1: Made In the Image of God

Dad Jokes

I’m a Dad…and I tell jokes…therefore...

I really like telling Dad jokes. Sometimes he laughs.

I think it's wield to call childbirth delivery when it’s really take out. Speaking of...

Glad to be out…I was running out of WOMB.

Lance isn’t a common name these days, but in medieval times, people were named Lance a lot.

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Not only do I love telling Dad Jokes,

I also love the title of this weekend’s focus: His Design, My Purpose.

The ONE who created us certainly knows WHY He created us. And when we find the PURPOSE for which He has designed us, there will be hope and joy and a desire to live every day with passion and purity.

Some of you guys have met my sons. Others haven’t. Here’s what they look like now.

My sons look like me. They often act like me. That makes sense because they have my DNA. They are made in my image. They often say the things I say and do the things I do. The same is true about me and my Dad. I’ve had people who know my Dad say, “Jackie, you remind me so much of your father!” (I can hear my Dad’s response if he were standing there: “Tell them thank you, Jackie”) Funny. That’s the same thing I say to my boys.

Genesis 1:27–28 (NET 2nd ed.)

God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.”

God created the first people for…Dignity & Dominion

Dignity: Human life is to be protected above all others as it is valued above all others. Humans have a moral code written in them, knowing right from wrong (unlike animals). Humans are, like God, creative, relational, communicative, reasoning, and eternal (live on after death).

Dominion: Humans are to rule over other creatures (1:26, 28) and the earth (2:15). See Psalm 8:6.

The Latin Vulgate uses the phrase “Imago Dei”, meaning image of God.

And that wasn’t just true for Adam & Eve, but for ALL humans. When God destroys the disobedient in the flood, He reestablishes the rules for Noah & his family to teach their future family.

God again affirms that God created mankind in His image and warns of death for anyone who murders another human.

Genesis 9:6 (NET 2nd ed.)

“Whoever sheds human blood, by other humans must his blood be shed; for in God’s image God has made humankind.”

We - YOU & ME - were meant to be God’s image bearers.

As the moon’s shiny appearance is because of its reflection of the sun, so too we are to be “the light of the world” as we reflect God’s glorious image.

We are made to not only KNOW God, but to make Him KNOWN.

Of course, then came the FALL of mankind, when Adam & Eve questioned God’s goodness & bought into the lie that they could become like God, and be the authority of their own lives.

Genesis 3:1 (CSB)

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

You see what happened here? This lying, deceiving spirit speaking through this animal began to hint that God’s command should be questioned.

Genesis 3:2–5 (CSB)

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

There’s the lie: you will be like God. You don’t have to submit to HIS authority. You rule over ever other animal. YOU should rule over YOU too!

Eve bought the lie and then it happened...

Genesis 3:6 (CSB)

The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it;

It tasted good. It looked good. It was going to make her feel good.

she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Wait a second! Was Adam there when she was tempted? If so, why didn’t he stand up and tell the serpent to shut up!? Why didn’t he lead his wife to obey what God commanded?

If he wasn’t there when Eve was tempted, then the question remains - WHY did he choose to follow her lead & disobey God’s clear command?

Genesis 3:7 (CSB)

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Suddenly there’s a sense of shame that they needed to cover up. Yet, before they sinned against God the Scriptures note they had a very different outlook.

Genesis 2:25 (CSB)

Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.

But now that they have disobeyed God, just look at the difference.

Genesis 3:8–11 (CSB)

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze,

How cool would THAT be?!? To know that your Creator was coming to visit you? But this time was different...

and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

That was NOT a geographical question. This wasn’t hide n seek and God had no clue where they were. This was a spiritual question. God is essentially wanting Adam to answer this question: “Where are you WITHOUT Me?”

And He said, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” Then He asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

Sin’s immediate price tag is SEPARATION from the God they once walked and talked with. Instead of fearlessness there was fearFULness. Instead of enjoying God’s Presence, they were hiding from Him.

