In His Likeness: Part 2

Introduction

Well, good morning! Listen, I’m grateful to be here…I’m grateful to have a church family like you guys…to worship alongside of…to open up God’s Word with…and I’m just excited to see how God moves this morning. Because guys, I’m telling what…God is moving…He’s up to something. And I believe He’s gonna use FBC Cambridge Springs in big ways all for His glory!

And listen, if you remember, we introduced these goals at the beginning of the year…100 decisions for Christ, seeing so many people in KNOT Groups and Home Groups, encouraging people to go on mission here with FBC, paying our debt off, planting a church, right? And guys listen, in just two months, God’s already done amazing things all for His kingdom! We’re seen people make decisions for Christ, we have over 50 people meeting together in Home groups, there’s now 18 individuals meeting in KNOT groups, we have people who’ve already served on mission, and we’re making progress already in the next steps for planting a church. To God be the glory! Amen?

And if you remember, we set these goals, because we wanted to be able to measure our mission statement. In 7 years, we wanna look back and say, “You know what, we’ve been a church without walls! We’ve cared about the kingdom of God above everything else…and we’ve delivered, discipled, deployed!” That’s our mission and vision here at FBC and guys, God’s already moving through that.

And so, to start us off this morning, let’s recite our mission verse together…because it’s this verse that everything we do centers on.

Alright, Matthew 28, verses 19 & 20. I’ll get us started....

Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV)

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

[Prayer]

Alright, if your Bibles, turn with me to Genesis chapter 1. This is gonna be our last week in this chapter before we move on to chapter 2. But just a quick recap if you’ve not been with us…What we’ve really tried to do through this study so far is to look at the creation narrative in a physical way, right? So examining what God did physically at the foundations of the world. Of course, we saw that in the beginning there was only God…and not just any God but we see the Trinity of God at the very beginning…we see the Father, we see the Son (Jesus), and we see the Holy Spirit…all in perfect union with one another, creating all that we see in these accounts. And then we see him work through the first six days of creation where he makes the heavens and the earth, he brings forth his goodness, and then we see land and vegetation…we see the sun and moon and stars…we see the creatures of the sea and air…and then of course we see the animals of land and then those made in God’s very image…we see God create mankind. And so, we examined all this from a physical stand point…showing how God created all this in six literal days.

And then, we looked at it from a spiritual standpoint…because when Genesis was written to the Israelites, it was meant to point them to a Savior…it was meant to show them that there’s redemption to be had. And the first several verses of the Bible shows us that redemption, it belongs to the one, true, Triune God! And then, it shows us that what God does physically, He does spiritually. In order to be saved…to be restored…we have to be reborn into a new creation…and we have to let God transform us and mold us…just like we see Him do with creation. And then, He sustains what He forms and shapes. But then we saw His character through the first six days of creation…we saw a God that’s purposeful…a God of order and structure…we saw God as a provider…and then of course, last week we saw a God that put more emphasis in His last creation, making them in His image…He made us different…He made us special. And all of this, it was meant to show us the heart of God. Because to know God, it’s to worship God.

But what we’re gonna see this morning, as we go back through our text from last week…to know God, it’s to reflect God.

Listen, when God created us in his image, that image, it came with a responsibility…it came with purpose. As an image-bearer to the God of Creation…we play a significant role.

Listen, I think over the past 20 months, most of you have come to know, I’m not the best handyman in the church. Amen? I’ve found less and less people asking me for this kind of help in their homes. And I don’t think it’s because there’s less stuff going on, I think they’re just beginning to realize I’m gonna make the problem worse than it was before.

Listen, believe it or not, I actually have tools and a toolbox……but if I were being completely honest…I might actually know the name of about 50 percent of those tools and know probably even less of the purposes of each of those tools. And guess what? Because of that lack of knowledge I have for those tools, I hardly ever use them because tools that you don’t know the purpose for are pretty much useless.

Guys, more important than knowing the purpose for tools, its knowing the purpose for your life. Why did God create human kind in His image? What’s the reason God’s put us on this planet? Listen, Genesis…it not only gives us the accounts of how God created everything out of nothing…it also explains to us why God created people. And listen, this is important to us as Christians today because if we fail to understand our purpose…we’re useless.

And so, if you’re there with me this morning, let’s stand together as we read, starting in verse 26. It says this:

Genesis 1:26–31 (ESV)

Then 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 birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Thank you, you can be seated.

Listen, as we finish up chapter one this morning, there’s three questions I wanna ask you: 1.) What do you reflect?, 2.) Do you rule well?, and then finally 3.) What have you multiplied?

And so, let’s jump right into it.

1.) What Do You Reflect?

Point number 1…What do you reflect?

