Who Am I?
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Call for Colbert park volunteers
Call for Illini Bash volunteers- specifically, I need a few guys to help us grill!
Olympics, politics, identity is all around us. And everyone wants to share their opinion, including Christians, but what we are so quick to do is to remove the Bible from it! See, identity is not something that we can self-determine. (WW1 example and how that helped lead to WW2). The results of man creating a MAN-MADE, MAN-CENTERED identity without GOD in the middle of it, is disastrous.
Which is why it is so important that we talk about identity. On the PTC (say full name) we have been doing a series on identity and what God’s Word says about identity. But this summer, as I prayed about our preaching schedule, I felt God really put it on my heart that we needed to take a Sunday Morning to go back to the very beginning; Genesis 1 and look at identity.
Main Point: God Gave us Identity when we were created!
Main Point: God Gave us Identity when we were created!
Body
Body
Honestly, if we are going to spend one week talking about identity and how God made us, OR DID NOT MAKE US, then there is no better place to look than Genesis 1:24-31.
In Genesis 1, God creates the world and everything in it. Genesis 1:1
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
It’s simple really. And as we read Genesis 1, there is a rhythm that starts to become clear.
God creates something and then God says that it is GOOD!
God’s creation by nature is GOOD!
And on the first five days, God creates many things- God creates the sun, God creates the earth, God creates dry land, God creates fish, God creates birds, God CREATES SO MANY THINGS!
The 6th day of creation is going to be our focus today.
24 Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
The sixth day starts with God creating living creatures of the earth.
God SPEAKS livestock, creatures that crawl and wildlife into being.
But notice something here- God creates it according to their kinds.
That phrase “according to their kinds” is used 4 times in these two verses.
This phrase is really important. See, God creates cows for instance. And when God creates cows, the cows will have cows.
God creates lions. They will have lions and they will behave like lions.
And God creates things like kangaroos! And they will have kangaroos and will behave like kangaroos.
You don’t see a lion having a kangaroo as a child, and you don’t see a cow trying to curl up in a kangaroo’s pouch!
God makes each of these animals with ORDER AND ACCORDING TO THEIR KINDS!
God creates WITH ORDER! Creation is not chaotic; rather, creation is a majestic and glorious thing where God makes things exactly as they should be made!
And as God finishes creating these things, look at what HE SAYS!
God declares that it was good.
God didn’t make a mistake during creation.
God didn’t make a kangaroo and say, “That’s not my best work.”
God didn’t make a lion and say, “I really should have made that differently.”
NO! God created EVERYTHING EXACTLY AS IT SHOULD BE!
God’s creation is VERY GOOD!
Genesis 1:26
Genesis 1:26
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”
After God creates the livestock, the creatures that crawl and the wildlife of the earth, God creates something else.
God CREATES MANKIND!
And look at what God says. “Let us make man in our image.”
Let’s stop there.
God makes mankind in GOD’S IMAGE! But notice the pronoun that is used here.
OUR! Our is the pronoun used here.
Our is a plural pronoun. This is super important! God is revealing the trinity AT CREATION!
When Paul wrote Colossians 1:16, he is remembering back to this! Let me read that verse for us!
16 For everything was created by him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through him and for him.
Truly, all things were created BY JESUS, BY GOD AND BY THE HOLY SPIRIT!
The TRINITY IS NOT SOMETHING THAT IS CREATED, the TRINITY PRE-EXISTS CREATION!
Let me be clear on something- Jesus is not created,
Jesus always has been and always will be. Jesus is the ALPHA AND THE OMEGA, the BEGINNING AND THE END
In 2022, Lifeway and Ligonier ministries partnered to do a survey. They interviewed thousands of people asking them theological questions.
One was “Jesus is the first and greatest creation of God.”
Of the evangelicals that were surveyed, 61% affirmed this statement! Only 30% disagreed.
Now, on the surface that may not sound like a big deal, but it is. Because JESUS WAS NOT CREATED, JESUS INSTEAD IS CREATOR!
And that is clear in Genesis 1:26! Jesus is not talked about as created in Genesis 1, instead, JESUS DOES THE CREATION!
But God doesn’t just show us the trinity, God also says that mankind is made ACCORDING TO GOD’S LIKENESS!
God is not talking about 10 fingers and 10 toes, or hair color here.
God is talking about giving us a soul.
