We Believe: Mankind is created by God
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Our Statement on Mankind
Our Statement on Mankind
Mankind
We believe mankind is created in the image of God to reflect His glory.
As male and female, God commands them to take care of the earth and to populate it through the union of marriage.
Because of inherited and committed sin they are spiritually dead, disobeying God and failing to accurately reflect His image.
In rebellion, they have hard hearts, debased minds, and seared consciences; they are utterly sinful.
Through salvation they are enabled to steward God’s creation, multiply spiritually, and grow in their reflection of God’s image.
This week, we are going to focus in on the first half of this statement. Let’s look at those two lines again.
We believe mankind is created in the image of God to reflect His glory.
We believe mankind is created in the image of God to reflect His glory.
As male and female, God commands them to take care of the earth and to populate it through the union of marriage.
As male and female, God commands them to take care of the earth and to populate it through the union of marriage.
Let’s look at what Genesis has to say.
Genesis 1:26–31 (ESV)
26 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.”
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28 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.”
29 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.
30 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.
31 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.
Reflecting God’s image in our identity.
Reflecting God’s image in our identity.
One of the things that makes us unique from the rest of creation, including the animals, is that we are created as spiritual beings.
Unlike the animals, God breathed into man the breath of life. This is the giving of spirit to man.
7 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.
So we are not only flesh and bones but we are spiritual beings.
Consider what Jesus says in John 4:24
24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
As spiritual beings we are to reflect that part of God and in doing so, share his glory with the world.
What does it mean to bear the image of God as a spiritual being? It means that we share in some of God’s attributes. When Joe preached back in June on the attributes of God he taught about communicable and incommunicable attributes of God. Some things about God he did not share with his creation.
What are some of the attributes of God that he shared with man?
Well there is no exhaustive list given to us. Instead we reflect God in various ways. One picture we have as those who have been born again is that of the fruit of the spirit. All people have this capacity but sin get’s in the way of it. What would people look like if we had no sin? Let’s look at Galatians 5.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
Love
Love
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Joy
Joy
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Peace
Peace
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Patience
Patience
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Kindness
Kindness
32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Goodness
Goodness
15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Faithfulness
Faithfulness
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
Gentleness
Gentleness
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Self-Control
Self-Control
7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
The question we are faced with is whether or not we are walking in the Spirit and keeping God’s glory at the forefront of our lives.
Another way that we image God is by . . .
Reflecting God’s image in our purpose.
Reflecting God’s image in our purpose.
28 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.”
29 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.
30 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.
Just as God created and reigns over all creation, we are giving authority over the earth and all the creatures that dwell in and on it.
We reflect God in our love for creation.
We reflect God in our love for creation.
We reflect God in our use of creation.
We reflect God in our use of creation.
We reflect God in our control of creation.
We reflect God in our control of creation.
Reflecting God’s image in our relationships.
Reflecting God’s image in our relationships.
We are first introduced to this concept as the trinity works together to plan and create Man.
26 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.”
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28 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 this creation is part of the significance of our purpose as humans. In humanity God reflects the relational existence within the trinity itself.
Look at how this is described in Genesis 2.
18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.
20 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.
21 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.
22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
23 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.”
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Man was created in a unique way.
Man was created in a unique way.
Woman was created in a unique way.
Woman was created in a unique way.
Marriage, sex, and family building were designed to exist in a unique way.
Marriage, sex, and family building were designed to exist in a unique way.
Notice that in God’s design there is nothing to be ashamed of.
Although we have fallen into sin, those that are born again have reminders of God’s original design and instructions for how to live this out in our lives.
A man is to prepare himself for a wife.
A man is to prepare himself for a wife.
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
A man must love his wife.
A man must love his wife.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
A wife is to respect her husband.
A wife is to respect her husband.
33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
The two are one and they belong to each other.
The two are one and they belong to each other.
3 The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband.
4 For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
5 Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
The husband is to care for and protect his wife.
The husband is to care for and protect his wife.
7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
Husbands are to be gentle with their wives.
Husbands are to be gentle with their wives.
19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.
Wives are to submit to their husbands.
Wives are to submit to their husbands.
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.
24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
Be fruitful and multiply.
Be fruitful and multiply.
28 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.”
See children as a blessing.
See children as a blessing.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.
3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.
5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
Raise your children to love the Lord.
Raise your children to love the Lord.
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
We believe mankind is created in the image of God to reflect His glory.
We believe mankind is created in the image of God to reflect His glory.
As male and female, God commands them to take care of the earth and to populate it through the union of marriage.
As male and female, God commands them to take care of the earth and to populate it through the union of marriage.