The Image of God, the Fall of Man and the Great Awakening of Youth
The Image of God, the Fall of Man and the
Great Awakening of Youth
Texts: Gen. 1:26, 3:1ff; Rom. 8:29
(Sermon 3-25-07)
Introduction
The title of the sermon today is "The Image of God, the Fall of Man and the Great Awakening of Youth."
I want to emphasize relationships today, but as you can see in your outline, I want to lay down some groundwork first. We will briefly look at the image of God in man from Genesis 1:26 and the fall of man in Adam from Genesis 3. How we view these two Biblical facts will greatly determine how we view many situations in life—including relationships. We will end with an application directed toward relationships with the opposite sex, especially as it relates to youth and their "Great Awakening." More specifically, we will ponder how all this affects relationships within our own Youth Group here at Grace—XMYM.
(TRANSITION)
Let us notice first of all that,
I. The Image of God Reveals our Value (turn to Gen. 1:26)
The doctrine of the image of God is a wonderful, superb truth about His creative reality within man. This foundational fact, when understood correctly, will have incredible, far-reaching implications. The study of this subject should enrich the mind and soul of a Christian, and the Christian should have an enriched appreciation for their life, and for those around them. Genesis 1:26,27 captures the heart of the issue, for as the passage of first mention on this subject, it carries exegetical weight and as such becomes the anchor verse from which all other verses are tied. In fact, proper understanding of this verse will keep all other texts from floating into the sea of confusion. In chapter 1 we see God in His glory and grandeur creating the heavens and the earth, the light, the lights, the vegetation, the waters, the animals and then we read,
"Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them'" (Gen. 1:26-27). Man, therefore, is the very special creation of the Father –the ZENITH. It seems that David had these verses in mind when he wrote Psalm chapter 8 where we read.
PSALM 8:1-5
1 O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!
2 From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength, because of Your adversaries, to make the enemy and the revengeful cease.
3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; 4 What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?
5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God, (some translations read angels)
And You crown him with glory and majesty!
Yes, man, wonderful man.
The Westminster Confession states that we are, "endued with knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, after His own image, (Gen. 1:26, Col. 3:10, Eph. 4:24) Chapter IV, 2. It needs to be established as well, that God’s image in man affects his entire being. That is to say, we are to reflect who He is in our whole person: spiritually, physically, emotionally, morally. Notice, for example, Colossians 3:10 "and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him— (Col. 3:10). Within the context, we see the total man is called to total submission: “Set your mind on the things above…” (Col. 3:2). “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead. . .” (Col. 3:5a). What is your body dead to? “immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed. . .”(Col. 3:5b). Paul’s presupposition is that the whole created person should act differently, godly, because we are “image bearers.”
As such we have an incredible responsibility to our creator, and to others. In fact, it is interesting to note two places in Scripture where we are told that a behavior is wrong based on image-bearing. The first is in the Old Testament Gen. 9:6, where we read,
“Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God
He made man” (Gen. 9:6). The second is in the New Testament Jam. 3:8,9 where we read,
“But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way” (Jas 3:8-10). In short, within our context for today, we see that mankind has value. . . dignity. . . and worth!
TRANSITION
Man is glorious, yes, but there is a balance that must be kept in mind.
Which leads me to my next point that
"The Fall of Man Reveals our Corruption"
II. The Fall of Man Reveals our Corruption
It is imperative when considering the nature of man that you not only read Genesis 1 BUT also Genesis 3. Within Genesis three, we are suddenly taken from the beautiful picture of creation where there was a river of peace that "flowed out of Eden to water the garden" (Gen. 2:10). There was shalom—peace, but something occurred. Shalom was disrupted by the Evil one. Now we see temptation, submission to the temptation, and the fall. Notice the words that surface as a result, "cursed" (3:14), "pain" (3:16), "ruling over" (3:16), "cursed" (3:17), "sweat" (3:19). This is what is called "the fall of man."
Therefore, when we talk about the image of God in man, it is imperative to delineate between the pre-fall image of God in man, and the post-fall image of God in man. When I speak of man in the present tense, I speak of him in his post-fall, Adam image state, the state of every created person. Let us take a brief look at this teaching.
All men, women and children are spiritually dead by virtue of the disobedience of Adam. Paul makes this clear when he states, “therefore. . .”
"[t]herefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned. . ." (Rom 5:12).
