PAO Session 1

My part

Image of God and Kingdom of God Offer Part 1

The Garden Project and Human Tragedy

Before I get started with God’s Plan for Humanity, let me first define two phrases that you’re going to hear as we do our presentation.

The first is “Image of God” or as in , God making man in His image. In ancient times kings and pharaohs claimed to be gods, the visible images of god and made statues or idols of themselves. In we learn that all of humanity was created to be image bearers of God.

So, to be made in the “image of God” is to be created to be like God, to be His physical representation with the ability to relate to Him, to have a will, an intellect, and the ability to do the things that He does, create, care for, and to extend goodness and mercy. For more on this the Bible Project has a great video titled “The Image of God”.

The second phrase is “The Kingdom of God” or “The Kingdom of Heaven” which are synonymous and interchangeable in the Bible.

Most people, when they hear Kingdom of God, or Kingdom of Heaven think of a place where we go when we die, to be with God; a place where there is no more pain, no more suffering and no more tears. And that is true of the ultimate Kingdom of Heaven at the end.

But the word Kingdom comes from the two words, King and Domain, so a kingdom is an area and a people where a king has dominion, or rule and reign.

So the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven is the area and the people where God has dominion or rule and reign. So even though the Kingdom of Heaven is a future hope and destination, it is also a present reality, as you shall see.

Now our 30 thousand foot view of God’s plan for humanity and what He’s been doing from the beginning.

From the first two chapters of Genesis to the last two chapters of Revelation God has revealed one plan for the world and one mission for all of humanity. God has been partnering with humanity to fill the entire earth with His image and His goodness.

In Eden, God established a Kingdom, He was King and Eden, or all of creation is His dominion or what He rules over.

He then creates man, calls them His image bearers and places them in Eden to take care of it and to rule and reign over His creation for Him, spreading His goodness and image all while God and man dwell together in the Garden.

As image bearers, Adam and Eve were the physical representatives of God and His authority over creation spreading His goodness. They were to care for and cultivate the Garden and to take creation forward advancing God’s Kingdom and filling it with more and more image bearers, that’s the mandate God gives them in

God’s desire is to use people to rule and reign over creation for Him; He still has ultimate authority, so Adam and Eve were to be God’s loyal loving obedient subjects, but God has also commissioned and empowered them to rule and reign on His behalf.

The Big Question then is, “Would Adam and Eve submit to God’s ultimate authority and rule and reign over creation for Him or would they choose to exercise their free will, reject God’s Kingdom and seize the opportunity to rule and reign for themselves, to define good and evil for themselves, and create their own kingdom??”

Well, in we read that Adam and Eve chose to reject God’s kingdom offer, they desired self-rule rather than submitting to God, they rebelled thereby introducing an alternate kingdom where shame, pain, suffering, sin and death are the characteristics.

In this alternate kingdom people believe they themselves are kings and queens and are passionately pursuing, growing, and advancing their own little earthly kingdoms and we’ve all partnered in the same rebellion at one time or another.

We’ve all rejected God’s rule over our lives and have pursued building our own kingdoms. We are just like Adam and Eve.

The Garden of Eden was God’s Kingdom offer #1 and it was rejected by humanity.

Now Adam and Eve have tarnished the image of God, they have rejected His design and purpose for their lives, and have been kicked out of His presence.

But God isn’t done with mankind. As we see humanity spiral out of control and become increasingly wicked from into chapter 6, God uses another man to move His plan forward.

God calls and uses Noah to be His new representative. He’s the image bearer of God whom God will use to preserve mankind and move His plan forward.

But shortly after the flood, man continues to rebel and reject God and as we read on in Genesis we see this culminate at the Tower of Babel in .

The Tower of Babel represents a unified and rebellious humanity desiring to make a name for themselves, to grow and establish their own kingdom and build a tower that reaches the heavens to symbolically rise above the rule and reign of God.

This is a complete and utter rejection of the mandate given by God to mankind to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the entire earth with His image and glory and goodness, and to grow God’s kingdom and make His name great.

So God, in His grace and mercy, confuses their language and scatters them across the earth. He then starts again with another man.

God chooses to use Abraham and his family to carry the plan forward and to eventually reestablish His kingdom and his rule and reign as king.

Image of God and Kingdom of God Offer Part 2

The Restoration Plan

We meet Abraham or Abram as he’s called, in Genesis chapter 12

A man, and a family, who God will now use as His special representative to the world.

As His image bearer and the one through whom God will carry His mission forward.

The Blessing and the Promise

Abraham to Isaac, to Jacob, now Israel and 12 tribes.

Joseph and his preserving of the nation

Prisoners in Egypt

Moses, the deliverer, God’s special representative and image bearer

A free people, kingdom offer #2, loyal people with God as king

God gives Moses the “Law”, how to live right with God as King and with man

Will Israel accept or reject this offer, called to be a nation of image bearers and representatives.

Initial acceptance, but eventual rejection,

We see the downward spiral of humanity again as they’ve rejected God’s design and purpose for their lives tarnishing the image of God once again.

But God is not done with humanity

King David and the promise

The prophets and the hope of the future King

Image of God and Kingdom of God Offer Part 3

The Restoration Plan and Arrival of the Kingdom

John the Baptist say’s repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,

Jesus say’s the same thing, , Kingdom offer #3

Jesus is the ultimate image bearer and perfect representative of God.

, Jesus is the fulfillment of the O.T Law and the Prophets,

The Sermon on the Mount is the kingdom ethic, how to live right with God as King and with man.

Will man accept or reject this kingdom offer, an ongoing offer until He returns.

His life, His death, His resurrection, all necessary for us to be right and His sacrifice to be acceptable.

His ascension was His coronation, a King ascending to the throne

He’s seated at the right hand of power, all things subject to Him

His kingdom has come and He’s passed the baton of proclaiming it to His disciples

Who we now are, , , the body of Christ, image bearers and representatives of the King

We are ambassadors pleading

The eventual and full culmination of the kingdom in

The whole earth filled with His image and goodness, a people submitted to their King, where all things are new and there is no more pain, so more suffering, no more tears.