Perhaps you could turn with me now to the book of Genesis.
If you're using a church Bible, it's on page 3.
! We're going to be asking the question this morning,
what does it mean to be made in God's image?
And that takes us to the second part of day 6.
So Genesis chapter 1 and at verse 26,
Then God said,
Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,
so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky,
over the livestock and all the wild animals,
and over all the creatures that move along the ground.
So God created mankind in his own image.
In the image of God he created them.
Male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them,
Be fruitful and increase in number.
Fill the earth and subdue it.
Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky
and over every living creature that moves on the ground.
Then God said,
I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth
and every tree that has fruit with seed in it.
They will be yours for food.
And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky
and all the creatures that move along the ground,
everything that has the breath of life in it,
I give every green plant for food.
And it was so.
God saw all that he had made,
and it was very good.
And there was evening,
and there was morning,
the sixth day.
Amen.
This is God's word.
And this takes us to some of the most fundamental teaching
that we're going to find anywhere on what it means to be human.
It touches so many of our biggest questions about life and humanity.
What does it mean to be a human?
Are we, as a lamppost recently told me,
just all sawdust?
It was life random, meaningless,
and that's our best future.
Are we just naked apes,
which some of us grew up hearing?
We have evolved to survive and thrive,
but we're just one among many of the creatures.
Or it's what God says wonderfully true.
Are we image bearers with profound glory and worth
because of that?
What defines our identity as people?
How would you answer that?
It's become something of a modern battleground.
When we think of all the questions
down at the street level,
but also that make their way up
into sort of government legislation,
are we defined by gender and sexuality?
Think about all the tensions around race and ethnicity.
Even questions of,
am I truly human when I have value to society only,
or is there something more?
And over all the confusion,
above all the competing voices,
we come to a text like this.
We come to Genesis 1,
and it gets to the heart of things
because this is God speaking to us.
And he says to each one of us,
you are made by God,
and you are made for God.
As we think about the implications of this,
we understand every person born and unborn
is a little miracle of God,
and that every life truly should matter.
And today, I think in every day,
every generation,
but in this day,
we certainly need to hear the Bible's clear teaching
on the nature and the value of human life.
And so as we come to Genesis 1,
so we're kind of jumping into the second part of day 6,
and the message is remarkable.
If this is something that's new to you,
it might even seem shocking.
If we were to ask God himself,
what is the highlight?
What's the greatest thing in this universe
that you have created?
What's the center of your masterpiece?
God wouldn't point us to the galaxies.
He wouldn't point us to the mountains.
He wouldn't direct our attention to the great beasts.
He would say, you and I,
we are the crown and the pinnacle of God's creation.
And Genesis 1,
and the way the days work themselves out,
is intended to show us just that.
Days 1 to 6 reveal that we have a God,
and he is eternal,
and he is good,
and he makes with order,
and he makes with beauty.
And do you know what else we know?
We know that he makes the world just right
for you and I to live in.
Here is this wonderful environment
for us to live and love and work,
and to enjoy and to worship our God.
And we're clued into the fact
that there is something special and significant
in this second half of day 6
with a series of firsts.
So right into our text,
verse 26,
then God said,
let us make mankind.
This is the first time we discover
that God deliberates.
There is a decision within the Godhead.
This becomes,
as we get to our New Testament,
an early clue that our God is Trinity,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Another clue that there is something remarkable
going on in verse 28,
God blessed them and said to them,
this is the first time God speaks
to something else that is living
and establishes relationship with them.
And then it's only
once male and female have been created
that God can look at all he has made,
verse 31,
and declare it to be very good.
Now that there are people
who display his image in the world,
now that the masterpiece of creation
is complete,
the artist can stand back
with the deepest sense of joy
and satisfaction.
It's a remarkable text.
Our topic is vital.
We're only going to be able
to scratch the surface,
but what we're going to do
is we're going to think about
what does it mean
to be made in the image of God?
And then really importantly,
to begin to think about
why does it matter?
So three ideas to do with
what does it mean
to be made in the image of God?
The first is this,
we are made to represent God.
Just to hear,
let's hear verse 27 again.
So God created mankind
in his own image
and the image of God he created,
the male and female he created them.
