If You Want to Be Like God

(First of all, if you’re on my email list, sorry - this is not the post I said I was doing today. I thought maybe if I put out the title a day ahead of time it would force me to finish the post, but it’s just not finishing the way I want it to so for this week we’re going with a different one.)

My Bible study group has had some discussions recently about what it means to be an image-bearer and to be “like God'.” It reminded me of this post I wrote a couple years ago, so it seemed like a good time to bring it back out.

At the time I was reading through Genesis, and it got me thinking about the cunning words the serpent used to tempt Eve:

“…your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5)

With just one phrase, Satan hit at the root of all human desire. He’s not worthy of trust, but let’s not underestimate his intelligence. He knew exactly what Eve wanted, and he offered it when he said “You will be like God.”

Those words were the root of the first sin and all sin ever since.

They turned Eve’s eyes from all the good things God had given her and focused them on the one thing He had withheld.

They planted seeds of doubt in her belief that He was trustworthy.

They offered a way to reach past what God had given and grasp for more.

And that’s what mankind did from then on.

At the root of every sin is some desire for godlikeness.

We crave power, glory, recognition, satisfaction. We want everything our way, according to our desires.

Nearly every war, every technological advancement, and every broken relationship can be traced back to someone trying to control people or nature to do their own will.

But. Satan didn’t invent this desire.

Instead, he hijacked a desire that God had already wired into His creatures. God’s intention for us has always been for us to be like Him – just in a very different way.

This is clear before the serpent comes to Eve, when God makes man “in His image, according to His likeness.” Since God doesn’t have a physical body, it’s a little confusing what that means, but it’s clear that our truest identity is a reflection of His.

And when we fell off that path and He sent His Son to bring us back, it was to make us like Him. Romans 8:29 says that we were “predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.”

Countless other verses use that language, and the whole heartbeat of Christian behavior in the New Testament is to be like Christ.

So what’s the difference? God intends for us to be like Him; Satan offers the same thing.

And yet the difference is the difference between sin and holiness.

God’s way, at first glance, limits us. We can eat from every tree, except that one.

We can have knowledge, but not all knowledge.

We can have power, but not infinite power.

We can have what we desire, but only when our desires are aligned with His.

We will eventually be glorified together with Him, but we will always be in submission to Him.

Satan offers God’s plan on our terms.

He offers the tree that God has withheld.

He offers the knowledge of good and evil.

He offers power to be free from the need for God.

He offers the satisfaction of every desire of our flesh.

He offers glory above everything else, with no need to submit or serve anyone.

And his promise is completely empty.

Chasing after God’s plan Satan’s way leads only to destruction. Satan knows this, of course, and so when that destruction comes, he pivots to a different lie: “You could never be like God in anyway.”

But the truth is that we can, and should, and must, become more like God every day. The New Testament says over and over that we will be glorified with Christ – but we must also suffer with Him.

We will be resurrected together with Him, but only by letting our old self be crucified together with Him.

We can have the power of the Spirit, but we must also submit to others.

In the end, though, the “limitations” of becoming like God in the way He’s made for us are not limitations at all.

We will eat of the tree of life in the city of God.

We will be more glorious and beautiful than we can even imagine.

We will have whatever our hearts desire and only desire what God gives.

We will be sons and daughters of the King, constantly becoming more and more like our Father.

And that’s something to remember when Satan comes to offer you God’s plan on different terms.