Doctrine of Creation

All right, friends, with fear and trepidation, we're going to begin our class this morning.

! Good morning. Welcome. Welcome. Let me begin us with a word of prayer.

Our Father in heaven, we gather this morning and we give you praise.

Lord, thank you for giving us life and breath this morning to gather together,

to attend to your word and all the riches of yourself that you've revealed there

and all that you've revealed about who we are as human beings.

Lord, help us this morning to understand these things rightly and apply them rightly through your spirit.

God, we ask for your help and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Okay, so here we are in class. I think this is five of our survey of the doctrine of creation.

And, you know, we say this a lot when we do these Sunday school classes,

but, you know, we're like, let's do four weeks. No, no, no, that's not enough.

Let's do eight weeks. And then we get towards the end of the eight weeks like we are now,

and we're just like, we're just scratching the surface. It just never feels like enough time.

So over the last four weeks, we've been looking mostly at Genesis 1 and 2,

considering the doctrine of creation, and Luke's been walking us through these first two chapters,

kind of masterfully showing us ways in which we might be understanding them

and understanding them in light of how church history has understood these things

and how they interface with sort of contemporary views of the origin of things.

And last week, we talked about the origin of humanity.

This week, we're going to talk about humans as created in the image of God.

And, you know, there's a lot of ways we could approach a subject like this.

We could look at it just sort of through theological synthesis.

We could look at how the doctrine has developed historically through time.

If we had more and more weeks, that would be really, really enlightening and illuminating things to do.

But I think what I'd like to do this morning with the time that we have

is just look through the biblical passages that seem to be referencing the image of God

and try to weave them together into some kind of coherent whole

and then spend some time doing some application and discussion at the end about the meaning of these things.

Now, next week, we're going to take up really this doctrine again.

We're going to do it again in a second time, looking through some of what John will teach on,

which is sort of the, can I call it the cultural mandate, John?

Is that fair? Is that fair? Okay, yeah.

Look at, well, that'll all make sense in a few minutes when we get into this topic.

Good. So if you're like, well, what did Irenaeus think about the image of God?

We're not going to have time for that.

Very interesting, very fascinating.

But we're just going to look at the scriptures, try to synthesize them together, and then go from there.

We will have a third class after John teaches next week where we kind of try to wrap some of this stuff up.

So if there's more we want to do in the image of God, then we can.

So we will have some time if we find we spill over.

So let's go ahead and begin.

I want to begin with a quote that I think will launch us off nicely

from a theologian that we've referenced before in this class by the name of Herman Bavink,

who, you know, he was a thoughtful guy.

So, but I really like how he starts his chapter discussing the image of God.

He says this.

He says, and you'll hear resonances in this quote from what we've talked about in previous weeks.

He says, the revelation, sorry, the entire world is a revelation of God,

a mirror of his virtues and perfections.

Every creature in its own way and according to its own measure is an embodiment of a divine thought.

Does that sound familiar?

We talk about kinds and creation revealing the glory of God and each thing revealing the glory of God, you know.

Jonathan Edwards used to reflect on spiders and silkworms and how they were beautiful pictures of, you know,

images of the divine things.

But then Bavink says this.

He says, but among all creatures, only man is the image of God,

the highest and richest revelation of God,

and therefore head and crown of the entire creation.

Only humankind, only human beings are said to be in the image of God.

And that certainly sets us apart.

Let's look at that.

Let's look at Genesis 1 then.

So there's where we start.

Let's look at Genesis 1.

So turn with me to Genesis 1.

And we've read this chapter a couple times in our class,

so we're just going to dive right in to verse 26.

Genesis 1, 26, 27, and we'll do 28 as well.

So Genesis says,

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.

So God created man in his own image.

In the image of God, he created them.

Male and female, he created them.

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.

And God said,

Behold, I've given you every plant yielding seed

that is on the face of the earth,

and every tree with seed in its fruit.

You shall have them for food.

And then he goes on.

And then in verse 31, he says,

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.

Okay.

So let's just make a couple observations

about this text from Genesis 1.

Then God said,

Let us make man in our image after our likeness.

