Our sermon text today is Genesis chapter 1 verses 26 through 31.
That's page number 1 in the Pew Bible.
If you're here and you're new to Christianity or if you're exploring spiritual things, this is a great time to be here at Trinity.
This fall we're walking through the opening pages of the Bible to learn who God is, who we are, and what story we find ourselves in.
And there's so much in these early chapters of Genesis that we're going to take a couple of weeks for each one just to make sure we don't miss the richness of what is here for us in God's word.
So we're back in Genesis 1 this morning, now focusing on verses 26 through 31.
So let me pray for us and then I'll read.
Let's pray.
Lord Jesus, indeed there's no one like you.
None greater in majesty, none greater in mercy.
We pray that by your spirit this morning we would be able to see more of you and more of who we are and who you've created us to be in your image.
We ask this in your name, Lord. Amen.
Amen.
Genesis 1 verse 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.
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 said to them,
And God said,
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,
And behold,
I've 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.
Flannery O'Connor,
the great southern fiction writer,
once said,
In the long run,
a people is known,
not by its statements or its statistics,
but by the stories it tells.
What story are you telling about you?
About us,
humans.
Or as the ancient Hebrew poet wrote in Psalm 8,
What is man?
Humanity.
That you are mindful of him.
Last week we saw that the beginning of the biblical story here in Genesis 1 starts with,
God.
And a God who's not some distant,
cold deity,
but a God who brings order from chaos,
and a God who fills the lifeless with life,
and a God who invites the weary in to rest.
But what about us humans?
Who are we?
Now I probably don't have to convince you
that this is an important question.
Most of us have asked at one point or another,
Who am I?
What am I here for?
For some of us,
it's a fleeting thought that we just sort of brush aside in our busyness.
For others,
it becomes a gnawing concern.
But how we answer that question
is sort of like the rudder of a ship
turning that seemingly small thing,
answering that seemingly small question,
vastly changes the direction,
the trajectory,
the outcome of a life.
So who are you?
What story are you telling?
There are lots of stories
on offer today.
On the one hand,
are you the result of nothing more than time,
and matter,
and energy,
and chance?
In other words,
are you basically the lucky accident
of a cold cosmos,
a collection of atoms that just sort of happened?
And one day,
will dissolve just as meaninglessly?
Or on the other end of the spectrum,
are you a divine spark
trapped in the material world?
Trying to get out,
maybe caught in a cycle of birth and rebirth?
Maybe some kind of spirituality
could get you unstuck
so that the real you
could get out of all this material,
dark stuff we call matter?
What story are you telling?
And you know,
the funny thing is,
both of those two ideas
that I just mentioned,
both of them are ancient
and modern at the same time.
On the one hand,
this materialism,
that we're just sort of matter and chance,
and on the other hand,
what we might call Gnosticism,
that we're sort of a spirit
stuck in this dark world,
they've both been around
for thousands of years,
and both in their own way
are still around today.
Don't think that one is new
and one is old.
But the reality is,
there's a better story to tell.
And one that actually makes better sense
of what we see and feel and know.
And it's found right here in Genesis 1.
The true story of what it means to be human.
So this morning,
I want to point to three things
that we see here
about who we are as human beings.
who you are.
So, first,
who are you?
You are the result
of the intention of God.
Look at verse 27.
Verse 27 reads,
Then God said,
Let us make man.
Now, the word man here
is a general term.
It carries the sense of all humanity.
So this passage is talking about
all humankind.
But here in verse 27,
something sort of unique happens.
Now, up to this point in the chapter,
God has just spoken
and it was, right?
The sky,
the seas,
the earth,
the stars,
the animals,
let there be,
God said,
and there was.
But here,
for the first time
in Genesis 1,
we hear God
deliberating,
as it were.
We're given a brief glimpse
into God's own
inner
eternal intention.
There's this pause
in the narrative
and we hear God say,
let us make humanity.
As if to drive home the point
that what God is about to do here
is done consciously
with deep design.
There is a rich,
personal purpose
of God unfolding here.
You are the deliberate
result
of the intention
of God.
But who is this us
that God speaks of?
Let us,
it says.
Who is us?
Now,
some have thought
that God is speaking here
to perhaps
the heavenly court
of angelic beings.
God is,
after all,
the creator
of all things seen
and unseen.
Perhaps God here,
presumably having already
created those heavenly beings,
at some point
is now addressing them.
Let us.
