FoF Part 6

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Intro:

We’ve been talking through this series about the fundamentals of our faith

And so the goal, really, is to talk about the things that really our foundational to the christian faith

And what we as a church believe the Bible says about those certain topics

How those truths should help us know God better so that we may love Him deeper and pursue Him honestly

And also, how these truths are at the core or should be at the core of every believer

Right? The problem with American Christianity..... “explain”

So, if you’ve missed a week I highly encourage you to go back we’ve discussed

What theology is, who it’s for, and why it’s important.

Doctrine of Scripture

Doctrine of the Trinity

And the attributes of God

Today we are gonna talk about the “doctrine of humanity.”

pray

I think it’s built into every human to have a desire to understand human nature

At least to some degree, we all have formed some idea around the doctrine of humanity

people watching

When I do I subconsciously am really asking myself “why is that person behaving that way? What makes people behave any certain way? What makes people tick? right?

I do this with my kids.

I love to see their personalities blossom!

I can watch my oldest and what drives her and what makes her, her

Is completely different from what drives my 2nd

And my 3rd and my 4th

But they are all so unique. Same mom and dad, same household, same upbringing, same schooling, almost everything is the same and yet they are so different.

Take me and my wife for example: what motivates us to do almost everything that we do could not be anymore different

That’s why marriage can be so difficult, because usually your spouse is so different from you it’s hard to understand what makes them tick

And when we don’t spend the energy and effort required to learn and know our spouses and then put into action and communicating and showing love and respect toward them, then more often then not marriages fall apart.

So, we all form opinions about human nature, and we all should study and have opinions about the nature of humanity

Where we get in trouble is, we allow bad experiences, good experiences, other humans, news and media, all of these things to influence the formation of our doctrine of humanity

When all along the Creator of humanity has told us all that we need to know.

costa sunglasses

I send it to the designer, to the creator, because they are the ones that built them.

And although there may be someone out there who can tell me things about it and might even be able to work on them and fix them

No one knows Costa sunglasses like Costa sunglasses

No one knows children of God formed in the image of God like God

So when we begin to ask age old questions like “Who am I? Why am I here? What’s my purpose?”

Why would we look anywhere else than to the one who shaped, formed, and created you?

So, let’s look at some of these questions and let’s see what the Creator has to say.

Who Am I?

What is my identity?

Lets start in the very beginning to unpack this

Genesis 1:1 NIV

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

So, we must start with recognizing that God is our creator and in doing so we instantly gain knowledge about ourselves

as created

So, what Genesis 1 tells us is that everything, all galaxies, all planets all animals, all plants, all humanity, all things find its origin in God

Therefore, all things, including you and me, owe their very existence to their Creator God.

Most of the problems of this world can be fixed if we just realized this truth and lived it out as such

That you are not God

money is not God

a pursuit of happiness is not God

material things are not God

There is only One

Psalm 100:3 NIV

3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

The Lord is God and He is who made us

So, what are the implications of this?

What does this mean for us?

We must understand that to be human is to be created

And to be created is to have limits

God is unlimited, we are limited

And when we buck up against that reality in our lives we are denying the truth.

When we believe ourselves to be self-ruled and self-authoritative we are stealing the glory and authority that are due to God

What is my worth?

All created things owe their existence to God

But His creative work done on day 6 that we labeled as His crown jewel back in our Genesis series on this, distinctly differentiates humankind from all other creatures

Genesis 1:26–27 NIV

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

difference between Ruthie and our new bunnies

Ruthie and you and I are made in the image of God

In other words when God created you He also declared over you that you are “like God.”

What a profound announcement!

With these words God is declaring the intrinsic value of who you are as a human being

To be human is to have dignity and worth because you carry with you the very image of God

Your value and worth is not achieved by success or accomplishments

In fact, it is not achieve or earned at all

It is received

And it is not determined by anyone else or you for that matter.

It is determined by God alone

And God’s declaration over you is “Like God.”

You are like me.

So, you could do nothing else, and you are still priceless and loved.

Now, I want to venture into what has become a touchy subject, but it is a subject we must talk about.

In God creation over you, and since God is your creator and you are the creation.

The creator alone gets to determine your identity and purpose

God makes no mistakes

So, if you are female, you are designed and created by the good Creator of all things to be female

If you are male, you are created and designed by the good Creator of all things to be male

There may be circumstance in your life that has caused you to question that or doubt that

There may be lies that you’ve believed along the way

But God doesn’t make mistakes so you are not a mistake

And the sooner we trust in and put our faith in the plans and purposed of God for our life

The sooner we will stop being miserable

And the sooner we achieve and access the fulness of life

Now, lastly, what is our purpose and then I’m gonna end with some practical things this morning

What is your purpose?

Why am I here?

What was I created for?

God creates us in His image, He gives us an identity, He gives us worth and value, but He also gives us a purpose.

And really a task. So if you are a task oriented person then you’re probably going to love this part.

Genesis 1:26–28 NIV

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Your sole purpose is to be an extension of the glory of God to all of creation

Your calling summed up: represent God

So, God, in creation, creates all things, creates Adam and Eve and then essentially says,

Hey what I’ve started here, you continue on

help me bring chaos to order

Help represent me everywhere you go, to all creation.

So we bear the image of God by ordering what is disordered

Right? Like even the most mundane and silliest of tasks

Hey, a hurricane comes and just brings massive disorder and you want to glorify God

Do some yard work. Bring order.

I’ve been changing some diapers lately

While I’m doing that I am also fulfilling the mandate of God on my life

Not just because Im being a good father and husband and all those things but because I am bringing order where there is disorder

Every act of ordering is an act of ruling

It is an obedient act to the mandate of God

The place where we mess up is, when we bring order and then try to take the glory for it.

Our ruling and representation is meant to be for His glory and not our own

We were not created to be Babel builders seeking our own glory

But in all things we do, we do for Christ.

And we are able to do because of Christ

And we are able to see clearly the goal marked out for us because Jesus is our perfect example

And He came as the perfect image of the invisible God (Col 1:15)

Hebrews 1:3 NIV

3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Jesus is the perfect and true image bearer who rules and represents God perfectly

And so the image has been obscured due to sin in us, it should be becoming clearer and clearer as we look more and more to Jesus

And as we become more like Jesus

Now, what does this mean practically speaking?

#1 you are created and have limitations

Know them and uphold them

You are not God, so don’t act like it

#2 Every human is an image bearer of God

White, black, yellow, green

young and old

rich and poor

educated or not

From your neck of the woods or from across the world

All are welcomed and celebrated into the family of God because all are image bearers

the number we try to reach with the gospel is all because all are image bearers

#3 You have a purpose on your life

And you can partake in that purpose by simply living with mindset of glorifying God in all things

Rule and represent because it is what you are created to do

And do all things for the glory of God

You are not worthless, you have been bought with a price

You are not a mistake, you are fearfully and wonderfully made

you are not a waste, you have purpose and reason to live

You are invited into a life with your Creator that is far greater and more satisfying than anything else you will ever do.

You don’t have to earn it, you don’t have to achieve it,

Just receive it and walk in it

pray