The creation of man is an exceedingly great thing. Zechariah 12:1 says, “Jehovah, who stretches forth the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him.” Here the human spirit is greatly emphasized, for the verse says that at the same time that God created the heavens and the earth, He also created a spirit for man within. Man’s spirit is thus as important as the heavens and the earth. This means that the heavens are for the earth to grow all things, the earth is for man’s existence, and man’s existence is for him to be God’s vessel to express God. For this reason, when God created man, He created two things for him. One is that man has God’s image without, and the other is that he has a spirit within.
The image that man possesses refers to the expression of the attributes of God. The Bible tells us that God’s attributes are love, light, holiness, and righteousness. These can be clearly seen from the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament. We all know that a certain kind of a person will enact a certain kind of law. Good people enact good laws, while bad people enact bad laws. The Ten Commandments enacted by God make manifest what kind of God He is. The essence of the Ten Commandments is simply love, light, holiness, and righteousness. These four virtues are God’s divine characteristics.
The Bible tells us over and over again that God is light (1 John 1:5), God is love (4:8), God is holy (1 Pet. 1:15-16), and God is righteous (Exo. 9:27). God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. God is love, and He loves the world. God is holy, and in Him is no filthiness. God is righteous; in Him is total justice and impartiality, without any crookedness at all. The emphasis of His Ten Commandments is that we should have love, light, holiness, and righteousness. Since we were created according to God’s image, even though we became fallen and corrupted, to this day we still have these four elements in us.
We appreciate kindness. When we love people and treat them benevolently, we feel comfortable within. But if we cheat or hate people, we feel unspeakably miserable. This shows that there is love in man. Moreover, everyone has a predisposition for light. If a person does evil, he deeply reproaches himself within and does not need others to rebuke him. Not only so, no one likes to do filthy things; rather, everyone hopes to be upright and have a just heart. The Chinese always say, “Justice is in man’s heart.” All this tells us that when man was created, he was created according to God’s image of love, light, holiness, and righteousness. Within man there is the predisposition, or desire, for these four virtues, and this predisposition is not out of man himself but was created for man by God.
When we observe other creatures, we discover that among the animals, whether cows, sheep, cats, dogs, horses, or donkeys, none of them possesses these four virtues nor has any feeling or tendency toward them. This is because the animals were not created in God’s image. Only man was created in God’s image of love, light, holiness, and righteousness; therefore, within man are the characteristics of these four virtues.
Even though man has the characteristics of love, light, holiness, and righteousness within, he has only the image but not the reality of love, light, holiness, and righteousness. For example, we wear gloves in cold winters. A pair of gloves has ten fingers like the hands, but that is only a pair of gloves, not the hands themselves. The gloves have been created for the hands; therefore, there must be the hands inside the gloves for the reality to be there. The gloves are empty and floppy without the hands. This is why man always feels empty. Man was not created for himself; rather, he was created to be God’s vessel to contain God. If man does not contain God, he is empty, weak, and without reality like a pair of gloves.
Today man feels empty, insecure, wavering, and restless and has no calming and stabilizing power within, simply because he lacks God within. God is man’s content, and man should be God’s expression. For this goal, God created a spirit especially for man. This spirit is the organ for man to contact God, just like the receiver in a radio. Even though a radio may have all the outward parts, if there is no receiver, or if the receiver is out of order, this radio cannot function. Regardless of how hard you try to tune to the right frequency, you will not be able to receive the radio waves in the air. Our heart is like a radio, and our spirit is that receiver; if we turn our spirit to focus on God, we can touch Him.
A great part of the human spirit is the conscience, which is man’s deepest part. In your mind perhaps you have never thought about the existence of God, and you have never seen God with your eyes. However, your conscience, the deep part in you, your spirit, always gives you a feeling that there is a Supreme Being, that there is a God in this universe. This proves two things. First, you have a spirit within, and second, you need God in your spirit.