All right, friends, with fear and trepidation, we're going to begin our class this morning.
! Good morning. Welcome. Welcome. Let me begin us with a word of prayer.
Our Father in heaven, we gather this morning and we give you praise.
Lord, thank you for giving us life and breath this morning to gather together,
to attend to your word and all the riches of yourself that you've revealed there
and all that you've revealed about who we are as human beings.
Lord, help us this morning to understand these things rightly and apply them rightly through your spirit.
God, we ask for your help and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Okay, so here we are in class. I think this is five of our survey of the doctrine of creation.
And, you know, we say this a lot when we do these Sunday school classes,
but, you know, we're like, let's do four weeks. No, no, no, that's not enough.
Let's do eight weeks. And then we get towards the end of the eight weeks like we are now,
and we're just like, we're just scratching the surface. It just never feels like enough time.
So over the last four weeks, we've been looking mostly at Genesis 1 and 2,
considering the doctrine of creation, and Luke's been walking us through these first two chapters,
kind of masterfully showing us ways in which we might be understanding them
and understanding them in light of how church history has understood these things
and how they interface with sort of contemporary views of the origin of things.
And last week, we talked about the origin of humanity.
This week, we're going to talk about humans as created in the image of God.
And, you know, there's a lot of ways we could approach a subject like this.
We could look at it just sort of through theological synthesis.
We could look at how the doctrine has developed historically through time.
If we had more and more weeks, that would be really, really enlightening and illuminating things to do.
But I think what I'd like to do this morning with the time that we have
is just look through the biblical passages that seem to be referencing the image of God
and try to weave them together into some kind of coherent whole
and then spend some time doing some application and discussion at the end about the meaning of these things.
Now, next week, we're going to take up really this doctrine again.
We're going to do it again in a second time, looking through some of what John will teach on,
which is sort of the, can I call it the cultural mandate, John?
Is that fair? Is that fair? Okay, yeah.
Look at, well, that'll all make sense in a few minutes when we get into this topic.
Good. So if you're like, well, what did Irenaeus think about the image of God?
We're not going to have time for that.
Very interesting, very fascinating.
But we're just going to look at the scriptures, try to synthesize them together, and then go from there.
We will have a third class after John teaches next week where we kind of try to wrap some of this stuff up.
So if there's more we want to do in the image of God, then we can.
So we will have some time if we find we spill over.
So let's go ahead and begin.
I want to begin with a quote that I think will launch us off nicely
from a theologian that we've referenced before in this class by the name of Herman Bavink,
who, you know, he was a thoughtful guy.
So, but I really like how he starts his chapter discussing the image of God.
He says this.
He says, and you'll hear resonances in this quote from what we've talked about in previous weeks.
He says, the revelation, sorry, the entire world is a revelation of God,
a mirror of his virtues and perfections.
Every creature in its own way and according to its own measure is an embodiment of a divine thought.
Does that sound familiar?
We talk about kinds and creation revealing the glory of God and each thing revealing the glory of God, you know.
Jonathan Edwards used to reflect on spiders and silkworms and how they were beautiful pictures of, you know,
images of the divine things.
But then Bavink says this.
He says, but among all creatures, only man is the image of God,
the highest and richest revelation of God,
and therefore head and crown of the entire creation.
Only humankind, only human beings are said to be in the image of God.
And that certainly sets us apart.
Let's look at that.
Let's look at Genesis 1 then.
So there's where we start.
Let's look at Genesis 1.
So turn with me to Genesis 1.
And we've read this chapter a couple times in our class,
so we're just going to dive right in to verse 26.
Genesis 1, 26, 27, and we'll do 28 as well.
So Genesis says,
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 them.
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've given you every plant yielding seed
that is on the face of the earth,
and every tree with seed in its fruit.
You shall have them for food.
And then he goes on.
And then in verse 31, he says,
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.
Okay.
So let's just make a couple observations
about this text from Genesis 1.
Then God said,
Let us make man in our image after our likeness.
You can feel there a kind of distinction
in the narrative, can't you?
This is the first moment in the creation account
where God sort of pauses and deliberates.
Right?
You see up till this point,
God's hovering on the face of the waters.
God says,
Let there be light.
And there was light,
and there was evening,
and there was morning.
And then he speaks all these things into existence.
Speaking them into existence.
And then,
at the end of the sixth day,
at the pinnacle,
when it seems like everything is done,
he's already created all the beasts
that are moving on the earth.
Then God deliberates and says,
Let us make man in our image after our likeness.
So that right away tells us
that the creation of humanity
is just frayed with significance
and substance and importance.
Human beings are set apart
from the rest of creation.
Right?
Now, of course,
what are we according to Genesis 1 and 2?
We are creatures.
Right?
We are made from the dust of the ground,
as Genesis 2 somewhat poetically probably says.
Right?
So we are not, in that sense,
you know,
not created.
We certainly are.
But we occupy a special place
in creation as human beings.
Now, there's been a lot of discussion
about what God means by
let us make man
or make humankind in our image.
Right?
Any guesses as to what us means there?
Trinity.
It's the Trinity.
Right?
That's what we say as Christians.