You can feel there a kind of distinction

in the narrative, can't you?

This is the first moment in the creation account

where God sort of pauses and deliberates.

Right?

You see up till this point,

God's hovering on the face of the waters.

God says,

Let there be light.

And there was light,

and there was evening,

and there was morning.

And then he speaks all these things into existence.

Speaking them into existence.

Speaking them into existence.

And then,

at the end of the sixth day,

at the pinnacle,

when it seems like everything is done,

he's already created all the beasts

that are moving on the earth.

Then God deliberates and says,

Let us make man in our image after our likeness.

So that right away tells us

that the creation of humanity

is just frayed with significance

and substance and importance.

Human beings are set apart

from the rest of creation.

Right?

Now, of course,

what are we according to Genesis 1 and 2?

We are creatures.

Right?

We are made from the dust of the ground,

as Genesis 2 somewhat poetically probably says.

Right?

So we are not, in that sense,

you know,

not created.

We certainly are.

But we occupy a special place

in creation as human beings.

Now, there's been a lot of discussion

about what God means by

let us make man

or make humankind in our image.

Right?

Any guesses as to what us means there?

Trinity.

It's the Trinity.

Right?

That's what we say as Christians.

We're like, of course, it's the Trinity.

Duh.

Like, we know that.

Yeah, right.

And that's probably the right answer.

Right?

You know,

some people have seen

let us make man

as a reference to

maybe it's sort of a majestic we,

you know,

like when the queen

always refers to herself as we,

or used to.

I guess it's a king now.

Does Charles refer to himself as we now?

I don't know.

Who knows?

Who knows?

Yeah.

You know,

maybe it's some kind of royal we,

but you don't see that a lot in scripture.

Maybe God's speaking to

the sort of hosts of heaven,

you know,

the angelic creation

and saying,

let us make man in our image.

But that's sort of funny

because humans aren't said

to be made in the image of angels

nor angels said to be made

in the image of God.

So it's this curious thing

that just hangs

in the first chapter of Genesis.

Let us.

There's some kind of

personal plurality within God

hinted at here

that only becomes unfolded

as we follow through

the rest of scripture.

And that same kind of hinting,

I think,

also picks up

when we think about image

and likeness.

What does it mean

when God says,

let us make man

in our image

and after our likeness?

Now,

throughout church history,

there have been many,

many ways

of kind of construing

what it means

to be made

in the image of God.

And I think actually

a lot of them,

most of them,

do shine some important light

on what this means.

But let's take a look.

Let's take a look

at the words themselves

and see if that might give us

some clues

as to what

scriptures mean.

So the first is image,

right?

Let us make man

in our image.

The idea here

of an image,

and if you look up

other passages

in the Old Testament

that speak of an image,

right,

a lot of them

aren't very positive.

What does the Bible

have to say

about making images?

Anybody?

It's a bad idea.

Don't make images

of things.

Well,

not of things.

Don't make images

of God,

right?

That's a really big no-no.

Don't make idols,

right?

But what did images do?

What did they function

as in the ancient world?

An image was something

that represented

something else,

right?

And I would say

representation

kind of in the

fullest sense.

So if someone

were to come in

the classroom

this morning

and say,

I'm here

as a representative

of,

you know,

I don't know,

well,

the kingdom

of the United Kingdom.

I'm here

as a representative

of the United Kingdom,

right?

A representative

of,

well,

we were picking

on Charles earlier,

King Charles,

right?

I'm here

as a representative,

right?

We would think,

oh,

he doesn't look

like Charles,

right?

It means something,

right?

It means that

he has a kind

of almost

delegated authority.

In the ancient world,

when kings

or rulers

would conquer

some new territory,

especially if it was

far flung from the capital,

what would they do?

Remember what Nebuchadnezzar

did in the heart

of Babylon?

What did he build?

A giant statue,

probably of himself,

right?

He built a giant

statue of himself

and what did he say?

Bow down to it

or you'd thrown

in the furnace,

right?

What did that statue

represent?

It represented his rule,

right?

And you see that

in the ancient world,

not just in the hearts

of their capitals,

but in the far flung

places of their empires,

kings would put up

images,

statues,

right?

