The face of God

Yesterday a friend's grandson celebrated his first birthday. I remember when my wife and I went to the hospital to be with the family when he was born. After we were informed of his birth, we waited until time for us to go to the nursery to see him for the first time.

I remembered back to the birth of my own son. At first he was blue, and the delivery team had to deal with those attending issues. But finally there came a time when I was able to hold him in my arms for the first time. In my mind, he was the most beautiful, the most perfect creature I had ever seen. I knew I was going to be totally preoccupied with his very existence for quite a while.

Do you remember when your first child was born? Your first grandchild? You counted all the fingers and toes to make sure the count was right. You watched everything to function properly. You probably even wanted to see which side of the family the baby resembled most. All in all, you were immediately in love with this brand new person.

This gives us a unique perspective on how God might have felt the first time He saw Adam's face. 

Consider for a moment the whole creation episode. In Genesis 1 we read how the Lord God spoke the word and creation leaped into being. Day by day, heavens, earth, air, sky, water, land, birds, fish, vegetation – all of it happened by divine fiat. 

The Bible says in Psalms 33: 6, 9

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host… For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.

But with Adam, He got personally involved (Genesis 2:7):

Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

 That word translated form is the same word used in Jeremiah 1:5:

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations."

  The word translated form speaks of purposeful design. From God's perspective, He knew exactly what He had in mind when He created Adam.

There are some things about that part of the creation account from which we can draw great comfort and encouragement:

1. God got personally involved with creating Adam. He did not speak Adam into existence, as He did with the rest of creation.
2. It was a personal event for God when He created Adam. The rest of creation came into being by divine fiat. But Adam was a personal effort on God’s behalf. Adam was being created in God’s image.
3. God got His hands and knees dirty in creation. (It would be just like the Lord to go play in the mud! But that’s exactly what He does.)
4. You can almost see Him cradling Adam’s head when He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life I can only imagine the smile on God's face (and the curious wonder on Adam's).
5. God was intimate with Adam from the very beginning. Can you imagine Adam’s response when the first thing he saw was the face of the Lord?
6. God intended to have a face-to-face relationship with Adam. He was designed to have an intimate connection with the Lord and Creator of the universe.

There were others in Scripture who also saw the face of God (e.g. Exod. 33:11; Deut. 5:4; Judges 6:22;

Job 42:). We are promised that we can see the Lord's face, as well (Matt.5:8; 1 John 3:2).

Dear ones, these things are just as true of us as they were of Adam. God has been personally involved with each of us, having, like any good father, desires and ambitions for our lives. And God's longing for a purposeful relationship with us is still in His heart. He wants to walk with us daily.

I pray you yearn for the same.