And yet,
the problem
with that view is,
as these verses
plainly show,
God doesn't create humanity
in the image of angels,
nor are the angels
created in the image of God.
No,
God creates humanity
in the image of God.
The us
and the our
of verse 26
refer to God alone.
So who is this God?
I like how Old Testament scholar
Derek Kidner explained it.
He said,
what we're dealing with here
in verse 26
with this us
and our
is a plural
of fullness.
In fact,
the Hebrew word for God
is also grammatically plural
as well
to express the fact
that God is,
well,
God.
There's a holy fullness
in God.
and you see this fullness
will be unfolded
and revealed
throughout the whole
of scripture
as God progressively
reveals more and more
of that fullness
of who he is to us.
Sort of like an acorn
that has all of the DNA
of a fully grown tree
so that DNA
packed into this us
and our
of Genesis 1 26
will grow
throughout scripture.
Or as a mountain range
sort of seen from afar
grows in detail
the closer and closer
you get.
So God's fullness
will become clearer
and clearer
until
in the dawning
of the New Testament
we get to see
the full picture.
And what we see
from the perspective
of the New Testament
in the whole Bible
is that God's fullness
is what we've come
to call the Trinity.
That the one God
eternally exists
in three persons,
Father,
Son,
and Holy Spirit.
Now,
did the human author
of Genesis 1
intend in his human mind
to communicate
the fully fledged
doctrine of the Trinity here?
Maybe not.
But standing where we stand
from the place
of the New Testament,
the tree fully grown,
the mountain up close
and personal,
it's not hard
to look back at Genesis
and see what the Holy Spirit
has inspired.
because what do we see
in Genesis 1?
There is God
and God's Spirit
and God's Word
all at work
in creation.
And this God says
in his fullness,
let us make humanity
in our image.
Friends, you see,
you are the result
of the deliberate intention
of the very triune God
we worship and praise.
And that means
that you are not
merely the accident
of time
and matter
and chance.
The triune God
has created you
with deep intention.
You are here
for a reason.
You have a place
in the divine story.
God,
the author
and director
of all things,
has not just put out
a casting call,
but God's actually
chosen you
for the part
that you are to play.
humanity.
But what is that part?
This brings us
to the second point
we see here
in Genesis 1.
You are not just
a result
of the divine intention.
Second,
you are a bearer
of God's image.
If verse 26
that we just
were talking about
is God's intention
for humanity,
then in verse 27
we see God's creation
of humanity.
Look at that verse again,
verse 27.
So God created man,
created humanity
in his own image.
In the image of God
he created him,
male and female
he created them.
Now,
you have to imagine
how these words
would have first sounded
to the people of Israel.
Living in the wilderness,
having spent
generations in slavery,
still homeless,
outside the promised land,
and here comes
this language
language
of God's image
to them.
Well, you see,
in the ancient world,
that's how kings
would have described
themselves.
The king
bore the image
of God.
He was the offspring
of the gods,
the son of the gods,
ruling on earth
in the stead
of the gods.
He alone
possessed
that kind
of dignity.
You know,
today it's not
that much different.
It's still
the rich
and the famous
and the powerful
that we think
have the real
dignity
and honor
and glory
and worth.
But that
is not
true.
Friends,
we have forgotten
who we are.
The world says
only the kings
are made in God's image,
but Genesis 1
says that
every man
and every woman
is the very image
of God,
possessing
unsurpassed
dignity
and worth
and value.
And just to drive
it home,
the end of verse 27
says,
male and female.
He created them
as if to say
this dignity
of bearing God's image
is not limited
to only one part
of humanity.
Male and female
equally
and fully
bear the image
of God.
This was
unheard of
in the ancient world.
could there be
anything
more revolutionary
and liberating
than that thought
all of us
created
in God's image?
All of us
possessing
a dignity
beyond imagination
and beyond
calculation.
Whether male
or female,
young or old,
rich or poor,
all races,
all nationalities,
all abilities,
all people
without exclusion,
all of us
bear God's image.
C.S. Lewis
ends his great sermon
The Weight of Glory
by saying,
you've never met
a mere mortal.
Humans are creatures,
yes.
We are not God,
but we are all
creatures made
in the image of God.
And this has deep
ethical implications.
This makes all
the difference
in how we live
and act
and treat one another.
Because all humans
are created
in God's image,
the church
says no
to racism,
to sexism,
to ageism,
to really any way
of thinking
that takes one
category of people
and says they're
not worthy
of value
and respect
and worth.
