Who Am I?

If you have a Bible, Genesis 1 and Psalm 8 are where we are going to be at tonight. I am incredibly excited for this week because I think that we are going to be addressing some of the ideas and topics that have likely floated around your minds for a very long time and we will even be talking about a lot of the things that culture has thrown in your face and has pretty much demanded that you be able to give an answer for. So, this is a very important week. Teenagers, like yourselves, are going through an identity crisis and this week is designed to help you all confront that. I remember going through the same thing as a teenager, asking the same questions that you have likely asked. I asked, “Who am I? Where do I fit in? How do I address and respond to the things that are going on around me? Do I matter? Do I have value? What do I do with these thoughts, emotions, and feelings that have been eating me up inside? Am I the only one who feels like this?” The answer to that last question is no. You and I are not the only ones that have ever felt like this. I was doing some research a couple of weeks ago as I was preparing for tonight on the identity problems that teenagers deal with and I want you to hear some of these statistics. 20% of teenagers suffer from low self-esteem. Over 70% of girls ages 14-17 say that they avoid certain activities like school or events if they think they don’t look good enough. 20% of teens will suffer from depression before adulthood and that percentage is likely even higher in the era of covid. 75% of teenage girls with low self-esteem say that they engage in negative activities like cutting, bullying, drinking, smoking, or develop an eating disorder. 7 out of 10 teenagers believe that they are not good enough or measure up to where they are supposed to be. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for kids ages 10-14 and the second leading cause in teenagers aged 15-19. 20% of high school students have seriously considered suicide with 9% having attempted it and those numbers continue to rise year after year. Every year, roughly 5,000 teenagers commit suicide, that’s about 14 teenagers per day. I know that there are several of you in here who know someone who has taken their own life. These things are not uncommon and I am sure that some of you have dealt with depression or anxiety, and maybe have even thought of or have taken steps to take your own life. Do you see why it is so important for us to talk about what our place is in the universe and who we are? In order for us to know who we are, we need to go back to the beginning. Who is man? How did we get here and do we have any value? Because if all of creation is just a cosmic mistake and man is just a byproduct of evolution, there is no value in any of us. There is no real purpose behind mankind, there is nothing valuable or redeemable in any of us. We’re simply an accident. However, if there is a God who has created all things and has handcrafted each one of us and we are made in His image, that is a totally different story. It is one thing for there to be a Creator, even the great philiosophical minds of the day like Plato and Aristotole didn’t deny that there was a Creator. The thing that they and the world struggle the most with is if that Creator is also a Redeemer. What I want to do briefly tonight is discuss the alternative to the creation story. Let’s say hypothetically that evolution is true, what would that mean for us? We’ll talk about that horribly depressing route and then we will talk about how God’s creation of us in His image gives each one of us value far beyond what we may recognize. It is there where we see that our God is not just a Creator; He’s our Creator-Redeemer. Let’s pray together and then we will read Genesis 1:26-31

Genesis 1:26–31 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.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Is Mankind an Accident?

