Genesis 1:26-27

[0:00] For those of you who haven't been here, I'm just taking select scriptures starting in Genesis! and just working and we team teach in here for your visitor three of us Willard Lee myself and Lee's up next and Lee then me 15 weeks of this and then pass it off to Willard he'll pass it to Lee and then I'll start again this is lesson three last time we looked at the scriptures dealing with the creation of the first man Adam and the first woman Eve we could almost call the lesson this evening an addendum to last week's study the more I thought about it the more I thought there's a little bit more I need to add and tonight my intentions are to look at something that is vitally important to the human family and we touched on it in lesson two and at the end of that lesson I mentioned it but here's the passage we will deal with tonight which we read last time we'll read part of it again then God said let us make man in our image after our likeness so God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him male and female he created them and in these two verses the Holy Spirit using Moses of course as the human author records four times that humans both male and female were created in God's image and in God's likeness that is an extremely important revelation it's important to every believer but it's important to every unbeliever it's important to the world humans have been created in the image and in the likeness of God it's so important that I've added this lesson in into what was developing as a flow of key scriptures for our Wednesday night study in the book of Genesis and we're going to go beyond

[2:31] Genesis trust me every human even those who are fallen and unsaved have been created in the created in the image and likeness of God any understanding of mankind is dependent upon us grasping this truth I love what Dr. Francis Schaeffer used to say people don't know God who God is because they don't know who man is they don't know who man is and any understanding that we have of humanity is dependent upon grasping the truth that humanity men and women have been created in the image and likeness of God and the implications for the human family are absolutely immense and being thus created touches everything and I'll just include a few things but in theology psychology psychology ministry Christian living it touches all this and a lot more the fact that humans have been created in God's image touches many issues that deal with daily living as people these issues include human dignity and value personal and social ethics relations between the the sexes the solidarity of the family the family the family's huge first thing God created was the family

[4:12] Adam and Eve even matters relative to racial and social and ethnic issues it is important for us to realize that after the fall in the garden and that's not autumn that's when sin was introduced in the garden of Eden and we're going to be talking about that in January of 2021 even with the fall all people still possess the image and likeness of God and in addition to the two verses I just read or just mentioned there are other passages in the Bible that speak to this issue let me read in Genesis chapter 5 this is the book of the generations of Adam when God created man he made him in the likeness of God male and female he created them and he blessed them and named them man when they were created now we don't play trivial pursuit very much anymore but a good question for trivial pursuit would have been what was Eve's first name in the Bible her first name was man but then God separated said this is a woman that's Adam and Eve

[5:26] Genesis 9 6 whoever sheds the blood of man by man shall his blood be shed for God made man in his own image in 1st Corinthians chapter 11 verse 7 for a man ought not to cover his head since he is the image and glory of God but woman is the glory of man and then in James chapter 3 verses 6 and 9 and the tongue is a fire a world of unrighteousness the tongue is set among our members staining the whole body setting on fire the entire course of life and set on fire by hell for every kind of beast and bird of reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind but no human being can tame the tongue it is a restless evil full of deadly poison with it we bless our Lord and Father and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God powerful verses of scripture the Hebrew word for image signifies copy it's a copy it can also carry with it the concept of representative or representation in that regard members of the human family were designed to be image bearers that is a very important term designed to be image bearers who represent God in this world that's what believers are today

[7:11] I mean using the word of God we are spokespersons for God for Christ Jesus is in heaven at the right hand of the Father we're down here representing Him of course in the fall of mankind humans lost their ability to represent God now that falls to those who are saved by Christ Jesus but in spite of that even lost people possess the image of God the word likeness in Hebrew can refer to a pattern a shape or a form it has the meaning of something patterned after an original man was patterned after God men were created by the sons to be sons of God women created to be daughters of God the first thing we see then is that men and women were created in the image and likeness of God and second even after the fall into sin all people still possess that image that has huge implications for government it has specific implications for law enforcement where I hung around for a lot of years you all know most of you know that that was my world as a detective in Fort Worth as an FBI agent as the Bar of a police chief twice the fact that every human is uniquely created in the image and likeness of God is the best reason not the only reason but the best reason for inflicting capital punishment in certain cases if you are not familiar with that term it is the seeking of the death penalty for certain crimes in a six year span when I was still in Texas just before my FBI time

[9:16] I was a criminal investigator in the Fort Worth area and I was responsible for the investigation of eight capital murder cases in Texas of course those cases of those cases one person was acquitted he should have been convicted he even confessed but the judge wouldn't let it in and he got acquitted and we found out later there had been jury tampering witness tampering all kinds of things another person was convicted and received life in prison without any provision for parole the remaining six were all convicted and sentenced to death by the judge and after years on death row and I'm talking 18 to 25 years on death row appealing their convictions all six of those individuals have now been executed I'm sometimes asked does that bother you?

[10:15] no it doesn't bother you what bothered me was the victims that those guys killed I mean one was so bad I'll never forget to interview an 18 year old kid that killed this lady she owned a store in Fort Worth he robbed her he left he came back he walked in he shot and killed her when I interviewed I said you had the money you had left the store why did you kill this lady?

[10:38] and she was loved in the community he said I got mad he said I thought she shouldn't have been there when I was ready to steal that's how he was thinking she shouldn't have been there when I was ready to steal we execute people in most states or some states not all of them for horrendous crimes because in taking a human life they are attacking and doing extreme harm to the image bearers of God we're touching God when a life is extinguished through murder through crime those people they're touching God they're touching an image bearer of God there are other reasons I mean people ask me all the time well you know do you think it's really deterrent?

