In His Image
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We are given a great privilege to peer far back into the past.
To witness the very beginning of humanity.
Here we find the fact of what it means to be a human being:
26 Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.”
27 So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
There few verses are more important than most people realize.
There verses tell us what it means to be human.
They tell us Who we are, what we are and how we should live.
Human beings have intrinsic dignity.
Human beings have intrinsic dignity.
Like every other living creature on earth, we were created by God.
God created the fish and the birds, He created the livestock, the predates and the reptiles. God created the whale and the walrus.
And the bible makes it clear that God created us.
But, we are different from every other creature: We were made in God’s image.
Image?
Image?
Now let us be sure to properly understand this truth.
I do not, even remotely, believe that the word “image” is referring to physical likeness.
God is not a physical being, the bible tells us plainly:
24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Yes, the bible, in communicating truths about a spirit being to us, regularly uses anthropoc-alogical terms to describe God.
His face, his eyes, his hands - but these are just what they are human point of view descriptions of God’s interactions with us.
If we hold that image actually means physical likeness then we have a host of problems to deal with.
Who is actually in the image of God: Men or woman?
Which race is in the image of God? Does God have black skin, brown skin, white skin?
People who are born with deformaties, Since they have no arms or legs, or they may be conjoined - Are they in the image of God?
What about age? Are young people what God looks like or is God aged, balding with many wrinkles?
Likeness rather
Likeness rather
No, to be made in the image of God and bear the title of Image bearer has got absolutely nothing to do with our physical bodies.
The image of God refers to the fact that unlike animals who possess only a body and simple mind - We possess a body, a mind AND a spirit.
It does not matter if you are a man or a woman - you are the image of God.
It does not matter if you are black or white - you are made in the image of God.
It does not matter if you are turning 100 or are literally only 1cm big in your mothers womb - you are made in the image of God.
It does not matter if you are abled or disabled - you are made in the image of God.
It does not matter if you are homeless and penniless or a multi-millionare - you are made in the image of God.
This gives each and every single human being dignity and value - the SAME dignity and value.
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Satan is hard at work undermining this through the indoctrination of children telling them that we are just animals, intelligent animals, but still just animals, monkeys with an extra 10 000 years of evolution.
Human Beings have been given Dominion over the earth.
Human Beings have been given Dominion over the earth.
God tells us that we are to rule over the other creatures.
26 Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.”
That word is Ra-da in Hebrew and it literally means to tred on.
God tells us that we are to subdue the earth.
28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
subdue in the Hebrew is ka-vash and it literally means “violate”. The meaning here is to take without permission.
The plant was given to humanity, it is ours to use, to take from, to conquer.
God tells us that we have dominion over the plants.
15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and tend it.
God tells us that we have given dominions over all living animals.
20 The man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
cultivate in Hebrew means literally to enslave.
What does all this mean?
What does all this mean?
It simply means that we have a God given right to rule over the earth.
We can cut down trees to make houses and furniture.
We can dig into the earth to mine for Gold and silver.
We plant crops and harvest them to grow food.
We can raise livestock or hunt and kill animals for food.
Again we see how this is being underminded by radical climate change activists.
We are told that its wrong for us to kill and eat poor innocent animals.
We are wrong to want to shower with hot water.
We are wrong to mine for precious minerals.
Now, lets be clear: Part of having dominion is in looking after the earth and everything in it.
Not to waste or destroy without reason.
But to keep human beings in starvation and poverty just to protect an endangered owl is not biblical.
Human beings are more valuable than animals.
Dont like that? Well it was Jesus who said it.
31 So do not fear; you are more valuable than a great number of sparrows.
Let me give you an example:
Right now SA is in an energy crisis. Because of this many human beings are dying from cold, starving from hunger, dying from disease and suffering from terrible violence.
If tomorrow, Elon musk donated to Eskom enough money to fix and rebuild every one of our power stations and put a forever end to this crisis - well… to put it simply: Even if he wanted to, he is not allowed to.
Why?
Because billionaire elites in their ivory towers have made it illegal to produce above a certain about of emissions.
So sorry starving africans its better if you all die rather than maybe an albatros.
Human beings are made distinct from each other.
Human beings are made distinct from each other.
27 So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Notice: BOTH men and woman are created in the image of God.
The dignity and worth of an image bearer is EQUAL among men and woman.
Men and woman are equal in worth and dignity.
But by showing that they were created separately and given different names and given different jobs the bible makes it clear than men and woman, while equal in worth, are not equal work.
And by that i mean that both the bodies and the minds of men and woman are different.
We look different, we act different and we think different.
And these are not arbitrary.
The uniqueness of what makes a man a man is necessary for a man to do what God calls a man to do.
The uniqueness of what makes a woman a woman is necessary for a woman to do what God has called a woman to do.
Satan is in overdrive attacking this most basic reality.
Now men can be woman, woman can be men.
a few weeks ago it was international woman's day. Guess who was awarded woman of the year?
a biological man.
Guess who is the official face and spokesperson for the tampax brand? A biological male.
Guess who recently won the Miss Universe pageant? A biological man.
Guess who won the strongest female medal in the Olympics? A biological male.
There is something, so precious, so miraculous that only a woman can do.
ASK SIRI.
God gave humanity duty
God gave humanity duty
After God created us male and female in His image, He then did something that He never did for any other creature:
He gave us duty and responsibility.
28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Further on God adds to this:
16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may freely eat;
17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Everything that God has just said about humanity and about our role on the earth now gets brought down to a single point.
In our position as image bearers of God.
In our position as men or woman.
In our Position as rulers of the earth.
In all of these positions we have a moral duty to treat each of these positions as good stewards.
1: So, since we are made in the image of God, we have a moral duty to reflect God’s love, care, grace and goodness.
As creatures made in His image we have a moral duty to worship, honor, serve and praise Him who made each of us.
2: Since we have dominion over the earth and all the creatures that live in it, we have a moral duty not to be wasteful or negligent of our God given resources.
3: Since He made us male and female we each have a moral duty to honour and respect our differences.