We're like, of course, it's the Trinity.
Duh.
Like, we know that.
Yeah, right.
And that's probably the right answer.
Right?
You know,
some people have seen
let us make man
as a reference to
maybe it's sort of a majestic we,
you know,
like when the queen
always refers to herself as we,
or used to.
I guess it's a king now.
Does Charles refer to himself as we now?
I don't know.
Who knows?
Yeah.
You know,
maybe it's some kind of royal we,
but you don't see that a lot in scripture.
Maybe God's speaking to
the sort of hosts of heaven,
you know,
the angelic creation
and saying,
let us make man in our image.
But that's sort of funny
because humans aren't said
to be made in the image of angels
nor angels said to be made
in the image of God.
So it's this curious thing
that just hangs
in the first chapter of Genesis.
Let us.
There's some kind of
personal plurality within God
hinted at here
that only becomes unfolded
as we follow through
the rest of scripture.
And that same kind of hinting,
I think,
also picks up
when we think about image
and likeness.
What does it mean
when God says,
let us make man
in our image
and after our likeness?
Now,
throughout church history,
there have been many,
many ways
of kind of construing
what it means
to be made
in the image of God.
And I think actually
a lot of them,
most of them,
do shine some important light
on what this means.
But let's take a look.
Let's take a look
at the words themselves
and see if that might give us
some clues
as to what
scriptures mean.
So the first is image,
right?
Let us make man
in our image.
The idea here
of an image,
and if you look up
other passages
in the Old Testament
that speak of an image,
right,
a lot of them
aren't very positive.
What does the Bible
have to say
about making images?
Anybody?
It's a bad idea.
Don't make images
of things.
Well,
not of things.
Don't make images
of God,
right?
That's a really big no-no.
Don't make idols,
right?
But what did images do?
What did they function
as in the ancient world?
An image was something
that represented
something else,
right?
And I would say
representation
kind of in the
fullest sense.
So if someone
were to come in
the classroom
this morning
and say,
I'm here
as a representative
of,
you know,
I don't know,
well,
the kingdom
of the United Kingdom.
I'm here
as a representative
of the United Kingdom,
right?
A representative
of,
well,
we were picking
on Charles earlier,
King Charles,
right?
I'm here
as a representative,
right?
We would think,
oh,
he doesn't look
like Charles,
right?
It means something,
right?
It means that
he has a kind
of almost
delegated authority.
In the ancient world,
when kings
or rulers
would conquer
some new territory,
especially if it was
far flung from the capital,
what would they do?
Remember what Nebuchadnezzar
did in the heart
of Babylon?
What did he build?
A giant statue,
probably of himself,
right?
He built a giant
statue of himself
and what did he say?
Bow down to it
or you'd thrown
in the furnace,
right?
What did that statue
represent?
It represented his rule,
right?
And you see that
in the ancient world,
not just in the hearts
of their capitals,
but in the far flung
places of their empires,
kings would put up
images,
statues,
right?
And what did it represent?
It said,
this is somewhere
I rule,
right?
This is an extension
of my domain.
Humans
are made
in God's image.
The one true creator
and ruler,
we are made in his image
as representatives.
So there's a deep sense
of this full representation
in the sense of image.
But then God says,
after our likeness,
likeness.
And you know
what the word likeness
means in Hebrew?
It means likeness.
That's what it means.
It means something
that's similar
to something else.
Sometimes the Bible's
not all that difficult
to understand.
It's just similarity.
similarity.
You know,
you can look up
other passages
where Scripture
uses this word likeness
and it's,
you know,
images of stuff
that looks like
something else,
right?
So,
not only are human
beings
representatives,
representations
of God,
but we bear
a similarity
to God.
similarity.
And similarity,
you get the sense here,
right?
Because we already said
that the creation of humans
on the sixth day
carries this weight,
it carries this importance,
it carries this dignity.
So,
whereas the rest of creation,
right,
reflects God's glory
and we see something
of God
in every atom
and every leaf
and every sunset,
right?
There's something
about humans
that carry that similarity
to,
in some sense,
well,
I'm struggling
to find the right word.
We carry that similarity
to a degree
that nothing else
can or will.
That when God says,
this is how I want
to show myself
and represent myself
in creation,
I'm going to do it
through humans,
right?
Now,
in the history
of the church,
sometimes
there's been
a lot of freight
put into the difference
between these two words
that they talk about
very different things
that can be separated
and maybe some are lost
and some are gained
and fall in redemption,
maybe some means something
and some means others.
However,
I would put forward
that these words
actually aren't meant
to function
in super,
ultra distinct ways,
but they work together.
And in fact,
you'll see,
as we go through
some other passages,
hopefully if we have time
this morning,
you'll see that
these terms
start to be used
interchangeably.
Sometimes humans
are said to be made
in God's likeness,
sometimes they're made
in God's image,
but this whole complex,
this whole thing together
is intended,
right?
So,
whereas I've tried
to draw out
some distinction
between these two terms,
keep in mind
that they're really used
as sort of one thing,
that they're almost
used interchangeably.
And I think
that helps
as we think about
then kind of
what we mean
by this
or what this
starts to mean.