See, there are three unique parts to us.
We could talk about it like this. There’s a physical body. We can agree on that, right? If you’re here tonight and I see you, then you HAVE A PHYSICAL BODY!
Secondly, God has given you emotions. That’s just true. Every human has emotions. Some people are more emotional than others.
Like my friend Grant. I never saw him have emotions until we lost at Basketball state my Senior Year of High School. On the other hand, I have a lot more emotions. I get fired up and excited and I can get sad also!
Thirdly, God has given you a SPIRITUAL SOUL!
Do you know what these things show us about us? It shows us that WE ARE MADE PURPOSEFULLY!
God has INTENTIONALLY MADE US! God INTENTIONALLY DESIGNED US and made us LIKE HIM, unlike the rest of creation!
God has made us in GOD’S IMAGE AND IN GOD’S LIKENESS!
And after God makes us, GOD GIVES MANKIND A JOB!
God says that mankind will RULE OVER the fish, the birds, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.
God creates man with identity and then gives man UNIQUE PURPOSE!
Please hear me on this- purpose and identity are not the same. But also hear me on this- GOD GAVE US IDENTITY AND PURPOSE!
And God didn’t make any mistake in giving you identity and purpose!
God didn’t accidentally give you someone else’s purpose, or someone else’s personality. God made you YOU!
God made you INTENTIONALLY AND DESIGNED YOU INTENTIONALLY BECAUSE GOD DOESN’T MAKE ANY MISTAKES!
That really matters as we look at verse 27.
Genesis 1:27
Genesis 1:27
27 So God created man in his own image;
he created him in the image of God;
he created them male and female.
Verse 27 repeats part of verse 26 for emphasis. But verse 27 is also one of the central verses in one of our culture’s most important issues.
Look at verse 27.
Once again, God reminds us that we are created in GOD’S IMAGE!
Hear me on this- YOU ARE WORTH SO MUCH! AND IT ISN’T BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU BRING TO THE TABLE, or what YOU OFFER GOD, but rather, you are worth so much BECAUSE OF THE GOD THAT WE SERVE!
And then, we see the transition from the statement of being made in God’s image to how we are created male and female.
Let me be clear- throughout creation, God has made no mistakes and God doesn’t make a mistake here!
Remember, God did not make a kangaroo to have lions, or vice versa.
Throughout creation, God has perfectly created things and has made them EXACTLY AS GOD WANTS!
And here God creates Adam and Eve MALE AND FEMALE!
It’s a statement about Adam and Eve, but this is also a declaration about God’s righteous creation and it impacts us today.
This is one of the most hotly debated topics in our world today.
According to a Gallup poll, roughly 22.3% of Gen-Z adults identify as LGBTQ+. Transgender rates in particular are rising rapidly.
And recently we’ve seen this on an international stage at the Olympics in multiple settings.
Studies show that transgenderism rates are rising.
Do you know what transgenderism says? It declares that God has made mistakes and that the only person to know if you are a man or a woman is what YOU FEEL LIKE!
But the Bible tells us differently.
God creates people as MALE AND FEMALE. God makes men who are supposed to be men and God makes women who are supposed to be women.
The truth is that simple. But at the same time, something else is going on.
I want to ask everyone this morning to do me a favor. With every eye closed, raise your hand if you have met someone, or seen someone who would identify as transgender.
(Let people raise hands). At camp, I did this same exercise and every single kid put their hand up.
Everyone had at least seen someone in public who had rejected God’s created order.
Personally, I know a number of people who have undergone gender transitions. This is where our world is.
And this morning, I want to give us the honest reason why this is the case.
It isn’t because of “those people,” it’s really much simpler.
The world has made disciples!
THE WORLD has outdiscipled us! Our students have been discipled by the way of the world, they have been told that they can self-determine sin and righteousness.
The world has taught this and proclaimed this and in the meantime, as Christians, our response hasn’t been right.
Because this is a DISCIPLESHIP ISSUE AT HEART, not a political issue, or an issue of not loving people.
So what do we need to do?
We need to hold to the Biblical truth and proclaim that without fear.
We believe that God made no mistake in creation and that GOD NEVER MAKES A MISTAKE!
So God did not make a mistake when he made someone MALE OR FEMALE BECAUSE GOD MAKES NO MISTAKES!
Hear me on this- sin distorts creation, but God doesn’t ever make mistakes and our world NEEDS TO HEAR THIS!
