Who Am I?
A Study of Humanity • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Rachel Dolezal, was a woman apparently of mixed heritage, she was the president of the American black rights organisation NAACA until in 2015 when is emerged she was a white woman self-identifying as a coloured women.
A school in Rye, East Sussex recently was in the press over a debate between a teacher and students as to whether a child in year 8 could self identify as a Cat! Press then found this to be an increasing porblem in schools as children identify as various animals. They are apparently known collectively as ‘furries’.
It was only 100 years ago that women gained the right to vote in the UK - and in some countries they still don’t.
Of course today, choosing your gender, or non-gender is entirely your choice today. My 2 daughters went to Casrshalton High School for Girls, and yet they had 3 boys at the girls school. Or atleast who identified as boys - and the school had to install unisex toilet facilites for them.
24,000 Britons were questioned and given the choice, would they prefer to donate money to a charity that looks after animals or one that looks after people. Only (53%) opted for the human charity, while a third (34%) prefer the animal charity and the remaining 12% can't decide.
Who are we?
What is humanity?
Are animlas and humans equal?
Are men and women equal?
Does our race define us?
Can we choose what gender we are?
And what are we to do on earth?
I’m not sure there has been a culture more confused about who we are than ours today.
Who Am I is quite literally the topic of our culture.
And the answer tends to be whoever you want to be.
But sadly, making it up has led to the highest mental heath issues, the highest suicide rates and the highest broken and confused family set-ups known to history.
Fortunately, The creator God, who loves to Redeem - to make things good, who we started to think about last week from Genesis 1 tells us who we are.
And the foundations of who we are are found in a few short verses from todays passage.
We are made
In The Image of God
In The Image of God
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
What does that mean? Well, as with the creation narrative, there has been unending speculations about this,
but
this passage is deliberately simple, so we’d be wise to keep our thinking about it simple.
If we are made in the image of God, we’re to think about what God is like in this creation narrative and see that in some way we reflect Him.
And it’s an important point.
The passage repeats this point 4 times using 2 different but related words..
gen 1 26
Genesis 1:26 (NIV 2011)
Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,
and
Genesis 1:27 (NIV 2011)
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
MAnkind is unique. We are different to all the rest of creation.
That’s why the word creation is also repeated 3 times in v27.
Mankind is created, created created, in the image, the image, the image, the likeness of God.
Mankind is special within creation.
So, animals are not of equal worth to humans, as many believe today?
That is clear from this day 6 of creation.
So it would be right to value human life above animal life,
Right to priorities the care of humans over animal,
Humans are the icing on the cake of all creation.
The piece that fulfils it all.
That’s why we get v31.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Creation is all good, but it’s not ‘very good’ until mankind is created and mandated with their task of filling and subduing the earth.
We bear his image in a way the rest of creation does not.
This also means we need to be careful about accepting some aspects of evolution that says humans developed out of other species.
Depending on your view of the 6 days of creation, you may or may not accept some evolutionary science, but it’s going to be hard to accept it all.
Many Christian scientists and theologians disagree about evolution. Some read v24 and say - see proof that evolution does not happen.
Natural selection yes, survivial of the fittest sure,
but not eveolution between species.
And God said, ‘Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.’ And it was so.
God created them. Livestocks, wild and creepy crawlies.
Others would argue that the 6 days of creation are not 24hr periods but vast segmanets of time. Infact the word ‘day’ here can mean that.
And so they envisage a possibility that God was deliberate in evolution over millions of years to bring into exisitence creatures acoording to their kind.
IN fact they say the phrase in v24 ‘let the land produce living ceratures’ almost impies evolution. They come and develop from the land.
The details aren’t hugly significant and we shouldn’t fall out over differing ideas.
But when it comes to mankind - well then we do need to be careful.
we’ll see from the more in-depth descriptions in chapter 2 where Adam is literally formed by God from the dust.
But even here - humans are different, special, called if you like.
They are made in the image of God.
We are not highly evolved primates - were we have evolved into an intelligent awareness.
We have been set apart in the image of God by him.
We may share similar DNA to animals - but we do not share the image of God with anything else in all of creation.
Also note, before we get into the details of what being an image bearer is,
men ‘and women’ are created in the image of God.
There is absolute equality and worth in all humanity whatever your gender.
Women are not less valuable, or of less worthy or less significant than men. and neither are women more significant than men.
We’ll discuss this and gender more when we get to the detailed description of the creation of Adam and Eve,
but here is our bedrock for absolute equality between all people. Male, female, and of course race or culture.
Each bears the image of God.
So, in what ways do we bear the image of God.
1 - Relate
1 - Relate
We’re designed for relationship.
If we are image bearers of God we’ll expect to share commonality with him.
And what is clear is that God is a relational God.
He creats with speach, and then he speaks to mankind and we speak back as we’ll see in chapter 2.
We are designed to interact with God, and of course each other in a way that is different from the animal kingdom,
And we also see God to be relational in and of himself.
V26 puts God talking to himself in a plural way.
‘Let us’ make mankind in our image.
The only ‘us’ we have met so far is the ‘Spirit over the waters’ v2, the God v1 who creates, and the God who speaks.
It’s hard to imagine Moses understood the full trinity of God at his time, but he does understand that the fulness of God involves relationship even within himself.
So to be made in his image means we are also relational.
Primarily relational towards God for we bear his image,
In fact we then find our true identity as people, not in our race, or culture, or job, or gender, but in being in good relationship with our creator God.
