Hi Dan:
Thank you for starting this thread. You wrote:
First, Christ (the Lord God of Gen. 2:4+) did not create anything directly in Genesis 1. God is doing the creating "through" His Word (Christ) that begins with the perfect "Heaven" (singular) and "Earth" in Genesis 1:1. The perfect ages existed for a very very long time, until God reproduced Adam's death in God's Infinite Realm where "you are gods" (Ps. 82:6, Jn 10:34-36). The perfect-singularity Earth (Adam) is then "made void," until the waters above the firmament-expanse (heavens) are gathered together and the waters below the firmament-expanse (earth) are gathered together and "heaven" (Gen. 1:8) is begotten by the overlapping process (like Power from on High and Holy Spirit in Luke 1:35). God is doing all the work through His Word in Genesis 1, until God rests in Gen. 2:1-3, until the Lord God (Lamb of God = Christ) begins doing His consecration work on the 7th Day in Gen. 2:4+.
Dan: Why just in His IMAGE?
Do not be fooled by the language from Genesis 1:26-28. God is creating man in His Image, which is the Image in which He is speaking as "God Who Is" (from Rev. 1:8) testifying as the "blood witness" for God To Come (spirit witness) and God Who Was (water witness). These three witnesses of The Almighty are testifying right here in Genesis 1 as three parts of a "man" having a spirit (God To Come) as soul (God Who Is) and a body (God Who Was). This is the same pattern as the Father (spirit), Son (blood) an Holy Spirit (water) from Matt. 28:19, who All have the same "relationships" as your own spirit (spirit witness), soul (blood witness) and body (water witness vehicle of expression). All God is saying is that "man" (male = spirit, seed = blood, woman = water witness) is created in "Our Image" of spirit (man), blood (seed, offspring) and water (woman). God's three witnesses testify from Genesis 1:1 (the primer = God; Spirit, Heaven; Blood; Earth, Water) through Revelation and everywhere in between. Once you recognize the three-witness pattern, then you begin seeing them EVERYWHERE. :0)
Dan: Why not Perfect ?
What is "perfect" according to whose definition? God's Plan is perfect seeing the end from the beginning. God knew that Eve and Israel would fall and God made provisions within our gospel to redeem mankind (worthy of being saved) and restore all things. All of this happens within the flash of a single instant in God's Infinite Realm (where we are standing in Judgment right now), but we must do things "already done" (Ecc. 1:9-11) over and over again within this tiny earthbound envelope that includes the elements of time and space.
Dan: Why and then DIE ON THE CROSS?
This is an excellent question, Dan. You see the perfect Earth of Genesis 1:1 "made void" for darkness to fall upon the face of the deep. Right? Well, the "Heaven" of Genesis 1:1 is the "Word" of John 1:1-3!! God commanded His Word in the Infinite Realm, saying: "Go over there and remake Adam inside yourself again, so that We together can bring him back to life from the death resulting from the Satanic Rebellion." God's Word then incarnated as the Heaven of Genesis 1:1, so that Adam could be remade "in" Him as the Earth of Genesis 1:1. All that exists in all of creation is God (spirit witness) and Heaven/Word (Christ: Father + Son + Holy Spirit) and the Earth (Adam: Adam + Seed + Eve). Everyone here is a member of Adam's body in the Earth right up until the time they obey our gospel to become a member of Christ's Body seated in the heavenly places "in" Christ Jesus (F+S+HS as a man).
The short of a very long story is that God has to divide His Word/Heaven into the Father (Power from on High = spirit witness) and the Holy Spirit (water witness; Helper like Eve to Adam), so that the Father could overshadow the Holy Spirit to "beget" the Only Begotten Son. Luke 1:35. Christ being "begotten" in the womb of the woman (Mary) is typical of the Word being sacrificed in the very beginning! Christ's crucifixion is typical of God sacrificing His Living Word, so that Christ could incarnate into the heaven of this creation (Earth) as the "Lamb of God" in the center of the throne (Rev. 7:17). The Lamb of God then incarnated onto this planet as Jesus Christ 2000 years ago, so that we might be saved by the foolishness of the message preached (1Cor. 1:17-18) confounding Satan and his minions currently occupying the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12). God's Plan includes you "hearing" and "believing" our gospel, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He died for our sins on the cross 2000 years ago. God raised Him from the dead and He is now seated at the right hand of God in the heavenly places "in" Christ Jesus. Eph. 2:4-7. The bottom line here is that God's wisdom is greater than all the works of the angels and men combined throughout all the ages. :0)
Get more information in the Scripture Section (left-hand column) at
https://www.terral03.com if interested.
Blessings,
Terral