We talked a lot about this last week…but immediately in verse 26 we see this repetition of the plural pronouns in reference to God, right? It says, “Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness.”

Now, Jewish scholars and others, they don’t necessarily affirm the Trinity…they typically explain this verse by attributing this plurality to God and the angels. But as we’ve already seen…Scripture’s very clear that God didn’t take counsel with angels when He created man because in the beginning there was only God and God created everything outside of Himself. It also wouldn’t explain why there’s no redemptive plan for angels that have fallen from God’s grace and goodness. If we’re made in the likeness of angels, then they’d have the same opportunity at salvation as we do. But it also means that angels would somehow be equal in status to God and that God even has the ability of falling Himself.

But listen, that’s silly…and because we understand none of those things to be true…it forces us to look further for another explanation. Well, again…looking at the context…because context is what? It’s everything, right? Looking back on verses 1 through 3, the plurality we see there is with God alone. And so, what that means is that here in verse 26, God’s consulting Himself among the persons of the Godhead prior to the creation of man. Listen, as Christians, we hold to the doctrine of the Trinity…One God, existing in three eternal, co-equal Persons…all being the same in substance and authority.

Another piece of evidence for this doctrine here in this passage…we see mankind in God’s image as one, right? It says, “Let US make MAN in OUR image.” But we also see this plurality of mankind when it says, “male and female he created them,” in verse 27. Mankind exists as one but made equally in separate parts as man and female. It’s the image of the Triune God. Mankind represents and reflects the glory and image of God.

I also wanna point this out real quick…In verse 27, it affirms three different times that God created man in His image. There’s absolutely no room for us trying to harmonize the Genesis account with an evolutionary origin of man. God created man very distinct from any other animal or creature. Only man…not angels…not the beasts of the water or of the air…not the animals of the land…only man is created in God’s image. There’s no room for Christians to try and fit modern-day science into the Scriptures....None!

And so what’s it mean to be made in God’s image and likeness? Well, we talked a little about the definition and things that separated us last week…but I think more importantly we see some responsibilities that’s attached to man.

First, I think the essential feature is that man (as male and female) are able to reflect “God’s likeness.”

Now, that doesn’t mean that we’re able to completely reflect the nature of God, right? We’re not the exact imprint of God. We’re just images…we’re finite beings. But we do have the ability to be reflections…that’s what that word “image” means. We demonstrate that through our personalities, our intelligence…we see it through our ability to know and relate to God…we’re able to reflect God in a limited way.

Paul even writes about this in the New Testament. Ephesians 4:24:

Ephesians 4:24 (ESV)

put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Paul says that believers should put on “the new man (literally), which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

He says pretty much the same thing in Colossians 3:10

Colossians 3:10 (ESV)

put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Meaning…righteousness, holiness, truth, knowledge…its all included in what it means to be created in the image of God.

But listen, there’s more than just this individualistic approach to being made in the image of God. We also see throughout Scripture that this divine image includes the Son submitting to the will of the Father, right? Even though there’s equality between them, Jesus still submits to the Father in order to carry out the purpose of God.

We see a similar approach to human marriage, right? The submission of the wife to the husband, it represents the Trinity in the same ways we’re made individually. And so, our roles within marriage reflects the image of God in the same ways. It’s why we guard marriage in the same way we guard human life as Christians…because both are equally created in the image of God and reflect that image to the rest of the world.

Now, of course because of the fall…that reflection of God’s been distorted a bit. But it still doesn’t take away from man’s purpose…through our personalities…through our intellect…through our morality…even as unredeemed people, who are spiritually dead because of their sin…even they reflect God’s image…but listen, every one of us, we possess a spirit…that when regenerated, is capable of communion with God again…the Spirit of God, He restores that in us…He gives us new birth spiritually.

The fact that each of us were created in the image of God, meant to reflect God’s glory, it means man has purpose. Guys, without being related to the Creator, our life has no lasting purpose…we’d just be born, we’d grow up, we’d live a few years trying to make a comfortable existence for ourselves, and then we’d grow old, wither away and die. What’s the point of it all? There’s none. But if you know the eternal God through Jesus, who revealed God to us…and who, by His death and resurrection, opened the way for us to be forgiven and to have fellowship with our Creator again, both now and for all eternity....then our life has purpose and meaning even beyond the grave.

In the words of Augustine, “Thou hast created us for Thyself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in Thee!”

This also means again that every human life is valuable and that every human life ought to be treated with dignity. The unborn baby isn’t to be killed just because it’s not convenient to have a child, or because the parents prefer having a boy instead of a girl, or because that child might have some kind of deformity or mental deficiency. Each person is born in the likeness of God and just the way God intended. These babies, they’re all still human lives made in the image of God and all have the ability to reflect the glory and majesty of our God. The same can be said about homosexuality and gay marriage. We can’t affirm these things…regardless of your feelings…because ultimately, our marriages and our gender, they reflect the image of God.

