Imago Dei
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Imago Dei
Imago Dei
gen
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.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
What does it mean that we are created in the Image of God??? Imago Dei - Image of God
If God is spirit then he does not have a human body… we have this term anthropomorphism which is a fancy way to say a way of describing God with anatomical or emotional terms so that humans can better understand Him. Let me give you an example of that… in a lot of ways we see in scripture it says that when God is going to judge someone or something, that “his face is set against them” or how about this...
Why is it important for us to understand this? I would submit to you that we as humans have a low view of the sanctity of Life because we have lost the importance of the meaning of life. We have forgot that we were created in the Image of God and our chief end is to Glorify God. We must remember that
Humanity is created in the Image of God
Humanity is created in the Image of God
So, what does it mean that we were created in his image and likeness. In order to have a good understanding of this we must first again remind ourselves that a people hearing this for the first time may have seen this as very different than we do.
In that world, Images - (meaning statues, sculptures and even paintings of people), were everywhere, and had a very specific purpose. For instance an image or statue of a certain god would have been for the people to come and worship that god in that place. And likewise images or statues of the King or Pharoah would be for the purpose of worshipping that king or Pharaoh as a divine ruler. So an image of god was something that connected you to that god by means of worshipping him. It identified what you worshipped.
Another big idea of bearing the image of a god would be for power to rule. If a king had images of himself in his kingdom, they were to remind everyone that this king had power and authority to rule.
And finally the idea of bearing an image would be for the purpose of representation. If a certain king wore the image of say the god of the sun, and his subject wore something with his image on it, then this meant that these people worshipped their king as a god who was a representation of the sun god. Does that make sense? Whoever’s image you bear, that is who you belong to!
So the radical nature of , was that these slaves were being told that they are the image bearers of the one true God who created and controlled everything! That is a big deal! but there is so much for us to see about the uniqueness of the Imago Dei that will inform everything that we do to this day. Let’s dive in.
From last week we saw a big picture view of creation, and we understood how the original audience would’ve heard this. We saw that God is the main character of all of scripture, and that God creates and controls everything.
ESV1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
In we see God creates the universe, in that focus is narrowed to the earth. Then in we see the focus narrowed again to one specific garden on this earth with one man and one woman in it. What we learn about them is important, that was written to further explain what we just read in .
the point isn’t that God has hands and ears, but rather that he can reach us to save us and hear in our prayers...
We have such important detail about being created in the Image of God that we need to take a look at it and then see the implications for us who are now fallen in nature. Lets look at it.
But remember the Bible says that God is Spirit
4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground—
gen2
SO we have the earth without man. It is created and it is watering itself, yet no one is working the land. This is a very different sounding creation than what we have now.
gen2.7-
7 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 important things to see here. First notice what man was made from. The dust of the ground! Why?
In gen. 1 God spoke and it was… why didn’t he just say, “let there be man”… I would submit to you that we need to know that God created the most beautiful aspect of his creation from dirt… Think about it, we were made in his image and likeness, yet he did this from the dust of the ground. He didn’t make us from sunshine, glacier water, mountain flowers, and diamonds… No, he made us from Dirt. God creates Beauty from what is seen as useless. That is how Big our God is!
Please also notice that he breathes his own breath into man nostrils. Man in created but there is no life in him until God breathed into him. This story is showing how the very life and essence of God in somehow held in the Human image bearer of God. There is a transcendence and beauty to humanity that is not found equally in other parts of the creation. All other creation came to be because God spoke it, but we image bearers of God were formed by him and given his breath. There is a distinction being made here that is important for us not to lose.
8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
As the story of us continues we see that it is God who plants the garden, and that he places man in that garden. So we see God creating and controlling the circumstances in which he places his creation. He did this pre-fall, and God still does this as he sovereignly controls all things and places us in time and history where he is pleased to place us.
9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
gen2.
For this week we are not going to focus as much on these details until we get to the fall of man, but I would pause and point out that it is very interesting how this story is reading to people who are first hearing it. There is a sense of intrigue that while everything is created in a general sense and then these two trees are named specifically.
In fact in verse 10-14 it goes on to tell of where this garden is and how beautifully resourced it is. But again for today we are focusing on the image bearing creation, so we pick up in verse 15.
gen2.
