has placed in us. Here are the future articles.
As God Is – What We Are Like – Our Need to be Spiritual
As God Is – What We Are Like – Our Need for Holiness
As God Is – What We Are Like – Our Need to Create Our Life
As God Is – What We Are Like – Our Need for Eternal Life
As God Is – What We Are Like – Our Need to Love
As God Is – What We Are Like – Our Need to Forgive
Some of what will be discussed in these articles is taken from the book Eternal Sobriety.