And what did it represent?

It said,

this is somewhere

I rule,

right?

This is an extension

of my domain.

Humans

are made

in God's image.

The one true creator

and ruler,

we are made in his image

as representatives.

So there's a deep sense

of this full representation

in the sense of image.

But then God says,

after our likeness,

likeness.

And you know

what the word likeness

means in Hebrew?

It means likeness.

That's what it means.

It means something

that's similar

to something else.

Sometimes the Bible's

not all that difficult

to understand.

It's just similarity.

similarity.

You know,

you can look up

other passages

where Scripture

uses this word likeness

and it's,

you know,

images of stuff

that looks like

something else,

right?

So,

not only are human

beings

representatives,

representations

of God,

but we bear

a similarity

to God.

similarity.

And similarity,

you get the sense here,

right?

Because we already said

that the creation of humans

on the sixth day

carries this weight,

it carries this importance,

it carries this dignity.

So,

whereas the rest of creation,

right,

reflects God's glory

and we see something

of God

in every atom

and every leaf

and every sunset,

right?

There's something

about humans

that carry that similarity

to,

in some sense,

well,

I'm struggling

to find the right word.

We carry that similarity

to a degree

that nothing else

can or will.

That when God says,

this is how I want

to show myself

and represent myself

in creation,

I'm going to do it

through humans,

right?

Now,

in the history

of the church,

sometimes

there's been

a lot of freight

put into the difference

between these two words

that they talk about

very different things

that can be separated

and maybe some are lost

and some are gained

and fall in redemption,

maybe some means something

and some means others.

However,

I would put forward

that these words

actually aren't meant

to function

in super,

ultra distinct ways,

but they work together.

And in fact,

you'll see,

as we go through

some other passages,

hopefully if we have time

this morning,

you'll see that

these terms

start to be used

interchangeably.

Sometimes humans

are said to be made

in God's likeness,

sometimes they're made

in God's image,

but this whole complex,

this whole thing together

is intended,

right?

So,

whereas I've tried

to draw out

some distinction

between these two terms,

keep in mind

that they're really used

as sort of one thing,

that they're almost

used interchangeably.

And I think

that helps

as we think about

then kind of

what we mean

by this

or what this

starts to mean.

In the history,

again,

in the history

of Christian reflection

on these things,

different views

or different emphases

have come up,

right?

Now,

when you think

about God,

humans being made

in the likeness

of God

as being similar

to God,

what comes to mind

for you?

Yeah,

Peter.

The ability

to create.

Mm,

mm-hmm.

Yeah,

definitely.

We're creative

creatures,

right?

We have this

aesthetic sense,

right?

What else?

Any other similarities?

Tyler.

Relationships.

Yes.

Personhood.

Personhood.

Ooh,

that's a good one.

Did you say that,

Raul?

Yes.

Is that you?

Maybe like

rationality.

Oh,

yeah,

that was a biggie.

Lots of people

in the church

thought,

mm,

you know what

sets us apart

from the animals?

We can think.

Look at those

brute beasts,

right?

Reason.

Logic.

What else?

Existing capacity.

Yes,

language.

Yeah,

Richard.

So we shy away

from this one,

but I would

certainly add it,

and that's emotion.

Emotions?

Yeah,

absolutely.

Absolutely.

In preparing

for this morning,

I reread

Wayne Grudem's

chapter on

the image of God,

and he talks

about human emotion.

He says,

now look,

if you own a dog,

you know

that dogs

express emotion.

They're happy

when you come home.

They're sad

when you don't

feed them.

I thought,

yeah,

you know,

that's true.

But then he makes

this great point.

He says,

ah,

but think about

the complexity

of human emotion,

right?

And he says,

I could be sitting

at my son's baseball game

sad because they lost,

proud because of

how he played,

so joyful that he did

so as a good sport,

a little anxious

because we're going

to be late for dinner.

You know,

think about all the ways

in which humans

as emotional beings

reflect God

who is rich

in those passions,

right?

Now,

we can talk about

impassibility another time.

If that's me,

if talking about emotion

with respect to God

is making you nervous,

just put it in brackets.