Why use the language of image?
So let's just think really basically,
of the truth,
images are created
to image someone.
Okay, we live in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh is a city full of statues.
You know, you can think of John Knox
or you can think of David Hume
or you can even think of Greyfriars Bobby.
And all of those images
are created to make us think
of the person or indeed the dog
and their qualities.
Genesis 1 is saying
that God has now created
eight billion living statues.
Each one of us designed
to display his glory
so that as we look on one another,
we are thinking
or we are to think of God
and his glory and his rule.
That gets us to the idea
behind image and likeness
that the folks that first wrote
and then heard Genesis 1
were familiar with.
They lived in a day
when kings ruled over vast regions
and what that king would do,
he would set up a number of icons
or statues in his empire
as a way to say,
I am the king
and don't you forget it,
you owe me honour and loyalty.
Back in 1979,
the statue that's up on the screen
was discovered by a farmer in Syria.
It's the Tel Fekiria statue
and what's interesting,
so it's a statue of an Assyrian king
and what's interesting
is that the inscription on the back
in both Assyrian and Aramaic
contains the word for image and likeness.
So this is a familiar idea.
Back in Egypt,
so God's people Israel,
they had been slaves
and in Egypt,
they were used to hearing Pharaoh
talk about himself
as the image of God.
And so when Genesis comes to be written,
it takes this idea
and it makes it true and living
and applies it to God as the king
and us being made in his image.
And that means that you and I,
we are those who are made
to represent God in his world.
It's there in verse 28,
be fruitful, increase in number,
fill the earth, subdue it, rule over.
It's the purpose of that language
of be fruitful and multiply
so that the glory of God
would spread and fill the earth
as his image bearers
would spread and fill the earth.
This language is saying to us
that by God's design,
every single person,
not just a king,
not just the elite,
but every person
would have this royal role
and dignity upon them.
Psalm 8,
humanity is crowned
with glory and with honor
because we are appointed
to represent God
in his world,
to reflect something
of his glory
in this world.
And it's wonderful
that we don't need to
create our own identity.
As we read God's word,
we discover
we have a wonderful
God-given purpose.
each and every day
of our lives
to live for him
and for his glory.
So we're made,
first of all,
to represent God.
Secondly,
we are made for
relationship with God.
So in English,
we have a couple of expressions
that remind us of this.
We say of someone,
you're the spitting image
of your father
or your mother.
Or we talk about someone
being a chip
off the old block.
And so we take
family language,
we take relationship language,
and we say there is image
and likeness there.
And so Genesis 1,
again,
is revealing to us
that in a general sense,
every person
is a child of God
by nature of being
created by God.
Now,
we still need to be saved
through faith in Jesus
to become children of God
through faith,
but all of us
are made,
our original design
is that we would know
and enjoy relationship
with God.
That's one of the greatest
privileges of our life
to discover that.
What kind of relationship
are we invited into?
Well,
first of all,
it's a personal relationship.
So remember back
in verse 26,
there's that,
there's the moment
where God deliberates
and he says,
let us make mankind.
Here is the personal God
creating people
in his image
for personal relationship.
We are created
in a unique way
for a unique relationship.
Just to remind ourselves
that that says to us,
God isn't a distant God.
God isn't unconcerned with us.
We're not just here
randomly and by chance.
We have this,
we're made for a personal
relationship with God.
Secondly,
we're made for a covenant
relationship with God.
I don't know if you noticed
that covenant language
is right here
in verse 28
because we're told
God blessed them.
That's covenant language.
God blessed
Adam and Eve,
the first people.
Humanity was designed
by God to flourish,
to enjoy representing God
on the earth
and to enjoy life
with God.
We weren't made
as slaves.
Life under God
is not drudgery.
This is the way
to freedom
and joy
in life
to know
our God.
And the creation story
does this for us.
It reveals,
and we'll see this
in future weeks,
that we are made
for relationships.
We're made for relationships
with other people.
Did you notice
it's as the community
of male and female
that we image God?
Marriage,
family,
friendship,
community,
church,
society,
these are all
God's good idea.
We're made for relationship
with the created world.
We hear the instructions
to rule over,
to subdue.