Over a year ago, we did a series on apologetics while we were still worshipping together in the CLC and we spent one night talking about the evidence in favor of Creationism or the evidence in favor that everything was created by God. During that time, we looked at evolution and Darwin’s theories and we sort of tried to nail down in about 40 minutes all of the problems with Darwinian evolution. Now, with that being said, we certainly don’t have the time to do that again but there are a few things that are worth reemphasizing from that particular message. I’m sure all of you have heard about the big bang theory and Darwin’s theory of evolution, and that is exactly what they are, they’re just theories that have been progressed to be seen as absolute fact. Now the reason that this is, is because this theory is the only theory that is advocated. Really, when you take the time to look at Darwin’s theory, they fall apart pretty much on their own but most people accept it as fact because it is the only theory that is ever talked about. Now if all you ever hear about is evolution and the big bang theory, chances are you are going to take that theory as the one that is correct but a major problem arises with only hearing one side of an argument and that is that you will naturally assume that part of the argument is correct. Solomon says in Proverbs 18:17 “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.” Arguments can be very persuasive until someone from the other side of the aisle comes to challenge it, so I want to spend a few minutes addressing from the other side of the argument, from a creationist worldview. Why is it important to start here? Because if creation is accidental, if man was just the result of one big accident and one monkey with big ideas, then there is really no point in arguing for human value because there is not anything there to establish value to begin with. How does value happen? In order for something to be valuable, something must first bestow it with value. Take Benji for example. His favorite thing in the world is his stuffed Yoshi from Mario. Now if I were to put him in a room and at 1 end of the room was Yoshi and the other end was a million dollars, which one do you think he would go for? He would probably go for Yoshi because he has placed value on Yoshi. That money wouldn’t mean anything to him because there is something in his eyes that is far greater that he loves and values more. Unless something is given value, it is valueless which means that if there is no Creator, there is no true value behind anything. Let’s try to define Darwinism. Darwinism is the theory of evolution by natural selection. It’s the survival of the fittest idea and Charles Darwin created it. Now with evolution we are taught that over an extended period of time, monkeys or primates evolved into humans. And this is really one of the most important questions that people face in their lifetime: Are we just an accident that came to be by chance and are therefore no different than animals? Or are you made special in the image of a loving God who made you with a purpose? When it comes to evolution, we need to be able to properly define it if we are going to critique it. No one wants to hear what someone has to say if they have no idea about the other side of the argument. Evolution has multiple meanings. Evolution means a change over time. Life is different now than it was however many thousands of years ago, we have animals now that didn’t exist back then, and vice versa. Now when you rub your skin, you have cells that are shed and are replaced. Believe it or not, this is a form of evolution, when your hair grows, that is a process of evolution. When the leaves of a tree change, that is a process of evolution because it is a change over time, now is that controversial? No I wouldn’t think so. There is another form of evolution known as micro evolution. Micro evolution means something that evolves at a small or on a micro level. Micro-evolution is a change within a species. Charles Darwin had a famous experiment where he went to the Galapagos Islands and he noticed that there were 13 different types of finches, which is a bird, and he noticed that they had different colors and sizes so he believed that they must have evolved. But here is the thing: micro-evolution occurred but at the root, they were still finches. There was no change of kind which is what macroevolution pushes. Now macroevolution is the theory of evolution that you are probably a lot more familiar with. Now what Darwin taught was that from one species at the very bottom of the evolutionary tree, all forms of life came into being. Darwin did not invent the theory of evolution. It had been around 2000 years before Darwin set it into motion. Even Darwin seemed to have his doubts though about his theory. He writes in his book The Origin of Species, “Why if species have descended from other species by fine gradations, do we not everywhere see innumerable transitional forms? Why is not all in confusion, instead of the species being, as we see them, well defined? As by this theory innumerable transitional forms must have existed, why do we not find them embedded in countless numbers in the crust of the earth?” Even though Darwin had his doubts, the main theory of evolution that we will still talk about is the theory of common descent by natural selection. Natural selection is also known as survival of the fittest. What is natural selection then? It is the idea that only that which is strongest will survive and that the weak will eventually die out. But here is one of the many problems with this theory: If the strongest really do survive, that which is immediately different would be considered the weakest. What do I mean by that? Take the evolution of humans. The theory is that at some point, some sort of fish developed gills and walked on land to breathe. Now the problem with that is that the development of those gills would actually be a major weakness to the creature. Before, it only needed water to survive but now it needs both water and oxygen. How would this creature have figured out that it needed oxygen prior to dying out? And wouldn’t stronger creatures have been able to see this weakness and exploit it? Either these fish were incredibly lucky or this didn’t happen because when you add in additional necessities for survival, you are no longer that which is strongest. There’s also the moral argument which would be that when we look at starving children in Africa and children in Nepal being sold into sex slavery, we feel bad about those things. But why should we if Survival of the fittest is true? We are the strong, we’re the survivors but if our natural inclination is to destroy the weak, we should be rooting for these people to die out but we don’t do that. Why? Because we recognize human value. We recognize that there is worth in the lives of human beings and we recognize that because God has bestowed worth on mankind. Is mankind an accident? Absolutely not. How do we know this? Because we have been created by a benevolent Creator and not only has He created man, He has created man in His very image and likeness.

What Does it Mean to be Created in God’s Image?

What does it mean to be created in the image of God. Look back to Genesis 1:26-27 “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.” First off, it is important for us to recognize that God is Spirit. He doesn’t have a physical body so for man to be created in His image does not mean that we physically represent God the Father. So, what does it mean then? It means that we are the pinnacle of God’s creation and we are unlike anything else that He created. R.C. Sproul writes, “Being made in the image of God means that we are the icons of God, creatures made with a unique capacity to mirror and reflect the character of God.” To be made in the image of God that we share many of the attributes of God, even if we do not share them perfectly. We know that God is a moral God and we are moral creatures. We know that God is a God of love and we are capable of love. We know that God is a just God and we are capable of judgments. God is intelligent and we are intelligent. God is a holy God and we are capable of mirroring that holiness. Herman Bavinck writes, “The whole human being is image and likeness of God, in soul and body, in all human faculties, powers, and gifts. Nothing in humanity is excluded from God’s image; it stretches as far as our humanity does and constitutes our humanness. The human is not the divine self but is nevertheless a finite creaturely impression of the divine. All that is in God- his spiritual essence, his virtues and perfections, his immanent self-distinctions, his self-communication and self-revelation in creation- finds its admittedly finite and limited analogy and likeness in humanity.” No other creature can say that. No other creature has such a tremendous honor. Does mankind have value? Yes, because we are creatures that have been lovingly created by God and have been created to reflect His glory. Now some people argue that sin has removed the designation of being made in the image of God. They argue that only Adam and Eve were made in His image and a direct result of the Fall is that no man is truly made in the image of God. This begs the question: Does sin remove the Image of God, the imago Dei, from mankind?