We'll come back to it.

Yeah,

Beth.

Will.

Yeah,

we can decide things.

And to expand

on this one,

right,

we might say

that we have

responsibility

and we have

a sense of

ethics and morality,

right?

Oh,

my handwriting

is getting bad

down here.

So,

of course,

will,

you know,

we can,

we're inclined

and we choose things,

right?

We're not just

instinctive creatures,

right?

You know,

as much as I would love

to posit a will

on my golden retriever,

she is acting out

of instinct,

right?

You know,

not ours though,

not our golden retriever.

Everyone else's dog

though is.

But doesn't with this

come the sense

that we are

responsible creatures,

right?

We're held accountable

for our actions

and we do have a sense

of things that are

right and wrong,

right?

Not just things

that are

or are not

or that I like

and don't like,

but we have a sense

of ought,

this ought to be,

this ought not to be.

Yeah.

So are these

just shared attributes?

Between us and God,

Raul?

Is that what you're thinking?

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah,

really good question.

So,

when we talk about

our similarity to God,

our likeness to God,

right?

We're not saying

that humans are

omnipotent,

right?

Or omniscient.

Or omnipresent.

Or eternal.

Yeah,

even better.

Or,

or,

oh,

here's one I really

like a lot.

Do you know

what God's a saiyah is?

Means that God

has his being

of himself.

That he has,

he depends

on no one else

for being who he is.

Show me a human being

who is not radically

and utterly dependent

and so in need

of other things

to just subsist.

And yet God

is a very fullness

of being.

Needs nothing

and no one

to be exactly

who he is,

right?

There are all sorts

of ways in which

we are not like God

as creatures,

right?

And yet,

God,

in his wisdom,

in his kindness,

decides to reveal himself,

right?

And there are ways

in which we do,

by analogy,

by a dim reflection,

of course,

share

or participate

or shine forth

with attributes

of God,

right?

That,

as God is creative,

so we as his image bearers

are creative,

as God is a speaking God,

right?

So we have this amazing

capacity for language,

as God is deeply personal,

essentially so,

so we are persons,

right?

As God is deeply relational,

right?

As a triune God,

so we,

in bearing his image,

are relational,

et cetera,

et cetera.

Does that answer

your question,

Raul?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Richard?

So,

I would say,

just like representation

and similarity

are not so easily

disentangled from each other,

and they shouldn't be,

also,

authority

should not be

disentangled

from responsibility.

Yeah.

Those who feel

a deep responsibility

for this or that,

also,

have that sense

of authority

over that responsibility,

such that

if something

threatens to thwart

their responsibility,

their sense of authority

begins to exercise itself.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I would add

responsibility

slash authority.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's right.

And isn't it interesting

that as you say that,

right,

doesn't it immediately

begin to see how

these two concepts

touch into each other,

right?

That they're very connected.

God has all those

attributes,

but he exercises them

perfectly.

Correct.

Yeah,

that's right.

That's right.

He doesn't do jealousy

perfectly.

Yeah,

that's right.

Yeah,

that's right.

That's right.

Yeah.

We exercise these things.

I mean,

in the original creation,

right,

which we're looking at here

in Genesis 1,

we exercise these things

in a creaturely way,

in a finite way.

In a dependent way,

right?

And,

as God's representatives,

we ought to be functioning

in a creaturely dependent way,

right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Kim.

Well,

the statement that

we don't,

we don't come into the world

having those qualities,

but having the potential for them

Yeah.

and growing into them.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But not necessarily growing into them

all at the same level.

Yeah,

that's right.

Yeah,

that's right.

Yeah,

that's right.

That's right.

Yeah,

yeah.

Yeah.

Or someone who is relationally challenged,

but have great skills in other of those.

Yeah,

that's right.

I think this brings us to another part of our passage.

I think that's a good transition,

Kim.

So,

we see here,

right,

let us make man our image after our likeness.

So,

we've talked about all these ways in which,

you know,

human beings have a similarity to God.

We sort of carry these things forth

in a unique and qualitatively different way

than the rest of creation,

right?

But then he says,

let them have dominion,

right?