In the history,
again,
in the history
of Christian reflection
on these things,
different views
or different emphases
have come up,
right?
Now,
when you think
about God,
humans being made
in the likeness
of God
as being similar
to God,
what comes to mind
for you?
Yeah,
Peter.
The ability
to create.
Mm,
mm-hmm.
Yeah,
definitely.
We're creative
creatures,
right?
We have this
aesthetic sense,
right?
What else?
Any other similarities?
Tyler.
Relationships.
Yes.
Personhood.
Ooh,
that's a good one.
Did you say that,
Raul?
Yes.
Is that you?
Maybe like
rationality.
Oh,
yeah,
that was a biggie.
Lots of people
in the church
thought,
mm,
you know what
sets us apart
from the animals?
We can think.
Look at those
brute beasts,
right?
Reason.
Logic.
What else?
Existing capacity.
Yes,
language.
Yeah,
Richard.
So we shy away
from this one,
but I would
certainly add it,
and that's emotion.
Emotions?
Yeah,
absolutely.
Absolutely.
In preparing
for this morning,
I reread
Wayne Grudem's
chapter on
the image of God,
and he talks
about human emotion.
He says,
now look,
if you own a dog,
you know
that dogs
express emotion.
They're happy
when you come home.
They're sad
when you don't
feed them.
I thought,
yeah,
you know,
that's true.
But then he makes
this great point.
He says,
ah,
but think about
the complexity
of human emotion,
right?
And he says,
I could be sitting
at my son's baseball game
sad because they lost,
proud because of
how he played,
so joyful that he did
so as a good sport,
a little anxious
because we're going
to be late for dinner.
You know,
think about all the ways
in which humans
as emotional beings
reflect God
who is rich
in those passions,
right?
Now,
we can talk about
impassibility another time.
If that's me,
if talking about emotion
with respect to God
is making you nervous,
just put it in brackets.
We'll come back to it.
Yeah,
Beth.
Will.
Yeah,
we can decide things.
And to expand
on this one,
right,
we might say
that we have
responsibility
and we have
a sense of
ethics and morality,
right?
Oh,
my handwriting
is getting bad
down here.
So,
of course,
will,
you know,
we can,
we're inclined
and we choose things,
right?
We're not just
instinctive creatures,
right?
You know,
as much as I would love
to posit a will
on my golden retriever,
she is acting out
of instinct,
right?
You know,
not ours though,
not our golden retriever.
Everyone else's dog
though is.
But doesn't with this
come the sense
that we are
responsible creatures,
right?
We're held accountable
for our actions
and we do have a sense
of things that are
right and wrong,
right?
Not just things
that are
or are not
or that I like
and don't like,
but we have a sense
of ought,
this ought to be,
this ought not to be.
Yeah.
So are these
just shared attributes?
Between us and God,
Raul?
Is that what you're thinking?
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah,
really good question.
So,
when we talk about
our similarity to God,
our likeness to God,
right?
We're not saying
that humans are
omnipotent,
right?
Or omniscient.
Or omnipresent.
Or eternal.
Yeah,
even better.
Or,
or,
oh,
here's one I really
like a lot.
Do you know
what God's a saiyah is?
Means that God
has his being
of himself.
That he has,
he depends
on no one else
for being who he is.
Show me a human being
who is not radically
and utterly dependent
and so in need
of other things
to just subsist.
And yet God
is a very fullness
of being.
Needs nothing
and no one
to be exactly
who he is,
right?
There are all sorts
of ways in which
we are not like God
as creatures,
right?
And yet,
God,
in his wisdom,
in his kindness,
decides to reveal himself,
right?
And there are ways
in which we do,
by analogy,
by a dim reflection,
of course,
share
or participate
or shine forth
with attributes
of God,
right?
That,
as God is creative,
so we as his image bearers
are creative,
as God is a speaking God,
right?
So we have this amazing
capacity for language,
as God is deeply personal,
essentially so,
so we are persons,
right?
As God is deeply relational,
right?
As a triune God,
so we,
in bearing his image,
are relational,
et cetera,
et cetera.
Does that answer
your question,
Raul?
Yeah.
Richard?
So,
I would say,
just like representation
and similarity
are not so easily
disentangled from each other,
and they shouldn't be,
also,
authority
should not be
disentangled
from responsibility.
Yeah.
Those who feel
a deep responsibility
for this or that,
also,
have that sense
of authority
over that responsibility,
such that
if something
threatens to thwart
their responsibility,
their sense of authority
begins to exercise itself.
Yeah.
So I would add
responsibility
slash authority.
Yeah.
That's right.
And isn't it interesting
that as you say that,
right,
doesn't it immediately
begin to see how
these two concepts
touch into each other,
right?
That they're very connected.
God has all those
attributes,
but he exercises them
perfectly.
Correct.
Yeah,
that's right.
That's right.
He doesn't do jealousy
perfectly.
Yeah,
that's right.
Yeah,
that's right.
That's right.
Yeah.
We exercise these things.
I mean,
in the original creation,
right,
which we're looking at here
in Genesis 1,
we exercise these things
in a creaturely way,
in a finite way.