A. W. Tozer says it well.

“Man was created to know God but he chose the gutter. That is why he is like a bird shut away in a cage or like a fish taken from the water.”

We sin too. We HIDE too. We wonder why we can’t find lasting purpose in possessions, trophies, or human relationships. So, thousands of years later, we know that something is wrong in the world and we know that we were meant for more.

We are created to KNOW God and make Him KNOWN.

We are created to WALK with Him, not HIDE from Him.

So, how do we get back to THAT? How can we become GODLY MEN…you ask. YOU ask great questions!

A few years back my Apple watch got messed up - it had a small crack that I thought was just an external scratch. The next day, after shimming in the ocean the previous day, that part of my watch was GRAY and I knew that wasn’t good. I would never take my Apple Watch to Walmart to fix it. In fact, when I took it back to Best Buy (where I bought it), they couldn’t fix it either. Instead, they told me they would charge me $70 and then send it to Apple to fix it.

WHY send it to Apple? Because they DESIGNED it.

The DESIGNER knows how it is supposed to work because the DESIGNER invented & built it. So, when it isn’t working properly, the DESIGNER knows how to fix the problem.

Thankfully, the DESIGNER had a RESCUE PLAN, a way to fix what had been broken, a way to restore those who had fallen. Jesus became our substitute.

BIG TRUTH: Jesus is the Plan to Restore Fallen Man.

We turn from our sin and turn to Him and we are made new. Listen to the language of Paul, a guy who used to persecute, imprison, and kill followers of Jesus.

1 Timothy 1:13–14 (NIV)

Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 1:15-16 (NIV)

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in Him and receive eternal life.

You haven’t gone too far for God’s grace. If you’re still breathing, there’s still HOPE!

Turn to someone and tell him...”You haven’t gone too far for God’s grace....and you sure NEED it!”

BIG TRUTH: Jesus is the Plan to Restore Fallen Man.

Listen to this incredible truth.

2 Corinthians 5:17–19 (CSB)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! Everything is from God, Who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us.

I like to say it this way: We are to be like one beggar telling another beggar where to find the bread.

2 Corinthians 5:20–21 (CSB)

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.” He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Through Jesus, we are made NEW. Through Jesus we are made RIGHT with God again! Through Jesus, we are now deputized to take his message to others who need to be made right with Him.

AND MORE THAN THAT, once again human beings become image bearers of our great God, we exist to KNOW God and to make Him KNOWN.

Romans 8:29 (NIV)

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

The purpose of our lives is to become more like Jesus. When we’re not growing in Him our lives lack purpose. What we do doesn’t impact others for eternity in a positive way. We find ourselves living from event to event - looking forward to the next game, the next movie, the next relationship - instead of experiencing full life today.

Tonight, will you trust that...

BIG TRUTH: Jesus is the Plan to Restore Fallen Man?

Are you forgiven? Are you certain that you would be with the Lord Jesus if we breathed your last at midnight? I was 16 years old, walking through my school hall asking, “For real, what would happen if I died today?”....My mom.

So, THAT’S where we’re going dig deeper this weekend as we discover that...

His Design, My Purpose.

Artist Chiseling Sculpture

Eric Mason tells the story of watching an artist chiseling a sculpture.

“I once knew a phenomenal artist whose medium was sculpture. I was fascinated when I watched him work—by the hand control and skill it took to chisel stone into a smooth and clear image. I asked him once about his technique, and his response has stuck with me:

“When you look at this stone you see a rock, but when I look at it I see an image in the rock. All I am trying to do is get to the image by removing everything else in the way.””

— Manhood Restored: How the Gospel Makes Men Whole by Eric Mason (https://a.co/a1xsgcO)

Wouldn’t it be a great way to start this weekend, by asking God to have His way in our lives - to chisel off everything that’s in the way of forming us into the image of Jesus?

PRAY