So,

here we're into this language of representation

and we'll talk more about that next week,

right?

But then he says,

so God created man in his own image.

In the image of God,

he created him.

Male and female,

he created them,

right?

So,

right from the start,

what it means to be created in God's image

is to be fundamentally,

we've referenced this before,

to be fundamentally relational beings,

social beings,

right?

That,

to your point,

Kim,

we can't actually bear forth the image of God

in isolation from one another.

That we have to do this together.

And,

of course,

this wonderful statement in Genesis 127,

which would have been quite radical in the ancient world,

that men and women

are created in God's image,

equally,

without distinction,

right?

That they both bear God's image.

Now,

the scriptures will sort of,

as it unfolds,

talk about different roles,

different aspects

that male and female play

in the economy of redemption

and creation

and these kinds of things,

right?

But in their essence,

men and women

are created

in God's image.

Why don't they tell men that?

What's that?

Why don't they tell men that?

What do you mean,

Roel?

Since the beginning,

since when Adam said to God,

the woman that you...

Of course,

yeah.

Relationships have been...

Totally fractured.

Totally fractured.

Since then.

Yeah.

Men have to buck up.

They really are equal.

Yeah,

that's right.

That's right.

Yeah.

And you see,

even in this earliest passage,

right?

Even in this Genesis 1 passage,

don't you see

a kind of three-fold relationship

that humans have?

That bearing God's image

means something about

our relationship to God

and to other humans

and to creation,

right?

Let us make humans

in our image,

right?

There's that fundamental

relationship to God.

Male and female,

he created them,

right?

Have dominion

over the created order,

right?

So we see it there.

Okay.

Let's keep going

to look at another passage.

So,

isn't it a wonderful picture

of how the Bible starts?

We're human beings.

We bear this likeness to God.

We stand as his representatives.

We're meant to bear his image

in the world.

We're meant to be his vice regents

in creation,

not just reflecting him

in our,

oh,

I forgot one thing.

I'm going to come back to it.

Not just reflecting him

in our being,

in our attributes,

right?

But also in our role,

in our representation.

And in the biblical story,

how long does that last?

We don't know.

Well,

we don't know.

We don't know historical time,

right?

But in biblical time,

it's pretty quick,

right?

We get through one chapter,

chapter two.

Then in chapter three,

you know,

an undisclosed amount

of time passes,

and suddenly,

the fall happens,

right?

Human beings,

rather than functioning

as representatives of God,

decide to rest authority

for themselves

and rule in their own name,

right?

Now,

here's one of the big questions

that has sort of hung,

that I think hangs

over the biblical text,

right,

is what then of our status

as image bearers,

right?

What then happens,

right?

Is it lost?

Are we no longer

God's image bearers?

Is it completely destroyed

and effaced?

I mean,

God does say,

you'll return to the dust,

right?

What becomes of it?

But,

there's very good indication

that though the image of God

is in many senses

marred

or cracked

or disfigured

in us

as humans.

It is not lost.

It is not lost.

So,

let's look at some

of the following passages.

So,

if you turn over

just a couple pages

to Genesis 5,

the fall happens,

Adam and Eve

are expelled

from the garden,

the incident

with Cain

and Abel

happens,

the great tragedy

of that,

Adam and Eve

have another son

named Seth,

and then this is

Isaiah 5:1

chapter 5,

verses 1 and 2.

So,

this is the book

of generations of Adam.

So,

that's like a literary marker

in the book of Genesis.

Like,

hey,

here's a new chapter

of the book.

Here's a new section

of this book.

This is Genesis 5.

This is the book

of the generations of Adam.

When God created man,

he made him

in the likeness of God.

So,

there you see

just reference to likeness there,

not to image and likeness.

So,

a good sign

that these terms

are just kind of

used interchangeably.

He made him

in the likeness of God,

male and female.

He created them

and he blessed them

and named them man

when they were created.

When Adam had lived

130 years,

he fathered a son

in his own likeness

after his image

and named him Seth.

Okay,

so there's a reaffirmation

as this new

post-fall chapter

of Genesis opens

that,

yes,

these humans

were created

in my image.

