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Back to Sermons Index Back to Home Page 24th August 2008 PMMADE IN GOD'S IMAGE ! Pastor Colin Meadows Genesis 1:26-28, 2:15-17, 1 Peter 2:9-12
►Prime Convictions focus – to know God! We started our course by looking at the importance of the Bible, God’s Word to us. The Bible reveals who God is and how he wants us to live. It directs us as to how we may glorify God, outlining what we are to believe concerning God and what our duty is to him as his creatures. The Bible reveals who Jesus is, fully human and yet fully divine. He is the eternal Son of God who became man. We learnt also of the Holy Spirit, indwelling and empowering all believers to live in conformity to the will of the Father. Today we examine just who we are, men and women created in the image and likeness of God. What can we learn from the Bible about ourselves that will inspire us to move on in deeper steps of obedience towards God? ►Created in God’s image – our heritage! 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.” Please note that the term ‘man’ is being used here in the generic sense, referring to both men and women. Note further that the words image and likeness are synonyms, used to describe the characteristics we share in common with our Creator. We are different from the rest of the creation. None of the other animals were created in this manner. Our lives should thus reflect the qualities that we have in common with our Creator, qualities, it has been suggested, such as righteousness, knowledge, love, holiness and integrity. These words speak of intelligence, of having a mind to think things through. We have developed languages, able to speak and write in symbolic ways that enable us to communicate effectively with each other. We are different from the other animals and as a result we should live differently. We are not just clever apes who have learnt how to use tools! We thus have a wonderful heritage. But there is something even more special about us as human beings. We are spiritual beings, for God has breathed into our lives. Genesis 2:7 “The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” We are spiritual beings who share immortality with our Creator. God entered into a covenant or relationship with humanity in the Garden of Eden, that his blessings would rest upon them, if they would live in obedience to his word. Genesis 1:28 “God blessed them…” Humanity was given God’s wonderful blessing to go forth to flourish and fill the earth. We too today still enjoy that blessing from God, the provision of this amazing world and all that it contains. At the same time, however, humanity was given a great responsibility. ►Called to be stewards – our responsibility! Genesis 2:15 “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to take care of it.” Adam and Eve were placed on this earth to work it and care for it responsibly under God’s watchful eye and the say applies to us. We were not created to just sit around and play games! We are to work, to engage in creative activities that produce outcomes for the benefit of all. Furthermore, we have not received a mandate to exploit and pollute the earth but rather to fulfill our role as being good stewards. Let us play our part in caring for God’s creation in whatever way we sense we should. Stewards do not own what they are looking after. They are faithfully taking care of it for their master. All that we have comes from the hand of God. Our very lives, our possessions, our gifts and talents, all belong to God. We are merely taking care of them while here on earth. We have further been given responsibility to use the resources in our care for the betterment of others. This was summed up in a very simple statement that later became known as the Royal Law. Leviticus 19:18 “…Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus, Paul and James all quoted from this verse, explaining that God wants us to demonstrate our love for him by the way we love those around us. One Jewish proverb says ‘Love thy neighbor, even when he plays the trombone’ while the Arabs have a proverb that states ‘The camel never sees its own hump; but its neighbor’s hump is ever before its eyes’. We are to look out for others, before we start to consider our own needs. Robert Benson thus noted ‘No man can be a friend of Jesus Christ who is not a friend to his neighbor’. Let us truly care for others as good stewards of God’s creation. After such a great start for humanity, however, the wheels fell off! Adam and Eve chose to go a different way to what God desires and we have decided to do likewise. We have chosen to live in disobedience to our Creator. We thus think, say and do things that bring shame and pain to the heart of God. How did this come about? Because humanity was given the… ►Freedom to experience good or evil – our choice! We were not created as robots or programmed machines. We have freedom of choice, to do good or evil, to obey or disobey. Genesis 2:16-17 “And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.’” They were told to listen to God’s Word and to obey. Unfortunately Adam and Eve chose badly and reaped the consequences. As a result the image of God in humanity has been tarnished. We too have each chosen to walk away from God. We were not forced to do this, but chose freely to do so. Romans 3:23 “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We need to be very clear here – this is not just a little misunderstanding that we are talking about. We have all willfully chosen to walk in a different direction to what God has said. Psalm 14:2-3 “The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” It this was the last word on the matter then it would be a very dismal situation. But there is good news…. ► Restoration is at hand – our pathway to wholeness! We don’t need to live our lives looking back with regret or looking forward with pessimism. There is a way out of the hole we have found ourselves in. Restoration is possible, a way to clear the slate, wipe the charges clean, to stand upright again before God. How? What we need to do is humbly get down on our knees before God. We need to stop shaking our fist at him and instead submit to his Lordship over our lives. King David expressed this attitude so well… Psalm 51:1-2: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” We can be restored into relationship with God by calling out for forgiveness, asking God to cleanse us and to make us new. He is a God of compassion and grace and delights to hear us reach out for his help. He wants to restore the broken relationship with himself so that we can move on to wholeness. Then we can truly be restored with other people. An Aboriginal pastor spoke at our church several years ago at the time when the buzz word concerning Black and White Australians was ‘reconciliation’. He said that true reconciliation begins when a person is reconciled with God. That is where it all must start. Then we can work on reconciliation with each other. When this takes place then a new motivation will enter into our hearts. We will want to … ► Bring glory to God – our response to God’s grace! We have been created in the image and likeness of God and now restored to bring glory to him. Let us use our time, treasure and talent wisely to bring a smile to God’s face. The shorter version of the Westminster Catechism of 1647 states that ‘the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever’. Let us seek to do just that. 1 Corinthians 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” We have been created in the image and likeness of God to be good stewards of all that he has entrusted to us. Let us do just that and so bring glory to God!
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