We reject that
outright.
And because all
humans are created
in God's image,
we celebrate
the dignity
and intrinsic
worth of all people,
even those the world
would deem poor
or useless
or inconvenient.
Isn't it funny
that today
we live in a time
when that idea
is loved
and celebrated.
We want to say
yes to that.
And here in the Bible
is the very ground
for being able
to say and do that.
how must that
have struck
those Israelites,
poor,
homeless,
knowing nothing
in their past
but slavery?
How does it strike you?
Friend,
regardless of how
your job
or your looks
or your ability
or your wealth
stacks up
to those around you,
you possess
something
that even
the angels
do not possess.
You bear
the very image
of God.
So lift
your head
high.
You have
a dignity
that nothing
in this world
can give
and nothing
can take away.
As evidence
of that dignity,
look again
at verse 27.
Do you notice
something odd
about that verse
in the rest
of chapter 1?
It's written
in poetry.
Now it doesn't
rhyme.
Hebrew poetry
didn't rhyme
but it was about
rhythm
and repetition.
So our English
translations rightly
set it off
in verse.
The first poem
of the whole Bible,
what does it
celebrate?
The creation
of humanity
in God's image.
church.
Something so
beautiful
is happening
here
that it can
only be expressed
in art,
in verse,
in poetry.
God is singing
over his people.
And near the end
of the Old Testament
we find the same
thing.
The little prophetic
book of Zephaniah
chapter 3
verse 17
says,
God will rejoice
over you
with gladness.
He will quiet
you by his love.
He will exalt
over you
with loud singing.
You are a bearer
of God's own image.
You have a dignity
that nothing
can take away.
Now there's been
a lot of theological
discussion over
what exactly
this image of God
refers to.
Is it referring
to the way
in which we
resemble God
or does it refer
to the way
in which we
as humans
represent God?
In other words,
as bearers
of God's image,
do we resemble
God in some way
that the rest
of creation
does not?
Maybe our capacity
for reason
or morality
or maybe our capacity
for beauty
and art
or for language
or for love
and relationships?
And historically,
the church
has actually pointed
to all these ways
in which we
resemble God
because you see
the family traits
of the triune God
are all over us
humans.
God is,
after all,
perfect in knowledge
and goodness
and beauty
and love
and we,
his image bearers,
reflect this
in a creaturely way.
Yes,
we're not God
but we reflect this
in a unique way
amidst all creation.
We bear God's image
and likeness.
But the other way
of seeing the image
of God
is that it refers
to the way
in which we
not just resemble God
but the way
we represent God.
That is,
the way
in which we
as humans
are God's
representatives
amidst creation.
You see,
when an ancient king
would conquer a city,
often he erected
an image of himself
in the middle of town.
Put a statue there
that looked just like him
as if to say,
this is now part
of my kingdom.
The image represented
the rule of the king.
But when God
created the world
and wanted to
inaugurate his kingdom
in the midst of creation,
he didn't make a statue
or a graven image.
He made humans.
Humanity would represent
God's loving rule.
Male and female
would take up the office,
the role
of image bearers.
That means we are
the envoys,
the stewards,
the vice regents
of the king
ruling on his behalf.
And that brings us
to our third point.
Who are you?
You are the result
of God's intention.
You are the bearer
of God's image.
But third,
you are the recipient
of God's commission.
In verse 28,
God blesses humanity
and then God
gives them this command.
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 everything
that moves on the earth.
You see,
God created us
not just
with immeasurable dignity,
that is in his image,
but also with a thrilling
responsibility.
Subdue
and have dominion,
God says.
Go forth
into this creation
and create
and steward
and enjoy
and make something
of it
for my sake.
Use all the dignity
and the gifts
I've given you
and make creation
sing my praise.
I have sung
over you.
Now you unleash
this creation
that I've made
and make it sing
for me.
I'm extending
my kingdom
through you.
Subdue
and have dominion.
Those words
are rich,
are they not?
With authority.
In fact,
when you study
the use of those words
throughout the rest
of the Bible,
they are words
used of kings.
It is a royal office
God has placed us in.
But how are we
to use this authority?
Well,
I think it's pretty clear
from Genesis 1
as his image bearers,
we are meant to carry out
this commission
in a way
that God would.
And as we look
at Genesis 1,
how does God
exercise his authority
over creation?
