In the Beginning | Man, the Peak of God's Creation
In the Beginning: (Part III)
MAN: THE PEAK OF GOD’S CREATION
Genesis 1:26-31 (ESV)
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.”
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28 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.”
29 And God said, “Behold, I have 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.
30 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.
31 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.
I read a story about a godly mother who, one day, was talking to her little girl about her duty of loving God. The child replied, "Mother, I have never seen God; how can I love Him?" Since the mother felt that she did not have an adequate answer at the moment, she decided not to give an answer.
A few days later, she received a package from a friend who lived from another country; and in the package was a beautiful picture-book for her little girl. The child took the book and was, for some time, became totally captivated in looking at the pictures, but soon she exclaimed, "Oh, mother! How I love the good lady that sent me this book!" After hearing her daughter, she recognized her opportunity to teach about loving God, so she responded, "But you never saw her, my dear," said the mother. "No," answered the child; "but I love her because she sent me this beautiful present." "My child you told me the other day that you could not love God because you have never seen Him. And yet you love this kind lady whom you have never seen, because she has given you a present. Now you have all around you the presents which God has given you. Why can't you love Him for His presents?"
When you consider the chronological sequence of creation, it is not hard to see that God placed so much value on human lives when He created everything first before Adam and Eve came into existence. He made sure that they literally had everything that they needed. It was like God bringing them to live in a fully furnished home. Why did God arrange it this way? Without a doubt, it was done to make it easier for humans to appreciate Him and love Him in return. King David has acknowledged this, and so he declared these words in Psalm 8:3-5 (ESV):
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
Have you ever realized that of all God has created, humans are regarded as the most special? Of course, others may disagree with this statement, but I want to spend some time this morning proving it to us based on our creation passage in Genesis.
If you had the opportunity joining us during the last two Sundays in our new sermon series on the Book of Genesis entitled, “In the Beginning,” we have taken the time to establish two very important truths:
God existed before the beginning of everything.
God created everything in six days.
I trust that by this time, after the message we heard last Sunday from Bro. Norm Richardson, we already have decided to abandon the Theory of Evolution as the main explanation for the existence of everything around us and have seriously embraced the Biblical teaching of God being the creator. By the way, some theologians try to unify science and the Bible by teaching “Theistic Evolution.” It is the theory that God created the simple molecule that evolved through billions and billions of years, resulting in these many complex species today like humans. Sadly, just like evolution, this theory has a lot of major problems and cannot really explain the origin of life.
As we examine our main text, I would like to help us understand how privileged we are as human beings because we are the peak of God’s creation. He made us far above all other creation because He gave us three significant blessings:
I THE BLESSING OF RESEMBLANCE (v. 26a)
When you begin to read verse 26 of our text, the words we need to fully understand and appreciate would be, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” The word “image” comes from the root that refers to carving. In other words, we were carved into the shape of God to reflect Him. With all the beautiful things that God has created, nothing would still compare to the beauty that God has bestowed to us because only humans bear His image and likeness. The question is: How does this “image” apply to us?
First of all, we cannot explain this in terms of physical likeness. The Bible is clear that God is spirit (John 4:24), which means that He does not have a body with eyes, ears, or lips. He is invisible without any material substance. This truth is the main reason why in the Mosaic Law, God insisted that His people are not allowed to make images or idols of Him because He really does not have one. No physical image can adequately represent God.
The best way to describe this image would be in the following:
Triune Likeness
Because God is a Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), all human beings have been given three essential parts (Body, Soul, and Spirit). Listen to Paul referring to this:
1 Thessalonians 5:23 (ESV)
23Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Considering how Paul referred to these parts, it is obvious that they are distinct from each other and separate in functions.
B. Mental Likeness
Though with limitations, God gave humans the ability to think, reason, and make conclusions. He also gave them the ability to retain knowledge and communicate what they have in their minds. Unlike animals that respond and behave based on their instincts, humans have the ability to process thoughts and information and then, respond accordingly. The apostle Paul referred to this privilege when he wrote Colossians 3:10 (ESV)
10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Notice, after a person becomes a believer in Christ and has put on the “new self,” there is a process of renewal that must take place in the mind, which sin has directly affected. This transformed mindset is the “knowledge” that we received from the image of God.
C. Moral Likeness
Just like God, humans have been given the ability to make moral judgments. Within this divine image, we became capable of distinguishing right from wrong and good from evil. Again, other creatures do not share this capacity. Sure, some animals are intelligent and wonderful creatures, and even capable of relating to some extent, but they are not capable of morality in the way that humans are.
Earlier, we saw in Colossians 3:10 how God begins renewing the mind the moment we get saved. Now, Ephesians 4:24, speaks of the renewal of holiness in us, which we also got from His image.
Ephesians 4:24 (ESV)
24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
As the crown of God’s creation, we had been given this exclusive honor to possess the image of the Almighty God. Indeed, this makes us special in the sight of God.
II THE BLESSING OF RELATIONSHIP
Another important aspect of God’s image in us comes from the relationship that exists between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Obviously, I could have discussed this aspect under Resemblance, but I wanted to separate it because it is connected to our higher privilege of seeking a personal relationship with God.
Just as God is capable of relating to the other persons of the Godhead, God created us with the capacity to have a relationship with others. All of us have been given the power to love and receive love. We know what it means to care and enjoy the community of loved ones and friends. God Himself had emphasized this when He said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” (Genesis 2:18, ESV)
But out of this comes our deepest longing for a relationship with God. Saint Augustine in a way referred to this longing when he said thee words:
“Thou hast madest us for thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in thee.”
It is true, there is this craving or vacuum in every man’s heart that only God can fill. This is absolutely one distinction between that humans have over animals. But I trust that we understand the implication of this. You see, because God has placed it in us, it is part of who we are. We will never be truly happy in life apart from God. There’s no amount of gold, silver, or money, no amount of education, or personal achievements that could really satisfy our soul. Only a relationship or fellowship with God can do it.
III THE BLESSING OF RULERSHIP (vv. 26b, 28)
Lastly, the third blessing that God bestowed to us comes from the statement found in the next line of verse 26, “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.”
Clearly, since God is the creator of everything, He is the only one who has the right to rule over all creation. But with man being an image-bearer of God, this image becomes functional – man was given the mandate to represent God in the world, ruling over everything. King David’s Psalm declares this as an awesome privilege given to man:
Psalm 8:4-9 (ESV)
4 [W]hat is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
This once again confirms God’s special love for humans. Not only were humans given the blessing of resemblance, the blessing of relationship, God also gave us the blessing of rulership over all of God’s creation.
However, because Adam and Eve decided to disobey and sin against God, as a result, all these blessings were marred and corrupted. Man can hardly project the image of God in him. His relationship with other humans became a mess, and his pursuit of God was set aside. Then, his dominion eventually became offensive and abusive domination.
But praise God because He decided not to turn His back on humanity. Despite all our failures and sins, God offered His one and only Son, so that we could be restored back to our original beauty and glory. John captures this truth in 1 John 3:1-2 (ESV):
1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
If you are a believer in Christ, you can look forward to that day when God’s image will once again be totally displayed through you. What an awesome blessing and honor!
Preached: 1.19.2020