There is agriculture here.
There's care for creation.
There's a relationship
that we're supposed to have
with the created world,
and we'll think about that.
But fundamentally,
you and I are made
for relationship
with our creator God.
So that we are most
truly human
when these relationships
are right,
and especially
as our relationship
with God is right.
And we will see
that when people break
that relationship
with God,
everything else
begins to fall apart.
That sin,
as it comes into the world,
has a fracturing effect
on relationships.
So we are made
to represent God.
We're made for relationship
with God.
And thirdly,
as we think about
Genesis 1,
what does it mean
to be made in the image
of God?
It means we are made
to live a righteous life.
And here we need to think
just for a moment
about the role
of an ambassador
or an embassy.
I know some of you
have to visit embassies
for visas and passports
and such things.
But you think about
an ambassador or a visa
or an embassy,
what are they doing?
On the one hand,
they speak
and they represent
a particular nation,
a prime minister,
a president.
They are to represent
their values.
It becomes,
in a sense,
also a little colony
of home
in a foreign country.
And what Genesis 1
is saying to us
is that as image bearers,
God created us
to live like Him
and to rule like Him,
to display His values
on the earth,
to make a paradise
on the earth.
God creates Eden
as paradise,
as we'll see.
And the intention was
that as people lived
under God's rule,
that paradise would spread,
that the glory
would fill the earth,
that it needs us
to live a righteous
kind of a life.
So God gives the direction.
You rule,
you fill,
you subdue.
God's in charge.
And when life is going well,
people respond
gladly and obediently.
And it's in that context
that creation
is described
as very good.
And the condition
of the first man
and the first woman,
Adam and Eve,
was also very good.
They were created
without sin.
They were originally
holy and righteous.
And they were created then
to do God's work
in God's ways.
not to abuse
one another
or the environment,
not to exploit
or to destroy,
but to live
in the world
in such a way
to reflect the care,
the goodness,
the just rightness
of God
as creator.
It's the natural question
at this point
becomes,
why is the world
so messed up
and broken?
Why is there so much damage
to the environment?
Why is there so much damage
done to other image bearers?
And we need to understand
that that is not the way
God designed us
to be as image bearers.
To go back
to the analogy
of a statue,
if we are statues
representing God's image
and glory,
then that statue
has become cracked.
There are pieces missing
and the paint
is fading.
Rico Tice memorably
describes people
as both the glory
and the garbage
of the universe.
Capacity for beauty
and destruction
almost at the same time.
So for us
it becomes really important
if we are to truly
understand
what it means
to be made
in the image of God,
there is a point
where we need to understand
that we are not
the way we are supposed to be
and we need to find
where can a perfect image
be found?
And to recognize
that God in his kindness
has given us one.
There is one
who has lived
in this life
and he has perfectly
imaged God to us
and his name
is Jesus,
the Son of God.
That's why Emily
read for us
from Hebrews chapter 1
verse 3,
Jesus,
the Son of God,
he is the radiance
of God's glory
and the perfect
representation
of his being.
Jesus is the perfect
image bearer.
And the story
of the Bible
in one hand
becomes a story
of God's great
restoration
and renewal process.
That Jesus comes,
the perfect image bearer
and he comes
to live the perfect life
that we don't
and to die
in our place
for our sins
and to give us
forgiveness
and new life
so that we might
be restored
and renewed
and reshaped
into his perfect image.
Colossians 3 verse 10.
That process is ongoing,
won't be complete
until final glory.
But by faith,
when we trust in Jesus,
we are being restored
and one day
we will be perfectly
restored
to God's original
and good design.
So that's something
of what it means
to be made
in the image of God.
But we need to ask ourselves
a really important question.
Why does it matter?
So what?
What's so significant
about Genesis 1?
Let's think about it
for a moment
personally.
Take this as a chance
to kind of pull back
and get the big picture
of who we are,
to get a God's eye view
on your life,
your purpose
and your destiny.
Because it's here
in Genesis 1.
We'll also take
a few minutes to think
what does this say
to us culturally?
How does Genesis 1
help us to think
about the various isms
that we have
within society?
What impact
does it have
on value of life questions,
on environmental concerns?