Guys, the fact that those in Christ have “put on the new man, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24)…it means that we have to be committed to growing in godliness. We’re to reflect God’s image in every aspect…in every area of our lives, especially in our families.

And listen, there’s a ton more that can be said about this…but if you take anything away from this point this morning…let it be our responsibility in being made in the image of God, its that we’re to reflect that image to everything else…its that we were created to be mirrors to God…It’s our birth right…our responsibility…and as Christians…those that have been reborn…we especially understand this task.

And so, looking on your life, right now…what is it that you reflect?

2.) Do You Rule Well?

Point number two…do you rule well?

We see this idea multiple times in this passage…Verse 26, God says, “Let them rule.” It’s comes directly on the heels of being made in His image…its a consequence of being made in that image. He gives man the right of dominion over every other earthly thing He created, right?

He says again in verse 28 for man to subdue creation....meaning, there’s work to be done here…even in this perfect setting of the garden…man was to bring creation under their dominion. This dominion He’s talking about here, it involves stewardship of the earth and stewardship of its resources....everything that was created under the sovereignty of God.

Now again, because of the fall…because man rebelled against God and allowed sin to distort His creation…what we’ve seen over time is man completely misuse these resources…we’ve seen things like pollution and waste and we’ve seen the false worship of certain idols…things a part of creation. We’ve built a culture around debt. Sin’s distorted godly stewardship. It’s caused us to lose focus on the One that’s provided all this to us.

Listen, to understand the origin of man, it’s to understand that God allowed man to rule creation before the fall. But since Satan got man to obey him, Satan’s now become the ruler of this world. And so, for man to regain this rightful position…this rightful place of dominion over the world, he has to be restored through the power of Christ....he has to be reborn. Because as we know, God’s now given Jesus all authority and dominion…and when we become His, spiritually, we share in His inheritance…and in His responsibility. We see those things in Philippians 2 and Ephesians 1.

But listen, this is what it means for you and me as Christians today…it means the things we’ve been given…the things God’s allowed us to possess…we’re called to have dominion over those things. We’re called to steward those things well. That means our spouses, our kids, our families, our homes, our finances, our materialistic things, right? Our salvation, our church family, our giftings…everything! We should be using them all for the glory of God…and listen, how you steward each of those things, defines where your heart’s at, right? That’s why Jesus says in Matthew 6:21

Matthew 6:21 (CSB)

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

You’re naturally gonna invest in the things that matter to you. If you love Jesus, you’re walking with Him, you’re gonna naturally invest your time and energy and money in reading Scripture…in spending time with His people....in the church, right? If you care about Jesus and the command He’s given us…if you truly understand the gospel and the consequences of rejecting it, you’re naturally gonna steward your spouse and kids well. You’re gonna spend time making sure they know Jesus and follow Jesus.

Guys, do you rule well? As a believer does everything you have, does your stewardship of all those things, does it point back to God? Because how we rule…how we steward, it gives us the ability to reflect the image of God.

3.) What Have You Multiplied?

And then finally…point number 3…what have you multiplied?

Look at verse 28 again…God says, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” Now, let’s look at this in two different ways....physically and spiritually…what’s God commanding us to do here?

Well, in a physical way…God’s commanding man to reproduce themselves…He’s commanding them to procreate…which listen, this could be a whole different sermon…and we’re gonna spend some time talking about this in chapter two…God gave man sex for two reasons…one being pleasure…it brings us satisfaction…joy, right? When I have sexual relations with my wife…my responsibility to her, its to please her and her to please me…and together, when performed in marriage, it’s pleasing and honoring to God. So that’s one element of sex. But the second, and more important element of sex, its to procreate…its to reproduce mankind.

Now, I wanna be clear…God gives some the gift of singleness…and there’s a great deal of blessing in that…but for those that are married, part of the reason God’s brought you together, its to be fruitful and multiply…and if it’s impossible, biologically, for you to have children, there’s other means out there through adoption and things like that. But part of us, being called together in marriage, its to reflect His image by procreating…because when we procreate, we’re creating more people made in the image of God…more people that will reflect the glory of God to His creation. And again, God’s glory matters…and so, because of that we should have a natural desire to procreate.

