Imago Dei - [Genesis 1:26-28]

Bethlehem Bible Church iconBethlehem Bible Church

1 view

0 comments

00:00
But when I was a boy, and even now as a man, I've been told my whole life,
00:08
Scott, you're so much like your father. And now my children,
00:13
Nathan and Andrew and Timothy, particularly my sons, you're so much like your father.
00:19
And Nathan hears it all the time, he's here this morning. And when people say that, I'm sure most of you heard that, maybe it might be referring to your mother or daughter or whatnot, but most of us have probably heard that or something like that.
00:32
And what do people mean when they say that? When someone says that to you, you're so much like your father or your mother, or you're referring to your daughter, your son or your daughter is so much like you, what do they mean?
00:43
Manners. Okay. Mannerisms. For example, what, Daniel? So kind of words.
01:08
Okay, good. What else, Mark? Appearance.
01:16
Yes, I hear that also. In fact, my father very much likes it when he's watching my children and he goes places and he's 57 years old now, and people come up to him and say, are these your children?
01:28
He takes that as a compliment, right? So physical appearance, mannerisms.
01:33
What else? Excuse me? Character. Okay, good. And what kind of characteristics or character traits might you think of there,
01:45
Carl? Okay.
02:00
Honesty, dependability. Have we got everything? Any other areas in which we might be likened to our parents?
02:09
Oh, good. Voice. What's that?
02:16
Yeah, left -handedness. Exactly. Thoughts. Ooh, worldview.
02:26
Good. Any others?
02:32
Just spit them out. Otherwise, I'm going to assume we have most of them there. Preferences.
02:38
Okay, good. Politics. Who said that?
02:45
That might go under preferences, right? Oh, yeah, worldview. Yeah, exactly.
02:54
Right. Well, I would say we can probably break these up then into some categories. The first category that I'm thinking of is that something that has to do with what we do.
03:06
Okay? And I'm thinking manners is kind of a physical thing that we do.
03:16
Let's see. What else might refer to physically what we do? That might be the only one there. And then if we have a second category, which would have to do with our body and who we are, that might be a second category where we could lump maybe appearance and voice, where that might represent something physical about our body.
03:39
And then a last category that I can kind of see here, well, yeah, a last category might be things that are unseen about us, perhaps the mannerisms, the ways we relate, the ways we think.
03:57
And those might be some of these other categories, our preferences, our thoughts, our character, although there's a sense in which we might be able to link character to manners and voice.
04:07
Thoughts, worldview, those can be lumped together. So there's many different ways in which we can image our parents or our children, image us or reflect us in our image.
04:19
And in a like way, we're introduced to a concept in Genesis chapter one, verse 26 through 28 of mankind being made in the image of God.
04:31
And this is a confusing topic that ever since I've been a Christian, I've heard quite a number of different opinions and teachings on what it meant that man was made in the image of God.
04:42
And I'd like to explore that subject this morning and flesh out what I think the scripture teaches on the subject.
04:49
We'll see if we have time to get through all of the material. The biblical support for the doctrine of the image of God begins in Genesis chapter one.
04:59
And I will read verses 26 through 28 in Genesis.
05:04
And I'm probably going to call on a number of other people to answer questions and read Bible verses for us this evening, this morning.
05:12
Genesis chapter one, verse 26 to 28, during the creation account, God says this, let us and that us, by the way, is the
05:23
Trinitarian Godhead. Let us make man in our image according to our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
05:42
God created man in his own image, in the image of God. He created him male and female, he created them be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
05:59
So right there in the center of that text, we see it in his own image. We were made in the image of God.
06:07
He created him. And historically through the church, this has been an important topic that's been debated amongst theologians.
06:17
And there's been three primary views that have been espoused. And we, in some sense or another, touched upon each one of those views here this morning.
06:29
One view that's been very dominant has been called the functional view or the dominion view. Right? This basically, this comes right from the text in Genesis 1, 26 to 28.
