Intro Question: How did God originally design righteousness to shape our relationships with Him, each other, and the world?
Key Passage: “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)
Devotional:
In the beginning, God created the world to be a place of harmony — a place where everything was woven together in right relationship.
Not just with rules, not just with rituals.
But with relationship.
You can almost picture it, can’t you?
The quiet peace of a world where humanity walks with God, without shame, without fear. Where people look at one another and see only love and trust. Where creation itself is alive with purpose, reflecting the beauty and order of its Creator.
This was God’s original vision for righteousness.
A vision that, in many ways, feels so distant from our world now.
Righteousness rooted in the image of God
Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
From the start, we were designed to reflect the very nature of God.
To represent His love, His justice, His goodness on the Earth.
This was what righteousness originally looked like — not a set of rules to follow, but a way of life that mirrored God’s own heart.
Adam and Eve were meant to walk in close fellowship with God, to care for creation, to love and trust one another without barriers, without fear of rejection, without that nagging need to prove themselves.
And that’s the thing about righteousness. At its core, it’s about relationship.
With God.
With each other.
With the world around us.
That’s what we were made for. But when sin entered the picture, that perfect harmony was shattered.
The fracture of sin
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, something broke.
That simple, beautiful connection they had with God was fractured. Their eyes were opened, but not to something better. To something far worse.
Self-interest.
Self-protection.
Selfishness.
And in the moment they chose self over relationship, everything changed.
Their relationship with God became tainted with fear. The intimacy they shared with one another turned to blame. The harmony they had with creation was twisted, and the earth itself began to fight back — thorns, pain, toil.
Sin isn’t just “breaking the rules.” It’s breaking the relational wholeness that God designed for us.
Instead of seeing the world through the lens of love, humanity became obsessed with power, control, and self-preservation.
And it’s not hard to see how that plays out today.
We still do it, don’t we? We choose ourselves over others, over God, over the world around us. We’re still trying to fill the relational void with things that can never satisfy.
But God, in His mercy, didn’t abandon His original vision for righteousness.
The restoration of righteousness through Jesus
Throughout the story of Scripture, we see God relentlessly working to restore what was lost.
He gave the Law to Israel — not as a rigid set of rules, but as a guide to help them live in right relationship again. With Him. With each other. With creation.
The prophets called Israel back to this. They reminded the people that God wasn’t interested in empty sacrifices or shallow obedience. As Micah 6:8 tells us, what God desires is that we “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.”
Righteousness, as always, was about living in step with God’s heart.
But the Law wasn’t enough. Our hearts were still fractured, still bent toward ourselves.
And that’s why Jesus came.
He came to restore what was broken.
In Him, we see perfect righteousness — the kind of life God originally designed for us. Jesus loved God fully. He loved others selflessly. He even cared for creation. Every step He took was a reflection of the image of God.
And through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus opens the door for us to be restored to that original vision.
He invites us back into right relationship with God, not because we’ve earned it, but because He’s made the way.
Through grace.
Through love.
Through a cross.
Living in the vision of righteousness
The question we face now is this: Will we let God’s original vision for righteousness shape our lives?
Will we choose to reflect His love, His justice, His mercy in our relationships?
Because it’s not just about following a moral code. It’s about entering into the relational wholeness that God created us for.
Jesus invites us to return to this way of living — to love God with everything we have, to love others as ourselves, and to care for the world He made.
And when we live from that place, righteousness becomes not a burden, but the fulfillment of what we were always meant to be.
We were made for right relationships — with God, with each other, with creation. And in Jesus, that original harmony can be restored.
Reflection Questions:
- How does understanding God’s original vision for righteousness affect your view of relationships today?
- In what areas of your life do you see brokenness in relationships, and how can you invite God’s restorative work into those areas?
- What steps can you take to better reflect God’s character in your relationships with others and with creation?
Prayer: “God, thank You for Your original vision for righteousness — a vision of perfect relationships with You, others, and creation. Help me to live in a way that reflects Your love, justice, and goodness. Heal the broken relationships in my life and guide me as I seek to restore what has been lost. Amen.”
Devotional: What Was God’s Original Vision for Righteousness? was originally published in GoodLion Theology on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
