KTC-God's Representatives

Review

Last week we were in Genesis 1:31 and talked about how God created a Kingdom and that he is the King.

God as King means that he is eternal, sovereign, holy, and good.

We must submit our lives to him and make him King of our lives.

God created everything, and everything he made was very good indeed.

The Kingdom of creation was in perfect harmony with its King.

Because God’s creation is very good, we should delight in and praise him when we enjoy the aspects of his good creation.

So, the story so far… God created a Kingdom, and He is the King… but as we will learn tonight, even though God is the King, he made human beings to represent Him in His Kingdom.

There are two truths we need to see from our text tonight as we walk through the story of the Bible:

God has made human beings in his image to represent him in his kingdom.

Being God’s image bearers and representatives, human beings are called to fill and subdue God’s creation.

Now, let us read the text and explain each one of these points.

Genesis 1:26-28 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”

1. God has made human beings in his image to represent Him in His Kingdom.

Show from verse 26 that God freely made a covenant with man when he did not have to, human beings were made unique-deliberating within the Godhead, and God’s triune nature.

The focus of the covenant relationship between God and man is centered around God making man in his own image and according to his likeness. But what does it man to be made in the image of God?

Some options...

ability to use reason and intellect.

ability to relate to God and others.

linked to the task and commission that God gave to Adam and Eve.

Most likely, the image of God is bound up in both the characteristics and the relational tendencies that we share with God.

In the context of the original audience, the word image communicated images or statues that were placed in the temple or the land that represented the rule and reign of the pagan god in that area.

Give an example of the statue of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue in Daniel

Therefore, just as the statues were a representation of the pagan god, we are God’s representatives on earth being made in his image.

This means that being made in God’s image sharing in God’s characteristics and relational tendencies, we have the ability to rightly rule and reign over his creation as his representatives.

At the end of verse 26 we see that this was the result of being made in God’s image…to rule over all of God’s creation as his servant kings.

We also see the idea of ruling and reigning over creation as God’s representatives in Psalm 8:5-8.

We must also notice that verse 27 says that both Adam and Eve were made in God’s image.

The word translated “man” in verse 27 applies to both men and women.

Talk about how part of God’s good creation is gender and differences between the sexes. God gave man and woman different roles but they are both equal in his sight.

Talk about how this should change the way we treat all people…we should love them and treat them with honor and dignity because the way we treat others is the way we treat God since humans are his representatives. -James 3:9.

So to summarize verse 26-27, for mankind (male and female) to be made in God’s image means that we were made to be God’s statues that represented and declared his reign throughout all of the earth. Being made in God’s image, we have a unique covenant relationship to him as his sons and are called to be his servant-kings over all the earth!

Who are you representing by the way you live your life?

2. Being God’s image bearers and representatives, human beings are called to fill and subdue the earth.

God gave mankind two commands in verse 28 as a result of being made in His image: Fill the earth and Subdue the earth.

Fill the Earth

In Genesis 2:8 we get an understanding of how the command to fill the earth will be lived out. God placed Adam in the garden to work and take care of the garden.

The garden represented God’s dwelling place and was like a temple where mankind worshipped God.

The garden was just a small part of the earth, so when God told Adam and Even to fill the earth, he was telling them to expand his garden, to expand his temple, his dwelling place over all the earth.

Since mankind represented God being made in his image, the expansion of mankind as God’s statues would expand his dwelling place over all the earth, so the whole earth would eventually become God’s temple of praise and worship to his name.

Subdue the Earth

Subdue and rule the earth meant that mankind was to rule and care for creation in the same way God Himself would rule over the earth.

This means we need to take care of God’s creation

The goal of the covenant God made with man was rest which can be seen from Genesis 2:1-3. If mankind was in right relationship with God as his son, if mankind worshipped God rightly, then mankind would be able to fulfill his covenant with creation to be God’s servant king and represent his glory being made in his image.

Unfortunately, this wonderful peace that Adam and Eve had with God did not last as we will learn what happened next week…but how are we going to apply the truth that we were made in God’s image to represent God’s reign on earth to our lives today?

Application

We must represent God rightly as his image bearers

Who’s image are you representing by the way you live your life? If people were to look at your statue, who/where would you be pointing them?

How can we represent God’s image rightly…can we even do this?

Our image of God has been smeared through the fall.

Use analogy of a smeared picture

Only Jesus can perfectly represent God as he is God’s exact representation (Hebrews 1:3)

We must put on the righteousness of Jesus to be able to rightly represent God’s image (John 1:12-13).

We must be further conformed into the image of Christ through spending time with Him

Colossians 3:9-10; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 8:28-29.

Example of Moses’ face shining from spending time with the Lord.

The Story So Far: God created a kingdom, and He is the King, but he made human beings to represent him in His kingdom.

Next Week: The Fall Genesis 3:1-13.