As a result, every person is born in a distorted, fallen image of God—they are still in the image of God, but now the image is in Adam. Let us read a New Testament passage that illustrates this and shows us the result:
Romans 3:9-20
9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;
10 as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one;
11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God;
12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good, There is not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving,” “The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,
17 And the path of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes" (Rom. 3:9-18).
So here is the balance; here is the reality of the situation. Indeed, we are made in God's image, but because of the fall, we are in a corrupt fallen state. We are as Paul says in Epeshians 2:1, “and you were DEAD in your TRESSPASSES and SINS” (Eph. 2:1). We have this mysterious tension within ourselves—image bearer on one hand, corrupt sinner on the other. But to balance this out, we must also state that there is hope!
The hope is the GOSPEL. Just like you have to read Genesis 3 to balance Genesis 1, so, too, you must read passages like Romans 8 to balance out Romans 3. In particular notice Romans 8:29 where we read, "[f]or whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son. . . (Rom. 8:29). Here we see that through the redemptive work of Christ we have the opportunity to be set straight—returned to the image. In fact, it is only through the redemptive work of Christ, “who is the image of God” (II Cor. 4:4), that one can reflect the image as intended by our creator God. Therefore, to be created in God’s image means that we are to be like him, reflect him, but that original image was tainted, fallen and must be redeemed. Thus, only through Christ, through what the Bible call THE NEW BIRTH (Jn. 3:16) can we reflect God’s image as intended—on this earth. It must be noted, however, that only through death, when our veil of flesh is removed, will we be able to fully reflect God’s image, as intended through Christ. In the meantime, we are still in a struggle with the flesh!!!
(TRANSITION)
There is the groundwork I mentioned earlier. This type of exercise allows us to see the big picture, the panoramic view. Indeed, we are:
1) created in God’s image, 2) we are fallen in Adam, 3) we can be restored in Christ BUT 4) the restoration is only partial. WE ARE STILL IN THE FLESH!!!
(WHICH LEADS US TO OUR THIRD POINT that. . .)
III. This Picture of Humanity Reveals our Caution
An implication from these thoughts is how we should view relationships—especially with adolescents. As a father of four children, two of which will soon enter this period of life, and as a leader of youth within this church, this subject has incredible interest to me.
This is where I want to pause for a little while. Let us consider the last part of the sermon's title, "the Great Awakening of Youth." What is that? What do I mean?
Simply put, the "Great Awakening" of a youth is when the natural physiological changes occur in their bodies, AND coupled with this physical event is the realization that THE OPPOSITE SEX IS NO LONGER DETESTABLE, BUT DESIRABLE!!! That is what I mean by the Great Awakening of Youth.
It happened, or will happen, to everyone of us here this morning and it will happen to everyone of our children, AND it is happening right now within our YOUTH GROUP— XMYM.
I was on staff here at Grace for about a year when I was asked to lead the Youth as part of my responsibility. At that time, some of the current youth were 12 or 13 and in seventh grade. Now, some of those seventh graders are driving and heading into their senior year of High School. In other words, they are growing up. In the process, they have experienced "the Great Awakening," that I mentioned earlier.
In a way— I have had my own AWAKENING.
I have awakened to the fact that I must make some clear statements regarding this phenomenon.
So, today is it. If I had a subtitle to today's sermon, it would be "I Have An Agenda." (TRANSTION)
Let me walk through some practical thoughts and wrap this up with a final exhortation.
The previous part of this sermon was intended to give a panoramic view of humanity. Moreover, I wanted you to get a feel for the mind of God in this broader area before I started in the specifics. I think we need to do that with our children. At times we tell kids, “don't do this” or “don’t do that”, and then spray them with Bible verses. In other words, we need to give them the larger reason for not doing something, the big picture, the greater context, that leads up to a particular verse(s). I think that will help. That is what I am trying to do today. Therefore, it light of what has been said. . .
Teens need to view themselves and the opposite sex as image bearers of God. By viewing themselves as image-bearers, they will fashion in their mind and heart a "God-worth" that they have as a created being (Gen. 1:26, 27). When they view others as image-bearers, they will develop an “other-worth” as created beings. Consequently, they have value, worth and dignity, and others have VALUE, WORTH and DIGNITY! This type of thinking will help them resist the cultural onslaught of FLESH STIMULI that is everywhere in our society and because of technology easy to find. This is the big picture application. But now let me develop a little more detailed angle. Teens are not only to view themselves and the opposite sex as image bearers of God… but, also
Teens are to be image bearers of God in their body and keep it pure before Him. Simply put, as image-bearers teens must realize that their body is God's. This is taken from Paul's thoughts in I Corinthians 6: 13, 15, 19, 20.
13Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be!
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
These verses lead me to say to teens and to parents of teens especially, that your child's body is God's until God gives their body to someone else, of the opposite sex—in marriage. This is image bearing in practice. With these concepts in place, a teen's “great awakening" to the physical realities and attraction to the opposite gender will be met with supernatural defenses. A teen must catch this or be caught in wrong thinking and living.
Here is a practical way to approach this:
1) Remember Gen. 1:26 when you look at someone else (say to yourself: “they are created in God's image and have holy value!”), and
2) Remember Gen. 3 when you look at yourself looking at them (say to yourself: “I am a fallen sinner—don’t trust your flesh!”).
In other words, great value should be placed upon them and great caution upon yourself. I like what John Owen said, "When the emotions come in the front door, reason goes out the back."
(Transition)
Let me move from the individual application to a corporate application
This is where I want to make a clear statement regarding boy-girl relationships
within our youth Group.
OUR YOUTH GROUP WILL NOT BE A GIANT PETRY DISH FOR BOY GIRL RELATIONSHIPS. CLEARY STATED,
I WILL NOT PROMOTE OR PERPETUATE PARING UP OF INDIVIDUALS
WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF XMYM.
I want you to know that. I will be aggressive about this. I do not believe that boys and girls should be entering into that type of thing at such an age.
I personally believe that intimate, emotional interaction should be reserved for the one that a person plans to marry. What I am saying is this: it is important to preserve your whole image-bearing person for your husband or wife— not only your body, but also your heart. This is why I made such an emphasis on the whole person being made in the image of God. Therefore, I think that the image-bearing person should be preserved for one’s mate for life.
I think that teens, and adults for that matter, "play around" and "flirt" with these precious commodities (their bodies and their hearts) with many when God has intended for one.
With that said, I also want to be clear that I understand that this is ultimately a parental issue. However, within the youth group, while I am in charge, "pairing off" will not be supported or promoted. There, that is pretty clear, no ambiguity.
(TRANSITION)
I have already explained the need for caution from my previous two points, but let me illustrate my concern and end with an exhortation.
There was a man, a great man, who converted from Judaism to Christianity, had wonderful visions from God, wrote many letters that became canonized, had experiences with God like none other. Yet, he wrote this chapter within Romans—Romans 7. Let me just read a couple of passages, in particular 7:14-25.
Romans 7: 14-25
14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.
17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.
22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,
23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.
24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Rom 7:14-25.
Based on these verses, I would like to ask all parents of preteens and teenagers to consider something with me. Consider the fact that Paul was an incredible saint of God, indeed an Apostle, yet he had a struggle—with the FLESH.
Now, with that thought in mind, I would like you to consider the depravity of man in general, and the depravity of teens in particular. I want to you to consider this as an option:
WHY NOT BE COUNTER-CULTURE. Why not be COUNTER-CHRISTIAN CULTUURE FOR THAT MATTER AND "JUST SAY NO TO YOUR PRECIOUS CHILD BEING ALONE WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX!
I submit to you that a young teen male and a young teen female alone, in a car, at night, is not a good combination. I said earlier that I had an agenda—there it is. Be different. Fight the current. Don't buckle under the societal pressure to conform.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
1) Moms and Dads—get on the same page about this—TALK!!!
2) Talk to your preteens and teens about their "Great Awakening" before they talk about it with someone else. It is your duty. I would like to recommend a help in this process: Family Life's Passport 2 Purity.
3) Read a book. I would like to suggest Joshua Harris' book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye.
Ruth will be in the narthex after the service to talk to anyone who would like to discuss and/or purchase the material.
Conclusion
I pray that if nothing else, this sermon will get some conversation going on the subject of teen relationships among families. Moreover, as I look at the Pioneer Club members on Wednesday nights, it is clear that we will have a number of young people coming up to the youth group in the next few years. As such, I want the families of these preteens to be prepared for what will occur in the Youth Group, and more importantly what will occur in your own homes. Are you ready for the conversation???
In closing, then, although made in God's image, humanity is also corrupt by the fall. Thankfully, those who are "in Christ" have started the spiritual restoration process, but we still struggle with "the flesh" as we saw in Romans 7. As such, every relationship, as a Christian, must be entered into with great concern and care—especially with youth, especially within the context of their "Great Awakening."
Let us Pray
Closing Hymn - Take My Life Hymn #379
Benediction