Listen, statistics’ll show you that the population for the up and coming generations, they’re on a decline…its why we see schools around us merging or closing down. We’ve even seen signs of this in our own community, there’s just less and less kids being born. And guys, that’s not a good thing. Less and less people are seeing the value of having kids. Sex has become something that’s just about pleasure and its become a very selfish means of enjoyment. And honestly, it shouldn’t surprise us…the church in general isn’t talking about sex…parents and families, they don’t want ‘em to talk about sex…and so what happens is our society, whether you like it or not, are the one’s educating our kids about sex. And they’re telling them its about pleasure…they’re emphasizing things like protection and preventive measures…guys, we have to take things like sex back…because its a gift from God…yes for pleasure but also its a means to honor God in marriage. We have to start talking about it again....because sex goes back to the image of God and we care most about His image.

But guys, what we’ve seen physically, is people no longer wanting to have children. And guys, no matter how bad our worlds gets…that’s never a good statistic…its not about responsibility or concern for our world. Listen, if you do your job, your kids’ll turn out just fine. People aren’t having kids anymore because they don’t value the image of God and they don’t value reflecting His image to the world. And something has to change about that. Otherwise, we’re gonna see some of our modern-day issues just getting worse.

Our responsibility in procreation, allows us to magnify the image of God.

But what about from a spiritual standpoint? What’s God commanding here? If you’ve read the Bible from cover to cover, you’d understand…this command....it’s always been the heart of God. This has always been God’s purpose for mankind. And what we see, it’s our biggest responsibility as Christians and as a church today. Its the most effective way for us to bring honor and glory to God…its the best way for us to worship Him. It’s to be “fruitful and multiply.”

What’s that mean spiritually?

Our mission verse, Matthew 28:19

Matthew 28:19 (ESV)

Go therefore and make disciples...

I mean, isn’t that just another way to tell us to go…be fruitful…and multiply? Guys, when we go and make disciples…we’re reproducing ourselves spiritually, right? That’s why if you go to our website…we say one of our core values is “replication.” We wanna reproduce ourselves as believers. That’s the purpose of sharing the gospel…is that we might reproduce ourselves spiritually.

And what happens through that....as we go out and be fruitful and multiply…we create more believers that have been regenerated through the Spirit of God…that can now reflect Christ Jesus in the most full way. And we do that…not just because we wanna see people saved from Hell…of course we should want that…but we do that because we value the image of God…and we value how that image is reflected.

And so, I’ll close with this question…what are you multiplying? Because whether you realize it or not…you are multiplying something…you were created for that purpose…and you can’t help it…you’re multiplying something…and so, are you multiplying people or things that point others to God…or are you creating things that pull people further away from God?

What are you multiplying?

Closing

Every head bowed and every eye closed...

Guys, where you’re at…would you just evaluate your life right now? What is it that you’re multiplying? How are you being used as a reflection to God? Are you ruling well? Are you multiplying in a godly way? Are you truly allowing your image to point others to Jesus?…and i mean this both individually…and in the context of your marriage. Guys, are you stewarding well? Everything you do, should be done with the intentions of being the reflection you were created to be.

Guys, how you determine your success in this charge to be His reflection, its again…evaluating what you’re multiplying. As believers, we should be multiplying disciples…this means we’re sharing the gospel…we’re helping them grow in their walk by teaching them the Scriptures. We’re investing in them…so that what’s occurred in us might be replicated.

What needs to change in your life? What do you need to do differently?

Listen, these steps…they’re open for you to come and to pray…I’ll be down front in just a moment if you want me to pray with you…and so, what do you need to do?…JUST DO IT! Be obedient to the Spirit in you.

But listen, maybe you’re here and what you need most is Jesus this morning. Maybe you’ve never heard the gospel…or maybe you’ve never responded to the gospel. Guys, the fact that you’re here with us this morning…the fact that you have breath in your lungs, its grace and its because God’s not finished with you. He has a plan for you…He created you in His image...but you’ll never understand it…you’ll never experience that plan if you never turn to Him. Listen, the Bible tells us that God created everything and that when he did that, everything was good and everything was perfect…but that we rebelled. We wanted things our way. And that rebellion, that sin, it divided us from God…and because of that divide, we brought death and punishment on ourselves. But God sent His Son, Jesus, to restore us. He lived a life we couldn’t…a perfect life…and He went to a cross where He wore the weight of our sin…He took on our punishment…and He died…experiencing the death made for you and for me. He was our sacrifice…and all of God’s wrath, it was poured out on Him so that we wouldn’t have to experience that at the judgement seat of Christ. And the Bible says that He rose three days later to prove to us that He was exactly who He says He was. And it says when we repent and when we believe. When we ask for forgiveness and turn to Him…when we believe He is the Son of God and that He did those things, He saves us. He restores us. He gives us His Spirit…He changes us. And so, guys, repent…believe…do it before it’s too late…its the greatest decision you’ll ever make.

So listen, whatever it is this morning…would you just respond to the Spirit of God? These steps, they’re open…this is your time, just between you and God…I’ll close us in just a moment. You come...

[Prayer]