And we can use this text
to help us to think
about our mission
as the church as well.
As we bring
the good news
of Jesus to people,
how much can these themes
help us?
So again,
there's loads that we could say,
but we're going to talk
about design.
We're going to talk
about dignity.
We're going to talk
about direction.
And we're going to talk
about destiny.
So let's think,
first of all,
about design.
So like the rest
of creation,
we discover in Genesis 1
that as human beings,
we are designed
with goodness,
with order,
and with beauty.
we discover
that God has made us
and he has made
our physical bodies.
God has given us
our biology.
God has given us
our gender.
Psalm 139,
God knits us together.
We are fearfully
and wonderfully made.
And we discover
at root,
you are designed
by God
and you are dear
to God.
not a product
of chance,
not haphazard.
And that has
some really important
implications
for some of the
big questions
that are going around
in our day.
Perhaps we think
about the issue
of transgenderism.
And we recognize
biblically
that it is wrong
to say that we are
free to destroy
or to remake
our bodies
based on our own
personal desires.
And we discover
this essential
basic truth
that sex and gender
belong together
by God's good design.
One of the ways
that we can love
people well
is to speak
the truth in love.
If you have any
people who are
wrestling with those
and you want to
talk about that,
do come and speak
to me afterwards.
But it reminds us
that at base
our physical bodies
matter to God,
therefore they should
matter to us.
They are given to us
as a gift
and so we should
care for our bodies.
You know,
sleep,
exercise,
diet,
those are all
good things
for us to think
about.
It's important
for us to recognize
that we have
been created
with that sexual
differentiation
of male and female
in part to speak
to the wonder
of our God,
unity and diversity.
We've been created
the way that we have
to allow for
the be fruitful
and multiply
to take place.
So we have been
made by God's
good design
and we should
give thanks
and we should
protect that
reality.
Related to that,
secondly,
to be made in the
image of God
is to give us
fundamental dignity.
I think that's one
of the radical
teachings of Genesis 1
and this is,
so remember,
so the people
had been slaves
for over 400 years.
Their families
had been slaves.
No value,
no dignity.
Only the king
really counted
and here is God
speaking into that
and saying,
listen,
every single life
matters.
Every single
one of us,
every single person
on our planet
is made in God's
image,
carefully fashioned.
Everyone has value
and dignity
to borrow
from C.S. Lewis.
You will never,
ever look at
a mere mortal.
And I think
most people
in our society
recognize this,
but here's something
that's really
important.
That people,
according to God,
are made in His
image is the
only solid
foundation
for saying
that those
isms are wrong,
that we react
against.
Racism,
sexism,
tribalism.
We can only say
those are
objectively wrong
if we accept
that God
has made us
and God
says that
everybody
matters.
If it's just
what society
thinks,
on any given
day or generation,
we find ourselves
on profoundly
shaky ground.
Think about
what happened
in Germany
in the 1930s
and 40s.
Why can we
say
that the
Nazi movement
was evil?
Why can we
say that it
was profoundly
evil to
destroy
Jews
and gypsies
and people
with disabilities?
it's because
of this
objective
truth from
God
that we
are made
in the
image of
God.
Why can we
say that
abortion is
wrong,
that assisted
dying is
wrong?
Because we
have this
objective
truth that
comes from
God Himself
that says,
I create
life and
every person
is an image
bearer and
life has
worth that
must be
protected.
Think about
the storyline
of the
Bible.
We have
the eternal
Son of
God
becoming
an embryo
in the
womb of
Mary.
There's the
value of
human life,
that God
became one
of us
in order
to save
us.
Another way
being made
in the image
of God
matters is
to do
with
direction.
How are
we supposed
to live
in this
world?
How are
we to
handle our
responsibility
of caring
for this
world?
And again,
Genesis 1
sets some
principles to
give us
direction.
And it
takes time
and care to
think about
how we work
out these
principles,
but we
remember that
principle that
we are to
care for the
world like
God.
We are not
masters here,
we are not
the kings and
queens,
God is the
true king and
we serve
under him.
And we
are called
as people
to practice
good stewardship.
So that
requires care
and attention
over a whole
range of
ethical choices.
