He Shall Have Dominion

Grace Reformation Bible Church

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September 6, 2020

Preacher: Ross Macdonald Scripture: Genesis 1:26-31

00:03: Well, this will be our last week in Genesis 1 as we continue on what we began last week the image of God and we talked about specifically the image of God and Creation and ask the question.
00:17: What does it mean? To be made in the image of God to be created in the likeness of God and the answer we said in many words was
00:28: That man was made to be like God in every way that a creature can be like God And We talked about there being a broad and a narrow sense to man being the image of God in relation to the fall
00:43: On the one hand we said the ethical foundation the very dignity of human life
00:50: The reason that we hold a funeral and bury a body Is in no small part due to the fact that man has retained the image of God even after the fall into sin
01:04: There's something about the personal moral Rational nature of man that still retains the image of God on the one hand, but on the other hand the theological foundation of the gospel
01:18: Begins with affirming the fact that man lost the original righteousness in which he was created
01:24: Which made him fit for life with God and in that sense he lost the image of God And this morning we're going to move forward from image of God and creation to talk about image of God and Dominion and that brings us
01:39: More more closely to verse 28, which is sometimes referred to as the Dominion mandate
01:45: So beginning with verse 27 God created man in his own image in the image of God He created him male and female
01:53: He created them then God blessed them and God said to them be fruitful and multiply fill the earth and subdue it have
02:02: Dominion over the fish of the sea over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth
02:10: So this morning we want to consider this passage in three parts First we want to talk about image bearing and Dominion.
02:18: In other words, what what is this passage describing? Secondly we want to consider its full development in the
02:27: Bible and then we'll be talking about the last Adam Jesus Christ and his new creation and then lastly briefly
02:35: We'll make a few applications as we talk about being conformed to the image of Christ through communion
02:42: So first image bearing and Dominion one of the things that we're trying to do is make helpful distinctions
02:48: So we began our series in Genesis by distinguishing God's Transcendence from his eminence in other words the fact that he's above all and outside of all but also that he's near and present
03:00: We also made a distinction between the broad retention of the image of God and the narrow sense in which it was lost and now we also need to make a
03:09: Distinction this morning between talking about being God's image in a representational way and being
03:15: God's image in a functional way So that's the big distinction the big vocab for today
03:21: First, what does it mean to be God's image? Representationally in the ancient
03:28: Near East around the time that Moses was writing the accounts of Genesis Images were thought to represent or to mediate the presence of their likeness
03:39: This wasn't just true of idols or false God images But even of statues of kings and of rulers wherever they conquered territory
03:48: They would set up images of themselves as a representation of their ownership or their reign over a new domain
03:55: When it comes to the idols this is the case even more so the bond would have been even stronger for the idea of a an idol or a
04:04: God and you have to understand in the ancient Near Eastern Mindset deities were localized the idea is that our
04:12: God is the God of this land or this tribe this Ancestral area and therefore this is his domain and his image represents his reign over this domain
04:22: And Yahweh is always condemning the fact that he is he is the
04:27: God of all All the hills belong to him the earth belongs to him and its fullness
04:34: So we have to understand this Representational nature of being an image it mediates the presence of the
04:43: God for an ancient Near Eastern mindset and this seems to be exactly a Sort of counterfeit of what
04:49: God's actually doing with man. It's a counterfeit an idolatrous counterfeit of something that's recognized
04:55: We make an image out of something to represent or mediate its presence because we are image bearers of God Representing or mediating his presence
05:05: For an idol as Edward Curtis says the statue was placed where the deity was present and manifested itself
05:13: Thus the presence of the God and the blessing that accompanied that presence were affected through the image
05:20: And so this is why you have the pagans coming to certain sacred sites or sacred hills or temples to worship
05:27: Venerate an image The idea is the presence of that God and the blessing of that God are going to be coming through the image
05:36: It's going to have a mediating Presence and God says do not make an image of me for that very reason
05:45: This all has a bearing then on what it means for humans to be the image of God in this representational way the fundamental idea of humanity in this sense is that we
05:56: Represent the presence of God we make manifest his blessing upon what he has made
06:03: That was the original intention of God's creation I'll say it again in other words as image bearers
06:12: Humanity mediates the presence of God in the world we mediate as Those made in his image the presence of the
06:24: Creator in creation That's what it means to represent
06:29: God as his image human beings as image bearers Mediate the presence of God in the world.
