The IMAGO DEI: Reflecting God's Image

Introduction

Today we begin a new series “You Don’t Complete Me” the name of the series will make sense as we move along our study. This series is about relationships; it speaks to married and single people alike, helping us understand the gifts inherited in both marriage and singleness.

The point is to show how both marriage and singleness point to a greater purpose, and how they depict Christ and his relationship with His church, and the family of God. But before we talk about relationships either in a state of singleness or in a state of marriage we need to address our own biases and presuppositions and check the erroneous ones at the door. What do I mean by presupposition.

A presupposition is an assumption or belief that a person holds as foundational or self-evident, often without explicitly proving or questioning it. Presuppositions act as starting points for reasoning and interpreting the world. They shape how individuals approach knowledge, evidence, and experiences.

-ChatGPT-

No one, absolutely no one approaches anything completely unbiased. Everyone, mostly unconsciously, sees everything through the lenses of their presuppositions. Those presuppositions make you see interpret every thing from a presidency candidate debate to Bugs Bunny reruns through the lenses of those presuppositions.

In the 19th century an English naturalist by the name of Charles Darwin developed a theory that came to be known as Darwinism. Darwinism is a theory that attempts to explain the origin and continued existence if new kinds of plants and animals by means of natural selection acting by chance variations.

In Darwinism, humans are not unique creations but are simply highly evolved animals. And so, generations of this kind of teaching has created presuppositions that either elevate animals and microorganisms to the same value level of human beings or it has devalued humanity reducing it to simply another type of ape.

With the presupposition that we are an evolved type of ape and the only reason we have survive is because we were the strongest and it is only natural that the strongest will eliminate the weakest in order to thrive comes a devaluing of each other. We cannot talk about relationships unless we check and see what presuppositions concerning the value of another human who is not me is.

Animals fight to the death for dominance, territory, and food to insure their own survival and if we are just another animal on the face of the earth that is exactly what will inform our behaviors.

Move forward a few hundred years and the question is no longer about humanity being just another animal but weather or not we are no different from machines. With the rise of AI which can perform tasks, faster, more efficiently and at times even more creatively than humans, just as in the past when comparing ourselves to animals, we begin to question, “are we really that special.” The Bible says,

“…Your adversary the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

Although this conjures up pictures of Dracula, Nosferatu, or or a being in a red suit horns and a pitch fork, that is not how he devours. Although the analogy is that of a giant cat physically disemboweling its victims, the reality is much, much, more subtil and the damage much more horrendous as it centers around a single question which is his most deadliest of weapons. That question is

“Did God really say…” (Genesis 3:1)

When this seed grow’s it creates different presuppositions that affect how you interact the with world. The battle is in the mind with how you filter and evaluate the world around you. This is the reason why the apostle Paul said,

2 Corinthians 10:5 LSB

5 as we tear down speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

The whole idea is the challenging of false worldviews, philosophies, and presuppositions that oppose biblical truth.

Our main text today (Gen 1:26-31) declares the timeless truth of the IMAGO DEI. Which is a latin phrase, a foundational theological concept that asserts that humans are created in the image of God. And this image of God is not reflected in man alone not in woman alone but in humanity which comprises both men and women, both boy and girl and absolutely nothing in between.

Together we are called to rule over creation and subdue it.

This truth calls us to reflect deeply on how we relate to one another and to creations. When we reduce ourselves to animals or machines we lose sight of this divine purpose and that loss of sight is reflected on how we see each other, how we treat each other.

As we delve into this passage let’s rediscover what it means to live as God’s image-bearers together with other image bearers, not as animals or machines but as men and women created to reflect the glory of the Most Hight in the world.

Genesis 1:26–31 LSB

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, so that they will have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 And 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 have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that creeps on the earth.” 29 Then God said, “Behold, I have given to you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has the fruit of the tree yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that creeps on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. 31 And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

By the time we get to vv.26 we are on the sixth day of creation. And within that 24 hour period God had already created all of the animals. In fact the creation of man and the creation of “living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind” according to vv. 24-25 happened right prior to the creation of man.

And so, man and animal share the same birthday according to the biblical account. People tend to attribute undue similarities with other people that share their birthdays in an attempt to share commonalities. And certainly there are common things that man shares with beast:

According to Gen 2:7,19 they are made of dust; according to Gen1:29,30 they feed of of plants and fruits from the trees, and there is a similar reproductive blessing Gen 1:22,28.

