Sermon Manuscript: Design and Purpose in Creation

Disclaimer: This manuscript is the written form of my sermon. Citations and references are included where possible. Heading and subtitles are written place makers. I pray is useful to you.

Introduction

Our message today is in the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Genesis was written by Moses to show the Israelites who their God truly is. The word Genesis comes from the Hebrew phrase “In the beginning,” and is the theme of the whole book. In it we can read God’s creation, His promises, His covenant, and His plan for redemption through His grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, Genesis reveals God to us.

The book of Genesis reminds us of God’s design and purpose when He created man. As the evangelical missionary Francis August Schaeffer, who wrote books on apologetics and philosophy, said:

“Man, made in the image of God, has a purpose—to be in relationship to God, who is there. Man forgets his purpose and thus he forgets who he is and what life means.” - Manser, Martin, editor. Christian Quotations. Martin Manser, 2016.

We easily forget God’s purpose and design. Today, as we read a section of the book of Genesis, it is a reminder who our God is and the purpose of man in creation.

I will be reading from Genesis 1:26-28.

Genesis 1:26–28

“26 Then 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 birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 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.””

Bridge

When we read this section of the Bible, the word man is used to speak about the human race. There are other sections where the word man would mean singular and specifically to a male, but that is not the case in this section of the Bible. I say that because I will be making mention of the word man to reference the human race/mankind - that is to say male and female.

In the text we read that God created man to his image and likeness. And that God created man different than the animals of the earth. We read that Mankind at creation reflected God’s character, senses, and holiness. Holding a close and complete relationship with its creator (God). Reading the text closely, we also see that God in his perfect wisdom did not create mankind and left them to only exist on earth, or to wander around the earth. Instead, God gave them purpose; giving them dominion over the earth and the animals. He gave them authority and blessed them with the gift of multiplying and being fruitful.

However, God’s design and purpose have been stained by disobedience (sin). Through sin, mankind brought upon themselves both spiritual and mortal death. Sin corrupted man, staining God’s creation, distorting the purpose given by God, and breaking the relationship between God and man.

Today, I would like to make three observations from our passage of how the design and purpose of man have been restored in Jesus Christ.

1. First, God’s Image in man.

2. Second, God’s purpose for man in Dominion.

3. Third, God’s purpose in the blessing of being fruitful.

First observation

God’s image in man

A. The Scriptural Foundation

Take a look at the first part of verse 26 - “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”

We read that in creation God plans to create man to His likeness, that is to say that He made him to reflect God’s likeness character traits. For example:

Intellectual ability

Morally pure

Spiritual in nature

and Holy

B. Theological Explanation

When God says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Gen. 1:26), means that God plans to make a creature similar to himself, but not identical. - Grudem, Wayne A. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004, p. 442.

The theologian J.I. Packer writes in Concise Theology that godlike creatures have Godlike capacity for knowledge, thought, and action; being morally upright. - (Packer, J. I. Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs. Tyndale House, 1993, p. 72.)

We see this truth echoed later in Genesis when Adam fathers a son in his likeness. In Genesis 5:1–3 we read: “1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.”

The Likeness parallels God creating Adam and now Adam fathering a son (Seth). In his likeness but not identical.

C. The Image and Likeness Defined

The “image and likeness of God” (Gen 1:26) is that special status of the human race, male and female, as God’s representatives in the created order. - Bray, Gerald. “The Image of God.” Lexham Survey of Theology, edited by Mark Ward et al., Lexham Press, 2018.

A more detailed explanation and complete description of image and likeness of God in man would be difficult, because such understanding requires examining all of Scripture. In other words, to know what it means to be in God’s likeness, we must first know who God is. Because we were created to his Likeness. - Grudem, Wayne A. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004, p. 443.

D. The Fall

However, man fell to sin and their perfected “likeness” to God was distorted. In Genesis chapter 3 we read how the Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thus dying spiritually and bringing upon themselves mortal death. The consequences of these actions are twofold:

first, awareness of guilt and immediate separation from God (they ‘hid themselves’), unpairing the fellowship with God; and

secondly, bringing upon themselves condemnation of eternal punishment, decreeing toil, sorrow and death for man himself, and in addition inevitably involving the whole of the created order, of which man is the crown.

From there onwards man is a depraved creature, spiritually dead.

In going against the purpose of God’s design, brought upon himself an immediate separation from God and felled short of the glory and communion it once shared with its creator - God. - Hughes, P. E. “Fall.” New Bible Dictionary, edited by D. R. W. Wood et al., 3rd ed., InterVarsity Press, 1996, p. 360.

Isaiah 59:2 “2 .. your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”

Romans 5:12 “12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—”

The sin of man has been imputed upon man. In other words, we all inherit the guilt of a creature fallen from God’s glory.

Yet, the Bible assumes that the image/likeness of God is retained despite the fall, sin, and corruption. Murder is prohibited because all people bear God’s image (Gen 9:6). In the New Testament the same motive is given for avoiding slander (Jas 3:9). Fallen human beings retain the image/likeness of God but use it in order to further their rebellion against him. What should have been our greatest glory has instead become our deepest shame. We have not been reduced to the state of animals (which would have been the case had the image been removed), but our rebellion against God has made us guilty of abusing the great gift and influence that he has given to us. - Bray, Gerald. “The Image of God.” Lexham Survey of Theology, edited by Mark Ward et al., Lexham Press, 2018.

But the story does not end in despair. Although sin distorted the image of God in man, God, in His mercy and grace, provided a way for that image to be renewed.

From the moment of the fall, God’s plan of redemption was already in motion — a plan fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Where sin brought separation, Christ brings reconciliation.

Where the image was stained by sin, Christ restores it in righteousness and truth.