06:37: It's a Representational aspect to being made in God's image Now going back to what we said in the first week
06:44: This does not mean that God is somehow dependent upon man as though he had to make image bearers in order to be
06:52: Present in the world. We've already said no God is imminent in the world. He's personal and present in what he's made
06:59: He's free and independent from it, but he's chosen in that freedom to draw near But when we look to the creation of man as God's image bearer, we see this profound honor this profound dignity
07:15: That despite all of the various things all of the complexity of creation
07:21: God chose human beings to be the manifestation and the representation of his presence
07:29: And to mediate in their work and in their worship his blessing in what he had made
07:37: There's another aspect that flows out of Representing God in this way and that is it's functional
07:46: There's a functional aspect to being made in the image of God Another way of talking about this is there's a vocation
07:54: Which is another way of saying calling? There's a calling There's work to be done.
08:00: You know, you take up a trade or you go to vocational school You're pursuing a calling the fact that we were made to represent
08:08: God and to Mediate his presence and blessing to make it manifest in the earth means that humanity has this calling that was put upon them
08:17: This functional aspect of being God's image bearer is immediately connected to exercising dominion over creation
08:27: So realize what we're saying at the very beginning we represent God's presence on the earth
08:33: We manifest his blessing of creation in our calling and that calling is dominion verses 26 and then 28
08:44: So it's front -loaded you have dominion the creation of man in God's image dominion
08:49: Then God said let them have dominion over the fish of the sea Over the birds of the air and over the cattle over all the earth.
08:57: That's to say all creation Over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth and then
09:02: God blessed them this is after he made man in his image and God said to them be fruitful and multiply
09:08: Fill the earth and subdue it have dominion over the fish of the sea over the birds of the air
09:13: Over every living thing that moves on the earth again. This is the summation of creation and so see that God making man in his image
09:22: Immediately gives man the calling to exercise dominion over creation
09:30: Some of you would have heard this language of being God's vice regents Meaning he truly is the king of what he has made and yet he puts such dignity upon man that we reign with him
09:43: Man was created to be a vice regent to sit next to the throne of God as it were and reign and rule
09:51: On his behalf. There's this ruling function that flows out of being made in his image and likeness
09:58: And this is what we considered when we open the service with Psalm 8 again When I consider your heavens the work of your fingers the moon and the stars which you've ordained what is man that you're mindful of him
10:13: What what honor you would bestow upon us You've made him a little lower than the angels you've crowned him with glory and honor
10:23: You've made him to have dominion over the works of your hands.
10:29: Do you see? Creation is being summed up what God's hands have made you've put man in this position to reign over You've put all things under his feet all sheep and oxen even the beasts of the field the birds of the air the fish of the sea
10:45: It's a commentary on Genesis 128 Now when we get to chapter 2 in Genesis, we see the if we could put it this way the mundane specifics of how man exercises dominion
10:59: He cultivates the earth He labors in every relationship of creation in which he participates and it becomes for man and all
11:09: Encompassing pattern of a life lived unto God in work and worship as Co -equal parts of a life lived before God man exercises his dominion
11:20: He manifests God's presence and blessing on the earth. The Dominion then is never focused on man as man but rather man as God's image as Man and woman
11:36: Together began to work The glory and the beauty and the order out of Eden into the rest of the world they were to do so representing
11:46: God Exercising what God had given to them their their minds their morality the law written upon their hearts all of these things came to bear
11:55: Upon manifesting his bless his blessing and presence upon creation another way of talking about this is the idea of being a steward
12:03: There's a stewardship that was given to humankind. I love what
12:09: Henry Morris has to say about about this idea In order to subdue the earth we must first understand its processes
12:17: And so man was made with with knowledge to apply And that's applied in technology.
