Created in the Image of God
#YOLO Genesis 1:26-27
Image Bearer
What is an Image?
Take a second and find an image, a photograph, a painting, digital art, or maybe some form of a sculpture. Study that image. What do you see? What do you know about the image? What dose that image tell you about the creator of that image? Everyone of these images bear something of their creator. We can know something of the creator just by looking at his creation.
Along these same lines, when we see an image that we think is beautiful we do not give praise to the image but to the creator of that image. When we see the Mona Lisa we do not sit there and sing praises to the picture itself, that would look and sound stupid. No we give praise to Leonardo da Vinci because he painted it. It is his creation!
Both of these are true in understanding ourselves in relation to God, and in understanding our purpose on this world. God created us in his image, we are God’s image bearers. When you look at people you can see some of who God is because they are His image bearer. With that when we see people do great things we are looking at God’s creation and he deserves all the praise and glory because he is our creator. That is our ultimate purpose is to glorify our creator. We do this by being His Image Bearers.
As Image Bearers we reflect God’s glory for his glory...
We were created in the image of God to have dominion over this world and to show how much of this world belonged to God. God did not just make a few statues to represent his likeness to this world. God made actual living creatures, a whole race to depict himself, and then gave them dominion over everything else. We are part of that race, created to have dominion over this world to show what is really God’s. We were never created to live for ourselves, for our glory or our honor, but for that of our creator. We are his image bearers, and borrowing from John Clavin, we are to reflect him like a mirror. God has sent his glory down here on earth through things like his son Jesus Christ, creation, or his blessings and we are to reflect them to this world and then back up to God. When sin entered the world it was like we all drop our mirrors and each one shattered into a thousand pieces, hindering us from doing what we were created to do. We could not fix our mirror, but because of Jesus Christ, and his work on the cross he can fix our mirrors and is slowly removing all the cracks in our mirror so that once again we can reflect God’s glory to this world, and back to him. Where do we see this idea in the bible? Here are just a few passages on reflecting God’s glory.
Isaiah 43:6-7 ESV
[6] I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth,
[7] everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.
1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV
[31] So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Romans 11:36 ESV
[36] For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
Revelation 4:11 ESV
[11] “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”
Acts 12:21-23 ESV
[21] On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. [22] And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” [23] Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.
Isaiah 43:6-7 “whom I created for my glory” Here we see God calling all his “sons from afar and daughters from the ends of the earth” “whom I created for my glory” We were created for God’s glory, our ultimate purpose is to glorify God.
1 Cor. 10:31 “do all to the glory of God” Not only were we created for the glory of God, but everything we do is to glorify God, even our eating and drinking.
Romans 11:36 “To him be the glory forever” This is Paul just bursting out and rejoicing! Paul just finished giving an account of how God has worked through Israel’s sin, to allow gentiles to be saved. And then also showed how God will still save Israel too, pointing to God’s mercy, Paul cannot hold back and burst out in this “doxology” ending with “to Him be the glory forever.” Just as Paul we need to be bursting forth with the singing “to Him be the glory forever.”
Revelations 4:11 “Worthy to receive glory” Even the things in heaven, the biggest, scariest, most honored things in heaven give glory to God and know all things were created for His glory. (Go back and read Revelations 4:1-11)
Acts 12:22-23- Herod is eaten by worms. Here we see King Herod receiving glory and not reflecting back to God, and because of that he killed and eaten by worms. God takes this seriously. As Image bearers we are called to reflect God’s glory outward to others and then back upward to God. But how do we do this best?
We reflect God’s glory by taking care of his creation, Genesis 1:28-31
We reflect God’s glory best when we are living as we were suppose to from the beginning. We first need our relationship with our creator fix through the gospel which is the work of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. Then we need to be looking at how God has commanded us to live. The first commands come from the very first chapter in Genesis right after God created the first humans, Adam and Eve.
Genesis 1:26-30 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.
Be fruitful and fill the earth. God’s first command was to be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth. God wanted his image in the form of living people all over the place. Right now God has fracture images all over the place, we need to be working at having images that are being fixed by Jesus all over the place. Both by having Godly marriages raising Godly children, and by bringing people in our areas of this world to Jesus and His gospel.