In a dependent way,
right?
And,
as God's representatives,
we ought to be functioning
in a creaturely dependent way,
right?
Yeah.
Kim.
Well,
the statement that
we don't,
we don't come into the world
having those qualities,
but having the potential for them
Yeah.
and growing into them.
Yeah.
But not necessarily growing into them
all at the same level.
Yeah,
that's right.
Yeah,
that's right.
Yeah,
that's right.
That's right.
Yeah,
yeah.
Yeah.
Or someone who is relationally challenged,
but have great skills in other of those.
Yeah,
that's right.
I think this brings us to another part of our passage.
I think that's a good transition,
Kim.
So,
we see here,
right,
let us make man our image after our likeness.
So,
we've talked about all these ways in which,
you know,
human beings have a similarity to God.
We sort of carry these things forth
in a unique and qualitatively different way
than the rest of creation,
right?
But then he says,
let them have dominion,
right?
So,
here we're into this language of representation
and we'll talk more about that next week,
right?
But then he says,
so God created man in his own image.
In the image of God,
he created him.
Male and female,
he created them,
right?
So,
right from the start,
what it means to be created in God's image
is to be fundamentally,
we've referenced this before,
to be fundamentally relational beings,
social beings,
right?
That,
to your point,
Kim,
we can't actually bear forth the image of God
in isolation from one another.
That we have to do this together.
And,
of course,
this wonderful statement in Genesis 127,
which would have been quite radical in the ancient world,
that men and women
are created in God's image,
equally,
without distinction,
right?
That they both bear God's image.
Now,
the scriptures will sort of,
as it unfolds,
talk about different roles,
different aspects
that male and female play
in the economy of redemption
and creation
and these kinds of things,
right?
But in their essence,
men and women
are created
in God's image.
Why don't they tell men that?
What's that?
Why don't they tell men that?
What do you mean,
Roel?
Since the beginning,
since when Adam said to God,
the woman that you...
Of course,
yeah.
Relationships have been...
Totally fractured.
Since then.
Yeah.
Men have to buck up.
They really are equal.
Yeah,
that's right.
That's right.
Yeah.
And you see,
even in this earliest passage,
right?
Even in this Genesis 1 passage,
don't you see
a kind of three-fold relationship
that humans have?
That bearing God's image
means something about
our relationship to God
and to other humans
and to creation,
right?
Let us make humans
in our image,
right?
There's that fundamental
relationship to God.
Male and female,
he created them,
right?
Have dominion
over the created order,
right?
So we see it there.
Okay.
Let's keep going
to look at another passage.
So,
isn't it a wonderful picture
of how the Bible starts?
We're human beings.
We bear this likeness to God.
We stand as his representatives.
We're meant to bear his image
in the world.
We're meant to be his vice regents
in creation,
not just reflecting him
in our,
oh,
I forgot one thing.
I'm going to come back to it.
Not just reflecting him
in our being,
in our attributes,
right?
But also in our role,
in our representation.
And in the biblical story,
how long does that last?
We don't know.
Well,
we don't know.
We don't know historical time,
right?
But in biblical time,
it's pretty quick,
right?
We get through one chapter,
chapter two.
Then in chapter three,
you know,
an undisclosed amount
of time passes,
and suddenly,
the fall happens,
right?
Human beings,
rather than functioning
as representatives of God,
decide to rest authority
for themselves
and rule in their own name,
right?
Now,
here's one of the big questions
that has sort of hung,
that I think hangs
over the biblical text,
right,
is what then of our status
as image bearers,
right?
What then happens,
right?
Is it lost?
Are we no longer
God's image bearers?
Is it completely destroyed
and effaced?
I mean,
God does say,
you'll return to the dust,
right?
What becomes of it?
But,
there's very good indication
that though the image of God
is in many senses
marred
or cracked
or disfigured
in us
as humans.
It is not lost.
So,
let's look at some
of the following passages.
So,
if you turn over
just a couple pages
to Genesis 5,
the fall happens,
Adam and Eve
are expelled
from the garden,
the incident
with Cain
and Abel
happens,
the great tragedy
of that,
Adam and Eve
have another son
named Seth,
and then this is
chapter 5,
verses 1 and 2.
So,
this is the book
of generations of Adam.
So,
that's like a literary marker
in the book of Genesis.
Like,
hey,
here's a new chapter
of the book.
Here's a new section
of this book.
This is Genesis 5.
This is the book
of the generations of Adam.
When God created man,
he made him
in the likeness of God.
So,
there you see
just reference to likeness there,
not to image and likeness.
So,
a good sign
that these terms
are just kind of
used interchangeably.
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.
When Adam had lived
130 years,
he fathered a son
in his own likeness
after his image
and named him Seth.
Okay,
so there's a reaffirmation
as this new
post-fall chapter
of Genesis opens
that,
yes,
these humans
were created
in my image.
So,
there's a reaffirmation
that they were created
in his image,
right?
No mention
of whether the fall
did or didn't
sort of erase
the image of God
in humans.
And then it says,
he fathered a son
in his own likeness
after his image
and named him Seth,
right?
Now,
this passage
is a little indeterminate,
isn't it?