06:39
Right in the middle here where God creates us in his image, he then goes on to say, be fruitful and multiply, subdue the earth, rule over the fish, the cattle, the sea, okay?
06:48
Dominion is right in those verses. And so many have said that when we demonstrate our dominion over the earth by manipulating the earth, by working, by doing things, we reflect the image of God.
07:02
That's been a view that was held by Pelagius, the Arminians, and many others have held that view over church history.
07:12
The second view, okay, and if you have your notes, I gave you a spot here to put down these major views.
07:17
The first one we call the functional view. The second one is called the substantial view, okay?
07:23
That basically is the substance of who we are. And we talked about that. We had that over here. Okay? Our first one we had,
07:31
I thought we had, you know, manners, kind of what we do. This might be more or less the dominion view or the functional view.
07:38
The substantial view is who we are. There's something physical about us, some qualities within us, in our physical organism that reflects the image of God.
07:49
And this might even come in the form of when we act out of freedom, we say we have freedom to make choices, we make moral decisions, we're rational beings.
08:00
These abilities that we have in our physical body or something physical about us that reflects
08:06
God's image. This functional view or this, sorry, the functional view was the first one.
08:11
The substantial view was held also by church history. More notable names like Aquinas, Luther, Calvin have held this view, okay?
08:20
And the last view, which is a more modern view, is called the relational view.
08:25
You might have heard this says, our ability to relate to each other and our ability to relate to God is what it means when we say we're made in the image of God.
08:35
So a relational view is the third view that's been, and not a lot of notable names have held that as the exclusive view.
08:42
So those are the three kind of major views in a nutshell of what people have meant when they said we're made in the image of God.
08:49
Have I missed any? Have anyone heard any other views of image of God? Does anyone want to advocate for one of these positions?
09:08
Okay. Okay. Yeah. I've heard that said as well.
09:15
Does anyone want to advocate for one of these three or something else, Charlie? That's right.
09:50
In fact, that's the exact view that Luther and Calvin had, that part of our beings and what we do and express and act reflects our image of God.
10:00
Well, in Genesis 126 is where this doctrine is introduced, okay? The Trinitarian God says, let us make man in our image according to our likeness, okay?
10:11
So he says, we're creating man in our image and in our likeness. There's two different words there, okay?
10:17
In Hebrew, we have image, tselem. We have likeness, demuth. These are two
10:22
Hebrew words, but yet they're very similar words. Throughout scripture, they're used interchangeably. Even in this own text, they're used interchangeably.
10:29
I don't want to make a distinction that says there's a difference between being made in the image and being made in the likeness. I'm going to suggest to you that those are synonyms, those are two words that basically mean the same thing.
10:39
We are made in the image of God. We are made in the likeness of God. So what the
10:45
Hebrew word here means is we're not made identical to God. We are not little gods, but the word says here that we are made similar to God, not identical to God, okay?
10:57
On the handout here, you'll see there's some potential areas to fill in some blanks, and this might be one of what we have for a teaching here in Genesis 126, that we are made similar to God, but we're not made identical to that object to which we're imaging, okay?
11:17
Mankind is made special than the other creatures, right?
11:23
We have the creation account, the creation account, and all of a sudden we get to the creation of man, and we have this, let us, we have this
11:31
Trinitarian action of mankind being made special and distinct from all the other creation, and God intended this very action not to make us identical, but to make us similar to himself.
11:48
God intended that he was going to make a very special people, a special creation that is similar, that reflects, that images himself, and that's what he had in mind when he said he was going to create mankind, okay?
12:01
So, man is similar but not identical to God in many ways. What I'm going to suggest to you is that the image of God is multifaceted, that I don't want to limit our view to say we're going to hold the functional view, we're going to hold the substantial view, we're going to hold the rational view, no,
12:20
I'm going to suggest that there is truth to all of those views, and in all ways which we image
12:26
God, in any way that we reflect God's likeness is a way in which we reflect the image of God.