12:24: So engineering medicine Agriculture and we implement for use by all
12:32: Business commerce we transmit that to the next generation education Creation can be described and praised in the humanities and in the fine arts and so the
12:44: Dominion mandate encompasses every human occupation as a stewardship under God All of life lived with reference toward God Matthew Henry would say
12:56: God designed hereby to put an honor upon man that he might find himself More strongly obliged to bring honor to his maker and everything that he does
13:07: There's no sacred secular split There's no equivalent of going to church and doing something holy on a
13:13: Sunday and then just kind of grinding through the world the rest Of the week everything that man does he does as a representative of God?
13:21: Everything that man is is mediating the presence of God Everything that man does is an application of what
13:28: God has given him so that God may be honored through him See, this is how God created the world to be
13:36: I'm so tempted to go into the fall, but we're not in chapter 3 yet All of this gets flipped upside down as you know as Christians This Dominion is diminished and it's it's lost by the fall
13:51: But there's this providence of God that continues and in certain respects the
13:56: Dominion mandate Continues for all human beings as we said there is still this sense of being made in the image of God So just put a place marker there.
14:07: That's a world to unpack, but we really can't touch it until we get to Genesis 3 So again, we've seen so far man is made in God's image is representative of God, but also a
14:21: Functionary for God and then perhaps the best way to encapsulate this
14:27: As we can talk about the human being Being a king and a priest and a prophet
14:36: There's this kingly language in Genesis 128 Subdue the earth rule over it exercise dominion.
14:45: This is royal language Man was created with this royal imagery as a representative of God But then there's also this idea of of a priestly mediation as as man as God's image is
15:00: Mediating God's presence and blessing that's priestly You mediate the blessing of God So there's this priestly function to being human and then as God's vice -regents as his image bearers
15:12: Ruling over all of the earth for the glory of God. They there's a law written on the heart In fact
15:18: Adam the first thing he hears Is the law of God the law of God and in that sense he becomes a prophet
15:28: And so man is this Prophet priests King that is integral to what it means to be the image of God Don't just take it my word on that this this is the threefold office we call it prophet priests
15:44: King I'm saying this is something inherent to being the image of God Herman Bovink one of just the great
15:54: Herman Bovink Go by Bovink There's there's some great abridgments of some of his work
16:01: This is what he has to say. The image of God is not a static entity But extends and unfolds itself in space and time.
16:11: It's both a gift and a mandate It's another way of saying it's something that's represented and something that works that functions it's a gift and a calling
16:22: Only humanity in its entirety as one complete organism summed up under one single head spread out over the whole earth as Prophet proclaiming the truth of God as priests dedicating itself to God as ruler
16:38: Controlling the earth and the whole of creation only then is it fully the finished image the most telling and striking likeness of God Now what bearing as we move to the second point what bearing?
16:53: Does man in God's image as a representation as a vocation and a function as a prophet priest and King?
17:02: What bearing does that have on Christ as the image of God? Christ as the last
17:09: Adam We've already said last week from Colossians 1 that he is the image of the invisible
17:15: God He is the firstborn over all of creation and we again connect this immediately to dominion
17:22: All things were created through him and for him we read things that were created in heaven and on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or Dominions or principalities or powers even the
17:37: Dominions are under his dominion That's what Colossians want to say And we read this in light of Genesis 1 28 the idea of Dominion is preeminence humanity made in Genesis 1 28
17:53: Preeminent over all of God's creation and then specifically drawing all of that to Christ who is preeminent over all
18:02: And that's why as we saw Hebrews 2 Makes Psalm 8 all about Jesus Christ Psalm 8 is reflecting on Genesis 1 26 through 28
18:16: Hebrews 2 says Psalm 8 is properly understood ultimately as a reference to Christ himself
18:26: What is man that you're mindful of him? The writer of Hebrews quotes or the son of man that you take care of him
18:32: You've made him a little lower than the angels You've crowned him with glory and honor you're set him over the works of your hands
18:38: You've put all things in subjection under his feet And this is a reference to Jesus For in that he put all in subjection under him under Jesus He left nothing that is not put under him.
