According To His Kind
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). Over the series of 7 days, He formed the earth and everything in it. First came light, then the separation between water and the sky, followed by the creation of living organisms:
Genesis 1:11
11 So God said, “Let the earth sprout [tender] [i]vegetation, [j]plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit according to (limited to, consistent with) their kind, whose seed is in them upon the earth”; and it was so.
Genesis 1:21
21 God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind; and God saw that it was good and He affirmed and sustained it.
Genesis 1:24
24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to (limited to, consistent with) their kind: livestock, crawling things, and wild animals of the earth according to their kinds”; and it was so [because He had spoken them into creation].
The first ten occurrences of “according to their kind” or min (Strong’s 4327) form an integral part of the creation story. The Greek term min translates to “a sort, i.e. species). The phrase sets a precedence for distinct, defined groupings where said organisms are intended to reproduce organisms that share their same qualities. This set purpose also applied to mankind.
Genesis 1:26
26 Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth.
Humanity was created according to the “sort” or likeness of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We were designed to share the same qualities (spiritual, that is) as our Heavenly Father. This spiritual likeness to our father is meant to embody holiness. This same recurring element of separation can be seen in the “clean” and “unclean” food categories of the Mosaic Law.
Leviticus 11:13-18
Avoid the Unclean
13 ‘These you shall detest among the birds; they are not to be eaten, for they are hated things: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, 14 the kite, every kind of falcon, 15 every kind of raven, 16 the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, every species of hawk, 17 the little owl and the cormorant and the great owl, 18 the white owl, the pelican, the carrion vulture, 19 the stork, all kinds of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.
In essence, God’s people, like God’s creatures, are called to maintain distinctiveness. Sin disfigures the likeness of God in us because it is contrary to His very nature. Therefore, sin causes us to be a part of a group that is not of saints. This group that entertains sin, gratifies their fleshly desires yet their lack of righteousness comprises their salvation; they are unclean before God. As “clean” and “unclean" kinds remain distinct from each other, humanity must remain distinct from unholiness per being created according to the likeness of our Father.
Align yourself with the Lord that you may be found of His kind and turn yourself away from what may cause you to be separated from His sort.