Cornerstone family, our world needs to hear this truth!
Our world needs to know, our kids need to know, that truth doesn’t come from them, truth comes from God! Our VBS did a great job of teaching kids that! TRUTH COMES FROM GOD!
Look no further than Genesis 3 to see what happens when mankind chases after their own desires.
I’ll spoil it- In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve decide that they know best. It results in the fall of mankind and COMPLETE SEPARATION FROM GOD! I’d say that isn’t good!
But God’s creation of mankind doesn’t stop in verse 26-27.
From verses 28-30, God talks more with Adam and Eve!
Genesis 1:28-30
Genesis 1:28-30
28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” 29 God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you, 30 for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
We see that God gives identity in verses 26-27- BEING MADE IN GOD’S IMAGE, and then in verses 28-30, God gives PURPOSE!
God starts off by blessing mankind and then giving 5 instructions.
Be fruitful
Multiply
Fill the earth
Subdue it
Rule the earth
These 5 things are the basics of God’s purpose that is given to Adam and Eve before the fall!
There’s an interesting parallel here.
When Jesus goes back to heaven, He gives the disciples 5 instructions.
Go
Make disciples
Baptize Them
Teach them everything that He commanded
Remember that God is with them always!
It’s an interesting parallel, because Jesus comes to fulfill what we all need after the fall of mankind. To put it another way, one of the things that Jesus does is to RESTORE CREATION!
And part of that restoration is giving us a NEW JOB!
We should still be fruitful and multiply and live out the Genesis 1 job that God gives, but we also have a NEW JOB under the NEW COVENANT!
And JUST AS Jesus tells the disciples that He will be with them, God gives a reassurance to Adam and Eve.
God reassures them that HE HAS PROVIDED!
That’s the thing about the Garden of Eden- Adam and EVE HAVE NO REASON TO EVER WORRY!
GOD HAS PROVIDED COMPLETELY!
That’s literally verses 29-30! God spends two verses telling them HOW THEY ARE PROVIDED FOR!
And here’s the thing- God’s provision is so far beyond anything they could ever need!
At the end of this verse we read that all that God says is “so.”
God speaks and things happen. That’s how this works! GOD IS POWERFUL AND REIGNS!
Genesis 1:31
Genesis 1:31
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.
That isn’t all though. The chapter isn’t done there.
Instead, we see that God SEES ALL THAT HE HAS MADE AND HE MAKES A DECLARATION!
“It was very good indeed.”
Notice, in verse 25, everything is good. But now God calls it VERY GOOD INDEED!
Do you know what he’s specifically referring to?
It’s GOD’S CREATION OF HUMANITY!
God didn’t mess up when you were made!
God made you VERY GOOD!
So no matter where you are today- i really want you to hear this.
GOD MADE YOU VERY GOOD!
God didn’t make a mistake with you. That’s really been on my heart this summer- friends- God did not make a mistake when HE MADE YOU!
GOD MADE YOU AND GOD CALLED YOU VERY GOOD INDEED!
Sin is very real and every human is born with a sin nature. But hear me on this- GOD’S DESIGN OF YOU? It’s VERY GOOD INDEED!
Application
Application
God Gives us Identity
God Gives us Value
God Gives us Salvation
God Gives Us Identity
God Gives Us Identity
The biggest takeaway that we need to have from Genesis 1 is that GOD GIVES US IDENTITY!
Hear me on this- our identity doesn’t come from any form of HUMAN METRIC, or HUMAN DESIGN, our identity ONLY comes from God!
I want to be 100% clear on this. GOD GIVES US IDENTITY! God GAVE US IDENTITY WHEN HE CREATED US IN HIS IMAGE!
God has made you purposefully in GOD’S IMAGE!
How are you made? IN THE IMAGE OF GOD!
Listen, this is what our world needs! Our world faces an identity crisis. Like think about this with me for a second.
18% of Gen-Z, that’s my generation- that’s our student’s generation, that’s what some call the “next-gen,”- although it’s really the CURRENT GEN- 18% of people in this generation see their life and genuinely will say to someone else that they would be BETTER OFF DEAD!
Let me repeat that- 1 in 5 Americans who are roughly 12-27, think they would be better off dead. Let that sink in for a second. 1 in 5 is ASTRONOMICAL!