So,

there's a reaffirmation

that they were created

in his image,

right?

No mention

of whether the fall

did or didn't

sort of erase

the image of God

in humans.

And then it says,

he fathered a son

in his own likeness

after his image

and named him Seth,

right?

Now,

this passage

is a little indeterminate,

isn't it?

Because some have read

this passage

and said,

ha,

look,

Adam was made

in God's image,

but whose image

was Seth made in?

Adam's bump,

bump,

bump.

See,

we lost it.

Well,

that's maybe

one way of reading it,

but another way

of reading it

as humans

endowed with reason

and logic,

right?

We can create

a simple syllogism,

can't we?

Now,

I was an English major.

I didn't study logic.

So,

if someone here

has a good training

in law and philosophy,

you can correct me

on this one,

but the syllogism

runs something like this,

doesn't it?

Adam was created

in God's image.

Seth was created

in Adam's image.

Therefore,

Seth is created

in God's image.

There's probably

a flaw in there somewhere,

but that's the idea,

right?

That this image

in which Adam

is created,

Seth is also

in that image,

that there's a sort

of organic unity

of bearing God's image

that goes down

into every generation

of humans.

Now,

which reading

is right?

Well,

I think if we go

to the next passage

where the image

of God comes up

in the book

of Genesis,

that becomes clear.

So,

this is Genesis

Genesis 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9.

Genesis 9,

Genesis 9:6

verse 6.

So,

the fall happens,

Adam and Eve

are expelled

from the garden,

humanity continues

to be fruitful

and multiply,

but rather than

bearing God's image

and caring for

and tending the garden

and expanding

God's kingdom

throughout the earth,

what happens?

Wickedness abounds,

right?

Image bearers

now aren't using

their endowments

and their representational

capacities

to glorify God

for the good of creation

of one another.

They're using it

for their own selfish desires

and things are just

tumbling down.

So,

then the flood happens.

God judges the humanity

but preserves humanity

through Noah and the ark,

right?

Noah and his family

come out of the ark

and then

we read this

in Genesis 9,

and God blessed Noah

and his sons

and said to them,

be fruitful

and multiply

and fill the earth.

The fear of you

and the dread of you

shall be upon every beast

of the earth,

upon every bird of the heavens,

upon everything that creeps

on the ground

and all fish of the sea

into your hand

they are delivered.

Every moving thing

that lives on the earth

shall be food for you

and as I gave you green plants

I give you everything

but you shall not eat

the flesh with its life

that is with its blood

and for your life blood

I will require reckoning

from every beast

I will require it

and from man

for from his fellow man

I will require reckoning

for the life of man.

Okay, so God's sort of

reestablishing humanity

gives them that mandate

to be fruitful

and multiply

and fill the earth, right?

Now he's saying,

look, now you can eat animals, right?

Or at least he's sort of saying

go eat animals, right?

But then he says,

but there's a prohibition

against taking human life, right?

And this is verse 6.

Whoever sheds the blood of man

by man shall his blood be shed

for God made man

in his own image

and you be fruitful

and multiply

and increase greatly

on the earth

and multiply in it.

So what's the rationale

that God gives

in this prohibition

against taking

another human's life?

Based on verse 6.

God made man

in his own image.

God made man

in his own image.

That's right.

That because humans

are made in God's image,

no one has the right

to unlawfully

take their life.

That decrees God.

Exactly.

That's right.

That's right.

So isn't that a good...

Now we did a whole class

on the sixth commandment

and not murdering

and things like that.

You can go listen

to that class

if you're interested

in how the rest

of the Bible

unpacks that.

But the point

I want to make here is,

right,

that humanity's status

as image bearers

remains

after the fall.

It becomes a ground

for our ethical thinking,

right,

and God's ethical

commands to us.

Yeah, Justin.

You could even

make the argument

that in the fall

we actually

unrightfully

made ourselves

more in God's image

than the human being.

Yeah, potentially.

Although,

I wouldn't want to run

that track too far,

right?

Because in rebellion,

the witness of Scripture

is that we actually,

that there's,

that actually

it's a loss,

right?