18:53: Jesus is the man to whom Dominion is given over all of creation Because he's the image of God That's the significant thing here
19:02: But I'm not probably saying anything brown great, you know groundbreaking to say to you
19:08: Jesus is preeminent Jesus has authority overall Jesus exercises dominion what
19:14: I'm trying to emphasize is this he does so as the image of God That's what you have to see
19:21: And if you don't see that you will not be able to make sense of the larger Entailment of what it means to be human and the larger picture of why we are saved.
19:30: That's how important this is Jesus exercises dominion Not because he's the divine
19:38: Lord only but because he is the image of God He's the image of God All of salvation in other words is bound up with God's plan to glorify his son
19:52: Through a people that will be conformed to that image The image of prophet priests in King the mediating presence of God in the world the the vessel of blessing upon all that God has made
20:10: In you Abram nations shall be blessed same idea that's unfolded
20:17: Christ came Galatians 3 So that the blessing of Abraham could come upon the
20:23: Gentiles you see this is how the gospel begins to unfold in flower Romans 8 29
20:30: For whom he foreknew this is God whom he foreknew he predestined To be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren
20:41: Here we have again a different way of expressing what it means to be new creatures in Christ a new creation in Christ Paul is saying nothing less than this
20:52: Christ is the firstborn of creation a new creation a new humanity
20:59: That fulfills God's original design and intention for humanity So Christians participate in the fulfillment of who
21:08: Christ is and what he's done and as we Participate as we are in union with him by faith walking according to his way
21:15: We're being conformed by degrees into his image and into his likeness That's wonderful flowery language.
21:23: But what does that mean? We have to go back to what it means to be the image of God in the first place That's why this is so important It's Christian East to say.
21:33: Oh, yes, we were saved that we might be conformed his image And that might just sound like we sort of lay back and are slowly molded despite any effort
21:42: You see what I'm saying understand what it means to be the image of God You have a calling now to be a prophet and a priest and a king
21:51: To rule in those ways that Christ has authority that's given to you to mediate his blessing in his word as both
21:58: Prophet and priest this is what it means to be conformed into the image of Christ So when you read the gospel accounts you you read it as the creator coming to dwell in creation and Then all of the gospel story is bound up with Genesis 1 and what it means to be the image of God The Creator comes to dwell in his creation the express image of the invisible
22:27: God and He humbles himself to suffer his own curse upon fallen man
22:35: For the sake of a people that he will create new in the newness of his risen life when he rose from the grave
22:42: Having power over death and what does he do to his people to his disciples? He breathes upon them with the
22:49: Spirit in the same way that Adam as we'll see in chapter 2 is Formed and breathed upon and given life
22:56: Christ does that to his people newly formed newly born He breathed the Spirit into them taking them out of that that dry valley of bones out of a state of death
23:06: Dead and their trespasses and sins he breathes into them new life as new creations as a new
23:11: Humanity in him now, they're being conformed into his image and likeness This all comes about in Christ Galatians 6 16
23:26: For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision or uncircumcision avails anything but a new creation
23:34: Please note not justification Which is the whole theme of Galatians Wouldn't you expect
23:46: Paul to say that for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything But being justified by faith alone that no man may boast in his work.
23:54: That's what you'd expect he says This is dealing with the old man with old creation.
24:01: This doesn't matter. You need to be a new creation And how does that come about in Christ Jesus?
24:07: In Christ Jesus these things don't avail anything whether you've been made alive in him as a new creature as a new life
24:15: Second Corinthians 5 17 you all know it so well Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation old things have passed away behold all things have become new
24:25: Where have they become new and why have they become new in Christ? That's what he says new creation
24:32: New Adam new humanity the restoration and the consummation of what it means to be the image of God Christ risen in glory radiates the fullness of humanness very important point
24:50: He brings humanness into the heaven of heavens He sits at the right hand of God in the flesh of humanity
25:04: He wasn't some apparition when he just when he ascended into the sky he brings
25:13: The atoms and the molecules of a body that was made for him That was nursed by his mother trained and encouraged by his stepfather blessed by friends and neighbors
25:29: He brings that flesh to the right hand of God And it's entirely correct to say that the intent of all of God's creation was and is to present his son in his preeminence as the head of a new humanity
25:49: Which perfectly reflects his divine image? And therefore as Christians we understand that we are new creations in Christ Because we're being conformed to his image not that we're just being restored
26:04: Back to what Adam was but we're coming to Christ What I'm saying is this there's a real sense in which it's it's just not that we're restored to the image of God It's that we understand what the image of God really is
26:17: It's the image of Christ Christians are being conformed to the image of Christ To the likeness of Christ who is the express image of God.