Does Sin Remove the Image of God?

It’s heartbreaking to think of what Satan said to Eve in regards to being like God prior to the fall. Genesis 3:4-5 says, “But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” Eve missed it! They were already like God. They had been created in His very image. They walked with Him, talked with Him, they enjoyed a relationship unlike any other. When sin comes into the world, everything changes. When it comes to sin in the lives of mankind, there is a change in man’s likeness of God but he does not lose totally the image of God. Carl F.H. Henry writes, “The fall of man is not destructive of the formal image (man’s personality) although it involves the distortion (though not demolition) of the material content of the image.” What this means is that while we do not reflect the holiness and likeness of God as we did prior to the fall, we still have the marks of our Creator on us. A coin that is covered in mud is as much as a coin as one that is fresh from the treasury. Gordon Clark put it like this: “Sin has interfered with but does not prohibit thought. It does not eradicate the image but causes it to malfunction.” The image of God in man has been ruined but it has not been altogether lost. Man still possesses beauty because even though the image of God has been warped in us, it has not been totally destroyed. While not every person is a true Child of God in the sense of being born again, every single person is still created in the image of God. James says in James 3:8-9 “but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.” No matter who you are, know that you have been made in the image of God and you have value. With the time we have left, let’s look at Psalm 8.

We Have Value (Psalm 8)

David writes in Psalm 8:3-8 “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.” Psalm 8 begins and ends with praise. It recognizes the greatness of the God of all Creation. David starts and ends Psalm 8 with these words: “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” Sandwiched between this declaration is a Psalm that is about man. But this isn’t a Psalm that is meant to be a pat on the back or a testimony to our greatness. No, David stresses the littleness of man in comparison to all that God has created. James Montgomery Boice said, “The first thing that is asserted about man is his insignificance in the vast framework of creation. This grows out of the opening verses. For when the Psalmist thinks of the glory of God exceeding the greatness of creation and thus thinks of creation, he is struck with how small man is by comparison.” You may have read this and thought to yourself? Where is our value in this? It seems to me that I’m just a little fish in the biggest pond ever created, the universe itself. But it is you that God is mindful of! Like David, I have gone out at night and I have looked at the vastness of the universe, I have seen stars and moons and planets that all sing praises to an awe-inspiring Creator. I have been places that have taken my breath away by the sheer beauty of nature. I have seen incredible things in my almost 28 years of existence but despite all of that, it is me that God has placed as the pinnacle of His creation. Sin and all, I still have value. Francis Schaeffer said, “All men bear the image of God. They have value not because they are redeemed, but because they are God's creation in God's image.” In order for us to recognize our value, we need to recognize whom it is that makes us valuable. Understand this, your worth and your value will never come from what another human being thinks of you or makes you. You have value and worth regardless of what the world thinks, regardless of what this guy or this girl thinks about you. Make sure you understand this, you matter. David’s question in verse 4 is not a question of doubt, it’s a question of sheer amazement! “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” Do you understand just how much that tells us about our God? For God to be mindful of us shows that we are always on His mind, He is always acting towards us. God is not indifferent towards us or unkind, He cares deeply for us. You are not just a number in an infinite sea of numbers. David says in Psalm 139:13-16 “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Derek Kidner says that these verses show that God is the author of every detail of my being. You have not just popped off the assembly line, you have been carefully created and knitted together by God. Listen, you need to stop looking at yourself like you are nothing. You’re not God and you shouldn’t put yourself on a pedestal or believe that the world revolves around you because it doesn’t, but you are something. You are someone that God knows by name. You are someone that God doesn’t just see but sees to the very core! Have you ever thought about how God knows things about you that you don’t know about yourself? Have you ever thought about how God knows your thoughts, He understands how you view yourself, and how He knows what it means to suffer? What we’ve done tonight is we’ve pointed the cannon but we haven’t lit it yet. Before we can talk about things like race, gender, sexuality, anxiety, and depression, we have to know who we are first because if all we are is an accident, those things don’t matter. But if we have been shaped and molded by God Himself, then that reality, that value, will dictate how we respond to those things. Even if we leave here tonight with not a lot of answers, we can leave here tonight knowing that we matter. I think that for a lot of us, we really need to know that. We need to know that someone loves us because how many of us keep looking for love in all the wrong places? We keep looking for worth and meaning in all the wrong places. Understand, you cannot make yourself more valuable to Christ than you already are. God’s love is perfect, that means that it never changes. God’s love for you can never be improved from what it already is. God’s love for the Christian can never be taken away, it never diminishes. I have said this before for you guys, God is not waiting to love some future version of you that doesn’t exist yet. I know we have baggage, I know we have dirt, but God sees beyond that. He says brings the baggage, bring the dirt, bring all that stuff that you don’t like about yourself because you know what, I absolutely love you. I see you, I hear you, and I know you. Do you have value? Do you matter? More than you know because you bear the markings of our Creator and over the next few nights, we will continue to see who we are in Christ and not who the world calls us to be. Let’s pray together.