Identity- “Image and Likeness”

Intro: Question, Experience, Story

Identity: The fact of being who or what a person or thing is

Who would you like to be like? Jack Kelly, Sully, Walker Texas Ranger

I wanted to be like them, I styled my hair like them, tried to dress like them, sought to act like them.

We take a look at our lives and seek to become what we want

Arnold in Pumping Iron- “I see I need a little more deltoid” so I work on it

Matthew McConaughey- “who is your hero”- me in 10 years

Passage of Scripture: Genesis 1, READ IT OUT LOUD AS A GROUP!!

Identity: “Image and Likeness”

Summary/Point: Our Identity is found in being a visible representation of the invisible God.

Illustration:

Identity: “Image and Likeness” (vs. 26-27)

A Pattern

God said

Created

Made

God Saw/Separated

Separated- light from darkness, waters from waters (expanse above and below), dry land and sea

Yielding seed, according to its kind- vegetation, fruit trees, plants

Swarms of living creatures, birds, sea creatures, everyliving creature that moves

Male and female-

Blessed them, Genesis 1:28 “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.””

God Called

Light (day), darkness (night), expanse (heaven), dry land (earth), waters (seas), man

Kind vs. Image

Kind- “min” 31x, Gen, Lev, Dt, all in reference to animals and their “kind”. “A category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality”.

Image- “sal-me” 15x, form, model (representation), idol, “the visual appearance of something or someone, “a visible representation of the invisible God”.

Genesis 5:1–3 “This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.” Seth

A King

A Coin- Jesus, Mark 12:13-17

Dominion

Let them have dominion

over the firsh of the sea

over the birds of the heavens

over the livestock

over all the earth

over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth

Application/Implications:

Renew the Mind (the Scriptures):

What caught your attention in this section?

Which verses or words would you like to study a little more this week?

Engage the Heart (humility vs. pride):

God teaches us that he has dominion over his creation, as created image barers we have been given domion over creation. If we are not under the dominion of our creator, we will be under the dominion of created things. Let me put it another way, when I don’t see my image/likeness/identity in the one I am created after, I will seek to find my image/likeness/identity in the things I create.

Enlist the Body (Words, actions, emotions):

How Well do I know what “God said”?

What am I listening to more these days, what our Creator has said, or what His creation is questioning?

Culture is questioning

Sex refers to “the different biological and physiological characteristics of males and females, such as reproductive organs, chromosomes, hormones, etc.” Gender refers to "the socially constructed characteristics of women and men – such as norms, roles and relationships of and between groups of women and men.

Genderfluid- “Gender fluid means a person embraces an adaptable nature to the concept of gender identity and gender expression. They can be one gender, multiple genders, or no gender. Gender neutral is often a term used to describe people of any gender.” Jul 2, 2023- google search

Gender Dysphoria- “Gender dysphoria (GD), according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 5), is defined as a "marked incongruence between their experienced or expressed gender and the one they were assigned at birth." It was previously termed "gender identity disorder."

Genesis 3:1 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?””

Isa 43:1-7 right after calling the deaf to hear and the blind to see!

Summary/Point: Our Identity is found in being a visible representation of the invisible God.

Illustration:

Prayer: