The Creation of Man
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Good morning, welcome to NHCC, please open your Bibles to Genesis 1.
Next week- Family Fifth Sunday
Book Recommendations.
Quick walkthrough of Genesis 1:3-25.
God creates all things.
Light, sky, dry land, heavenly bodies, sea creatures and birds, land dwellers and humans.
We begin to notice some shifts.
V. 1- creation of the whole universe.
V. 2- focus on the earth.
Genesis 2 will narrow even more to the detailing of a garden and the first humans.
Creation of man as a high point.
Creation of all else happens so quickly, and yet, the creation of man is drawn out and lingered upon.
We are meant to give it special consideration.
Genesis 1- Elohim- Almighty King of the Universe
Genesis 2-3- Yahweh Elohim- The LORD God- Personal God who cares for, loves, provides for and saves His people.
Sidney Greidanus- “Whereas in Genesis 1 God speaks as the almighty King and it comes to be, here the LORD is sketched in more intimate terms as a potter who stoops down and fashions a delicate object, as a horticulturist who plants a garden, as a sculptor who fashions a woman from a rib of the man, as a person who walks in the garden, and as a judge who conducts a hearing and renders judgement.”
Read Genesis 1:26-31- 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.
Pray.
What are we created as? What are we created for? Who are we becoming?
1. Humankind is created in God’s image.
1. Humankind is created in God’s image.
What are we created as?
Lets figure this out in part.
Genesis 1:26a- “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.“
Genesis 1:27- “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
What does this mean? Let’s consider a couple of applications.
First, man shares in the characteristics and capabilities of God.
Communicable attributes.
Omnipotence- while we cannot fathom all that God can do, we can at least see that He has given us some limited capacity for power.
Second, man shares in the original righteousness of God.
If something of the image of God was lost in the sin of Genesis 3, we must ask what it was.
Standing right and innocent before God. Again, we cannot imagine this reality for Adam and Eve.
Losing our ability to correctly reflect the character and capabilities of God is a symptom of something greater. We lost the original righteousness that we possessed.
As a result of losing this righteousness, we possess an inability to rightly mirror God’s character and capability.
We are limited in our ability to love. Limited in our sense of justice. Everything has been tainted.
Third, and most basic, man is set apart from the rest of creation.
Are we though? We have been told that we are not special, and if anything, we are a stain on the rest of creation.
We often look past the material world to that which is immaterial. We find our emotions to be set ablaze not only by the physical world, but also by the ideal.
We seek after that which nothing else in creation seeks after. And there is no explanation or reason for it, other than we have been created differently.
Food in front of a dog. Apu in Aladdin.
Why the including of being created in God’s image, separate from the rest of creation?
Author goes out of his way to include such information.
The temptation is always there to live as though we are not created in God’s image.
Herman Bavinck- “The animal points to the boundary beneath, above which man must raise himself, and to the level of which he must never sink. Man can become an animal and less than an animal if he dulls the light of reason, breaks the bond with heaven, and seeks to satisfy all his desire in the earth.”
Don’t we know many like this? The image of God has been suppressed within a person.
Thus we find that it is not enough merely to be made in God’s image, but that such an image must find expression.
Have you asked yourself recently- “What is my purpose here? What is this all about? Why have I, or my children, been created?
It is not enough merely to be in possession of the blessings that come with being made in God’s image, such blessings must be aimed in the right direction. Namely, aimed at the glory of God in all things.
Heidelberg Catechism (1563)- “God created man good and in his own image, that is, in true righteousness and holiness, so that he might truly know God his Creator, love him with all his heart, and live with God in eternal happiness, for his praise and glory.”
It is a beautiful thing to know that you are created in God’s image. Now, what are you doing about it?
2. Man is given dominion as God’s representative.
2. Man is given dominion as God’s representative.
What are we created for?
How is the image of God in man given expression? Through the dominion of the created order.
We are placed in dominion as God’s representatives. We cannot detach our task of dominion from the reality of bearing God’s image.
We rule over this world and care for it to the best of our ability as representatives of God. We rule as God would rule.
John Walton- “God has created the cosmos for himself, not for us, though it is true that he has given us high status and privilege in this world of his. Thus, our role in subduing and ruling must be seen as a function of stewardship, not of ownership. This world is not ours to dispose of as we will, but it has been put under our charge to manage for its owner, God. That management is not with our own benefit in mind, but with the mindset that this is God’s world.”
Going out of town. Students left in charge of our home.
Dominion with Justice.
Small detail I’ve never noticed before until Marva Dawn pointed it out to me.
Take note in Genesis 1 of the use of the word, behold. Means look, or see. The text is meant to grab you by the shirt collar. Holding Ainesis’ face.
Genesis 1:29- 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.”
God begins by letting mankind know that He has provided them with what is necessary to feed themselves.
He has given every tree with seed in its fruit, and every plant yielding seed.
Genesis 1:30- “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.”
Notice the point being made here- God is providing enough for all creatures.
Highlighting those animals that even creep upon the earth- those that are utterly insignificant.
God has provided enough for all of creation to have its fill. And yet, things today are wildly out of balance.
In 2008 it was estimated that more than 850 million people do not have enough to eat.
Meanwhile, what tends to be our reality? If you’re anything like me, I find myself to be pretty wasteful.
Eating at grandma’s house as a child.
Marva Dawn- “God designed a harmonious universe, one in which everyone could eat nutritiously and flourish in all other ways. How did the earth get so unbalanced that if you have food, clothes, and a roof over your head you are richer than 75 percent of the world?”
Honestly, not sure where to go from here. Dawn makes a recommendation about our budgeting for food.
Consider this one brief thought- God created in such a way that justice was a reality. We have fallen far from the ideal. And yet, the words of Isaiah are meant to knock something loose within us.
Isaiah 58:6-8- “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.”
To have dominion over all of creation is meant to be in keeping with living as God’s image bearer. If God cares enough about justice that He would incorporate it into the created order, might we also care about justice in a similar manner?
Finally, what is the goal toward which we are working? If we are created in God’s image, and bearing God’s image means representing God in all of life, what will such a life look like?
3. Jesus is the fullness of God’s image.
3. Jesus is the fullness of God’s image.
Who are we becoming?
Let’s briefly walk through two important texts to see the point being made.
2 Corinthians 4:4- “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
Jesus is the image of God, an exact representation of the perfection, goodness and holiness of the godhead.
Romans 8:29- For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
For those who have been saved, we are bit by bit becoming more and more conformed to the image of Christ, who bears the fullness of the image of God.
If Jesus is the fullness of God’s image, and if we are becoming more and more like Jesus, then we are being restored to live and love and relate in the ways that Jesus did.
How did Jesus spend His time on this earth?
Keep in mind that it was the love of God for His entire creation that motivated the sending of Christ in the first place.
John 3:16- “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Ephesians 5:1-2- Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Here is our calling for all of life- look to the true image bearer, Jesus Christ.
In your short time on this earth, live the very life that Jesus lived. What are we becoming? Day by day we are becoming conformed into His image and likeness.
The affects of sin are being reversed and we reflect God’s image more and more.
But it will be shown through sacrifice.
We care for others through our own sacrifice. We promote justice through sacrifice. We make God known through sacrifice. This is the image of God in us, shown most clearly in our brother Jesus.