Planet of the Apes

In November 1859 a work of scientific literature, that literally changed the world, was published by one Mr Charles Darwin- This ground breaking work was originally called "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life." The title was subsequently shortened to the more familiar “The Origin of the Species”

Until the middle years of the 19^th century the English scientific establishment was closely tied to and allied with the Church of England, while science was part of natural theology. However, the publication of Darwin’s thesis changed all that.

Humanity generally believed, and usually reveled in the simple fact that we were created…And God said; Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creepers creeping on the earth.  And God created man in His image; in the image of God He created him. He created them male and female. Genesis 1:26-27 MKJV

Just 164 years later, humanity generally believes that we share a common ancestor with apes and other bipedal primates. In the common vernacular we have “descended from the apes". For thousands of years mankind has believed in God, or gods; almost every race or people group has a "creation legend" that often, when stripped to its "bare bones" bears a remarkable similarity to the Genesis story in the Bible. These myths or legends are the most common thought found throughout human culture, and almost all begin with Creation Ex nihilo, which is a Latin phrase meaning "out of nothing".    

We have gone from being the “image and likeness” of the Creator of the universe, with all the wonder and awe that that entails, to the by-product of some fortunate accident in a primordial swamp… we are
simply creatures of happenstance.  

Of all the creatures that Creator God “made” we alone possess something of His being dwelling within. Humans are the nearest salient beings to God on this planet! It’s not our form, nor our imagination, nor intellect or potential immortality that mirrors God, but rather our innate desire for morality and righteousness that sets us apart from all creation. Most of us have a longing to relate to our fellow beings, to understand our place in the world and to live to and for the betterment of others.

In other words we are the spiritual image of God. We are the created copy of the divine nature of God Himself. 

The fact that this divine nature of God was shattered by our ancestors Adam and Eve, and sin, does not negate its existence. Now it’s only through Christ that we can obtain or rather regain our original form. 

(God) Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Hebrews 1:2-3 MKJV    

Nothing has been discovered/developed by science that has exhibited the divine "spark" that imbues humankind; no artificial intelligence will ever posses the God "gene".

We have all shared that experience of looking at a newborn and saying that we can see their father's eyes, or mother's nose or some other recognizable feature; equally we recognize great evil in some despot or tyrant and have no difficulty in seeing Lucifer at work in such a person.

What then are those characteristics that reflect God in humanity? We alone are capable of self-sacrificing love. No robot will ever display such loving devotion, no human/animal chimera will ever be more than an inferior (and probably disastrous) copy of the original. We are never more like the one who made us, than when our hearts truly and genuinely give out of love. That is when others see God in us!

What would you rather be, related to the Creator of the universe, or an orangutan? 

How then do we regain our lost/corrupted nature? It's really quite simple. Become Christ-like. We are, after all, made in God's image! 

For whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, for Him to be the First-born among many brothers. Romans 8-29 MKJV

But we all, with our face having been unveiled, having beheld the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are being changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lords Spirit. 
2 Corinthians 3:18 MKJV

Historical footnote: Charles Darwin visited New Zealand in December 1835. He spent 9 days in the then "Hell-hole" of the Pacific, Kororāreka, and Paihia, Bay of Islands. He was the botanist on HMS Beagle, captained by  Robert FitzRoy, who would later become New Zealand's second Governor. Darwin made a considerable donation towards the cost of construction of the first church in New Zealand, Christ Church, in Kororāreka, now known as Russell. It was on this 5 year voyage that Darwin's seminal work that would change humanity's image of itself would have its genesis.