"And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" (Gen. 1:26 KJV).

Now the word image means resemblance. God made man to resemble Him. He also made us after His likeness. The Hebrew word likeness means "manner." In other words, not only does man look like God, but man has the ability to act like God, and get God's results.

Now God began an assignment of restoration. Genesis 1:28 says, "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth" (KJV).

We know the word replenish means to restock. And it implies that the earth was once stocked and it isn't any more. Anyone who has had a teenager knows exactly what I am talking about. Their metabolism kicks in at a certain point. They hit a growth spurt and become food-devouring machines. You find yourself restocking the refrigerator often.

Likewise, Adam's first assignment was to restock the earth. God wants to restore in the earth everything that was lost when Satan destroyed the earth. And God wants to restore everything to you that Satan has stolen. He tells us how to do it right there in Genesis. He calls those things that be not as though they were.

He goes on to list throughout the first chapter of Genesis how God created the earth. It says repeatedly "...and God said..." The grammatically correct way to have written that would have been, "And God said..." and then list all the things that He said. But the Holy Spirit was making a point. He is emphasizing how God used His faith. And we are to imitate God.

God said it and fully expected it to be when He said it. Jesus told us whosoever shall say and believe it in his heart that is what it will be.

Scripture Reference: Mark 11:22-24

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