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
So now that God has created man and placed him in the garden we see that God gives his image bearer a job. Man is to work and keep the garden. If you look at the original Hebrew here you find that the words for work it and keep it mean to cultivate the land and protect it. The point here is that man is given work that will help him have purpose and identity. Work that comes from God which makes man Vice Regent. Vice regent means someone who acts in the name of another.
In we see that God gives instruction to man to be fruitful and multiply, have dominion and subdue the earth. Now here we see that God places man in his creation and has him continue the work that God started by becoming a steward of this beautiful land.
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
This is a the second command we see given to man in the genesis account so far. The first being given to man and woman in - be fruitful and multiply… Yet this one is very specific. Eat from every tree except this one tree. Please also notice that this command comes with a warning of a consequence for disobedience. Again, we are not going to talk in depth of the fall today but I want to plant this thought here… It is interesting that God gave a consequence to man, as if he already knew what was going to happen and that he would have to show Grace to his creation. God is showing that he is sovereign over the fall and controls even that too.
And while we have seen that all that God created was good, and even very good, we are about to see the first thing in all of scripture that is not good… Remember this before the Fall and there is something that scripture tells us in not good… Do you know what it is???
18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
While we were made to bear the image of God, there seems to be something incomplete about man. He needs a helper. This is very interesting, because in the Hebrew this word for Helper means there is a need for one to assist, implying that there is a weakness that can only be made strong with Help from another. This is the beginning of understanding God ordained roles between gender. In fact the scripture is clear Man needs a helper because without that, It is not good!
So God goes to great lengths to find a helper for man.
19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.
gen2.
Why does God bring every creature to Adam for him to name? God is allowing his image bearer to help him rule over this creation by naming everything. This is a great honor indeed, yet there is an ulterior motive here… God is allowing Adam to see that nothing else in his creation is truly suitable for him as a counterpart who can help him in his weaknesses.
God doesn’t say, “It is not good for him to be alone, so lets give him woman”… NO NO NO. God lets man see his need before providing that need. God is still graciously interacting with his image bearers like this to this day. God allows us to see our need before providing that need. In the Gospel, we need to see our need for God, as sinners we see our need for a savior, before we can understand that he provided a way we see our need… then we hear the glorious news that our God graciously did for us what we could not do for ourselves! I would submit to you that we are already starting to faintly see that Gospel story being played out in even our creation.
Please also keep in mind where we started… The concept of Image bearers for the Ancient Near Eastern people who were newly freed slaves. They Knew images as to be worshipped and to represent a god and show which god owned which people.
In that society They had little value because of their slavery and women were seen as objects that they owned and ruled over. And so gets more intense for them...
21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
gen2.
It is revealed that Woman was part of man. She is the Help that man needs in order to be complete… She is of his same bone and flesh. It is as if Adam is shouting, FINALLY!!!!
The sorry is told in a way that man is shockingly pleasantly surprised because he has gone through all of creation and found none good for him, yet now this is part of him! She is also an Image bearer since she was taken from him.
This profoundly puts women on an equal value with man. She is celebrated by Adam who has recieved a gracious gift from his creator that he bears the image of. There is no hint of domineering attitude from man to woman here. Before sin enters in the story we have a beautiful picture of a completeness. Man and woman complement each other and complete each other. So much so that the story seems to jump ahead in the next verse to show how this is a God ordained order for everyone else to understand moving forward.
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Therefore means, BECAUSE OF THIS… Because of what? Because man and woman complement each other being both alike and bearing the image of God, because they are what each other needs after all the searching is done and man has seen what his true need is… Therefore… these two, man and woman become one flesh. There is a sexual nature that speaks of unity, becoming one flesh. We know how that works and do not need to speak more of that today. but there is also this mutually exclusive nature to what Moses is teaching these former slaves of there creation.
Just like Adam loved and celebrated Eve as his real complete helper, Man shall Hold fast to his wife. This is the order God created and the order they are to fulfill in future. Being One flesh shall be done once there is separation from parents, and done in a mutually exclusive way. This is Gods Image bearers in relation to each other in marriage. And to show how different it was for them initially this story ends by showing the distinctness of attitude in a way that will have us all seeing how we are different from them...
25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
There was nothing to be ashamed about nakedness before sin enters in. These are image bearers who are reflecting the glory of God to each other.
