Reflecting our Maker

Stephen Poindexter

Faith Foundations • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

Genesis 1–3

The Doctrine of Humanity

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More than just wax! (The Doctrine of Man)

How many of you have ever been to a wax museum? The odd popularity of the Wax figures, strangely enough started back in the middle ages. When the rich and famous died, many times a wax figures was made of them and placed on top of the coffin when the body was carried through town to its resting place. Then, the wax figure would be placed in a church or other prominent place to help people remember those who had passed on.

In England, in the early 1700’s, many of these figures were moved to a central location and the concept of a wax museum was born. Later in 1835 Madame Tussaud established the first permanent wax museum exhibition in London. By the 19th and 20th centuries, these wax museums had become rather popular and had spread around the globe.

Today, wax museums are places where tourists visit while in vacation. They are able to look at life sized images of famous people like… The Beatles, Sunny and Cher, and yes… hearts do still go on as people walk past the eerily lifelike image of Celine Dion.

Believe it or not, Mankind… the Human race is not so different than those wax figures in those museums. While we are definitely more than just wax, we resemble the One in whose image we are made. Whether we know it or not… we walk around day after day… Reflecting our Maker!

The Bible begins by revealing how the world was created by an Eternal, All-Powerful God. And, at the end of the first chapter, we are told that this Eternal, All-Powerful God created Man and Woman… He created the Human race…

Go ahead and open your Bibles to the first book… the book of beginnings, the book of Genesis chapter 1.

As you read through your Bibles, it is important to keep in mind that every event recorded in the Bible really happened… and it happened to real people in a real time period. — That reality is becoming very unclear to people in our world today. --

That is one reason why I try not to use the phrase “bible stories”, because a “story” can either be true or not true. I try to use the phrase “bible events”, when I am talking about specific narratives recorded in the Bible. (Creation, the Flood, David and Goliath, etc…)

The Bible event we are going to be considering today is the time when Mankind was created. We are going to take a brief look at what the Bible teaches about Man.

As we unpack our passage today, we will first see that Mankind were created as Image bearers of God. Secondly, we will discuss the truth that all people are Created Equally in the image of God. Lastly, while Men and Women are created equal in the image of God, we will briefly discuss the truth that we are also Different by Design.

Let’s start by looking at Genesis 1:26-28 together.

Genesis 1:26–28 ESV

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.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 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.”

In Genesis 1:26-28, God reveals that Mankind is not merely just another creation like the rest of the world… but we were made special… we are the only creations of God that were made in God’s image. So, let’s see what it means to be made as Image Bearers of God.

I. Image Bearers of God

Now, when we look at verse 26, the first thing you might notice is that God is speaking to Himself. This is called a “divine dialogue”… “Then God said, Let us...”

You’ll also notice that God refers to Himself in the plural. this is called a “plural of divine deliberation.”

Some people have tried to explain this by saying that God is talking to the angels, but the context of the statement is the image of God… and because the angels are not created in the image of God, we can pretty clearly understand that He is not referring to the angels in this verse.

In verse 26, God addresses Himself. He can do this because he has a Spirit who is both with him and distinct from him at the same time. Here is the first glimpse of the concept of a triune God… the trinity. This verse along with the truth we were told in Gen. 1:2, that the Spirit of God was “hovering over the face of the waters” demonstrates that there was a co-participant in creation. When we come to the NT, we are told that Christ Himself was also involved in creation (John 1:1-3; 1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:15-18; Heb. 1:1-3; Rev. 4:11).

So, in verse 26, when God says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”, God, as sovereign king is consulting with Himself (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) about how Mankind should be created.

Before we go any further, we need to stop for a moment and discuss something called Biblical Theology.

In simple terms, Biblical Theology is understanding the truth of God’s Word according to the original authors intent in the context of the overall narrative of Scripture. … Or, in other words, Biblical Theology helps us understand how a passage fits into the storyline of the overall narrative of Scripture.

Basically, that means that we need to ask ourselves… “Why is this being communicated at this particular time to this group of particular people?” The more accurately we can answer that question, the more accurately we can understand and interpret what a text means and how we are to apply it to our lives.

As we study this passage, we need to remember that the Children of Israel have been wandering in the wilderness now for some time and they are getting ready to enter the Promised Land. As they do, Moses is given this divine revelation, which he records so that the truth from God can be communicated to the people of God.

Israel had just been freed from the bondage of Slavery in Egypt. In Egypt, for hundreds of years, they had been surrounded by a culture that believed in and worshiped over 1500 different gods... and each sphere of life had its own pantheon of gods.

