We have been studying the influence that one mercy-motivated intercessor can have upon the heart of God. In this, we looked at Abraham and then expanded our study to Moses. The Lord heard the intercession of Moses as he stood between divine judgment and Israel's sin, and he stayed in the place of intercession until God's Word concerning Israel came to pass.

The cycle of Israel's sin and God's justice repeated itself time and again. In essence, it was always the same: Israel rebelled; God threatened destruction; Moses interceded; God forgave.

Yet, even as we are awed by the power and privilege of prayer, in the subconscious realms of our souls, for some, another thought forms. At first, it appears as a question; because it is left unattended, it mutates into a multi-tentacled doubt. As we watch the cycle of sin and intercession repeat, some wonder: Why does Moses' attitude toward Israel seem so much more merciful than God's?

The very idea seems blasphemous; we are instantly ashamed that we thought it. We bury it, but it stays alive within us. For it does appear that the Lord would have been harsh, destroying men, women and children, had Moses not entreated Him.

Of course, as good Christians, we dare not voice this doubt; we do not even whisper it to our most trusted friends. As a result, what ought to be a wonderful example of the value and power of prayer, instead, on a more basic level, causes us to mistrust God's goodness whenever our goodness fails.

Even if you are not personally struggling with this battle, someone you love probably is or will be. When people fall away from God, often it is because they doubt the goodness of God to forgive them. Thus, we need to clear this mystery concerning God's wrath and its relationship to man's prayer.

The Purpose of God

There is a revelation awaiting us about the nature of God-indeed, the nature of life itself-that will not only settle our doubts but will accelerate our pursuit of Christlike-ness. The key that unlocks the mystery of divine judgment, and its power to compel us toward mercy, begins in the first chapter of Genesis. There, we discover that God has encoded into humanity a grand and irreversible purpose: We have been created to reveal the image and likeness of God.

Though the world scene has continually changed, the Lord has never changed nor deviated from this plan. Let's read as God Himself declared His purpose in the sacred Scriptures. The Lord said,

"Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness . . . And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."
-Gen 1:26-27

Though we read that man was created in the divine image, let me suggest to you that, in Genesis, we are seeing a beginning, not a fulfillment. God's plan was only initiated in Eden. Although Adam and Eve possessed intelligence and freedom of will above that of the animals, the divine nature was far from full bloom.

You say, "Wait, the Bible said that God created man in His own image. It is past tense." Yes. However, the faith-voice of the Holy Spirit often speaks of things to come as though they were already here. The Lord said to Abraham, "A father of many nations have I made you" (past tense). Yet, when we look at Abraham and Sarah, we see they were actually childless when they received God's promise (see Rom 4:17). In fact, when Sarah died, they had produced but one child, not many nations. As time progressed, many nations have, indeed, emerged from Abraham. God's Word is a historic, completed fact in eternity, but in the realm of time it is a truth yet to be manifest.

For further proof that Adam and Eve were not walking in the completed likeness of God, consider: Shortly after they were created, they fell into sin. If mankind were functionally created in the image and likeness of God, how is it that they sin? Can God sin? Sin is the one thing God cannot do.

So man's creation in the garden of Eden is really the commencement to a journey that would actually span the ages of time; man's history with God represents unfolding stages in that journey.