"Imago Dei" - Made in the Image of God

Intro: Shadow Puppets

Hans Davis - Shadow Act (Youtube)

Genesis 1:26–27 CSB

26 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.” 27 So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.

Point #1: We Are Made in the Image of God! We are Man to Love Him and Reflect All The Wonderful Things About God!

When we do things that do not please God, that do not reflect who he is we call it sin!

When we do things that does please God, and reflects who he is, its called obedience!

What Are Some Ways We are Like God?

You are Like God Because You Can Think and Make Choices!

*Animals do the things they do because of instinct (God put it inside them to do it)

-Why do geese fly south in the winter and north in the summer? (instinct)

God gave us the ability to think and feel, do good or evil, to be kind or mean, to be happy or sad, to be helpful or hurtful.

God has written on our hearts what he wants us to do!

Psalm 37:30–31 CSB

30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom; his tongue speaks what is just. 31 The instruction of his God is in his heart; his steps do not falter.

Psalm 119:11 CSB

11 I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.

So What is God Like?

God is Good!

1 Chronicles 16:34 CSB

34 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever.

Psalm 25:8 CSB

8 The Lord is good and upright; therefore he shows sinners the way.

God is Kind!

Titus 3:4–5 CSB

4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, 5 he saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy—through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

God is Wise!

Romans 11:33 CSB

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways!

Isaiah 55:9 CSB

9 “For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God is Helpful!

Psalm 46:1 CSB

1 God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.

God is Loving!

John 3:16–18 CSB

16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.

John 13:34 CSB

34 “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another.

If God is all These Things, We Should Be All These Things Because We Love God!

1 John 4:12 CSB

12 No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is made complete in us.

Romans 8:29 CSB

29 For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

Remember: You are Incredibly Valuable and Important Because God You are Made Like God, and God Loves You!