Now that the One True God had liberated them from slavery… brought them across the Red Sea and was leading and communicating with them.... where were they heading?

To the Promised Land… the Land of Canaan… which was absolutely empty of people.. and was basically a blank canvas preserved by God for His people to come and populate!

No, Canaan was a land that was full of pagan people who believed in and worshiped multiple gods… and had a different god for each sphere of life.

So, in order to prepare Israel to be successful when they entered the Land… God reveals to them that not only has He, the One and only True God created them and everything else… but that He had also made them special… and helps them understand that by revealing that they, and all mankind, had been made in God’s image.

Why is that phrase “in God’s image” helpful or significant?

Moses and the wandering Israelites lived in a cultural context called the Ancient Near East. Because God chose to use human writers to record His revealed truth, its important to understand a little bit about the context in which each book of the Bible was written.

In the ANE context, it was common for kings to place “images” throughout his territory. Typically they would be statues indicating that the king had dominion over this area. Usually, the king would also appoint a regent… someone who would govern his territory for him… someone who would represent him throughout his kingdom. An extension of the kings sovereignty.

That is the word and concept that God is using here. He is revealing to the Israelites that when God created Mankind.... he created them to be representatives of Him.... As the King of the universe, God had created Mankind to be servant Kings in the world.

We were created to be a reflection of of our Creator… and then given the task to subdue the earth as we multiplied and filled it with God’s image bearers, reflecting His righteousness to every corner of His sovereign domain!

That concept would have been incorporated into the understanding of what it meant to be “made in His image”.

We are created beings..... and not God. But, in God’s wisdom, sovereignty, and power… He created us a little bit like Himself. He endowed mankind with characteristics that mirror His own. We have the intelligence to receive His communications… we have the ability to feel emotion, think logically, we are able to serve… and have been given the ability to rule. God equipped mankind with all that we would need to be able to represent and reflect Him to the world.

God is the King of the Universe… and we are His created images.... placed here to be servant kings.... extensions of His sovereignty.

When you come to verse 27, you might notice that your Bible may indent verse 27 or have it in italics. This is because, verse 27 is poetry. It is actually the first line of poetry recorded in the Bible.

There are 3 lines to this poem and each line repeats the same verb… “created”.

Genesis 1:27 ESV

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Moses wrote it this way to draw the readers attention to the understanding that days 1-5 of creation have been merely a prelude gradually crescendoing to the highest point of God’s creative work… Mankind.

Pretty cool, if you think about it. Out of everything that God created..... the universe full of galaxies, stars, the milky way.... all of the amazing breath taking land masses, gardens, and animals.... and we are directed to the reality that Man.... us..... we are the highlight … the pinnacle… the crowning beauty of God’s creation.

One author commented:

“The birth of a human being is the apex of God’s creation!” (Hughes)

What makes it so wonderful? What makes us so special? What makes us the crowning glory of God’s vast creation?

It is because we are created in the image of God.

At one point in time we did not exist… then God created a soul.... and now that soul is eternal. That human soul will exist forever..... when the stars fade… when the earth ceases to exist.... that human soul that resides within your mortal body.... will still live.

Every human being ever conceived… has been created in the image of God.

This is an awesome truth! You have been made as an Image Bearer of God.

Next, let’s discuss the truth that we have been Equally Created in God’s image.

This is a discussion that seems especially relevant in our world today. Whether you are a man or a woman… whether you have skin that is lily white… ebony black… or any shade in between... each and every one of us has been equally created in the image of God.

II. Equally Created:

Equality is a hot topic issue in our world today.

Whether people realize it or not, the Bible teaches us that Men and women are both equally created in God’s image.

Look at verse 26-28 again.

Genesis 1:26–28 ESV

Notice, in the poem we already looked at in verse 27, that Moses lists Men and Women as being equally created in God’s image.

What does that mean? Does it mean that God is both male and female?

No, God is a Spirit. He does not have a physical body like we do.... with a physical gender.

What it means is that as image bearers of God, we were given unique characteristics that God’s other creations don’t have. Being made in God’s image means that we are able to reflect God to the world by:

1. being able to hear and communicate with God

2. being able to rule over the earth

3. being able to be Sons of God. (In Genesis 5:3, when Adam and Eve have Seth, the words image and likeness are used here to support the idea of sonship. The truth is confirmed in the NT when Luke records in chapter 3:38 of his gospel that Adam was called a “son of God”. —> being made in God’s image indicates a familial relationship with God as our true Father.