That is why if we deny God, or rebel against him, we are harming our very being.
We reject who we are - and it will not go well for us and judgement will come from Him.
For we are harming His image, by ironically rejecting our own.
But enjoying God in relationship, repenting and believing in his saviour the Lord Jesus,
humbling ourselevs, trusting in Him, growing in realtionship with him through reading his word the bible and praying to him each day,
gathering in realtionship with our spiritual family at church each week - what we are doing now
all of that glorifies Him,
we refelct his love as we do it, we act as we should - and we reflect like a mirror the God of relationship and love.
Another core aspect of God we have seen is that he creates - so part of our image bearing in this context must be to reflect that.
2 - Create
2 - Create
Humanity creates unlike the whole animal kingdom.
It is very rare for an animal to do something that isn’t instinctive to survival - even what looks like play is normally practicing of crucial survival instincts.
But humans deliberately are creative - it’s what we love. Arts, music, literature.
We design ever elaborate shelters for humanity, building great buildings.
We constantly explore creative ways to achieve physical feats,
sports people creative in their training and output,
Creative in our thinking and time management,
New inventions, constant developments.
Even mundane acts we often enjoy getting more and more creative with,
developing your excel formula beyond what anyone thought possible,
Teachers create never ending ways to engage their students
The endless creativity of humanity is not testament to how great we are though, it is a reflection, and image bearing that points us back to our creative God.
We love to create because he does.
and Just as relationship can be abused to harm our image bearings, so can our creativity.
Creating ways of inflicting pain on others - whether clever creative word arguments, or weapons to hurt.
Dark creativity, or that which elevates self, or idols.
That is all to harm our image bearing nature, and will lead us and others away from our loving creator God.
If you want to enjoy God and please Him, then we can use our creativity for Him and to love others.
Afterall that is
Just as he did in creation.
The 3rd
3 - Procreate
3 - Procreate
Clearly we have seen that God is not only creative, but he creates new life.
So it’s not a great suprise that he gives his image bearers the same responsibility.
Genesis 1:28 (NIV 2011)
God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number;
The first humans were to fill the earth with more little humans.
Of course the earth at this point is empty and needs filling with people,
but there is a clear sense that the purpose of men and women who marry (as we’ll see in chapter 2) are called by God to create more human life.
This mandate is repeated to Noah after the flood.
and The Psalms speak plentifully about children being a blessing from God.
(as hard as our children can be, we still instinctively know that to be true.)
To bear the image of God is to procreate. to bring new life.
This means that marriage is not a selfish endeavour for personal fulfilment, comfort, or gain.
It is in part, so that humanity may grow in number and we reflect the image of God.
It’s not very popular to say such things these days but this has been the general teaching of the church throughout history,
Of course many cannot have children, and that is very painful, and is not a failure before God, it’s challenging calling to serve God in other ways.
And there may be occasional good reasons why children are an unwise thing before God to have.
But on the whole it is right and good, and should be encouraged to be the aim of marriages between 1 man and 1 woman.
In the NT of course the apostle Pauls encourages people to seriously consider remaining single, so that they have more time to commit to serving the Lord - and that is a great calling.
It is not that we only bear God’s image if we have children.
It is simply that it reflects who God is, when in loving relationship a man and a woman bring new life into existence.
Why, well perhaps becasue it reflects God’s plans for salvation itself, .
Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, “You must be born again.”
Whether we have had children, can’t have children, are single, we can all reflect God’s image by telling the good news of Jesus to those who are not yet been born again into faith.
As we saw last week, creation models the saving work of Jesus to come,
And so does procreation.
Without new spiritual birth of repentance and faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins
we can have no life at all with God.
Simply put - child birth points to spirtual re-birth.
It’s not surprising many people return to faith when they have children, they give testimony to our need for Jesus and remind us we bear the image of God.
The 4th clear image bearing given to us from God is the ability and responsibility to work.
We
relate,
create,
procreate
and work doesn’t ryme so I’m calling it operate.
4 - Operate
4 - Operate
It’s clear that God is a hard worker, he’s maethodilcal, logical and creative.
So it’s not suporising we too are designed to work.
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.’
Notice the order there - it is being given the ‘image of God’ that enables us to rule over.
‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over
God delegates some ruling earthly authority to mankind - and in so doing we are his representatives on earth.
A little like an ambassador, who acts in the interests and with the authority passed on from their government, or king.
We are meant to work.
And when we do
It means that whatever our job is, unless it’s biblically immoral,
we are fulfilling God’s design for us.
You can be cleaning peoples houses,
teaching kids,
beautfying spreadsheets,
building an extention,
assessing insurance claims
Raising your children,
- you are serving God.
You are bearing his image.
You are helping subdue and control the earth.
Don’t think that the only way to serve God is to be a minsiter or a missiuonary - although they are honourable jobs to be desired,
but all work is to be done in a way that bears the image of a hard working, creative, loving relatable God.
Pause
So who are we, as humans?
We are image bearers of God
We are his ambassadors.
We are equal, every living person.
And we reflect Him and his character when we relate well to him,
when we are creative for His and others good.
We procreate to show that new life is our only physical and spiritual help in Christ.
And we operate (we work) for his glory in all we do.
Of course we often fail at this image bearing,
we’ll see why when we think about when sin entred the world in 2 weeks time.
But incase you can’t wait that long,
We’ll end by remebering that Jesus, the perfect son of God,
fulfils all our shortcomings,
forgives our sin, and is the true image bearer for us.
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Pray