And I think
again it's
really good
that we're
much more
aware now
than perhaps
we used
to be
of some
of those
ethical
choices.
You know,
how we
shop,
how we
eat,
how we
spend,
how we
save.
They impact
our environment,
the impact
on the lives
of others.
So we
need to
give
attention.
Recycling,
reducing waste,
concern for
habitat loss.
Those are
things that
should concern
us as
Christians.
And it
should concern
us too to
think of
the social
impact of
how we live
in the world
day to day.
What do my
choices,
big and
small,
mean for the
welfare of
other people
made in the
image of God?
How do
my actions
and my
choices
help to
care for
the poor,
the weak,
the vulnerable,
who are
also made
in the
image of
God?
So we're
to care for
the world
like God,
but secondly,
we are placed
in communities
to reflect
God.
And again,
I don't know
how much
you have
thought about
that,
but again,
by God's
design,
we are
placed where
we are
in our
circles
in order
that something
of God's
glory and
goodness and
kindness and
care and
truth and
justice would
be known to
the people in
the rest of
that circle.
Life in our
home and our
family,
where we go
to school or
work or
university,
the neighborhood
that we live
in,
the church
that we
are placed
in,
become places
in which to
show something
of God's
love and
justice and
kindness to
the people
around us.
We're not
just a bunch
of individuals.
We are
created in
communities
so that people
might look at
us and see
something of
God in us.
Think about
that as we
are confronted
tomorrow with
the difficult
calling or
as we think
about those
tough family
relationships that
we have and
maybe the
awkward flatmate
but also to
think about our
life as a
church as we
look to welcome
people in,
as we want to
break down
barriers.
The fact that
we are made
in the image
of God and
that everyone
is made in
the image of
God can set a
direction for
how we live
day to day.
Here's the
fourth and
final thing for
us to think
about this
morning, why
it matters to
be made in
the image of
God.
It speaks to
our destiny.
Now if our
operating principle
is that we
come from
nothing and
we're made by
no one and
we have to try
and create our
own identity and
figure out how
life works and
in the end
there is
nothing, I
think we
recognize that
doesn't offer
great hope,
maybe it
doesn't offer a
solid motivation
for wanting to
make this world
a better place.
And so we
need to hear
and to keep
hearing God's
better story,
the true story
of what it
means that we
are made as
image bearers.
Now as the
story progresses
we discover
Genesis 3, we
discover the
reality that as
people we have
fallen away from
our God because
of sin, life is
not right now
paradise on
earth and we
know this.
But we also
have this
wonderful reality
that through the
goodness and
grace of our
God, he is in
the process of
restoring fallen
image bearers
through his son
the Lord Jesus.
that we
recognize at a
particular point
in time in
history the
Lord Jesus came
into this world
to display
perfectly the
glory and love
of God for us
and the place
where we see it
most clearly is
as he dies on
the cross, his
body is torn
and beaten as
he bears our
sin and the
wrath of God
that we deserve,
we are seeing
God's commitment
to renew and to
restore image
bearers.
And when we
place our faith
in Jesus, we
are united to
him and then
God sets to
work at
restoring and
renewing that
image that his
spirit comes to
live within us,
to begin that
process that will
be complete one
day.
But we can say
the moment that
we trust in
Jesus, if you
trust in Jesus
today, you
become a new
creation, that
God's spirit
comes to live in
your heart, so
now all of a
sudden, you're
more able to
represent God in
his world.
Not perfectly,
but God is
working in us.
And now we
begin to enjoy a
relationship with
God that we
never had before.
We call him our
father.
He speaks in the
Bible, we speak
in prayer, we
enjoy his love.
And the spirit
works in us to
make us more and
more righteous.
So it does become
true that people
can look at us and
see something of
God and his
character.
And one day there
is the promise that
Jesus will come
back.
And this world
that seems so
fallen and broken
to snow, it will
be restored.
And that for those
who trust in Jesus,
we will be with
Jesus, and we
will be made like
Jesus for all of
eternity.
And so the answer
to the questions
about human image,
about human
identity, they
find their most
basic answers here
in being made by
God, being made
for God, and being
made for life with
God.
And that starts
by trusting in
Jesus, the perfect
image of our God.
God.