You'll see in the New Testament,

we may get to these

passages over time,

where,

you know,

as Paul looks back

and as the New Testament

writers look back

on the first creation,

it sees us as created

an original righteousness

and holiness.

There's a kind of,

not just a moral rightness,

but a relational rightness

to God,

right?

That's beautiful.

And it's something

that on the basis

of that original righteousness

and holiness,

we're meant to unfold it

and unpack it,

right?

And in rebelling

against God,

right,

which was the ultimate,

like,

what was happening

on the tree,

right,

was like,

God put a tree

in the middle

of the garden

and said,

this is the way

in which you can

respect and honor

my rights as creator,

right?

I decide what's right

and wrong as creator,

right?

So don't eat

from this one tree

as a sign,

right,

as a symbol

that you honor

my authority.

Then go eat

from every other tree

you want,

right?

Then humans took,

under the temptation

of the serpent,

right?

They take it.

And then what's lost

in that,

what's lost in that

is this original

righteousness and holiness,

like,

it mars everything.

We lose so much,

right?

It's actually,

it's actually

dehumanizing in a sense,

right?

Not unhumanizing,

but dehumanizing.

And because humans

are made in God's image,

right,

to become less human

in the way we were

created to be,

right,

is actually to become

less like God,

right?

So in that act

of rebellion,

right,

one might put it this way,

God always honors

God's own authority.

In humans not honoring

God's authority,

we become less like God.

That sounded very

John Piper-y,

didn't it?

God loves God's glory

to the greatest

most extent,

but I think it's true.

There seems to be,

yeah,

John.

There seems to be a sense,

and I believe,

that it was so,

where they had imagined

that in taking this

behind the serpent's lie,

that there would be

an enhancement.

Yeah,

that's right.

But when they did it,

it seems like you get a sense

that they realized

that something had cracked,

that they actually

were subject to a loss,

right?

Yeah.

That they had been had.

Yeah.

Yeah,

that's good,

John.

And I wonder if there's

some irony there

when the writer says

their eyes were opened

and they did know

good and evil.

That that wasn't seen

as an accomplishment,

but a great loss,

right?

That the serpent meant

you can know it

in the sense of

you can determine it,

right?

Like,

you can be the determiner

of right and wrong.

Why not use your status,

role,

and capacity

to be God?

And they took it

and ironically,

they then knew

good and evil,

but it wasn't

what they thought.

Yeah.

There's like a tension

in us

that it's been broken,

our image of God,

but then there's

the sensus divinitatis,

the sense of the divinity.

Yeah,

that's right.

So we want to go back

to that state.

Yeah,

that's right.

Yeah,

that's right.

Unless he does something.

That's right.

That's right.

Yeah.

Hold that thought roll

because it's a great transition

to my next point

with the little time

we have left.

Yeah,

Tyler,

go ahead.

Just real quick,

I think we see God's grace

playing itself out

even in Genesis 9

because he could have

easily let the angel

once he's done

no further chances.

Right.

He's got promise

God's grace

is working himself out

in the evening

and restoring

what was lost.

Yeah.

You know,

God's been gracious

since the beginning.

Yeah,

yeah.

And isn't it wonderful too?

And you see this repeated

over and over again

in scripture.

So,

now one of the great questions

that hangs over scripture

at this point

from Noah

is like,

okay,

well,

what's going to become

of these image bearers?

Right?

Right?

Because you see

as scripture unfolds

that bearing God's image,

right,

it's not something

that we have

that we can lose.

It's something

that we are

as humans.

Right?

Do you see

the difference there?

It's not as if

when we say

that we're image bearers,

it's not like

I'm a book bearer

and it's like,

oh,

I lost it.

Right?

It's who we are.

We can't not be

created in God's image

if we are humans.

Right?

So,

the great question is

what's going to become

of God's image bearers

whom he loves so much

and for whom he exhibits

much patience?

And the history

of redemption

in the Old Testament

is really God working

to preserve,

redeem,

and restore

his image bearers

in the midst

of his creation

for the sake

of redeeming

his whole creation.

You know,

isn't it interesting

that when God

pulls,

when God calls Abraham,

right,

he blesses him,

right?