Because some have read
this passage
and said,
ha,
look,
Adam was made
in God's image,
but whose image
was Seth made in?
Adam's bump,
bump,
bump.
See,
we lost it.
Well,
that's maybe
one way of reading it,
but another way
of reading it
as humans
endowed with reason
and logic,
right?
We can create
a simple syllogism,
can't we?
Now,
I was an English major.
I didn't study logic.
So,
if someone here
has a good training
in law and philosophy,
you can correct me
on this one,
but the syllogism
runs something like this,
doesn't it?
Adam was created
in God's image.
Seth was created
in Adam's image.
Therefore,
Seth is created
in God's image.
There's probably
a flaw in there somewhere,
but that's the idea,
right?
That this image
in which Adam
is created,
Seth is also
in that image,
that there's a sort
of organic unity
of bearing God's image
that goes down
into every generation
of humans.
Now,
which reading
is right?
Well,
I think if we go
to the next passage
where the image
of God comes up
in the book
of Genesis,
that becomes clear.
So,
this is Genesis
chapter 9.
Genesis 9,
verse 6.
So,
the fall happens,
Adam and Eve
are expelled
from the garden,
humanity continues
to be fruitful
and multiply,
but rather than
bearing God's image
and caring for
and tending the garden
and expanding
God's kingdom
throughout the earth,
what happens?
Wickedness abounds,
right?
Image bearers
now aren't using
their endowments
and their representational
capacities
to glorify God
for the good of creation
of one another.
They're using it
for their own selfish desires
and things are just
tumbling down.
So,
then the flood happens.
God judges the humanity
but preserves humanity
through Noah and the ark,
right?
Noah and his family
come out of the ark
and then
we read this
in Genesis 9,
and God blessed Noah
and his sons
and said to them,
be fruitful
and multiply
and fill the earth.
The fear of you
and the dread of you
shall be upon every beast
of the earth,
upon every bird of the heavens,
upon everything that creeps
on the ground
and all fish of the sea
into your hand
they are delivered.
Every moving thing
that lives on the earth
shall be food for you
and as I gave you green plants
I give you everything
but you shall not eat
the flesh with its life
that is with its blood
and for your life blood
I will require reckoning
from every beast
I will require it
and from man
for from his fellow man
I will require reckoning
for the life of man.
Okay, so God's sort of
reestablishing humanity
gives them that mandate
to be fruitful
and multiply
and fill the earth, right?
Now he's saying,
look, now you can eat animals, right?
Or at least he's sort of saying
go eat animals, right?
But then he says,
but there's a prohibition
against taking human life, right?
And this is verse 6.
Whoever sheds the blood of man
by man shall his blood be shed
for God made man
in his own image
and you be fruitful
and multiply
and increase greatly
on the earth
and multiply in it.
So what's the rationale
that God gives
in this prohibition
against taking
another human's life?
Based on verse 6.
God made man
in his own image.
God made man
in his own image.
That's right.
That because humans
are made in God's image,
no one has the right
to unlawfully
take their life.
That decrees God.
Exactly.
That's right.
So isn't that a good...
Now we did a whole class
on the sixth commandment
and not murdering
and things like that.
You can go listen
to that class
if you're interested
in how the rest
of the Bible
unpacks that.
But the point
I want to make here is,
right,
that humanity's status
as image bearers
remains
after the fall.
It becomes a ground
for our ethical thinking,
right,
and God's ethical
commands to us.
Yeah, Justin.
You could even
make the argument
that in the fall
we actually
unrightfully
made ourselves
more in God's image
than the human being.
Yeah, potentially.
Although,
I wouldn't want to run
that track too far,
right?
Because in rebellion,
the witness of Scripture
is that we actually,
that there's,
that actually
it's a loss,
right?
You'll see in the New Testament,
we may get to these
passages over time,
where,
you know,
as Paul looks back
and as the New Testament
writers look back
on the first creation,
it sees us as created
an original righteousness
and holiness.
There's a kind of,
not just a moral rightness,
but a relational rightness
to God,
right?
That's beautiful.
And it's something
that on the basis
of that original righteousness
and holiness,
we're meant to unfold it
and unpack it,
right?
And in rebelling
against God,
right,
which was the ultimate,
like,
what was happening
on the tree,
right,
was like,
God put a tree
in the middle
of the garden
and said,
this is the way
in which you can
respect and honor
my rights as creator,
right?
I decide what's right
and wrong as creator,
right?
So don't eat
from this one tree
as a sign,
right,
as a symbol
that you honor
my authority.
Then go eat
from every other tree
you want,
right?
Then humans took,
under the temptation
of the serpent,
right?
They take it.
And then what's lost
in that,
what's lost in that
is this original
righteousness and holiness,
like,
it mars everything.
We lose so much,
right?
It's actually,
it's actually
dehumanizing in a sense,
right?
Not unhumanizing,
but dehumanizing.
And because humans
are made in God's image,
right,
to become less human
in the way we were
created to be,
right,
is actually to become
less like God,
right?
So in that act
of rebellion,
right,
one might put it this way,
God always honors
God's own authority.