12:35
Grudem, when he was looking at the Hebrew here, he said the original readers might have interpreted that verse to read something like this, let us make man to be like us and to represent us, okay?
12:52
So in all ways that we are like God and or represent God, we could be said to be made in God's image.
12:58
So I want to more or less eradicate the functional, substantial, rational, these sort of theological terms,
13:05
I don't want to get bogged down into saying we have to pick one and was the Luther Calvin position better than the
13:11
Armenian Pelagian position or the other position of rationalism, we want to kind of avoid those technical terms,
13:21
I think they just bog us down and confuse us anyways. But I think as we go through the scripture, we see over and over examples of how we are made in the image of God, and I want to suggest that the biblical intent is a general reflection that man is like God, man has a likeness to God.
13:41
And as we go through scripture and understand all of scripture, and we understand the nature of man, the nature of God, and we see all the ways in which man reflects
13:48
God, or man images God, or man is like God, in all of those ways we can be said to be made in the image of God, and we can then further appreciate that image in which we are made.
14:00
And I want to support that thesis by looking at Genesis 5 .3. Bruce, could you read
14:06
Genesis 5 .3 for us? And I have a few other texts that I'm going to be looking at in a minute, so I'd like to just, while he's pulling that up,
14:13
I'd like to have a few other people put their fingers on some text for us. John, could I get you to look at 2 Corinthians 4 .4?
14:24
Bruce Bolivar, if you wouldn't mind looking for John 14, 8 -9? Scott Colossians 1 .15?
14:34
And Dave, if you wouldn't mind grabbing Hebrews 1 .3? Just stick your fingers on those texts, and in a minute I'll have you read to those.
14:42
But at the moment, let's turn our attention to Genesis 5 .3, and here we're going to look at the first time that these created beings,
14:53
Adam and Eve, were then themselves having offspring, and how God relates that account to us in Genesis 5 .3.
15:01
Bruce. All right, we have the exact same terms here.
15:13
Adam begot Seth in his own image, in his likeness.
15:19
That's the same exact words that God uses in Genesis 1 .26 -28 when he says that God is creating us.
15:25
So as we are like God, so is Seth like Adam. So is
15:31
Nathan like me, and I like my father, and you all like your relations as well.
15:38
In every way that someone might say to me, oh Nathan, you're so much like your dad.
15:45
By looking like me, by having my mannerisms, by thinking and adopting my worldviews and such like that, in all those ways,
15:53
Nathan images or is in my likeness, and so is Seth to Adam, and so are we to the
16:00
Trinity. There are going to be differences and limitations, we'll see, to our imaging of the Trinity, but that's a good way for us to see how
16:08
Scripture uses those Hebrew terms. So Seth is described as being
16:14
Adam's image and likeness. Seth is not identical to Adam.
16:20
We're not spitting images of our children and our offspring, but he's very much like him. So just as our children are perfect images of us, we certainly are not perfect images of God.
16:36
Nobody images God perfectly. Nobody is exactly like God. We would never say that.
16:41
We would never say we are exactly like God. But yet there is one in Scripture that we can look to and say, there is an example in Scripture of one who is identical to God.
16:51
It is in fact the exact image of God revealed to us. And who is that?
16:57
Jesus Christ. That's right. 2 Corinthians 4 .4, who has that for me? That's right.
17:18
Jesus Christ is the exact image of God. We don't have to look beyond Jesus Christ to know exactly what
17:25
God is like. Who has John 14, 8 through 9? Thank you,
17:47
Bruce. As we see Jesus Christ, we see the Father. We want to know what that image was that God created us in, that likeness that we aspire to.
17:57
We just look to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is that exact image. Colossians 1 .15. Good.
18:10
Thank you. Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. What do we say when we say that?
18:19
That Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. What are we referring to? Good. His attributes.
18:30
What kind of attributes, for example? Absolutely. And as we see
18:42
Jesus Christ display all those attributes, he displays them perfectly as the Father would. Good.