26:27: That's a vital point The entire Old Testament storyline
26:34: Unfolds to reveal this great mystery of the coming of Christ We sang about it as we sang joy to the world
26:42: It centers upon the preeminence of Christ as the last Adam as we'll see in chapter 2 from his torn side
26:49: He creates the bride of his glorified saints, but we're living between the now of that fulfillment in the not yet Christ has been exalted and all authority has been given to him
27:01: But there's the sense in which those salvation has been inaugurated. It's awaiting the consummation
27:07: It's awaiting the full revelation of it, which is coming on that coming day. All of this turns upon Christ as the image of God Exercising the dominion of an image of God first Corinthians 15
27:27: I Want to show you again Christ raised from the dead the express image of God The glorified humanity that was always the design and how that's immediately connected to Christ Exercising dominion as the image of God Okay, Genesis 1 into 1st
27:47: Corinthians 15 beginning in verse 20, but now Christ is risen from the dead
27:53: And has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep For since by man came death
28:01: By man also came the resurrection from the dead For as in Adam all die even so in Christ all shall be made alive
28:10: But each one in his own order Christ the firstfruits afterward those who are Christ's at his coming then comes the end and The end here is the completion of dominion
28:26: Subdue the earth right? That's the dominion mandate Subdue the earth and Paul is saying
28:33: Then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father When he puts an end to all rule and all authority and power for he must reign
28:42: Until he has put all enemies under his feet Do you notice that language from Psalm 8?
28:48: all things under his feet The last enemy to be destroyed is death
28:57: Christ's Exercises this at the very beginning when he bursts out of the grave
29:03: He inaugurates he begins. This is the Normandy invasion of salvation to use a very famous analogy
29:12: Once the Allies got on the beachhead at Normandy Anyone who knew the difference between north and south knew that it was just a matter of time
29:21: But they still had to push through the Ardennes forest There was still this holdout this stubborn resistance the
29:26: Battle of the bulge all the way before they could finally make their way into Berlin And that's where we are
29:33: It's over. The war has been won, but we still have to press in to the kingdom
29:38: We still have to press into Berlin There's an enemy that remains and is retained until that coming day and Christ must reign
29:47: Until he has put all enemies under his feet In Christ we are conformed to this image -bearer
29:57: Exercising this dominion over all of creation He was always the firstborn always meant to rule in this way
30:06: He establishes a new humanity in his image and Mediates his presence and the blessing of his kingdom as he subdues the earth and fills it with new life and new hope
30:23: And this all turns on Christ Being risen from the dead.
30:29: He came in the likeness of man And then he's risen from the earth in the glory of a new humanity.
30:38: He's the first fruit The first sprout of what we shall be of what we were always meant to be
30:51: Adam as God's image -bearer was not the full intention of God's design for humanity
30:58: The full intention and design of God for humanity was in Christ's always
31:07: Christ was the goal Christ was the design Christ is the fullness of what it means to be human
31:17: Thus in Christ we see the fullness of a prophet the fullness of a great high priest the fullness of a sacrificial and noble King As truly
31:31: God and truly man Jesus Christ comes to exercise dominion over every
31:36: Facet of life every square inch of the cosmos he created because it was created for him to rule over Charles Hodge the great
31:47: Princeton theologian says the universal dominion this universal dominion as we learn from the scriptures has been realized and attained only by the incarnation and exaltation of the
32:02: Son of God But as God sees the end from the beginning as his plan is immutable and all comprehending the supreme exaltation of humanity
32:12: Was designed from the beginning and included in the dominion with which man was invested.
