What is the most breathtaking sight you’ve ever seen? Maybe you love the mountains—how they reach into the clouds and tower over beautiful river valleys below. Maybe you’re a beach person—you can’t resist a colorful sunset over a peaceful sea. Perhaps you’re captivated by the mystery of life—seeing a newborn baby gaze into its mother’s and father’s eyes.

Whatever that picture is for you, there is love behind it. Creation is a reflection of God’s glory and an expression of His love. The beautiful sights, the captivating sounds, the sweet tastes and smells, the tender touches—all of these wonderful things come from the heart of the Father as gifts to His beloved sons and daughters, made in His image.

But God did more than paint beautiful scenes. He created a setting for something deeper. He created human beings to look like Him, to live like Him, and to love like Him. He blessed them and told them to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and take dominion over it. (See Genesis 1:26–28.) In this landscape of love, the relationships of the first family were meant to reflect divine values. Their hearts were meant to align with each other’s hearts. There would be no insecurity, animosity, competition, or emotional wounds.

We know this is not how it turned out, of course. But for a moment, just imagine if it had. What if our world truly reflected the love and glory of God? What if everyone loved one another as perfectly as Jesus has loved us? If there was no jealousy, no rivalry—only support, selflessness, and the pursuit of God’s purposes? But we mistrusted His love. We have all opted for self over selflessness. We have eaten from the wrong trees. And now, we live in a world where pain, division, and brokenness are everyday realities.

Yet Jesus came to show us a different way. He lived the life we were meant to live—one of perfect love, perfect obedience, perfect trust in the Father. He walked among the broken and brought healing. He saw the outcast and called them family. He did not seek His own glory, but humbled Himself to serve.

Living like Jesus means returning to the love we were created for. It means choosing selflessness over self-promotion, trust over fear, and grace over judgment. It means seeing the world through the eyes of the Father, loving as He loves, and giving as He gives. To live like Jesus, we must see ourselves through the Father’s eyes. This requires revelation. The world has told us who we are, our mistakes have defined us, and our failures have weighed us down. But God’s thoughts of us existed long before any of those things. He saw us before time began and called us good. Even with His full knowledge of every regret, mistake, and flaw, He still saw a true you, a perfect design, a redeemed purpose. Your journey did not begin when you were born or even when you were conceived. Your story started in the heart of the Father before time itself. Yes, sin and brokenness have taken our journeys in painful directions, but they do not define us. They are intrusions, not identity. If we truly want to know who we are, we must look back at the love before time.

Go back for a minute to those breathtaking scenes—the mountains, the sea, the beauty of creation. All of that love and divine creativity is also reflected in you. When God spoke over creation and said it was “very good” (Genesis 1:31), He was thinking of you. You were designed to fit into the glory of the garden, to live in communion with Him. Sin distorted this, but it did not erase God’s original intent.

This is why we need restoration. The Gospel is not only about the forgiveness of sins; it is about being restored to the image of God. It is about returning to who we were always meant to be. The love that formed us before time is also the love that will hold us to the end. From start to finish, God’s love is calling us back into our true selves—His beloved sons and daughters.
When the first human beings opted out of love—just as the deceiver had done before them—God did not stop loving them. He removed them from the garden, not out of anger, but out of love. If they had eaten from the tree of life while still under sin’s curse, they would have been trapped in an eternal state of brokenness. Instead, God set in motion a greater plan: a new tree of life.

That tree was the cross.

Jesus, in His perfect love, became the way back to the Father. He took on our rebellion, our wounds, and our sorrows. He showed us what it means to truly live—not for ourselves, but for others, for the Kingdom, for the glory of God.
Living like Jesus means embracing this reality. It means surrendering our need for control and allowing God’s love to transform us. It means trusting that we were created for something greater than selfish ambition, insecurity, or fear. We were made to reflect the heart of God. So who are you? Who were you before the weight of the world told you otherwise?
The answer is found in Jesus. To live like Him is to live as you were always meant to. In love. In truth. In the fullness of the Father’s heart.

This blog is an excerpt from Leif Hetland’s latest book, The Love Awakening. Grab your copy today!