4. given unique value above all of creation as His image bearers - All people, whether they are Christian or not, have a created value simply because we have been made in God’s image. After the flood in Genesis 9:6, God gives a guideline for punishment for murder and it is based on the fact that mankind has been created in God’s image. Then later James understood that sinners still bear the image of God when he shares in James 3:9 when he shares insight about the use of our tongues.

James 3:9 ESV

With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.

God has equally given all of mankind… men and women… all variety of skin colors the same attributes as image bearers.

Let’s do some critical thinking together.

We were told in verse 27, that God created man and woman in His own image.

Now in verse 28, God gives man and woman a task to do… a task that neither one could do on their own.

And don’t miss the fact that God blesses Mankind. This is something that didn’t happen with any other created thing. Mankind is blessed by God, and because we are created in His image… we are given the unique ability to communicate with God, reflect some God’s attributes to the world, equally serving as extensions of God’s sovereign rule in the world.

What are the tasks given in verse 28? “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it… and have dominion over all things.”

God, in His infinite wisdom knew that in order for mankind to fulfill the roles He had created us for.... that there had to be a designed diversity in our equality as image bearers.

If God had created an army of Adams, they would not have had the ability to be fruitful and multiply… which would have hindered Mankind’s ability to fill the earth and subdue it… having dominion over all things.

So, as He created Mankind.... He discloses to us the process in which He went through to create Mankind equally in His image.... but also Different by Design:

III. Different by Design:

From the initial creation account, God has revealed that mankind (all humans) are created in His image.... equally designed to be His representatives in the world..... but, we have differences.... and that is by design too.

The biggest difference is that He created us as Men and Women. (Yes there is only one race of people… the Human race… and there are only 2 genders (Male and Female) no matter what our fallen culture would like you to believe).

Let’s look over at Genesis 2, and see what lengths God went to in order to design us differently.

Genesis 2:5–9 ESV

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, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 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. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 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.

After reading the creation account in chapter 1, have you ever wondered why it seems like Genesis 2 somewhat repeats what was revealed in chapter 1? Don’t think of it as a repeat of information, think of it as an expansion of revelation. (abridged… and unabridged version)

In Genesis 1, we are given a fairly detailed but quick overview of the creation account. Then when we come to Genesis 2, we are given a deeper dive into the creation week, specifically centered around God’s final and highest creation… Mankind.

Here in verse 7, God creates Man from the dust of the ground and then breaths into him the breath of life and he becomes a living soul.

Then what does God do with the man?

Verse 15-17 tells us that God took the man and placed him in this garden that He had made to work it and keep it.

So, God gives the man a job to work the garden. But, then God continues on to give Adam the freedom to eat of any tree in the garden except one. So, God has giving Adam free reign over his entire creation.... with one guideline… one rule. Don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil.

Remember, the woman has not yet been created. So, Adam is given the responsibility to ensure that the garden is worked and that this one rule from the King is kept.

Adam is given the responsibility to lead. Right now, he is leading himself, but even so, at this point we see God beginning to put into place a form of governing structure.

Adam is God’s head image bearer, tasked to manage His creation… and keep His one law.

Then, we know what happens next. Verse 18 tells us:

Genesis 2:18 ESV

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

So, what does God do? In order to help Adam come to the realization of what God already knows, He starts talking about animals.

Adam… I’ve created you in my image and given you a huge task to do… and I also have already decided that it’s not going to be good for you to be alone. You won’t be able to do what I’ve made you to do by yourself....

But, you don’t know that yet. So, I’m going to give you an exercise to help understand your need for a helper that is custom made to enable Mankind to succeed. — Someone who is just like you.. but different.

Verses 19 tells us that God made all the animals parade before Adam and he named them all. But, the animal parade had a deeper reason..... look at verse 20.

Genesis 2:20 ESV

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.

For the first time since Adam was created, He saw his need. He saw that while the earth was filled with other creations… there was not another image bearer like him to be fruitful and multiply with.

Adam realized his need for someone to help him subdue the earth.... have dominion over all things....

Left to himself, Adam could not truly and fully reflect God to the world.... he could not represent God to the world… because at this point… mankind was not complete.

— Remember back to the creation week? What is the one phrase that is repeated at the end of each day? “And God saw that it was good”.

That word “good”, doesn’t just mean good or fine or nice. It means that something works. That something does what it was intended to do.

As we read the detailed account of Man’s creation in chapter 2, we read that God actually says that there is something not good about the creation of Man. When God said this in verse 18, He was revealing that Adam… left alone could not do what he was intended to do. While Adam was a complete and perfect creation in himself, he was only part of the creation of Mankind and if left alone.