E. Restoration in Christ

This is the good news of the gospel!

The this likeness and image of God in man that was corrupted because of sin has been restored and redeemed by the work of Jesus Christ!

The Bible tells us in: 2 Corinthians 5:21 “21 For our sake he made him (That is Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

At the cross of calvary, Jesus took upon himself the guilt of sin. Through his atonement work at the cross and His resurrection, what was once distorted by sin has been renewed.

In Him, through the repentance of our sins, we are made new — regenerated after the likeness of God.

Isaiah 53:5–6 “5 But he (Jesus) was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Friends, through the work of Jesus Christ we can come to be reconciled to the likeness of God’s image that was lost to sin at the garden of Eden. Given us the ministry of reconciliation and is shaping us into the likeness of Christ.

Ephesians 4:24 “24 and to put on the new self (That is the new self in Christ), created after the likeness of God (Notice the word likeness of God) in true righteousness and holiness.”

As believers, we are being transformed. This renewal is a restoration of what sin destroyed.

In other words, through the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ we can come in repentance to have our guilt of sin forgiven, be born again, and be sealed by the spirit of God - restoring the communion with God through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:29 “29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son,”

In Christ, the image that was marred by sin is being restored in righteousness, holiness, and knowledge. What was once lost in Adam is now being renewed in Jesus Christ.

And for all who have come in repentance to Christ and have been born again we have this truth!

Romans 8:1 “1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Being made in the image of God not only tells us who we are, but what we were created to do. God made man in His likeness so that he might represent God’s rule on earth. That leads us to our second observation — God’s purpose for man in dominion.

2. Dominion

A. The Purpose

Look with me at the second part of Verse 26: “And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Dominion refers to the rulership over creation that God granted to humankind in virtue of their being made in his image. In this section of our passage we see that God planned for man to have:

Authority: When we describe authority we may think authority like a ruler or king, but what God is aiming here is stewardship under God’s rule.

Responsibility: caring for creation, reflecting God’s sovereign rule.

Delegate the authority of God’s creation: earth to mankind who are made in his image.

Genesis 2:15 says “15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” showing the responsibility and purpose he gave man.

Psalm 115:16 says “16 The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man.” showing us how God has delegated the authority of God to man.

B. The Corruption in Dominion

However, as seen in our previous observation sin also stained and corrupted God’s purpose. When man sinned, he lost the righteous rule over earth. Genesis 3:17–18 after the fall of sin says and this is God speaking “...‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you.” We can see how the purpose of dominion was cursed.

Because of sin man’s rule over the earth no longer was about stewardship but about self-power.

Romans 8:20–21 “20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”

Sin turned what God created with purpose into self - domination. But once again we see that what was lost because of sin has been restored and redeemed in Jesus Christ.

C. The Restoration of Dominion (Christ reign and ours with him)

And this is the hope in Christ. That through Christ the purpose that was lost with Sin has been redeemed. where Adam failed to rule in righteousness, Christ, reigns in perfect authority.

Matthew 28:18 says “18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

Now all authority has been given to Christ. The dominion that was lost in Eden is now fully realized in Him. Because of his sacrifice and resurrection he has reclaimed what sin corrupted.

In Ephesians 1:20-22 we read that God raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion. Christ now reigns as the true king - the perfect image of God.

Because of his kingship and reign, those who have come to repentance will reign with him as well. This is good news!

But Christ’s reign does not end with authority - it extends to fruitfulness. leading us to our third and final observation.

3.Multiply and be fruitful

A. The Purpose

Read with me verse 27 of our passage “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 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.””

At creation God blessed Adam and eve with the gift to multiply and fill the earth. However, this command extends beyond biological, it was a purpose grounded in filling the earth with image-bearers of God.

We can read in our passage that the purpose of God at creation was to fill the earth with his Glory.

B. The corruption of fruitfulness

Bu as we have seen sin also corrupted just at it di with the likeness and dominion given. Instead of multiplying for God’s glory, humanity began to multiply wickedness.

Genesis 6:5 says “5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

The disobedience of man at the fall turned the gift of multiply and be fruitful to a multiplication of sin and corruption.

C. The restoration of fruitfulness

But once again there is good news! Through Jesus Christ the command to be fruitful and multiply has now taken a new and spiritual dimension. Jesus has restored this purpose through the great commission, where multiplication of God’s glory is seen among those who believe in the gospel.

Matthew 28:19–20 “19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

And John 15:8 says “8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

The fruit of the spirit becomes the mark of this new creation for God’s glory - His righteousness, love, and holiness that is seen among God’s people.

Conclusion

As we have seen today, God’s design and purpose for man were clear from the very beginning. In creation, God made man in His image — to reflect His character and likeness.

He gave man dominion — to rule as His representative, under His authority.

And He blessed man to be fruitful and multiply — to fill the earth with His glory.

But sin entered, and what was perfect became corrupted.

The image of God in man was stained, dominion turned to self-rule, and fruitfulness turned to rebellion.

The purpose God gave was lost — but not forever.

Because God in His grace, sent His Son — the true image of the invisible God, the perfect man, Jesus Christ.

Where Adam failed, Christ succeeded.

In Him, the image is restored, the dominion is reclaimed, and the fruitfulness of God’s purpose is redeemed.

Through His cross and resurrection, Christ restores what sin destroyed.

Friends, this is the good news of the Gospel!

And our calling today — to live as those who reflect His image, to walk under His authority, and to bear fruit that reveals His presence in us.

May our lives show the world what has been restored through Jesus Christ — the beauty of God’s image, the righteousness of His reign, and the fruit of His Spirit.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17

Through Christ, what was lost in the garden has been restored at the cross.

May we live as those renewed in His image, walking in His dominion, and bearing His fruit until the day we reign with Him forever.