Let me tell you something- this is a big flashing light that they NEED HELP!
And the help that the world offers doesn’t actually fix anything. The world promises that if we just give more choices, or more freedom, or if we just affirm something, then it’ll all be ok!
But that isn’t the solution. Genesis 1:26-27 give us the solution!
The solution to this identity issue is that these kids understand that they are MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD!
This isn’t just for kids though! This is for each and everyone of us!
It may not seem like the most practical application, but this is- let me be clear- WE ALL NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD!
So I want to give us a practical challenge- one of the greatest issues that we see in identity in society is negative self-talk. That is where we talk to ourselves and tell ourselves every flaw.
Like when I used to play baseball and couldn’t hit a curveball, I’d tell myself that I was stupid and dumb and bad at baseball and the worst because I swung through yet another curveball.
Honestly, that’s a mild example. But the issue is that we can all fall into this.
So let me encourage you- to really EMBRACE THE REALITY THAT GOD MADE YOU IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD, then WE need to change the way that we talk to ourselves!
So this week, do me a favor- when you get frustrated with yourself, stop for a second, breath and remind yourself that you are MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD!
Remind yourself that God loves you and that your identity doesn’t come from your job, or your performance, but rather comes from being a CHILD OF GOD!
God Gives us Value
God Gives us Value
Our second application today is that God gives us value.
God not only made us in the IMAGE OF GOD, God gives us value. We see that throughout creation, but maybe no statement makes it more clear than in Genesis 1:31.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.
Everything that God makes is VERY GOOD INDEED and that includes us.
God gives us value! And God even gives us value by giving us a role that is unlike anything else in creation!
God doesn’t tell the angels to rule over the earth. God doesn’t tell the angels to steward what God has created.
God doesn’t tell the giraffe’s that they are in charge! God doesn’t bring all the animals to the mighty Chinchilla to be named!
God gives MAN this responsibility.
And with that responsibility, with that God-given purpose we see yet another aspect of the value that God gives to mankind.
So hear me, YOU ARE VALUED BECAUSE GOD MADE YOU VERY GOOD INDEED! And you were created UNLIKE ANYTHING ELSE! You are unique and that gives you even more value!
Hear me on this- remember that statistic I cited- 18% of Gen-Z thinks they’d be better off dead; 18% of my generation; 1 in 5 people in my generation. And I’m here to tell you, I’ve experienced this loss first hand. I’ve had friends who kill themselves.
Now, I am not here to talk about self-esteem, I am here though to talk about what the Bible tells us- that we are MADE VERY GOOD INDEED!
In addition to helping this generation understand that they are made in the IMAGE OF GOD, we HAVE TO BE COMMITTED to helping this generation understand the intense value that they have in God’s eyes!
And that starts with each of us understanding the value that GOD HAS GIVEN US!
God has made us very good indeed and although sin has entered the world, like we’ll talk about in one minute, GOD DIDN’T QUIT ON US!
God gave us a savior!
Friends, God has given us value.
So let me repeat my challenge from our last application point- does your self-talk mirror that? Do you talk to yourself as a VERY GOOD CREATION OF A PERFECT CREATOR?
Or do you find every flaw with your appearance, your actions, your skills?
Because remember, a fleshly perspective like we talked about in July is driven by the external appearance and actions, whereas, our CHRIST-HONORING, GOD-FOCUSED perspective is focused not on WHAT WE BRING TO THE TABLE BUT WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US!
So hear me- God made you in God’s Image and God made you VERY GOOD INDEED!
Even when you make a mistake, remember that. Commit today to reminding yourself of that. In easy times and in hard, KEEP YOUR EYES FOCUSED ON HOW WE ARE MADE VERY GOOD BY GOD!
God Gives us Salvation
God Gives us Salvation
Genesis 3- Sin enters the world and our RELATIONSHIP with God is severed.
Now we are all sinners
But God didn’t give up on God’s VERY GOOD CREATION!
God made a way for us to be saved!
The Old Testament tells us all about it.
The 4 Gospels show this to us- we need to Admit that we are sinners, Believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God raised Him from the Dead (And that he took our place and bore our sin, shame and guilt- what LOVE!) and the Confess our faith in HIM!
Then we can be saved and our RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD CAN BE RESTORED!
Gospel- Genesis 3 leads us to the fulfillment and restoration that Jesus brings
Call for repentance and immediate response!