In humans not honoring
God's authority,
we become less like God.
That sounded very
John Piper-y,
didn't it?
God loves God's glory
to the greatest
most extent,
but I think it's true.
There seems to be,
yeah,
John.
There seems to be a sense,
and I believe,
that it was so,
where they had imagined
that in taking this
behind the serpent's lie,
that there would be
an enhancement.
Yeah,
that's right.
But when they did it,
it seems like you get a sense
that they realized
that something had cracked,
that they actually
were subject to a loss,
right?
Yeah.
That they had been had.
Yeah.
Yeah,
that's good,
John.
And I wonder if there's
some irony there
when the writer says
their eyes were opened
and they did know
good and evil.
That that wasn't seen
as an accomplishment,
but a great loss,
right?
That the serpent meant
you can know it
in the sense of
you can determine it,
right?
Like,
you can be the determiner
of right and wrong.
Why not use your status,
role,
and capacity
to be God?
And they took it
and ironically,
they then knew
good and evil,
but it wasn't
what they thought.
Yeah.
There's like a tension
in us
that it's been broken,
our image of God,
but then there's
the sensus divinitatis,
the sense of the divinity.
Yeah,
that's right.
So we want to go back
to that state.
Yeah,
that's right.
Yeah,
that's right.
Unless he does something.
That's right.
Yeah.
Hold that thought roll
because it's a great transition
to my next point
with the little time
we have left.
Yeah,
Tyler,
go ahead.
Just real quick,
I think we see God's grace
playing itself out
even in Genesis 9
because he could have
easily let the angel
once he's done
no further chances.
Right.
He's got promise
God's grace
is working himself out
in the evening
and restoring
what was lost.
Yeah.
You know,
God's been gracious
since the beginning.
Yeah,
yeah.
And isn't it wonderful too?
And you see this repeated
over and over again
in scripture.
So,
now one of the great questions
that hangs over scripture
at this point
from Noah
is like,
okay,
well,
what's going to become
of these image bearers?
Right?
Because you see
as scripture unfolds
that bearing God's image,
right,
it's not something
that we have
that we can lose.
It's something
that we are
as humans.
Right?
Do you see
the difference there?
It's not as if
when we say
that we're image bearers,
it's not like
I'm a book bearer
and it's like,
oh,
I lost it.
Right?
It's who we are.
We can't not be
created in God's image
if we are humans.
Right?
So,
the great question is
what's going to become
of God's image bearers
whom he loves so much
and for whom he exhibits
much patience?
And the history
of redemption
in the Old Testament
is really God working
to preserve,
redeem,
and restore
his image bearers
in the midst
of his creation
for the sake
of redeeming
his whole creation.
You know,
isn't it interesting
that when God
pulls,
when God calls Abraham,
right,
he blesses him,
right?
That sounds familiar.
Who was blessed?
Well,
Adam was blessed.
Noah was blessed.
Abraham was blessed.
And I'm going to multiply
you,
Abraham,
and your family.
Right?
When God calls Israel
out of Egypt,
right,
brings them to Sinai,
what does God call
his people at that point?
He says,
you're a kingdom
of priests,
right?
You represent me,
right?
I think there's echoes
of image language
in there,
right?
But of course,
when does all this
reach its climax?
Well,
you know,
it reaches its climax
in the pages
of the New Testament.
When the fullness
of time had come,
God sent forth his son,
born of woman,
born under the law,
to redeem those
who were under the law
so that we might
receive adoption
as sons.
And isn't it fascinating
that we,
that Jesus,
who's fully human
and fully God,
how is he described
in the New Testament?
Look at 2 Corinthians
with me,
4, 4.
So, Paul here
is talking about
the ministry
of the gospel
and he's saying
that for some,
their eyes are veiled
to the gospel.
And he says
in verse 4,
in their case,
the God of this world
has blinded the minds
of unbelievers
to keep them
from seeing
the light
of the gospel
of the glory
of Christ
who is
the image
of God.
That Christ
comes
in his full
humanity
and is
God's image
bearer
in the perfect
way.
We see the same
thing in Colossians 1.
If you turn over
to Colossians 1.
Colossians 1.15
says,
he is
the image
of the invisible God.
The firstborn
of all creation.
Now,
firstborn there
is language
that basically
doesn't mean
that he was like
the first creation,
right?
Firstborn was sort
of a title
or a status.
When you were
the firstborn
in a family,
you had rights
over all the stuff,
right?
Because you were
the firstborn.
That's what Paul
is saying there.
That Christ,
the crucified
and risen Christ
is the firstborn
of all creation,
right?
He has rights
over the whole thing.
He is the image
of God,
right?
So Jesus comes
in his redemptive
role,
perfectly bearing,
taking up our flesh,
right?
And perfectly bearing
that image.
Why?
Why does he do that?
To just show us
how far off,
how far we've
missed the mark,
right?
Stupid humans,
you know,
look at how it's
supposed to be done.
No,
right?
He does it for us
and for our salvation.
Turn over
just a little bit
in Colossians,
if you're still there,
to Colossians 3,
verse 10.
So talking about
believers now,
united to Christ
through faith,
right?
