04.01.04 God is the Author of Value Addition
God is the Author of ‘Value-Addition’
Firstly, we cannot discuss how to add value without understanding the origin of this powerful concept. Where did ‘value addition’ start from? How did it all begin?
The first ever ‘value addition’ happened when God created the heavens and the earth starting from an environment which was formless, dark and empty. (Genesis 1:3-25). In His wisdom, He created an ecosystem where mankind would dwell, beginning with the abiotic or non-living factors such as the ground, water, air, sunlight; followed by the biotic or community of living organisms such as plants, animals and microbes.
With the ecosystem in place, God created mankind as Genesis 1:26-27 reports (NIV): 26Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. The Message version of verse 26 goes further to say that when God created human beings; He created them godlike, reflecting God’s nature. He then blessed mankind (male and female), giving them a directive to be fruitful, increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion or rule over all creatures (Genesis 1:28).
However, much as God had created male and female, He molded the man first, as shown in Genesis 2:7 which reads (NIV): 7Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Thereafter, God planted the Garden of Eden and placed the man there to tend, guard and keep it (Genesis 2:15). We then see God saying in Genesis 2:18 that (AMP): … “It is not good (beneficial) for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper [one who balances him—a counterpart who is] suitable and complementary for him.” That was no breaking news since as already discussed above, in Genesis 1:26-27, God had given the directive to both male and female; and the female had not been formed yet.
I strongly believe that since God had created mankind to act like Him, God needed the man’s cooperation and ownership before bringing the female on board. The man had to be convinced that the female would bring unique value to that partnership; and that the value was a critical success factor for the implementation of God’s directives. In short, the man had to be ready to work with his female counterpart before God could actually ‘form’ her. I would like to infer that God in His wisdom, chose a task that would put that glaring truth in the man’s face: God asked the man to name all the animals.
The ‘animal-naming’ project must have made the man to notice that while they (animals) were in couples, he was all by himself. Secondly, none of those animals had the capacity to partner with him in his pursuit ‘to be fruitful, increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it; and to have dominion and rule over all creatures’. Yes. He had succeeded in naming the animals such as a lion as a male and a lioness as a female, but going forward, there were parts of the God-given mandate that could only be fulfilled by having a ‘female mankind’ on his team; in a separate ‘stand-alone’ body.
Therefore, by the time God caused the man to sleep and eventually make the female from one of his ribs (Genesis 2:21-22), the man was already fully persuaded that a female counterpart would add ‘much-needed’ and yet ‘missing’ value. Little wonder that the man welcomed the female with open arms the moment God brought her to the man (Genesis 2:23).