18:48
Love, grace, justice, holiness, patience, truth, faithfulness. Hebrews 1 .3.
19:03
Another example that we have Jesus Christ, the exact image of his person.
19:09
We're using the same terminology, image, here. Charlie, did you have something? Yes. Yes.
20:04
No, I don't think you're wrong at all. No. But yet, as we see Christ, we desire to be like him.
20:12
We desire those attributes that he displays, for sure. Lewis?
20:39
I think Lewis had a comment on that. He has the same, set the independent exercise of those aside.
21:27
Yes. He depended, and also, he was subject, he got hungry, he got tired, he needed to drink water, all those things that any other human being needed to do, he needed to do.
21:43
But because he was doing that, because he limited himself in that way, his humanness did not change what he was in his dimension.
21:52
Right. For sure. Yes. Oh, yes.
22:17
No, I agree. Dallas? Mm -hmm.
22:30
Yeah. She was referring to Colossians 2 .9, Charlie. No, I think you're dead right.
22:36
Absolutely. Okay. So, going back to originally when we were talking about that,
22:43
I'm trying to make the case to you that our image is multifaceted, that it's not limited to one of these theological peg holes that have been set down over the course of time.
22:54
I want to argue with you that, argue to you rather, that the aspects of God are multifaceted.
23:01
So, under aspects and image of God in your handout there, the first one I list is dominion.
23:08
Dominion. I think that though it was held by Pelagius and the
23:13
Arminians, I still think that there is some truth in the fact that as we express dominion over the earth, as we work, as we do all things, and we do them to the glory of God, whether we plow fields, whether we milk cows, whether we chop wood, we can all do it to the praise and glory of God because God has created us in our image.
23:34
It's hard to remove the text of Genesis 1, 26 to 28 from its context of being given the instructions of having dominion over the earth.
23:43
So, I think dominion does reflect and can reflect the attributes of the image of God.
23:51
God's attributes, okay? Ephesians 5, 1. Pat, would you mind reading Ephesians 5, 1 for us?
24:11
Good. No, thank you. That's the whole verse, right? That's the whole verse, right?
24:17
Ephesians 5, 1? Yeah. So, we are exhorted by Paul to imitate
24:24
Christ. We're not to be like God. In fact, we cannot be like God in omnipotence, omniscience, right?
24:32
But yet we can, though imperfectly, through other attributes that God has. When we're told to imitate
24:38
God, we are to demonstrate love, not perfectly as God demonstrates it perfectly, but yet we are to demonstrate love, mercy, forgiveness, patience.
24:49
As we demonstrate these attributes in our life, we are imitating God, okay?
24:54
We do it imperfectly, we do it flawed, yes, but we do it nonetheless. And therefore, by doing those things, we image
25:02
God, okay? One thing to point out here is that because we're sinful, we have a limitation, right?
25:12
So, when we sin, that's when we're most unlike God, right?
25:19
Our image is the most flawed, and we're the most unlike God when we're sinning. But yet, when we're doing these other things, when we're showing love, mercy, forgiveness, patience, etc.,
25:28
we are most like God. Daniel said that there's a defacing that goes on there.
25:38
I think that's a good point. I think there's also a physical aspect of our image of God.
25:49
And again, I like these categories better than the early ones. They gave the functional and relational, substantive.
25:54
Those are a little bit more difficult to put our arms around. These are terms we're more familiar with. So, in our physical substance, okay, in our bodies, as it were, us as human beings, we reflect the image of God, okay?
26:10
Our bodies don't reflect God to somehow say that God the Father has a body. No, I don't want to say that.
26:15
But what I do want to say is, as we see, we image
26:21
God because God sees all things. As we hear, somehow we are reflecting the image of God.
26:27
We are imaging God. God hears all things, right? We speak words. God spoke forth, and his will is accomplished.