32:19: Do you see what Hodges saying? Christ's dominion was always the goal and Yet because God sees the end from the beginning here in Genesis 1
32:29: He is attributing this calling and this dignity and this honor to exercise dominion and subdue the earth
32:36: He gives that to man knowing that Christ is the one to whom it will be fulfilled That's why as we closed last week
32:45: We we had this statement God's purpose in creating man in his image is completely realized in the person of Jesus Christ Frankly this is why as we even began a series we said we don't begin creation
33:02: With the debates about you know creationism we begin creation with Christ We begin creation where John 1 begins creation where Colossians 1 begins creation
33:14: Christ is the preeminent one You cannot make sense of Genesis. You cannot make sense of the
33:20: Bible You cannot make sense of what it means to be human unless you understand that Christ is the center of it all
33:28: This is what Stanley Grenz has to say he's talking about How Christology unfortunately, you know, if you if you have ever looked at a theology book
33:38: Especially in the Western tradition. We always have the same categories in which we do theology Theology meaning the study of God and there's different ologies that go into a standard
33:49: Systematic theology. So even our confession is a good example as we look at the different chapter headings of our confession
33:56: We have different different headings different ologies and Stanley Grenz is making this point that You know, we begin with the doctrine of God maybe doctrine of Trinity and then doctrine of Christ and he's saying it
34:09: That's good. You have to order it somehow, but don't let that Take you away from the centrality of Christ to everything
34:17: Listen to this. This is just gold Christology meaning the study of Christ the revelation of Christ Christology Is a theology informing locusts meaning subject
34:30: Christology informs the doctrine of God you begin with the doctrine of God You can't understand the doctrine of God without Christology For we cannot know who
34:38: God truly is except through Jesus who is the true image of God the true revelation of God Christology is crucial for the doctrine of creation as we're seeing
34:48: Insofar as God's purposes for creation Cannot be seen unless they're seen in relationship to Jesus who as the image of God fulfills the human calling as the cosmic
34:58: Christ Christology informs the doctrine of humanity. What does it mean to be human?
35:04: For we cannot know what it means to be human without looking to Jesus who as the image of God Embodies what
35:12: God intended for humanity and is the true human? This is
35:20: I think one of the most profound Areas Of our faith is that the
35:27: Creator became creation is that God became man We we rightly and as you heard me at the funeral yesterday
35:34: The cross is at the center of our faith because it's our faith and our hope You know, that's a
35:41: Western tradition and the Eastern tradition sort of the centerpiece of their faith and worship is the incarnation
35:47: And I got to tell you they're on to something with that Not at the expense of the cross, but they're on to something that This is the great mystery that was hidden for ages
35:57: That that God would come to dwell with his people Not as a plan
36:03: B to humanity not as all the humans the humans blew it I guess I'll have to send my son as a human now so I can try to do something with you
36:12: Christ's before God created anything Christ's preeminence was planned by him becoming the creation
36:20: Christ's humanity was the purpose of humanity That's how significant this is
36:27: So a few applications as we come to the third section Just just two points brief points about what it means for us then as Christians to conform
36:37: To Christ's image and the first is and you all know this as we do this progressively
36:44: We do this progressively 2nd Corinthians 318 we all with unveiled face
36:49: Beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed Into that same image from glory to glory just as by or even as by the
37:00: Spirit of the Lord There's a progressive nature to being conformed to the image of Christ we call that sanctification
37:09: The Spirit of the Lord from glory to glory is making us more like our
37:15: Savior We speak like that you said things like that But you probably haven't thought of it in the fullness of what it means that Christ is the image of God and therefore
37:27: Christ Is the representation of God and the calling of God for humanity?
