Reengaging the Spiritual V
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Turn to Gen. 1
Let’s do a little recap from last week. We talked about the Hebrew concept of ʾělō·hîm - typically translated as God or god in English. We discovered that ʾělō·hîm includes these - PIC. These spiritual beings are known as, ʾělō·hîm. Yahweh, is an ʾělō·hîm, but He is unique - no other ʾělō·hîm is Yahweh. He alone is perfect, sovereign and so forth.
Let’s take this information and go back to Genesis 1 & 2. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that the ancient worldview of Genesis 1 is that God created order out of chaos. That’s the big picture, and don’t ever lose that. However, we do find the cosmic blueprint for the universe, and specifically for the earth and humanity.
I am 7-day creation guy. Though we acknowledge microevolution (changes within species), Scripture denies macroevolution (species evolving into other species). I believe the theory of evolution is one of the most damaging philosophies to ever enter this world. The heart and spirit of evolution is not science, but the elimination of ʾělō·hîm. Interestingly,
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.
Evolution rests on the premise that there is no creator. One of the problems with no Creator is that life has no meaning, no purpose and no value. If we are mere accidents, then our first breath is meaningless, death is final, and everything in between is pointless.
Evolution really is depressing. But the word of God gives us a different story. The Bible tells us that
We were planned
- we were are not accidents, we were specifically thought of before the foundations of the world. It also teacher that
We are made in an Image
- and because of that
We have purpose and value.
So let’s talk about this Image
In Genesis 1, God went through the process of creation – and He created by calling forth – He created by His word, and as far we can tell, nothing else. Each component of creation, such as earth, water, plants etc., is preceded by the word “And” - “And God said,” “And God made.” And each component of creation is completed with the phrase - “And it was so.”
Ok – God spoke, and it came to be.
The 6 days of creation in Hebrew are fluid and poetic. And what we see is like a crescendo - a buildup of excitement, and intensity and anticipation before the finale! And all the cosmic hosts, the ʾělō·hîm were watching in amazement as Yahweh, the Sovereign ʾělō·hîm created this physical realm -
The finale is introduced in verse 26, it’s no longer “AND,” but “THEN!” Up to this point, God is the sole Creator - He alone is speaking and bringing into existence. And this word “THEN” indicates a significant change in dynamics of the creation account. “Then” alerts us to the pinnacle of God’s creation - humanity - which we’ll look at in a moment, but there’s something else here.
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.”
Image and Likeness, by the way, serve to strengthen one idea - two words describing one concept. Here we have one of the great enigmas of Scripture - to whom is God speaking. Some would say this reveals the Trinity, Father, Son, Spirit. That’s a possibility, and it wouldn’t necessarily be wrong, because the truth is we definitively don’t know. However, this is not how God typically refers to Himself throughout Scripture - probably not Trinitarian.
By the structure of the sentence, there is an audience - perhaps the divine council (Psalm 82) or sons of God / Heavenly beings (e.g. 89:5–8). Even though there is an audience, He’s not saying, “Let us make man together.” We’re not like Mr. Potato Head - Who’s got the arm? Someone grab the feet and eyeballs and we’ll put him together …”.
The structure is of God speaking to an audience in the same way that I might say, “Let’s get some pizza! I’ll go get it.” It’s my idea, and I include you in my idea, then I make the idea happen. That’s most likely what God was doing. The creation of humanity was His idea; He included the heavenly hosts in the idea, but He made it happen - which would be very consistent with Gods’ nature - to be inclusive in what He’s doing.
So, these heavenly hosts and included in the idea, but then look at verse
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
God said, “Let us make humanity in our image - This means that in some manner, we have a likeness to, or something in common with the ʾělō·hîm. But, Yahweh doesn’t stop there – He narrows the Image a little bit more that there is something that sets us apart from the other ʾělō·hîm because we are also made uniquely in God’s own image.
What is it that sets us apart from all creation - spiritual and physical? What is it about us that we are the pinnacle of His creation, we are the apple of His eye, we are His glory. Who are we that He should be mindful of us and love us with an everlasting love? What is it about us that God would send His Son Jesus Christ to die for us, to pay for our sins and give us new life?
What makes us so special and different?
First - nothing else in this world is made in His image. No other living creature bears His image. Humanity alone carries His image. There may be some physiological similarities between us and animals - we eat, we have personalities, we have emotions - to some extent we can learn and so forth. Our similarities can only go so far, and those similarities are not what makes us in God’s image.
So what makes us unique? We’ve been trying to answer that for centuries - is it our self-awareness, our free-will, our ability to improve or to use credit cards or match colors? We can come up with some very deep philosophical reasons why we’re made in His image - but honestly, I think most of them are complicated and fall short of the simplicity of the Image.
What does it mean to be made in His Image
1) God said so
- in Gen. 1, God said, “I’m going to make them in my image.”
Look at
then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
2) We have a dual nature
- we are people of the earth and people of Heaven - we are physical and spiritual beings. This is our home, but it’s not our home. We live here, but we’re strangers here. This dual nature makes us very unique - the angels don’t have, the divine council doesn’t have it, animals don’t have it …
You know what really sets us apart? Creation of humanity was not by word alone, but by His hands.
3) We were made by the hands of God.
God put His hands into the dirt, and He molded and shaped the clay. God got down on His knees, if you will, and put some elbow grease into it; had to put His back into it … He touched that which He made.
But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.
We were made intentionally, purposefully, and here’s the 4th reason -
4) We were made with a secret ingredient
Potter Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDreqXD4MoI
Did you see the secret ingredient? What is it?
Love - God’s Secret Ingredient
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
Put all that together, now this is a different topic, but that’s enough to make some of the ʾělō·hîm jealous - and desire our worship and lead us astray ….
Bearing His image carries responsibility
- humans alone are to care for and provide ethical stewardship of the earth and those who live on the earth. God gave humanity dominion or the responsibility to care for the earth …
Bearing His image is given, not earned
- The Image is not determined by behavior (good or bad). No person has more or less Image due to accomplishments or lack thereof. You do not have more Image one day and less the next.
Nowhere in Scripture does it ever allude to growing into the image of God. There is no potential or partial image - no incremental steps etc. A Christian does not bear the image of God any more than an atheist or a politician. The image of God is inherent - it belongs to all humans equally and immediately. Therefore,
To be human is the Image of God.
That is extremely important when we’re talking about social issues such as abortion. Abortion has nothing to do with self-awareness or location (inside or outside), but everything to do with simply being human.
Furthermore, the phrase “Image of God” is gender neutral and has nothing to do with age - thus, it is applied to all humans - male and female, young, old, born and unborn. What about those who struggle with gender identity?
But what about the Fall - didn’t we lose the image of God when Adam and Eve rebelled and were kicked out of the Garden? Yes and no.
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
Jesus came to restore the image of God, spiritually …
WHAT NOW
Let’s keep it simple
To be human is to be in the Image
To be in the Image is to have value and purpose
To be in the Image, means I have value and purpose
To be in the Image, means you have value and purpose
How I look upon others