26:35
So, in our physical being, there is some sense of us imaging
26:40
God. God created us in his image, in his likeness.
26:46
So, as we touch, taste, smell, all the things that we do, we can glory in our creation, because by doing these things, we are reflecting the image of God, okay?
26:56
Immaterial. Not just our physical beings, but our immaterial beings, okay?
27:05
What are immaterial things that men can do that animals cannot do?
27:13
Love. Should we interview the opinion of the
27:18
Sierra Club and National Geographic on that? Okay, love. What else?
27:26
Thoughts. Good. Steve?
27:33
Ooh, good. Forgive. Compassion. What else? There are some very talented orangutans out there these days.
27:59
Yeah, no, it's good. We have logic. We apply creativity. We don't have animals making pieces of art.
28:08
Yeah? Yes? They are, by that very act, reflecting the image of God.
28:23
Absolutely. You see the man gives up his seat to like God. Amen.
28:37
Thank you. And how about prayer and praise? Men can pray to God and praise him, but I don't know any animal that can do that.
28:47
And so these immaterial components of us reflect the image of God.
28:54
And lastly, relationally. Okay?
29:01
That I think it is true that men have a unique ability to relate to God that animals do not have.
29:08
Okay? We have a unique ability to relate to others within this creation that animals don't have.
29:16
And this unique ability to relate is also part of the image of God. So I suggest to you that rather than limiting our view to say, here is my view of what it means to say that man is made in the image of God, to say we have dominion over the earth.
29:30
We reflect God's image. We have the attributes of God, and we reflect God's image. Our physical bodies, everything about us physically reflects
29:38
God's image. The immaterial part of our body reflects God's image. The way we relate to God and others reflects
29:45
God's image. And so we have a wonderful gift of being made in the image of God that is unique.
29:53
It is set apart by the Trinity, and we get to experience it personally. But this image isn't static.
30:03
When we say we're made in the image of God, it's not something that I can fit very nicely into a box over time.
30:09
It is a dynamic thing. What I want to look at is the stages now of the image of God.
30:15
And I'm going to suggest to you that the image of God changes over time. If we look at the situation of mankind before the fall, when it was
30:26
Adam and Eve, that Genesis 1 text that we read, even before the birth of Seth, in man's original state, he sinlessly reflected the image of God.
30:40
There was a sinless reflection of the image of God. We had the ability to perfectly reflect his attributes, to perfectly have perfect speech and grace and holiness of character and perfect relationships, perfect love.
30:56
But then something happened. We know it. What is it? Sin came in.
31:03
The fall came in. And so did that perfect image that we were created in stay the same when sin entered?
31:09
Absolutely not. Did we stop to image
31:16
God? Did we stop to reflect God's image when the fall happened? We were created in God's image, but did that image cease?
31:21
Did we at that point cease to image God? No, we didn't. But yet it was damaged or distorted.
31:29
Our image of God was damaged or distorted. And you'll see that on the handout as well. There's a spot for that.
31:37
Lewis, could you mind reading James 3 .9 for us? I think, one, we can see it from the account of Adam and Seth, right?
31:51
We have that same terminology that there is still an imaging there, but that's an imaging of person to person. But do we still reflect
31:57
God's image after the fall? Let's see what James 3 .9 says about that. Good.
32:10
And another translation might say made in God's likeness or made similar to God. So yet in James 3 .9,
32:16
it says, we ought not to curse God, others.
32:22
Why should we not curse other people? Because those people are made in God's image. That still exists after the fall.
32:29
All of the fallen people in this room and around us are made in God's image, and we ought not to curse them because by doing them, we effectively curse
32:38
God. So the fall has not obliterated the image. It's a fallen image.
32:43
It's a distorted image. But what's important to note here is that by our sinful character, we cannot.
32:52
In fact, we do not and we absolutely cannot perfectly reflect God's image in our post -fall condition.