[11:33] absolutely whoever's executed is not going to murder anybody else I promise you that I guarantee you that's a deterrent but there are other reasons but that's the primary one we are tampering with the image of God a third reason for properly bearing the image of God has to do with the fact that the one true God is a trinity of persons the Father Son and Holy Ghost God within himself is a relational being I mean do you ever think about that?

[12:07] God has always been and he's always been a trinity and in eternity past there was the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit and they were in relationship with each other there was love expressed among the Trinity there were plans for creation for redemption and we could go on and on but there was a unique communication among the Godhead there was a relationship image bearers as image bearers we too are relational beings we are to relate to the three persons of the Trinity obviously but also to relate to other people from other cultures we relate within the church we relate to other believers in other churches we relate to people overseas I mean here in Bartlesville the home of Voice of the Martyrs

[13:07] USA we pray for the persecuted around the world we're supposed to I hope we are and yet we relate to people from all different kind of cultures a fourth reason we are to properly bear the image of God is connected with the task given us in the Garden of Eden Adam was to rule and subdue the earth on God's behalf he was in the business of ruling and subduing and that was passed on to Adam's children after declaring that we are made in the image of God the Lord gave this command 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 God then gave the man and woman a blessing and he made this statement be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it now obviously that goes beyond

[14:15] Adam and Eve they're not going to fill the earth but their children and grandchildren will and God continued and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens over every living thing that moves on the earth and by the way at the end of that verse in chapter 1 it says God saw everything he had made and declared it to be all very good over to that point he said everything was good now he says it's very good when we speak in terms of ruling over creation that has to do with our dominion over creation the authority to rule was not exclusively Adam's it extends to the descendants of Adam down to this very day down to this very day and it's really politically incorrect if you say this is God's earth and the Lord's going to be coming back so we can use the resources he said it's okay to use oil and use gas and you you can you can get in a whole lot of political trouble real quick but this all has begs a question do we have a right as revealed in scripture to rule over the earth for that

[15:38] I want us to look at psalm 8 this psalm puts mankind men and women in the proper setting and I'm going to read the entire psalm it's not very long psalm 8 and I'm going to work on a song Dan on this O Lord our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth you have set your glory above the heavens out of the mouth of babies and infants you have established strength because of your foes to steal the enemy and the avenger when I look at your heavens the work of your fingers the moon and the stars which you have set in place what is man that you're mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings that's angels and crowned him with glory and honor you have given him dominion over the works of your hands you have put all things under his feet all sheep and oxen and also the beasts of the field the birds of heavens and the fish of the sea whatever passes along the paths of the sea by the way that can be rivers we didn't know there were rivers in the sea until about 200 years ago one of them comes right up by Scotland that's why

[17:06] Scotland's not like Alaska because of the warm water flow in the Atlantic oh lord our lord I threw that in for free oh lord our lord how majestic is your name in all the earth now if we really want to grasp the concept of image bearer we look to the ultimate image bearer of God the lord Jesus Christ he took upon himself human flesh he's the eternal God in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God and he took upon himself human flesh and walked among us tabernacled with us pitched his tent with us he bore the image of God when he was on earth and lived this perfect life absolute perfection the image of God is perfectly revealed in Christ

[18:09] Jesus is God in human flesh but he is intimately connected with us as fully human he is the God man and there's nobody else in the universe that's the God man and dare I say this I almost say it with some fear but it's true the father is not the God man the spirit is not the God man only Christ is the God man fully God fully man I had one guy say one time yeah he's 50% God and 50% man no no no 100% God 100% man and the apostle Paul captures this truth when he refers to the Lord as the last Adam we've heard that term haven't we the first Adam was placed in the garden we're going to be looking at starting in January and we're going to spend some time in there and we know what happened and now the last

[19:15] Adam has come he also said that Jesus is the image of the invisible God you want to see God look to Jesus Jesus even said do you not know who I am they were asking show us God you mean you've been with me all this time and you don't know who I am the writer of Hebrews said this chapter 1 he is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature you know and that radiance shone through different times didn't it when he was on earth he shielded his glory he had to he you know people couldn't they would have passed out they would have died of a heart attack he had to veil his glory in human flesh but there were times when it shone through the amount of transfiguration and God was merciful he just knocked Peter and John and James out so they didn't die he put them in a coma when they came to arrest

[20:20] Jesus in the garden he said to them whom seek ye and they said Jesus of Nazareth now your bible says I am he he should be in italics he didn't say he he said I am ego Ime the sacred name of God he said I am Yahweh and when he said that these soldiers and we don't know if there were ten or two thousand however many they were they fainted they fell to the ground in the presence of almighty God in the presence of God the radiance showed through it showed through in revelation John was the beloved disciple probably the youngest I have this view that John probably had a warm place nearest the campfire he's the baby in the group he probably had an extra blanket that the Lord gave him his blanket and he was very close to the Lord Jesus but in the

[21:23] Isle of Patmos when he sees the resurrected Christ he fell at his feet like he was a dead man he saw the glorified Christ and he fell down at his feet just as if he had died that's the radiance the Lord Jesus made God's image visible visible God is calling and if you're here on Monday night that's a familiar term the last few weeks God is calling and saving sinners to be conformed and transformed into the image of his son Paul said this in Romans chapter 8 for those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son and by the way Monday night guys that's where we're headed come January listen to what

[22:24] God through Paul said about us and we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another we're being transformed you know what we call that sanctification being recreated in the image of Christ how are we being transformed God is at work and believers to make us more like his son that's the goal of the Christian life we are to increasingly give evidence of the image of Christ growing more like Christ is the sanctification process whereby we manifest the image of God Jesus is the image of God and the model we are to follow

[23:38] Thank you.