Subdue, and have dominion over it. The next command is to subdue it, take it over, own it, work it, God has given this to us. This does not stop at land, God has given us dominion over everything thats is living thing that moves here on earth. We are to take care of God’s creation for his glory. We are to work the ground, develop technology, enjoy animals, both for food and as pets, while being humane. We should care about the environment and being eco-friendly (to a point) because it is God’s creation. Outside of these there are two more main things we need to understand that come from this passage that help us reflect God’s glory by taking care of his creation.
We are under God over the rest of his creation. The first is that there is a creation order, God the creator > Humans > the rest of creation. God has put us under him and above the rest of creation. Therefor we are to look out for the rest of creation, but animals and such are NOT as valuable as humans. You should never put to protection of an animal over that of a human. God values your life more, therefore we need to. God did not create chimps in his image. Dog’s are not image bearers. Your first area of responsibility is helping fix the image of broken humans by bringing them into the love of Jesus Christ. THAT IS THE MOST GLORIFYING THING YOU CAN DO. We are to look out for the rest of creation as a responsible image bearer, but not to the loss of people meeting Jesus.
We are to steward what God has given us to reflect His glory. The second and somewhat more practical part of this idea of reflecting God’s glory by taking care of his creation is by being good stewards of what God has blessed you with. God has blessed you with your life and given you the responsibility of having dominion over this world, are you being a good steward with that? The things that God has given you and blessed you with, how are you using them? Your body? Your brian? Your strength, passions, and energies? Your money? Your sphere of influence? Are you developing the areas God has gifted you? Are you bringing God glory with all these things? Are you being a good steward with the image God has given you?
We reflect God’s glory by carrying on his mission Acts 1:6-11
The second command I would like to look at comes from the first chapter of Acts. This is right as Jesus is leaving this world and handing off his ministry to his disciples.
Acts 1:6-11 ESV
[6] So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” [7] He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. [8] But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” [9] And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. [10] And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, [11] and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Jesus sent his disciples out to continue his mission here on earth. At this point in Jesus’ ministry he has done all his miracles, discipled men, died and rose again. His personal ministry here on earth is done and he is handing if off to his disciples. Jesus is calling these men to carry on his mission here on earth. As we know from the rest of Acts and the New Testament that this mission is the church. Jesus left and went to rain on his throne in heaven and left the church to do his ministry here on earth. Jesus did not ask them to do it alone, but he gave them the power of the Holy Spirit to continue his mission, bringing people to Jesus to have their image fixed, so they can reflect God.
Well guess what? We are the decedents of these men. Our church, Harvest Bible Chapel is a decadent of the first church in Acts. And our mission is still the same, Jesus‘ mission. We still have the power oh the Holy Spirit too, as long as you are saved by Jesus Christ. We need to be on the mission of Jesus Christ with every fiber of our body asking the Holy Spirit to give us the ability to move. We are to be redeeming as much of this world for Jesus Christ as possible. Right now that mostly means people. Are you taking Jesus to your schools? When you show up at a friends house are you on the mission of Jesus? Do you actively view soccer practice as your mission field? Are you reflecting God’s glory to those around you everyday so that you can bring them to Jesus? One of God’s greatest blessings is that we can be on His mission while doing some of the things we enjoy the most! But we need to be intentional, using every opportunity for Jesus mission. There is a quote out there that says “Preach the gospel and if necessary use words.” There is some truth behind this, if we have been saved by the gospel of Jesus Christ our action should preach the gospel, but past that this statement is dumb. The gospel is a spoken word, and if we are on the mission of Jesus Christ, everything he has done in our life should be flowing from our lips. People need to know how God has changed you, and has given you an new life. We need to be speaking this every where we go, reflecting God’s glory outward.
Application
We first need an Image Identity, through the life and death of Jesus Christ. Once our image has been put back together we need to be Image Bearers. We need to be reflecting God’s glory out to the world and then back to him. We do that by taking care of his creation and being good stewards of what he has given us. And second we reflect his glory by being on the mission of Jesus Christ. We need to know, understand, and act upon what we are as image bearers This is a world that is just passing, but it is still God’s creation, and God is a God of redemption, therefor we need to be taking care of God’s creation and redeeming as much as we can for him. We do this by understanding that we are just stewards here working the “creator’s vineyard” not for ourselves but for God. Is this how you view your life, as a steward? Or do you view yourself as a master over your little world? Is the mission of Jesus Christ just part of your check list? Or is your life about Jesus Christ mission? Be an Image Bearer, its what you were created to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment