"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. . . . 26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. . . . then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature." - Genesis 1:1, 26-27; 2:7

In the beginning of the Bible, we see several characteristics that compel the human spirit to worship God. First, we see the creative power of God. He made everything that is. He is the most marvelous Creator of all. And He created from scratch. He simply spoke heaven and earth and seas and trees into being. And He continues to demonstrate His creativity by painting beautiful sunsets and majestic natural scenes.

Another reason we worship God is because of His complexity. We could never, in 1,000 lifetimes, comprehend the fullness of God. One example of such is the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. While not explicit in the creation account, we see foreshadowing. “Let us...our image...our likeness (plural)” (1:26) contrast with “So God (singular) created them...” (1:27) John 1:1-3 supports this interpretation, stating that all things were created through Jesus, who was God in the beginning.

A third reason for praising God I see in this passage is that He created us uniquely. He made everything that exists; but He made us in His own image. He took the time to not only form us from the earth in His own image, but to breathe into man’s nostrils the breath of life. What a powerful demonstration of His grace. All human life is uniquely special—therefore every human life is worthy of respect and dignity, as an image-bearer of God.

And just as God breathed the breath of life into the first man’s nostrils, He continues to breathe new life into people today. Because of the events that unfolded in Genesis 3, death entered creation, particularly within the human spirit; and the likeness of God within man was marred. But God had a plan—even from before He spoke creation into existence—to redeem us, and breathe new life into dead souls. That plan was Jesus.

I invite you to spend the next year reading back through the story of how God unfolded His plan, and why He is worthy of all glory, honor, and praise.