Covenanted,
you know,
in the new covenant
with Christ
through faith.
Paul says,
well,
in verse 9,
don't lie to one another,
seeing you've put off
the old self
with its practices
and have put on
the new self,
which is being renewed
in knowledge
after the image
of its creator.
Christ came to rescue us,
to redeem us,
and to renew in us
this image
that had been marred
through the fall,
not lost,
but certainly marred
and misdirected,
that through
the work of Christ,
through the Spirit's work
within us,
that image
is being renewed
over time
as we follow him.
I know I'm going
quickly here,
and it's just because
we're a little short
on time.
So,
we see that
in Christ,
this image
is being renewed
and redeemed.
It's not left
in its broken
and fractured state,
right?
Let's look at
one other passage
in Romans,
chapter 8.
Paul says this
in Romans 8, 28,
he says,
we know that
for those who love God,
all things work together
for their good,
for those who are called
according to his purpose.
For those whom he foreknew,
in the sense there
is sort of like
those he foreloved,
he also predestined,
that is,
he foreordained,
he set on a path
to be conformed
to the image
of his Son
in order that
we might be
the firstborn
among many,
in order that he might
be the firstborn
among many brothers.
You see?
Christ has come
bearing that image
perfectly,
and now we,
through God's sovereignty,
are being conformed
more and more
into that image.
And when will this work
be done?
When will our
imaging
be made complete?
Right?
Well,
it ought to be growing
more and more
in this life,
right?
we ought to be
experiencing
more and more
of God's
character,
righteousness,
holiness,
in our life,
in our relationships,
in our relationship
to him,
to others,
and to creation.
We should be taking up
this great call
to be his image bearers.
Again,
we'll talk more
about that next week.
Right?
But when does it reach
its completion?
When are we fully
and completely
and totally
restored?
That's right.
In the consummation
of all things.
So,
John says this
in the book
of 1 John.
1 John,
chapter 3,
verse 2.
It says,
Beloved,
we are
God's
children
now.
What a great
phrase,
right?
We are
God's
children
now.
And what we
will be
has not yet
appeared.
So,
we have this
beautiful thing
now.
We're becoming
more and more
who we are.
But yet,
there's an even
greater future
in store.
What we will be
has not yet
appeared,
but we know
that when he
appears,
that is Christ,
we shall be
like him
because we
shall see him
as he is.
that there's
going to be
a perfect,
in that
final beholding
of God
in Christ,
then we
will be
fully and
finally
transformed
into who
God had
created us
to be all
along.
And there's
this beautiful
picture in
Revelation.
If you go to
Revelation 22,
this is not a
passage that
mentions the
image specifically,
but I think
the theme is
there.
In Revelation
22,
verse 4,
talking about
the new
creation,
right?
Let's pick up
in verse 3,
no longer will
there be
anything accursed,
but the throne
of God and of
the Lamb will
be in it,
and his servants
will worship
him.
They will see
his face,
and his name
will be on
their foreheads.
Right?
Now that's
kind of weird,
you're like,
whoa,
there's like a
tattoo of
someone's name
on our forehead,
that's odd.
Symbolic language,
right?
The name,
right?
The name is
a nature,
right?
That God's
very nature,
that image
will be fully
expressed in
us, right?
Name will be
on their foreheads,
and night will
be no more.
They will need
no light of
lamp or sun,
for the Lord
God will be
their light,
and here's
the great part,
and they
will reign
forever
and ever.
Right?
They will
reign forever
and ever.
Wasn't that
what God
created humans
for in the
first place?
That we
would,
in his
likeness,
bear out
that reign
as his
vice regents
in creation,
and bring
all of
creation's
glory up
to God,
right?
Be like
conductors of
a great
symphony of
praise for
God,
reigning
and ruling
in his
stead,
in his
name,
in dependence
on him.
And God
says,
yes,
that will
be so.
I will
not abandon
my image
bearers or
my creation
to death
and decay,
but I
will bring
them where
I intend
them to
go.
So our
project now
as the
church is
to live
like that's
true,
to bear
his image,
to be
renewed as
we behold
Christ,
to become
more like
Christ,
and bear
his image
more fully
together in
community.
Right?
Now we
could do a
couple quick
things of
application.
That was a
bit of a
biblical
theology of
the image
there.
That was
most of
the passage.
There were
others,
but that
was most
of them.
But taking
a step
back,
think about
some
applications
of all
this.
I think
the first
thing to
think about
is that
if you think
about humans
being made
in God's
image,
I think
that should
fill us
with a
sense of
wonder
and dignity,
right?
And even
joy,
even a sense
of adventure,
right?
It's so
easy to
think,
like,
our lives
are so
humdrum,
like,
what are
they worth?
No.
Every human
being,
every human
being has
just unsurpassed
dignity and
significance in
the history of
redemption.
This is a
very famous
quote from
C.S.
Lewis,
but I like
it,
so I'm
going to
read it.
He says,
it's a
serious thing
to remember
that the
dullest and
most uninteresting
person you
talk to may
one day be a
creature which
if you saw
it now you
would be
strongly tempted
to worship
or else a
horror and
a corruption
such as you
now meet,
if at all,
only in a
nightmare.