33:01
We cannot perfectly reflect God's holiness. We cannot perfectly image
33:07
God's grace, his speech. In our relationships, we don't image God perfectly. And in our love to others, we don't image
33:14
God or we don't act in God's likeness perfectly. But yet, entering in, we talked about this earlier, entering into this post -fall world came one who then shows us what that perfect image of God looks like, and that is the
33:32
Lord Jesus Christ. Dave, you probably don't have your finger still in Hebrews 1 .3, but I think it would be beneficial for us to restate
33:41
Hebrews 1 .3 at this point. Thank you.
33:52
So we have the exact likeness of God in Jesus Christ, and something wonderful happens at the point of conversion, right?
34:03
We then, at that point, are transformed. We're no longer slaves to sin.
34:08
We're now slaves to righteousness. We're now servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.
34:13
And that image that we had, that fallen image, begins to change. It doesn't stay the same.
34:21
The way we image God, the way we reflect God at the moment we're saved, doesn't stay the same from the moment of salvation until the moment of death.
34:29
We have a transformation, a sanctification that takes place from the point of conversion until the point of glorification.
34:37
Romans 8 .29. Who knows Romans 8 .29 without having to read it? Anybody? Romans 8 .29?
34:49
Bruce? Thank you.
34:55
Bruce, what were we predestined to be? Conformed to the image of His Son. To the image of His Son.
35:03
We were changed, beloved, for a purpose, and that purpose is that we would be conformed into a likeness, an image that our likeness to God would be changed, and it would be more like that perfect image that we see in Jesus Christ, Hebrews 1 .3.
35:20
So Romans 8 .29 teaches that we were predestined for a purpose, and that's to be in God's likeness.
35:26
There's other verses that I could go to that we're not going to for lack of time, but you might want to write these down. 2
35:32
Corinthians 3 .18. Colossians 3 .9 -10.
35:38
Ephesians 4 .22 -24. Each one of these demonstrate that we go through a process from the time of conversion to the time of glorification to be more like Christ.
35:50
It would just benefit if you wouldn't mind reading just one of those verses for us. 2 Corinthians 3 .18.
35:55
We'll just take the shortest one. But they all teach a similar...
36:02
Actually, sorry. If you could read the Colossians verse, rather, Colossians 3 .9 -10.
36:07
And while he's looking at that, let me just tell you what 2 Corinthians 3 .18 says. It says that this work takes place by the third person of the
36:15
Trinity. We are being made into God's likeness by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
36:21
That's who's doing the work. Colossians 3 .9 -10. Thank you,
36:38
Pradeep. Colossians 3 .9 -10 teaches that we are being transformed into the likeness of the
36:47
Lord Jesus Christ. So as we gain more understanding of God's Word, as we go through His Word and see all the ways in which
36:55
God are like, we then appreciate this image that we're made in more, and we begin to think more like God.
37:01
We think more of God's thoughts. So I want you to think of image. When we say we're made in the image of God, I don't want you to think that as some kind of a noun or a description of us.
37:11
I want you to think of that as a verb. How do we image God? I want you to think of it as a dynamic verb.
37:18
We no longer image God as we should. We are now being enabled by the
37:24
Holy Spirit to image God more adequately, and someday we shall image God perfectly.
37:31
That is God's desire for us in our Christian walk, is that we would image Christ perfectly.
37:39
Now, those of us here who know what's coming up next won't be surprised when
37:44
I tell you that one day that will in fact happen in glorification. This is the end of our sanctification process.
37:51
In glorification, we have a great culmination of our sanctification experience.
37:59
So we can say it this way, and you'll see the fill in the blank on your sheet. The process of sanctification, that is being more made into the image of God, is guaranteed to culminate with the achieving of the goal perfectly by imaging
38:12
Christ in glorification. Mankind has been given this eschatological goal.
38:19
We have this end we're going toward, and that goal is the perfect imaging of Jesus Christ.