That sounds familiar.

Who was blessed?

Well,

Adam was blessed.

Noah was blessed.

Abraham was blessed.

And I'm going to multiply

you,

Abraham,

and your family.

Right?

When God calls Israel

out of Egypt,

right,

brings them to Sinai,

what does God call

his people at that point?

He says,

you're a kingdom

of priests,

right?

You represent me,

right?

I think there's echoes

of image language

in there,

right?

But of course,

when does all this

reach its climax?

Well,

you know,

it reaches its climax

in the pages

of the New Testament.

When the fullness

of time had come,

God sent forth his son,

born of woman,

born under the law,

to redeem those

who were under the law

so that we might

receive adoption

as sons.

And isn't it fascinating

that we,

that Jesus,

who's fully human

and fully God,

how is he described

in the New Testament?

Look at 2 Corinthians

with me,

4, 4.

So, Paul here

is talking about

the ministry

of the gospel

and he's saying

that for some,

their eyes are veiled

to the gospel.

And he says

in verse 4,

in their case,

the God of this world

has blinded the minds

of unbelievers

to keep them

from seeing

the light

of the gospel

of the glory

of Christ

who is

the image

of God.

That Christ

comes

in his full

humanity

and is

God's image

bearer

in the perfect

way.

We see the same

thing in Colossians 1.

If you turn over

to Colossians 1.

Colossians 1.15

says,

he is

the image

of the invisible God.

The firstborn

of all creation.

Now,

firstborn there

is language

that basically

doesn't mean

that he was like

the first creation,

right?

Firstborn was sort

of a title

or a status.

When you were

the firstborn

in a family,

you had rights

over all the stuff,

right?

Because you were

the firstborn.

That's what Paul

is saying there.

That Christ,

the crucified

and risen Christ

is the firstborn

of all creation,

right?

He has rights

over the whole thing.

He is the image

of God,

right?

So Jesus comes

in his redemptive

role,

perfectly bearing,

taking up our flesh,

right?

And perfectly bearing

that image.

Why?

Why does he do that?

To just show us

how far off,

how far we've

missed the mark,

right?

Stupid humans,

you know,

look at how it's

supposed to be done.

No,

right?

He does it for us

and for our salvation.

Turn over

just a little bit

in Colossians,

if you're still there,

to Colossians 3,

Colossians 3:10

verse 10.

So talking about

believers now,

united to Christ

through faith,

right?

Covenanted,

you know,

in the new covenant

with Christ

through faith.

Paul says,

well,

in verse 9,

don't lie to one another,

seeing you've put off

the old self

with its practices

and have put on

the new self,

which is being renewed

in knowledge

after the image

of its creator.

Christ came to rescue us,

to redeem us,

and to renew in us

this image

that had been marred

through the fall,

not lost,

but certainly marred

and misdirected,

that through

the work of Christ,

through the Spirit's work

within us,

that image

is being renewed

over time

as we follow him.

I know I'm going

quickly here,

and it's just because

we're a little short

on time.

So,

we see that

in Christ,

this image

is being renewed

and redeemed.

It's not left

in its broken

and fractured state,

right?

Let's look at

one other passage

in Romans,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8.

Paul says this

in Romans 8, 28,

he says,

we know that

for those who love God,

all things work together

for their good,

for those who are called

according to his purpose.

For those whom he foreknew,

in the sense there

is sort of like

those he foreloved,

he also predestined,

that is,

he foreordained,

he set on a path

to be conformed

to the image

of his Son

in order that

we might be

the firstborn

among many,

in order that he might

be the firstborn

among many brothers.

You see?

Christ has come

bearing that image

perfectly,

and now we,

through God's sovereignty,

are being conformed

more and more

into that image.

And when will this work

be done?

When will our

imaging

be made complete?

Right?

Well,

it ought to be growing

more and more

in this life,

right?

we ought to be

experiencing

more and more

of God's

character,

righteousness,

holiness,

in our life,

in our relationships,

in our relationship

to him,

to others,

and to creation.

We should be taking up

this great call

to be his image bearers.

Again,

we'll talk more

about that next week.