Even as far as the time of Eve's creation, God had not created a single earthly creation of his as a perfect one, as Moses tells us in Genesis 1 31: And God looked upon everything that He had created, and behold, they were VERY FINE.
Those who are familiar with the Greek language can easily discern that the expression "very fine" (καλ? λ?αν) is a far cry from the word "perfect" (τ?λειον). A perfect creation is one that has nothing lacking in it. Therefore, both Adam and Eve and the rest of material creation that is described in Genesis, were DEFICIENT.
Does this mean that God didn't know how to do things properly? Of course not!The reason He didn't create them perfect from the beginning, was that Creation was still lacking something, even after the creation of mankind. There was yet another element that had to be attained, which required the collaboration of man. This detail is apparent, in the following tract:The image and the likeness.
Genesis 1 26,27: "And the Lord said: Let's make man, according to our image and according to our likeness.....And God created man according to His image. According to the image of God He created him." Here -according to the teaching of the Fathers- God appears to have the intention of creating man "according to the image and to the likeness" of Himself. When He eventually created man, He made man in His image. And this is where the formula of perfection is hidden: Man, having being created "according to God's image" was "very fine". But, when man becomes "according to God's likeness", he would then be on a course towards PERFECTION.
Given that God is what He is, BECAUSE HE WANTS TO and not because He is compelled to, man must likewise WANT TO, must attempt to, through use of his freedom as "the image of" and his intelligence, reach perfection; in other words, seek the course towards becoming "according to the likeness of God." This is a characteristic that man alone has, in all of creation.
It was not possible for man to be created perfect straight away (=compulsorily). Satan had enticed man, that he would become "according to the likeness of God" through his independence and self-government, without the collaboration of the Holy Spirit. Because of this, man failed to attain the goal of perfection (=he sinned), thus, instead of becoming "according to the likeness of God", man now "resembled the decadent beasts". The goal of perfection is the goal of every Christian, as is evident in the following Gospel excerpts:
Matthew 5: 48: "Be therefore perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect".
Hebrews 6: 1: "..putting aside the initial teaching of Christ, let us move on, towards perfection.."
Ephesians 4: 13: "Until such time as we shall all have reached the unity of the faith and the awareness of the Son of God, (thus becoming) a perfect man, to that measure of age of the fullness of Christ."
We must clarify something here: When the Holy Bible speaks of perfection, it is nowhere referring to the perfection of the physical body, as perceived by "Witnesses". The Bible speaks of a similarity to God, which has absolutely nothing to do with a corporal inference. The fact that the bodies of the perfected acquire incorruptibility and immortality is only the natural result of perfection, and not perfection itself.
So, how can we become similar to God, if we haven't seen Him? Once again, the answer lies in the phrase: "according to His image and according to His likeness". It doesn't say: "image and likeness".What does the word "according to" (Greek=κατ?) imply? It implies "the image of the image" of God, and not God's image directly. Who then is the direct image of God? It is Jesus Christ of course:
Collosians 1: 15: "...who is the image of the invisible God..."Adam, therefore, had been created "according to the image of God", or, "as an image of Christ.The fact that Jesus Christ had not yet been incarnated as a man, is not an issue. God, Who is beyond time, and as the Creator of Time, knows the future full well. All of this, is in compliance with Ephesians 4: 13 that we mentioned previously. We must therefore strive towards the example that was set by the Lord Jesus Christ, because this is what will lead us to becoming "according to the likeness" of God - in other words, our path towards perfection.Could it be that perfection is not feasible, since we are referring to the infinitely perfect God? This is partially true. To reach Him is definitely impossible. But we can draw nearer to Him, from now through to all eternity, becoming more and more according to His likeness, as we can see from the following verse:
Corinthians II, 3: 18: "but we all, with face uncovered, as reflections of the glory of God, are transformed into the same image, from glory to glory."
Perfection therefore is a relative idea, and each one of us is on a course towards the likeness, either of God, or of his enemy the Devil. The free will of each one of us is the determining factor for the stage of progress one has attained. Perfection is not a destination point. It is a non-stop course!
A verse that indicates this relative meaning of the word "perfection" appears very early in the Holy Bible:Genesis 6: 9: "Noah was a righteous man, perfect amongst those of his time. Noah had walked with God..." Noah is regarded perfect, as compared to his contemporaries, because "he walked with God." He was on the course towards perfection! He had exhausted all the means available to him at the time, on his road towards perfection.
The reality is, that the creation of mankind was perfected, much, much later. It was only upon the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, that man (at last) appeared in a state of perfection. Jesus Christ was the only man Who was actually perfect. In His person, mankind had found the fulfillment of God's purpose for it: "let's create man....according to our likeness."
Jesus had opened the way towards perfection and towards all those who were on the path for becoming "according to the likeness". James 3: 9: ".....men, who have been made according to the likeness of God...."