Well,
it's in a way
that brings life
and flourishing
and even joy.
The commission here
in Genesis 1.28
is not a license
to use
and abuse creation
for our own
selfish purposes.
No,
it's a calling
to steward
the created order
on behalf
of the one true king,
the living God.
We have to care
for creation
because it's not
our own,
it's his.
if I were going
away on a trip
for a month or two
and I asked you
to house sit for me,
what would I do?
Well,
I would hand you
the keys to the home
and probably give you
some instructions
on how to care for things
and feed the fish
and then I would give you
functional authority
over the house.
You would have
the responsibility
and the privilege
of living there
and making the decisions.
But how would you
approach this job?
would your next step
be to call
the local construction guy
and say,
hey,
there's a lot
of free materials
over here,
you can come scrap them,
tear them down
and just give me the money,
just forward it
right into my account.
No,
ultimately the house
isn't your own,
you'd probably take
extra good care of it
knowing that I was
going to return.
And that is meant
to be our approach
to this world
that God's made
and placed us in,
to care for it,
to steward it
and yes,
to have authority
and responsibility
for it,
knowing that it belongs
to God
to bring out
its best
for our king.
So what do you make
of God's commission here?
Oftentimes our lives
feel like a series
of disconnected
and ultimately
insignificant events,
don't they?
Many of us,
if we're honest
or bored
or frustrated
with our everyday lives
and we long
for a deeper meaning
to what we do.
Alan DeBotten,
the British essayist,
published a book
a few years ago
called
The Pleasures
and Sorrows of Work.
It's actually
a very beautifully
written book
and at the end
of that book
he steps back
and asks the question,
what is our work
really for?
And DeBotten
is actually
a very thoughtful
unbeliever
and he's quite honest
at that point.
He says,
you know that
at the end of the day
the importance
of work
isn't
its enduring value,
he says.
Because for him
time will eventually
wipe everything away.
No, he says,
perhaps in the end
the enduring value
of work
is in its capacity
to distract us
from the inevitable.
Let death find us,
he says,
as we are building up
our matchstick
protests
against its waves.
Is that all
we can say
about our future,
our labors
as humans?
Building up
matchstick
protests
against the waves
of oblivion.
But Genesis
gives us
a much
different story
and one
that makes
much more sense
of our desire
for significance.
Our work
is part
of God's
commission
to cultivate
creation
for his
eternal glory.
Each of us,
whether we
want to think
it or not,
is a culture
shaper
for the king
in our homes,
in our offices,
in our neighborhoods
here at church.
And the work
that matters
to God
isn't just
what we might
call spiritual
work or church
work.
No.
Engineers,
craftsmen,
teachers,
artists,
manufacturers,
managers,
builders,
cleaners,
all of this
is the unfolding
of God's
commission to care
and cultivate
his world.
So friend,
take up your work
with purpose
for if it's done
for God,
it's no mere
matchstick
on the shore.
it's a monument
to the living
eternal God,
a shaping
and stewarding
of his
world.
But here we have
to pause,
don't we,
and take stock.
If we're honest,
this commission,
this responsibility
we have
as humans
made in God's image,
we haven't always
carried it out
the way we should,
have we?
Genesis 1
is the beginning
of the story
and how have we
lived out
this dignity
and responsibility
we've been given?
Too often,
we've not treated
one another
as bearers
of God's image
and too often,
we've labored
for our own sake
and not for God's sake.
We've used creation,
not cared for it.
God created us
to rule under him
but instead,
we've rebelled
and we've lived
our own way
with no reference
to God
in God's world
and the result
isn't joy
and flourishing,
it's decay
and death
and loneliness.
Dignity lost,
authority squandered.
And so,
is that the end
of the story?
Humanity begins
with great expectations
but we end
in ruin
and decay.
What starts
with a bang
ends with a whimper
as T.S. Eliot
once wrote.
Is there any hope
for us?
Can we begin again
maybe,
go back to the start?
But as we look
over human history,
has there been
anyone
able to live
like this?
The way Genesis 1
says we were created
to live.
Amidst all the wreckage
and ruin,
maybe if there was one
there could be hope
for us
but where do we find
such a one?
But friends,
the good news
of the Bible
is that there is.
There is one
who came
and bore the image
of God perfectly.
Who used all
his authority
to bring life
and to heal creation
and to fulfill
the commission
of God.
At long last,
a true human.
Who is this one?