However, the word, logos, terminology used in creation creates a massive distancing between man and beast regardless of the birthday. Notice the contrast between the “Let us make…” (vv. 26) and “Lethe earth bring forth…” (vv. 24). Also the proclamation that the animal section of creation was completed when He said that is was good. There is the ending of a thing and then the begining of another when He said let us (the plural sense in which the entirety of the God head participates in what the creator himself considers His crown jewel.

In the image and likeness defines man’s unique relation to God which nothing else in the known universe had. And that unique relationship with God also defines a unique relationship with each unlike the animals:

Genesis 9:6 LSB

6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.

James 3:9 LSB

9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God.

Man was who was similar to God in some mysterious way was made to have dominion, this word in the Hebrew :graga means to subdue, to rule over to have mastery or power over, the rest of the animals and creation they way God would rule, subdue dominate, have mastery over us all.

The Hebrew word for man is Adam. It is identified by the masculine but it denotes humanity or mankind. Eventually Adam would become a proper name but it did not begin that way, adam was the name of the species of being that God had created. The species contained its male and its female counterpart. All you have to do is look up what they hebrew word Adam means red and or ground, red ground or red dirt, red dust. That is all of humanity

Genesis 1:27 LSB

27 And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Notice the play in words from singular to plural. Lets use the Hebrew words so that we can get the right context

And ʾelōhîm created ʾā•dām in His own image in the image of ʾelōhîm He created him; zā•kār and  n°qê•ba(h) He created them.

Later the male would classify himself and his wife and would call himself ish (man) and the female he would classify her as isha (woman) which in english works perfectly as woman comes from man. But together they are Adam. And Adam is created in in the image of God according to the likeness of God.

Genesis 1:28 LSB

28 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 sky and over every living thing that creeps on the earth.”

Who is them? God blessed the male and the female Adam and said to them be fruitful and multiply, now as male and female Adam, subdue the earth have dominion over the fish, the birds and everything that walks around on the earth, and you are to do this as male and female Adam.

Male and female are to exert the rule of God on the earth as representatives of God. MacArthur says it best when he says,

Man [and woman] would fill the earth and oversee its operation. “Subdue” does not suggest a wild and unruly condition for the creation because God Himself pronounced it “good.” Rather, it speaks of a productive ordering of the earth and its inhabitants to yield its riches and accomplish God’s purposes.

-John F. MacArthur -

Genesis 1:29–31 LSB

29 Then God said, “Behold, I have given to you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has the fruit of the tree yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that creeps on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. 31 And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

God declare all of it to be good. The order of creation is good. The food I have created both for the creatures and for the caretakers

Our responsibility and privilege is to steward God's creation as a unified community. This stewardship is a shared mission that reflects God's care for creation. Through Christ, we have been empowered to fulfill this mission, teaching how to work together in harmony for the common good. This common reality requires us to have healthy relationships.

With the introduction of sin into the world, the image of God has been gravely marred. The animals barely obey us, some of them will eat us if we are not careful. The ground was curse, all of nature was cursed and earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes and tornadoes,, volcanoes erupting, killer microorganisms and diseases plague us continuously. Adam still has some rule but most of nature is out of control and in many instances we are at the mercy of its forces.

But Christ came to restore all things. But this new Adam is not like the first Adam. The first Adam was created in the image and according to the likeness of God however. In the second Adam, that came to rescue that which was lost we have a greater, infinitely greater Adam than the first that Adam is Jesus,

Colossians 1:13–20 LSB

13 Who rescued us from the authority of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, And in Him all things hold together. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church; Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19 For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 And through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross—through Him—whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Why do you think that that the wind and the waves obey his voice and that at the Name of Jesus every knee must bow.

Now God is an Adam and shares in your Adamness. You are not an animal you are not a machine you are an Adam. Both male and female, men and women together have intrinsic value bestowed upon you by the creator Himself…

Psalm 8:4–9 LSB

4 What is man that You remember him, And the son of man that You care for him? 5 Yet You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You crown him with glory and majesty! 6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, 7 All sheep and oxen, And also the animals of the field, 8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. 9 O Yahweh, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!

We share in the divine nature with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and that must be manifested in our relationships which are informed by our presuppositions of who we are and what we are here for. When you know what and who you are you will love one another as Christ has loved you

When you have the right biblical worldview of God, manhood and womanhood you will not say that you love God and hate your brother and sister.   

The health of our relationships is not measured by the years we spend together or the emotions we feel when we are with each other. Instead, the health of our relationships is measured by the Christlike love we have for one another. Which starts with a biblical view of what it means to be human.