37:35: It's not just being made more pious If you could put it that way I'm being you know
37:42: Transformed into the same image because I'm slowly watching less and less YouTube videos. This is me becoming more like his image
37:49: May well be a part of it. But do you see what I'm saying? The image is so much deeper than that This is getting back to the fundamentals of how we represent and mediate
37:58: God's presence in this world Christ then shows us how to do that He shows us how to do this that in a broken and fallen world
38:07: Where men are stubborn and hardened and are quick to reject and persecute He shows us what it looks like to be truly human and to fulfill
38:15: God's calling for humanity in the flesh in a broken world When you read the Gospels read it in that way
38:23: We put off the old man with all those Corruptions all those defilements we put on a new man renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him
38:33: Christ We Put off that former conduct the old man
38:38: Which as we read in Ephesians 4 was full of deceitful lust and were renewed in the spirit of our mind
38:44: We put on that new man created in righteousness and holiness we put on Christ We put on Christ We're destined to be this new humanity in Christ We're progressively being transformed into the reality of a new creation in a new
39:01: Adam As his image bearers were being conformed to his likeness Christians are relearning
39:08: Degree by degree day by day However imperfectly how to follow Christ as a prophet as a priest and as a king knowing that on the day
39:17: We finally see him Will be made like him second point
39:24: First point again. We we conformed his image progressively Second point we conform to Christ's image in community
39:34: In community or maybe better put as community Conforming to the image of Christ is not something you do solo
39:45: It was never designed to be this way human beings were made as social creatures reflective of the
39:51: God who is social in a sense within himself Perfectly one and yet perfectly three the persons of the
39:57: Godhead relating and communing together And therefore
40:03: Conforming to the image of Christ must be communal Because the image of God is a triune image
40:10: It's a communal image the restoration of the image then the Sanctification that makes us more and more like our
40:18: Savior is lived out in communities lived out Not only in the wider community, but specifically in the church in the body
40:25: The wisdom of God is that he composed the body He gifted members with different gifts and abilities and he put them all together
40:33: To work out their salvation together so that in working out the grace that he's bestowing upon them
40:39: They can be collectively conformed to his image that means I cannot conform to the image of my
40:45: Savior without you and You cannot conform to the image of Savior without little old me
40:53: We need each other To conform to the likeness of the Son of God.
40:58: That's the glory of God's design and what happens when the church in particular is being conformed into the image of the
41:08: Son of God and is exercising dominion Out of the authority that was given to him
41:14: The dominion that he has as he's presently now reigning bringing all the enemies all those that opposed him in subjection under his feet
41:21: What does that look like for a church to do that Matthew 5 13 and following you become the salt of the earth?
41:29: The city on a hill You are the salt of the earth But if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?
41:37: It's good for nothing but to be thrown out trampled underfoot by men. You're the light of the world a City set on a hill that cannot be hidden Nor do any put a light
41:49: Under a basket, but they rather put it on a lampstand and it gives light to all those who are in the house
41:54: So let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven
42:00: Do you see this is what it means for us together to be conformed to the image of the Son? We mediate his presence to the world as light as salt
42:11: Just as he himself came and mediated the presence of his father To a lost and dying world a world that would reject him and crucify him so Taking a big step back in the last few moments
42:27: I just want to give you the big 10 ,000 foot view of what we should take away from Genesis 1 even even
42:33: Genesis 1 26 to 28 in Hopes that will be prepared as we move into chapter 2 next week
42:40: Big step back big big picture here The chief end of man is to glorify
42:46: God and enjoy him forever That's the chief end of man There's a spatial and a progressive aspect to this
42:55: It takes place in space and it's something that's progressive This was true.
43:02: Not just after the fall. We're now the image of God becomes something missional through Christ's accomplishment
43:08: But even before the fall The enjoyment of God and the glory that man brought to God required space and progress in Genesis 1
43:18: God establishes the whole earth as the place of his dwelling and he appoints he literally plants
43:25: Adam and Eve in Eden to mediate and represent him to function as prophets priests and kings as royals and Then to begin to progress and spread out the order and the glory and that mediated presence
43:43: From Eden to cover the whole earth Eden is the prototype typical temple of God And we see that even when the temple was later built.