And,
could it be
that if we were
somehow
connected to him
or united to him
or somehow
invited into his presence
maybe we too
could be healed
and repaired
and maybe even
forgiven
and maybe put right.
Maybe somehow
this image of God
in us could be repaired.
But what would that take?
What would this
truly human one
have to do
to rescue us
and lift us up
with him?
That is the story
of the New Testament.
God the Son,
the second person
of the Trinity,
took our full humanity
into himself
and he bore
the image
of God
perfectly.
Jesus lived
a perfect life
of dignity
and life-giving
authority.
But after three years
of public ministry,
he would go
to his death
and Pilate,
the Roman governor,
would declare
at Jesus' trial,
what would he say?
Behold
the man.
Were truer words
ever spoken
because indeed,
Jesus was the true human.
Behold
the man.
And yet,
at that moment
when Pilate
uttered those words,
Jesus had actually
been stripped
of his dignity
and his authority.
So that our dignity
could be restored,
Jesus was losing his
and then hung naked
on a cross.
And so that our authority
could be repaired,
behold the man,
he was made powerless
and died.
But on the third day,
Jesus,
having laid down
his dignity
and having laid down
his authority,
took it up again.
Jesus,
fully God
and fully human,
rose from the grave
and rising,
he began
a new creation
so that those
united to him,
connected to him
through faith
by the Holy Spirit
would receive
forgiveness of sins
and would be
renewed in the image
of God.
And Jesus ascended
to the right hand
of the Father
so that united
to him through faith
we might be restored
in God's commission
to care
and steward
for God's creation
once again,
now under the leadership
of a good king.
So friends,
what story
are you telling?
The invitation
to us this morning
is to unite
our story
to the story
of Jesus
and through
living faith
in him,
our risen king,
our true lord,
the living,
true human,
we can be restored
to the dignity
and authority
that God created us
to have
in the very beginning.
And that gift
of grace
through Jesus Christ
will know
no end.
The end
of the story.
The Bible
ends with heaven
and earth
being united
at last.
those in Christ
seeing God
face to face
and Revelation 25
says and they
will reign
forever
and ever.
What began
in creation
and was lost
in Adam
has been
regained
in Christ
and has offered
to us now
to live out
in this age
and on
into the age
to come.
So you see now
what it means
to be the church?
Here,
now,
in New Haven?
it means
through Christ
to bear
God's image
to show
the world
together
what it means
to be truly
human,
to be a sign
of what's in store
and then
to invite
everyone
to join in
because it's
on the basis
not of
what we do
but on what
Jesus
has done.
The image
of God.
Let's pray.
Father,
we pray
this morning
that you
would help
the things
that you
have been
teaching us
in your word
here in Genesis 1
to sink down.
Lord,
many of us
here this
morning
do not
feel dignified.
God,
if we're honest,
we feel ashamed
and embarrassed.
Help to fix
our eyes
on Jesus
who for us
and for our
salvation
out of love
came and bore
all the shame
for us
so that we
might be
renewed.
Father,
many of us
are feeling
powerless
and stuck,
feeling like
our day-to-day
is just a dead
end.
But Lord
Jesus,
if you reign
on your throne
as you do
and if we
are your people,
your body
on earth,
then surely
none of our
labor is in vain.
God,
I pray
that you
would help
us as a
church
and as
Christians
to catch
a fresh
vision
for how
you're
using
our
lives,
even in
the mundane,
to make
much of
you.
And Father,
I know
there are
some here
this morning
who,
Lord,
aren't quite
sure what
to make
of all
this.
God,
I pray
that you
would give
them the
courage
to ask
for clarity,
to ask
for the
opening of
their hearts,
that God,
if you are
real,
and if it
is true,
you've made
us in your
image,
and if it
is true
that Jesus
has come
to heal
that image
and to
make us
new,
Lord,
I pray
that they
would have
the courage
to ask
you to
reveal that
to them.
And then
I pray
that you
would give
them the
courage
and the
desire
to step
into it
by your
spirit.
Lord,
we ask
all this
in the
name of
Christ.
Amen.
Well,
the song
that we're
going to
close with
this morning
is Jesus
Shall
Reign.
This is a
song about
Christ being
the true
king and
how his
kingdom will
spread throughout
the whole
world and
how we,
his followers,
get to be a
part of that
work and
get to share
in that joy.
So let's
stand and let's
sing this
together in
response.
so let's