God had created Adam… and established him as the head of His creation… but, Mankind was still incomplete without a Helper....

So verse 21 tells us the rest of the creation account:

Genesis 2:21–25 ESV

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. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 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.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

… If we look back at God’s original mandate given to mankind in Genesis 1:28… “be fruitful and multiply… fill the earth and subdue it”… we will see that from the very beginning, God’s intention was that in order for mankind to accomplish what God had created them to do… it must be done together… as men and women complimenting each other.

But, as we read in chapter 2, God does not make men and women identical. He designed us differently. The way that He created the woman was different than the man. The timing of woman’s creation was different than the man’s. The designed role for the woman was different than the man’s.

Through the very act of creation God is establishing an order for living.... as He creates His image bearers.

Man… Adam was created from the dust of the ground and then tasked with leading the campaign to fill, multiply, subdue and have dominion.

But, no matter how good of a leader Adam could have been in his pre-fall state, it was impossible for him to do what God had designed him to do alone. — So, God created a helper fit for Adam.

God created a helper who was different by design.... made especially to compliment the Man.... giving mankind the ability to be profitable… giving mankind the ability to do the work God had given them…

Adam was inadequate to do what God had told him to do… so God provides a helper so that mankind can thrive.

Man as the head… and woman as the helper. — The wording pictures Man and Woman walking side by side as they work together to accomplish a task that neither could ever do on their own.

At the close of Chapter 2, marriage is established as the first human institution and we see that the Men and Women… both equally created in God’s image… but differently designed to enable them to be able to succeed in the tasks that God has given them to do.... are unified as one complete body.

As the man and woman come together in the marriage relationship and become “one flesh”, they will produce offspring that will enable them to multiply… fill the earth with servant kings.... image bearers of the King who would fill the earth with the Kings righteousness and godly rule...

Conclusion/ Application:

Initially God created mankind perfect… sinless… Adam had been created with an original righteousness.

When Adam chose to rebel against God and sinned..... his original righteousness was lost… that part of the image of God in him was destroyed. Original Sin had now replaced Adam’s initial state of righteousness. … Mankind was now fallen.. flawed… and corrupted by wretchedness of sin.... and that fallenness was passed on to every generation that would come after him.

Sadly, sin has corrupted our ability to reflect God’s image.

Praise the Lord that even after the Fall, mankind’s ability to reflect the image of God to the world was not completely lost.... it was only distorted.... and can be restored!

Even though we are fallen and flawed… corrupted by sin.... the image of God still remains as a part of who we are… how we were created.

Even sinful men and women, though marred by sin, are still a reflection of God’s image..... and as image bearers.... even in our fallen state.... the image of God that we all reflect is amazing… and has eternal potential.

As Image bearers of God… fallen and flawed by sin… where is our hope?

It is in Christ.. who is the “image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (Col. 1:15).

The first Adam led mankind into a fallen state of sinfulness (Rom. 5:12).... but Christ, the second Adam, did not sin… and has provided a way that all who believe in Him to be restored, reconciled and made alive.

1 Cor. 15:49 tells us that,

1 Corinthians 15:49 ESV

Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

If you are a believer in Christ today, then your destiny is to be in His image.

Every man and woman every born has been made in the image of God. Because of sin, our ability to reflect our Maker and live as servant kings has been corrupted.

Our hope rests on Jesus, the perfect bearer of the Image of God.

Jesus, the very One who formed the universe and holds it all together.... is the very Same Christ who can restore our broken lives.

Christ the is One who filled the earth with light, the seas with fish, the air with birds and the land with its creatures… and He is the One who can give His righteousness to sinful humanity.

He has provided that righteousness to all who will be drawn to Him.. and respond to Him by faith.

You have been made in God’s image.... you are part of God’s plan in the world.

God has made you to be able to reflect Him! That privilege comes with a responsibility to live as a representative of the One whose image we bear.

Yes, sin has corrupted our ability to reflect our Maker.... but it has not destroyed us. Faith in Christ provides mankind with a way of restoration. If you have never truly trusted in Christ.... don’t wait any longer. Respond in faith to Christ today!

When God first revealed these truths to mankind, the children of Israel were preparing to enter the Promised Land. God was equipping them with what they needed to succeed. He has done the same for us. Through God’s inspired Word and indwelling Holy Spirit, we are being equipped to live out our calling as Believers.... God has given us all we need through His Word, His Spirit, and His Body… so that we can live out our purpose as image bearers! — Let’s do that this week.