43:53: It's it's retaining this garden imagery. This is the presence of God This is where man is planted
43:58: But that presence is meant to break out and fill the earth with God's glory
44:05: That was the intention and design of God Adam and Eve were to work as vice regents as stewards ruling over creation
44:14: Expanding the beauty in the order of Eden as they expanded by their own presence and by the generations they produced the glory of the
44:23: Lord's likeness over all of the earth and Thereby magnifying
44:29: God's glory to the ends of the earth as his image bearers communing with him That was all torn away by the fall it was turned inside out what was meant for God Then became against God But God promised
44:45: To Eve as we'll see a seed Really interesting, isn't it?
44:50: It's a seed a Seed that would come in due time
44:58: Crush the serpent save the people a Seed that lived a perfect life
45:04: We could not live died the curse of the death that we were to die and that seed when he died was planted in the earth and He sprouted forth he burst forth on the third day as the first fruits of what we shall be new humanity
45:23: Christ as the last Adam is now presently reigning, but there's still this progressive aspect to his rule
45:30: He's presently bringing all of his enemies and opposition under his feet until that coming day and we reign with him now
45:37: We will rule with him and will judge angels with him on that day we magnify his glory throughout a fallen earth as prophets priests and kings as ambassadors of his kingdom as citizens of the heavenly realm
45:51: We reflect the presence of his glory in the light of his life as new creations in an earth
45:57: That is groaning in awaiting a final consummation You could go as far as to say the goal of our salvation is not just to be forgiven of our sins and to escape judgment the goal of our salvation
46:12: Is to be conforms to the image of Christ the image of God that is the purpose of humanity and therefore the purpose of saving humanity and And as such
46:28: We are restored to an unbroken fellowship of God's presence where there's joy and Splendor at his right hand forever in which we dwell in a new heavens in a new hearth as new humanity
46:39: Conforms to the likeness of the one who saved us bowing and working and fulfilling a new calling
46:45: Without sweat or sorrow without tears or death and perfect communion with the
46:51: Savior who loved us at the cost of his own life And we'll finally know what it truly means to be human
47:01: He must reign until that day Until he's put all his enemies under his feet
47:10: That's the gospel Let's pray Lord we we are amazed to consider your design
47:28: There's really no words to say just to break out in the praise and the wonder of it all The depths of the riches of your knowledge of the counsels that you've made
47:38: In eternity past before anything was made You're designed to glorify your son to present to human beings that you would make
47:49: What it must be to be a human being and giving your son as a firstborn of creation preeminence overall
47:57: And that you would come and remedy our own sinfulness our own rebellion at the expense of of this one who loves so Perfectly who emptied himself and took the form of a slave and died the curse of death upon a tree
48:11: And that you planted him in the belly of the earth in the stomach of the great whale that swallowed
48:18: Jonah that he could burst forth on that third day the first fruits a
48:24: New humanity a redeemed humanity, but at the same time The everlasting intention for humanity what you had always purposed for humanity to be not so that we could dwell as Adam and Eve once dwelt with your presence, but An invisible presence or a presence manifested in different ways at different times
48:44: But rather that we could dwell with you as flesh to flesh and look into the face of our
48:50: Savior The true man and true God and see the face of the living triune
48:56: God We're amazed at the design of your salvation We're humbled if humbled is even the word that you would choose us and appoint us to be partakers co -heirs joint rulers images
49:11: Being conformed by degrees of glory into the likeness of this one Who loved our souls at his own sake?
49:20: Help us to understand Lord what it would mean for us to be restored in his likeness
49:26: Ways that we need to better mediate his presence and his blessing to others ways that we need to better come together and put off the ways of the old man and Put away the flesh as we learn to conform to his image together in community and become therefore the light and the salt of the earth
49:42: Help us To rule with him as we aid in our time in our efforts and our energy in our resources
49:50: To the advancement of his kingdom which shall know no end though the gates of hell war against it
49:56: Help us as priests a royal priesthood formed from his blood
50:02: To mediate his word and his blessing and his promises as well as his warnings to the world
50:09: That's so lost and set against him Let us be his emissaries as prophets demanding that the nation's the
50:15: Kings and the rulers Bow and kiss the Sun lest they perish in their way Help us
50:21: Lord each one of us and collectively as a whole To see the glory and the beauty and the calling of what it means to be conformed