In the book of Genesis, we see that God created man and woman in His own image and likeness. This is a wonderful truth! Both the man and the woman were made in the image of a God who refers to Himself relationally as love.
The Bible reveals to us that God is our Heavenly Father and that He cares for us as a mother who nurtures her children. It is His desire is to be intimately involved in the lives of His children, to raise them in His divine nature through love, discipline, and instruction.
The revelation of God as our Father is given throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, and Jesus brought this truth to its full expression through His life and ministry. The mothering qualities of God are also seen throughout the Scriptures. For example, the Lord promises His people, “And you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you” (Isaiah 66:12–13).
God’s desire was to raise a family who would grow in His likeness. When God commanded His children to not partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He was telling them to not seek wisdom, knowledge, and dominion from sources outside of their relationship with Himself. For, in the garden of His presence, Adam and Eve were to learn and grow through their intimate relationship with God and with each other. Therefore, they were to choose to keep His parental instruction. As Proverbs reminds us, “Hear, my child, your father’s instruction, and do not abandon your mother’s teaching.”
The Hebrew meaning of God commanding Adam regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil infers that God commanded him to also teach others. God was not only asking Adam and Eve to keep His instructions for their own wellbeing, but to teach it others. He was asking Adam and Eve to be parents in His likeness and teach their own family!
God created fathers and mothers in His image and likeness; and parents have the privilege of taking on this image and likeness as they teach their children. With His self-sacrificing love, they can raise their own children in the garden sanctuary of their home. They can raise them through their love, nurture, and instructive discipline to know the Lord and keep His words—to be sons and daughters who are blessed of the Lord.