Remember these slaves who have been freed from a society in which the image of Pharoah was worshipped, the mark of his image meant that those people belonged to him, and any place where an image or statue was is a place to worship this god… These people are hearing that they are the Image bearers of God, and both Male and Female have that distinct value and have been called to Procreate, being fruitful and multiplying, and have dominion over this creation.
There is another big part of this story that I must for sake of time only mention, but we will in following weeks look at more in depth. Man fell in the garden and rebelled against God becoming disobedient, and this dramatically changed how everything is viewed. They have lost any value becoming slaves to worshippers of false gods, and they did not know of any value they had before this God who created everything. informs them that
Humanity is created in the Image of God
Humanity is created in the Image of God
Yet they are no longer in that unashamed state that they were in the garden. They hate each other and treat each other badly. they have lost their sense of divine nature and look to worshipping of false gods they can see rather than the immortal invisible God that created everything. They end up abusing each other and destroying each other, they no longer value life, and become a people who see others as objects they can rule over.
In hearing that they are Image bearers they are supposed to understand that their job is to reflect Gods glory to each other, they are to rule this earth and subdue creation, but not each other. They are to have the same respect and care for each other that Adam had for Eve, yet they are fallen and have lost the sense of dignity and honor that they should have as being Image bearers of God.
This fallen state has plagued us since the time of this writing, and we still to this day have lost the understanding of dignity and honor we should mutually show each other as image bearers. Sin has tainted our understanding of what we are and so
Our Image has been Tainted from the fall
Our Image has been Tainted from the fall
We like them, no longer understand that God decided we, of all his creation, should share in bearing his image and likeness. Sin has tainted that concept. Sin has obscured our vision by making us blind to the Glory of God found in even the image of others we see everyday.
We are so fallen that we kill others and do not value life at all unless it is to our benefit.
So the Imago Dei has been lost from humanities understanding. And we all have this sin problem that causes us to no longer fulfill reflecting Gods glory...
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
This is now how we are born into the world. Sinful, because Adam falls and everyone after him now inherits a sinful state.
This is the ugliness of our condition that we need to see. We need to know where we are so that we can get to where God wants us to be. But we must stop and look at this fallen nature and how it has attacked the Image of God we are created in. And before we can even mention how this world is trying to redefine gender, and redefine when life in conceived, we must not start there. Yes, Sin has caused us to stray so far from truth that the fallen nature of man no longer appreciates our distinct roles as male and female, but before we get there we need to start with simply understanding the mage we were created in to reflect.
We are Image bearers of God almighty who created and controls everything! We are image bearers of a gracious God who did not wipe out his creation after the fall but instead clothed them and covered their shame un til he would come wrapped in flesh and fight a battle to truly redeem them for all time. If we could remember this we may not speak against each other the way we do. Our Sin makes us forget that others are made in his Image and we should not speak against them as we do. Our Sinfulness makes us blind to others as image bearers and causes us to sin against them...
8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
When James is giving instruction about how we need to be aware of our sinfulness he mentions that our tongues cause us to sin, meaning that what we say makes us wrong sometimes. And the measure of this sin is not justified by who we are talking about, because the standard here is shown in what he says, ‘we curse people who are made in the likeness of God’...
I am never amazed at how often people sin with their mouths. I am not talking about cussing, or any other illicit behaviors as much as I am about how we speak of others.
We most often do not reflect the Glory of God in how we speak about others. Don’t believe me??? What about everyone that was mad at teachers for the recent strike? Did you Sin with your mouth against an image bearer of God because you were upset? I don’t care if they worked for the district or are a teacher… Our kids are watching how we speak about people.
Or how about when we see a refugee that is a different color? Or someone who wants to identify with a sexual orientation that we firmly disagree with? How about the brother or sister caught in sinful acts of adultery and idolatry? How do we speak of them? Do we sin with our mouths? do we bring shame or do we preach a message of Hope and grace?
Please do not misunderstand what I am saying. We call sin, sin. But we must be able to preach the Gospel and let the Word and Spirit bring the conviction. We will never get there if we speak evil of others. We must see them as Image bearers who need to be redeemed as we have been.
12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
eoph2.12
Remember brother and sister you were once without hope and without God. Which brings us to where we can finally see these image bearers redeemed. Not in our selves, not in our own sinful efforts to be made right.
