Made in His Image

Isn’t good to be back for worship together? I have truly missed this time with you all. We are beginning a new series answering the question: Who am I? It is a question most people ask at least once over the course of their life. While many ask it, many times over the course of their life. In a room this size, there are some who are probably wrestling with this question right now. Over the next six weeks, I hope we will be able to answer that question for you.

If you would please turn to Genesis Chapter 2, tonight we will begin with the basics I want us to examine our creation. I hope to show you the significance of who we are and the reason we are alive.

Please Stand in the honor of the reading of God’s Word.

Genesis 2:7 ESV

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.

Genesis 2:18–25 ESV

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.

Genesis 2:18-25

Pray

1. The intimacy of our creation.

Genesis 2:7 ESV

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.

The creation of humankind is given greater attention in this passage. The passage says that the Lord God formed the man of dust. God stood there looking at the dust and began to move it. I can just picture God taking the dust like clay and forming and shaping Adam’s torso then his arms and torso then finally his face. Once the Lord was satisfied with what he had formed, God didn’t just say wake up Adam! No. Instead, God goes to the very nostrils of Adam and breaths life into Adam.

I find that just amazing! The God of the universe is so invested in his creation, specifically, humanity that he literally breathed life into us. Can we be real for just a moment? Can we? Unless, you are Katherine or I am dying and Katherine isn’t around I better not ever catch anyone trying to breath in my nostrils. I’m just saying, that isn’t alright! However, here is what is incredible.

Even today God is creating life with the same intimacy seen in this passage.

See, when life is conceived, God creates that life. He then forms that baby and that child is part of God created work!

Listen to what the Psalmist in writes,

Psalm 139:13–14 ESV

13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

Did you hear that? God knitted you together! He formed every part of you and wonderfully made you. You are made with God’s full attention. He didn’t have an oops moment, he created you with his glory in mind.

I need to take a moment here about the sin of transgenderism. When a person says, that they are not really a boy because they believe they are a girl or vise versa, what they are saying is that God made a mistake when he created them. It is a total rejection of God and his authority. While that struggle is vary real, it is 100% sin. Just like sins like lying, being a thief, murder, adultery, transgenderism is condemning and must be repented of in order for a person to be a child of God.

Another difficult subject people face is why some people are born without sight, while others are born deaf, others born without a limbs. Why do people have disabilities? Often the question is did God mess up? The short answer: God did not mess up.

Here is why when know this truth, it is because of SIN. Sin is the reason why all these disabilities and struggles people deal with exist. We will dive deep into this truth in two weeks. However, here is the short version. When sin entered the world, everything became imperfect. While God wonderfully creates all of us, we are not perfect because sin prohibits perfection on this side of eternity. Therefore, yes we are imperfect. However, God loves us perfectly and designed us so that he can receive glory through our lives! For the believer, we get to look forward to eternity where we will receive the perfect body God intended for us to receive from the beginning.

Just remember that God has intimately created you and didn’t make a mistake.

Not only are we intimately created. We need to know,

2. The uniqueness of our creation.

Genesis 2:18–25 ESV

When God created the first man Adam, he states it is not good for man to be alone. God says, “I will make him a helper fit for him.” Before God creates his helper, God puts Adam to work naming all the animals of the land and air. Look at verse 19-20,

Genesis 2:19–20 ESV

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.

I know God has a sense of humor, we see it in Jesus and throughout the Word of God. I can image him saying to one of his angels. Hey, I know I haven’t created the perfect helper for Adam yet. But, I want to watch Adam figure that out on his own. Let’s see what he calls all these animals.

What is clear is that Adam while naming these animals realizes there is not a single helper fit for him. If I were Adam that would be a very lonely feeling. He would see all these animals having others like them, yet no where in creation has God created someone like Adam. He is unique. Different from all the other creatures in the world.

What Adam needed was for another created being like him. Upon Adam’s recognition of this truth, God continues his creation work. Look with me at ,

Genesis 2:21–25 ESV

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.

Genesis 2:21

God could have just created his wife out of dust without the need of using Adam’s rib but God chose to do it with the very bone and flesh of Adam. God designs the woman to be a perfect complement to Adam. Upon seeing the woman Adam recognizes that both her and he are of the same flesh and made with the same bone and calls her woman for she was taken out of Man.

Adam then says, that the only relationship appropriate for marriage is when a man leaves his family to marry his wife and they become one flesh. God has uniquely made us for the purpose of being complementary of one another. Women are not greater nor inferior to men. We are made with a unique complementary fashion where we are equals with different roles. If you ever wonder why homosexuality is considered sin, it goes back to creation. God’s perfect design for humanity was for only one form of sexual relationship and it is between a single biological male and a biological female. Any other sexual relationship is rebellion against God design. It is also why sexual purity is so important. God designed us to share that relationship with only our spouse. We were not designed like the other animals, we have a higher authority and calling which includes our relationships.

Here is what truly makes us unique from all of creation. We are made in the image of God. Look at with me.

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.

God made us in his likeness giving us his attributes. He gave us a spirit, mind, and body. He gave us a desire for fellowship with him and one another. He gave us authority to exercise over all of creation. We have been made different from the rest of creation. We are truly God’s most unique creation.

Conclusion:

Who are we? We are God’s most intimate and unique creation. We are a creation that was made in the image of the living God. A people who have been given authority and responsibility to care for all of creation. Yet, because of sin, we have failed to live up to God’s standard and as a result our world is full of injustice, broken relationships, and wickedness. As a result, we are tainted, broken and in need of a savior.

Invitation:

Jesus died for that vary reason and rose from the grave defeating death in order to paved the way for us to experience life eternal. What God asks of us is to admit that we are a sinner, to believe in the saving work of Jesus Christ, and to confess Jesus as our Lord and savior. Will you do that today?