The first of the two questions has been answered from Eternal Pleasures 21. When reading those words, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…” we hear God uttering a concept that is beyond our conception. He has a concept in His mind that He intends to bring into material existence. This brings us to the second question; Exactly what kind of being is God making?

As God experiences the thrill of simple existence, so He intends the new creature His is about to create, to experience the thrill of simple existence. If you had to do a little brainstorming and jot down a list of different forms of existence, you would find it a list of dramatic contrasts. As one example, compare the existence of a flea to the existence of an eagle. They live in two different realms. Another could be the contrast between a snail and a cheetah—vastly different experiences of existence. You could also compare the existence of a maggot to the existence of an angel! What a contrast! My point is that when God chose to create mankind, He chose to provide that creature with a form of existence that really is nothing short of breathtaking! How I would love to pile up personal applications to this fact now, but I will touch on that after I have made my point.

While a maggot must eat rotting flesh and experience a miserable lifestyle (in comparison to some other forms of life—a free, playful, intelligent, long-lived dolphin for example), God has granted human beings a range of facets that sparkle like jewels when compared to that humble existence. As an illustration, allow me to bring you back to the incident I described in Eternal Pleasures 17, to complete the story.

I stood there speaking to the young man crushed in the front seat of an old Mercedes Benz. He was fearful, in immense pain, yet dazed. I kept checking his vital signs which, although reason for concern, appeared stable enough. I had hope for this young man. Eventually, after what seemed like a long time, rescue arrived with pneumatic equipment, the “jaws of life”. I had to step back for a while as they rushed in and tore open my patient’s iron cage. As the pressure was released he slumped, and the moment he was free we did an emergency extrication. Blood gurgled in his airway as he tried to breathe and then closed it completely. One of the doctors arrived on the scene at that moment and immediately began to create a new airway for him by cutting open his trachea.

As soon as the new airway was opened, blood gushed out. We simply couldn’t find a way to give him oxygen. Not long after that, he was declared dead. I was so moved by losing that young man, as I was always moved in the face of such tragedy. It seemed that while I was speaking to him, there was so much hope, yet suddenly all hope for him was gone. The words he spoke to me were his last, he crossed the fearful line between life and death and if he was an unbeliever he is lost forever.