So Lewis is
there talking
about our
ultimate destiny,
right?
Like,
where is he
taking us
as image
bearers?
Those who
are being
redeemed and
renewed will
be unsurpassing
in glory,
just wonderful
to behold.
He says,
all day long
we are in
some degree
helping each
other to one
or other
of these
destinations.
It's in the
light of these
overwhelming
possibilities and
it is with
all.
And the
circumspection
proper to
them that we
should conduct
all our
dealings with
one another,
all friendships,
all loves,
all play,
all politics.
It is
immortals
whom we joke
with,
work with,
marry,
snub,
and exploit
immortal
horrors or
everlasting
splendors.
So it's just
great weight
and dignity
of who we
are as human
beings.
And that has
ethical
ramifications,
right,
in how we
treat each
other.
We see that
in Scripture.
It's explicitly
tied to the
sixth commandment,
don't murder,
right?
James will
tie the
image of
God,
that's one
passage we
didn't look
at,
in how we
speak of
one another.
He says,
brothers,
how out of
the same
mouth can
come blessings
and cursings?
How at one
time can you
bless God
and yet curse
a human being
who's made in
God's image,
James says?
These things
cannot be so,
right?
How we,
even how we
speak about
one another
ought to have
a kind of
reverence and
circumspection,
given the fact
that we are
God's image
bearers.
Let me quote
another person,
this is Calvin
talking about
how we treat
one another
on the basis
of the image.
He says,
and this is
really good,
because I think
this is very
counterintuitive,
he says,
we're not to
consider that
men merit
of themselves,
sorry,
what,
we are not to
consider what
men merit
of themselves,
right?
Are you
deserving of
my attention,
of my times?
What Calvin
is saying
there?
We're not
to consider
what men
merit of
themselves,
but to
look upon
the image
of God
in all
men,
to which
we owe
all honor
and love.
Therefore,
whatever man
you meet
who needs
your aid,
you have no
reason to
refuse to
help him.
You say,
he's contemptible
and worthless,
but the Lord
shows him to
be one to
whom he
has deigned
to give
the beauty
of his
image.
Say that
he does
not deserve
even your
least effort
for his
sake.
That's what
you might
say,
he says.
But the
image of
God,
which recommends
him to
you,
is worthy
of your
giving yourself
and all
your possessions.
Okay,
Calvin was
a wonderful
writer.
You know,
he was
fiery and
spicy.
His language
was always
seasoned with
salt,
right?
So,
should we
go right
out and
just sell
all of our
wealth and
give it to
the next
person we
meet?
No,
that's not
what Calvin
means.
He's making
a point
though,
right?
We are
so often,
we so often
want to judge
people and
weigh people's
merits by their
ethical performance,
by their ethnicity,
by their ability,
by their gender,
by their age.
We're so good
at doing that,
right?
But Calvin's
saying,
no,
what you need
to see is that
God has deigned
to give his
image to all
humans,
and that's how
you should treat
them.
Right?
Is that how
he treated
Michael Cervidas?
That's a long
conversation,
but I would
say no,
because Calvin
was a human
being,
and he was
a sinner.
yeah.
So,
last thing
I'll say
is,
it's very
easy to
think about
a lot of
these things
we listed
here,
when it
comes to
our likeness
to God,
have been
more things
that we
might say
are things
of the
mind,
right?
Or things
of the
soul,
right?
But it's
very interesting
that if
the image
of God
isn't something
that we
have,
but something
that we
are,
does that
not also
mean
that in
our bodies
to
we
image
God,
that
God
has
created
us
with
bodies
to be
his
image
bearers.
So,
how we
treat
our
bodies
matters,
right?
That we
are
enfleshed
people,
right?
So,
let's
not think
about the
image of
God
just as
these sort
of,
you know,
soul or
mental
realities,
but all
of who
we are,
right?
And isn't
that what
you see
when Jesus
was here,
right?
He came
not just,
you know,
to reconcile
us to God,
although that
fundamentally,
but then in
reconciling us
to God,
reconciling us
to one
another,
and to
creation.
His works
of healing,
even his
nature
miracles,
right,
were signs
that he
had come
to redeem
and heal
creation
in a body,
right?
So,
we too,
as we
think about
being God's
image bearers,
let us not
forget our
material creatureliness,
and that that is
an important part
of it as well.
Okay,
we are so
out of time.
Let me pray,
and then I'll need
some help
arranging some
chairs,
and then if you
want to stick
around and ask
questions,
we can do
that.
Father in
heaven,
thank you so
much,
and we just
give you wonder
and praise
that you
and your
infinite kindness
and wisdom
have created
us humans
in your image.
Thank you
for Jesus
in whom
we see
the true
image of
God.
Father,
thank you
that in
Christ we
see what
it means
to really
be your
image bearers,
and above
all,
what we see
in him
is a life
of love.
So,
Lord,
help us
as your
image bearers
to be
imitators
of you
in love.
We pray
this in
Jesus'
name.
Amen.
All right,
friends,
have a good
week.
Have a good
week.
Have a good
week.
Have a good
week.
Have a good
week.