38:25
This image is far better than the one even in the garden with Adam and Eve. We are going to be perfectly imaging
38:33
Jesus Christ. One thing that can be useful in 1
38:38
Corinthians 15 .49 says this, that if we have, I'm not going to read it to you, but basically what it's teaching us is that we have a great hope.
38:48
If we set our hope on the future of this reality that we have promised in Scripture, that brings us great hope.
38:55
And that hope, when we look forward to it, can give us great encouragement as we go through this life.
39:03
We know there's an end, and we know that end is sure. In conclusion,
39:09
I want to give you some summary thoughts. When God says that we're made in the image of God, that means that man is like God, and man represents
39:24
God. Man doesn't just bear the image of God. Man is the image of God.
39:34
In man, God makes himself visible on earth. That's a sobering thought.
39:44
And I also want to suggest this, that the image of God in man is something that extends to our entirety.
39:54
Everything about us is affected and reflects the image of God. Nothing's excluded.
40:01
Body, soul, faculties, persons, all our relationships, all of our personalities in some sense reflect the image of God.
40:10
And I'd like to read a quote here from Grudem's Systematic Theology, which is just a poignant quote, and I thought it was real helpful to see how this doctrine comes to bear on our thinking.
40:25
Grudem says this on page 449. It would be good for us to reflect on our likeness to God more often.
40:34
It will probably amaze us to realize that when the creator of the universe wanted to create something in his image, something more like himself than all the rest of creation, he made us.
40:47
This realization will give us a profound sense of dignity and significance as we reflect on the excellence of all the rest of God's creation, the starry universe, the abundant earth, the world of plants and animals, the angelic kingdoms are remarkable, even magnificent, but we are more like our creator than any of these things.
41:10
We are the culmination of God's infinitely wise and skillful work of creation.
41:16
Even though sin has greatly marred that likeness, we nonetheless now reflect much of it and shall even more so as we grow in the likeness to Christ.
41:27
Yet we must remember that even fallen sinful man has the status in God's image.
41:33
Every single human being, no matter how much the image of God is marred by sin or illness or weakness or age or any disability, has the status of being in God's image and therefore must be treated with dignity and respect that is due to God's image and God's image bearer.
41:54
This has profound implications for our conduct toward others. It means that people of every race deserve equal dignity and rights.
42:01
It means that elderly people, those seriously ill, mentally retarded, children yet unborn deserve full protection and honor as human beings.
42:10
If ever we deny our unique status in creation as God's only image bearers, we will soon begin to depreciate the value of human life.
42:18
We will tend to see humans as merely a higher form of an animal and will begin to treat others as such.
42:24
We will also lose much of our sense of meaning in life. And I think it is awesome.
42:30
When I studied this initially and then again as I was preparing this, I was just again humbled and it elevates my view of others and it just puts different shades over my eyes that I can see others through the light of scripture.
42:50
So I think that's all I want to say formally. But just for some discussion questions,
42:58
I want to open it up for comments, questions, discussion items.
43:03
I put a few here if we don't have any, but I'd like to hear some of your thoughts and comments or questions as we look at this topic.
43:18
Let me ask you a question. When you hear this image of God, how should that affect our view of something like the death penalty or abortion?
43:42
In Genesis, it tells us that basically the death penalty was initiated because when someone killed another person, it was such a violent act against the image of God.
43:53
And abortion, when you think about that, a child being made in the image of God, what a violent act we're doing against God.
44:08
I would ask that Steve, would you close us in prayer please, unless you have a final comment? We need to close up, but just one last comment.
45:29
That's a good question and I don't want to talk to you about that, but let me wrap this up and maybe if you want to come up after, we can just chat about that for a bit.
45:36
Let me close us in prayer. Heavenly Father, I pray as we consider this doctrine of the image of God that we would view others differently.
45:48
We would view ourselves differently and that we would strive more faithfully and diligently to be more sanctified and conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
45:59
And as we look to that hope that you've promised to us, Lord, I pray that that would give us great encouragement and strength as we go about our