Uncomplicate the Complicated

Let me begin today by saying, “Thank you.” Thank you for your feedback in this sermon series. I’ve lost count of the number of you who have expressed your appreciation of our fresh look at Genesis. My goal is to approach the most “difficult” passages and to dive into those and compare them with our biblical worldview. That is why we looked so long at days 1 and 2, and it is why we are breezing past days 3-5. Those days are straightforward and very little controversy.

On the subject of controversy, there is a complicated subject I want to uncomplicate today, the creation of man. Read Genesis 1:24-25

Genesis 1:24–25 KJV 1900

24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Stop. We see here the creation of all land animals. All land animals. Now read Genesis 1:26-27

Genesis 1:26–27 (KJV 1900)

26 And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

In these two verses we see a very complicated section of Scripture, and this is what we are going to focus on today. On the subject of complicated, let me remind everyone that it is not really complicated, we make it that way.

When we read the Bible and say, “There has to be more” or “Surely it means something deeper than what is on the surface” etc. we are really saying, “The Bible on its own isn’t enough.”

The Bible is enough. If it is complicated to you then you have made it so. Time to clarify:

Man Was Made by God

Look at Genesis 1:26

Genesis 1:26 KJV 1900

26 And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

The creation of man was by a direct act of God.

While we’re here, there is another, tiny, little complication - “what is this ‘us’ stuff?”

“And God said” who said it? How many Gods are there? Only One! Then why the usage of the plural pronouns?

The Hebrew word for God used in Genesis is “Elohim” and is known as a uni-plural pronoun, meaning it can be used interchangeably in the singular or plural. Some have taken this verse, and I hinted to this a few Wednesdays ago, that in the beginning God surrounded Himself with what they refer to as a “divine counsel” of lesser divine beings. They do not give a definitive explanation of what type of creatures make up this counsel, but they suggest that when God is speaking here He is speaking to them. He’s not asking for permission, but telling them what He is about to do.

Let me go on to say that there is no biblical evidence to support such a claim. God is the Creator and Sovereign of the universe. He does not need a divine counsel, He does not need to run anything by them. The best, and only biblical understanding of this passage is that the usage of the plural “us” and “our” is that God is referring to the FACT of His triune nature.

We see this in day one of creation, Genesis 1:1-3

Genesis 1:1–3 KJV 1900

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

The Trinity is a biblical doctrine running through the entire Bible. What we read in verse 26 is that God MADE man. In verse 27 God switches to the singular pronoun and we read that God CREATED man.

Society tries to complicate this: They deny that God exists, that He is the Creator. They claim that we are an accident, that we just happened, that we have no purpose and we are going nowhere. They want no accountability to God. Hold on to that thought we’ll come back to it, but you must understand this before we go further, man was made by God! We see another truth too though...

Man Was Made Separate From the Animals

There are on day six two distinct creative acts that take place.

God creates all the land animals

All of them.

The ones that we see today, and the ones that are extinct, were created on day six.

THEN, after all the land ANIMALS are created....

God creates mankind.

We did not evolve from animals

We were created separately from them

I don’t want to get too far ahead, and I don’t want to repeat myself either, but suffice it to say, we are made from the earth.

Genesis 2:7 “7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

We came from dirt, not other animals.

We’re not told from what or how God made the animals, just that he did.

Its interesting, the word “man” and “ground” in verse 7 is the Hebrew word “Adam”

Man was created by God, man was created separately from the animals, and lastly, we see...

Man Was Made Different From the Animals

Tom Hill used to say, “Just because someone acts like a monkey doesn’t mean they came from one!”

God created the animals and God created man, but God created man differently. We are created in the image of God, but what does that mean? The answer is complex, but its not complicated! To be made in the image of God means...

We, like God are triune being

God

God the Father

God the Son

God the Holy Spirit

Man

Body - physical existence, aids in connecting with other humans

Spirit - life, but more than than, it is how we connect with God

Soul - consciousness - eternal, lasts forever. Genesis 2:7 “7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

God did not do this for the animals

God did this for man!

We are different than the animals

We, like God, express emotion, intellect, and will

God’s expression of these facets are always under control of His holy nature

Too often we allow our emotions to cloud our judgment, our intellect to lead us astray, and our will is used on our own selfish desires rather holy desires.

Animals exhibit intelligence, but it is simple

Man’s intelligence is complex, we’re able to learn, to invent, etc.

God’s intelligence is perfect. He never learned Scythian! He knows everything.

Animals express emotion and affection, grief, but only in the moment.

Humans have the ability to not only express emotion, but to anticipate it!

Some in this country will be happy come November 5th, others will be angry

They are making that decision now, “IF my guy wins, I’ll be happy!” “If my guy loses, I’ll be angry!”

Our emotions, unfortunately are affected by our sinful nature

Too often we allow our emotions to control us, instead of the other way around.

God’s holiness governs His emotions.

Animals have a type of free will

They eat when they choose or at least hunt for food when they’re hungry.

They sleep when they want, don’t we envy them for that!

Humans the ability to choose, given to us by God, but we, unlike the animals, have the ability to use judgment and discernment

Unfortunately, our sinful nature has affected our judgment as well. We make the wrong choices, go to the wrong places, do the wrong things.

Church, it wasn’t meant to be this way. When God made mankind, He made us without sin. Becasue God loves us He gave us a choice. In the coming weeks we are going to look at the creation of man, and just how good God was and is, and, unfortunately, we’re going to see how we messed it all up. Before we go, consider this...

Conclusion:

Society, the world, secular humanists, government, science and so on, want you to believe that you came from nothing, that you are not special, you have no purpose, and in the great scheme of things, you don’t matter.

Is it any wonder that 9.4% of children, ages 3-17 (approximately 5.8 million people) are suffering from depression today? What are they taught between those ages?

The earth was an accident.

There is no God, no Creator

You are an accident

You have no purpose

You have no meaning in your life

You are not accountable to anyone but yourself.

You are just an animal

Church, listen to me, the message of Genesis, the need for Christians to have a strong biblical worldview is needed today more than any other time in our history. We owe it to the next generation to give them hope!

What hope? That there is a God in heaven that created this amazing world we live in. He gave us time so that we can learn how precious life is. He gave us the world to enjoy to marvel at His creation. He gave us life or we wouldn’t be here, and He gave HIS LIFE so that we could be with Him for eternity.

If God loved us enough to make such a complex, intricate, self-sustaining world, if God would give us life, don’t you think He would also have given us a purpose? What is that purpose? To love Him, serve Him, glorify Him, worship Him and to be with Him forever.

Which will you choose? What man says, that you have no purpose, or what God says, that you matter because He made you?