We didn’t make ourselves and so we cannot fix ourselves. We lack a righteousness that once was part of us as image bearers. Yet we are fallen and sinful in need of redemption...
This is the Sinful, Dark, Bad news Backdrop to the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
The Image of God needs to be restored to his image bearers, but first the old nature must be dealt with. We have lost sight of the Imago Dei, Where is the Image of God in which we were created? The Bible declares we se it most clearly in Christ himself.
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
heb
Jesus is not just an image bearer but he is the exact Imprint. He is the original, he is the radiance of the Glory of God that we have fallen short of.
When we proclaim a righteousness that comes from Jesus’ life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension, when we proclaim of the finished work of the cross, when we are empathic about his substitionary death on the cross, In MY place for My SIN… We are declaring a Gospel that cannot be seen and understood unless the Holy Spirit brings light to our minds to see it!
Satan has been working hard at blinding people to the truth… What truth? That Jesus is the image of God, and believing in him will restore our vision of that image in him and others!
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
If a sinner sees the Light of the Gospel, they see the Glory of Christ… The Image of God, the Imago Dei… The very image we were created to reflect and glorify!
We have been created in the Image of God
Our view of that Image has been tainted by the Fall
In Jesus the Image of God is revealed and Redeemed
In Jesus the Image of God is revealed and Redeemed
This is the Gospel… This is the good news.
When Jesus came to redeem for himself a bride, he came to redeem people of every nation, race, tribe and tongue. People of every shape, size and color. people from every conner of the world, in every economic class, from rich to poor, and people with every kind of sin issue that you can possible imagine. Why? Why is the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ so large and all encompassing? Because we all are Image bearers, and we all need to redeemed and restored. All of humanity is to hear and respond to the Gospel and be saved or judged by it, because all of humanity bears the image of God!
So what are we to do with this? How can we be restored?
Church there is coming a day when in an instant, we shall be restored. No more sin, no more effects of the fall. That will be restoration that comes from the redemption in Christ. So How do we partake in that?
As Image bearers that need to be redeemed, we need to trust in the work of Christ for us, and continue to live in him until that day of restoration happens for all.
We do this by recognizing our need for him. This happens when we know that we are sinners in need of a savior. When we are able to confess our sins and call upon the name of the Lord for salvation. When we repent of of sin, not just acknowledge it, but by the Spirits power we turn away from, we become a new creation...
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
This is the first step, seeing that the old has gone away, and that the new has come is talking about the restoration of the image bearer being given a new nature. We now have a new Hope! We have a savior that saves us and we now begin to change by the work of the Spirit in us. God slowly sanctifies us, and cleanses us. Gods word encourages us to grow in Faith and knowledge of him… And this gives us Hope...
2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
We as image bearers begin a new life where we have hope that ultimately we will become like him being restored to that which we once had in the garden. And hope is powerful enough to give us strength for the journey that takes us from broken blind image bearers to redeemed restored image bearers. And now that the work of Christ has given us new life, we no longer work and keep a garden, but we work and keep a life that is taught in the newness of Christ.
21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Do you see it?!?!
We now put on a new self… a new Image, one that is created after the likeness of God… Sound familiar???
Christian brother and sister, this is where we find ourselves today… Being encouraged not to slip back into old ways of thinking and behaving but rather putting an effort into reminding our hearts of our new self that is created after the image of God.
The Imago Dei - Image of God is being recreated in our hearts as we are being made again in the image of Christ!
We should love and value all who have life, because they were made in his image even though they are fallen as we once were… We are all made of the dust of the earth and bear that image, but it will be redeemed and restored.
49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
1cor15.45-49
Our Image of God will be restored!
Restoration of the Image of God -Imago Dei
Restoration of the Image of God -Imago Dei
As we pray and as we sing let us reflect on how we treat each other. Our Love comes from God and spills over to each other, first those in this room, then also to all who we come into contact with.
Let is not be said of us that we curse other image bearers. IF we are guilty of this, then today let us repent. Help us to forgive others who have sinned against us as we have sinned against others. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom and Grace to speak blessing and empowerment to preach a convicting Gospel that will turn people from the image of the Man of Dust to the Image of the Man of Heaven!
Let’s pray!