Everyone is Made in the Image of God | Rev. Michael Fredericks

So, our series is called What Christians

Believe.

What Christians Believe.

And so far in the first three messages,

we've we've kind of said this about what

Christians believe. We've said

Christians believe that God has made

himself known, especially in Jesus.

We've talked about that, how God has

made himself known. We talked about how

Christians believe that God is triune,

the Trinity. And last Sunday we talked

about the fact that Christians believe

that God created the universe.

And our fourth message today, the

statement of truth is that Christians

believe that all human beings are made

in the image of God.

The Latin phrase for image of God is imo

day. The IMO day. And I think if you can

use a cool Latin phrase for something

you could also just say in English, why

not use the Latin phrase to sound smart,

right? So, imod day is what we're

calling the sermon today.

And our first key text is the same uh a

portion of the scripture that we used

last week as well, which is Genesis

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1. And we'll be reading from

verses 26 through to 28.

I'm reading from the English Standard

Version. So it says this in Genesis 1:26

Genesis 1:26

as part of the creation narrative. 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 him. 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."

All right. Note in verse 27, it says,

"Male and female, he created them." So

it's not just that men are made in the

image of God, but men and women are both

made equally in the image of God. And

not just these two, not just the first

pair, but this idea of the image of God,

of people being made in the image of

God, applies to all human beings, all of

humankind. In Genesis 9:6, for example,

Genesis 9:6

talks about the prohibition of murder.

Don't kill people. And the reasoning for

that, why shouldn't you kill people is

quote, "for God made man in his own

image."

And in James 3:9 in the New Testament,

James 3:9

it says, "With our tongue, we bless our

Lord and Father, and with it we curse

people who are made in the likeness of

God." So people, this is not just

something for Adam and Eve. This is for

all of humanity. We are all made in the

image of God. Every human being bears

the image of God. Young and old, rich

and poor, the good, the bad, and the

ugly. your family, your enemies, the

people you love and the people you can't

stand, immigrants and racists, sweet old

grandmas and tyrants, atheists and

pastors, homosexuals and those who

protest, homosexuals, people with

piercings all over their faces, and

people who aren't as cool as them, and

even people who cheer for the wrong

hockey team. Everyone is made in the

image of God. Everyone.

>> Amen.

>> Everyone. Everyone without exception.

But what does that mean? Well, what does

it mean to be made in the image of God?

Well, let's talk about that. There's

various ideas over the centuries uh uh

that theologians have pondered as to

what this means exactly. And so, there's

a few things that I think we can say

about this. It's generally understood.

First of all, that to be made in the

image of God means that we have been set

apart from the rest of creation.

There's something different about human

beings than there is about animals and

plants and rocks and everything else

that exists. There's something in our

substance as human beings that

transcends all other created life.

In Genesis 1, the the plants and the

animals are described as being made each

one according to its kind.

But human beings, it says, are made in

God's image and likeness. There's

something different about people. And

the fact that humans are depicted as

being the last thing that God created in

this series of things that he creates

gives the sense that human beings are

the pinnacle of creation. The little the

the cherry on top, the his magnum opus.

Everything prior to humans when God

creates it, it says that he said it was

good. And then when he creates human

beings, he said, "Ah, this is very

good." There's like one degree even

goodter than everything that else that

came before that was good. All right.

And so what does it mean to be made in

the image of God? It means that we are

set apart from the rest of creation. It

also means that there's something in our

being that is like God. There's

something in our being in our substance

as people that is like God. Now it

doesn't mean that we look like God

physically.

Obviously, yes, God took on flesh and

became a human being uh when he when he

came as Jesus Christ, but there's no

reason to think that God prior to Jesus

looks like a human being. John 4:24, it

John 4:24

says God is spirit.

There's a there's a song uh that I like

that Ruthie introduced me to and it

says, "God is not a boring old white

man." I like that. God is not a boring

old white man. He is all right, man.

give him your life, man. It's a great

song. Uh, but yeah, God is not a boring

old white man. He's not a man at all. He

is God. He transcends humanity. Um, so

we don't look like God physically. But

there is something internal

internal about us that is the image of

God in us. And and people have debated

over the years what that means. And

perhaps it means it it's referring to

our ability to reason or to be creative

or to invent things or to think

abstractly.

Um but you know we see some of that

behavior in highly intelligent animals

as well. Crows are super smart and

dolphins are very intelligent. So m

maybe it's that maybe it's more than

that. Maybe it's something in our moral

capacity our or our relational capacity.

But again, we see that present to a

degree in the animal world as well. And

so, some theologians would say that it's

more of a spiritual reality. The fact

that human beings have a soul or a

spirit that allows us to relate to God

in a unique way. That human beings,

unlike the animals, are able to have a

relationship with God. Right? We're not

just body and mind, but we're also

spiritual beings. we have a soul or

spirit that is part of who we are. So

that could be what it means that we're

made in the image of God.

It's also been discussed that part of

what it means to be made in the image of

God could be related to our unique role

in the world as human beings. We have a

unique role.

We know that God is the ultimate ruler

of the world. Uh but he has given us

dominion. And it says in Genesis 1,

dominion as his imagebearers to be

subrulers over the world. It's still his

planet. He's still the owner, but we're

tasked with being the stewards of it and

shaping it, building it, and making

things of the world, making it better,

taking care of it, harnessing the

potential of the world by working and

having families and doing all the good

things that we do as people.

So that could be part of what it means

to be made in the image of God. We've

been given this responsibility sort of

in the same way that God has

responsibility over the world. And

there's one more concept of what it

could mean to be made in the image of

God that I I find really intriguing. And

it's this idea that human beings are

like living statues of God on earth.

The word that we translate as image into

the English from the Hebrew in this

Genesis 1 is the word celum to celum.

Selm um and that word literally means

statue or idol image figure replica

likeness. It's a word that's used

elsewhere in the Old Testament to refer

to idols, false idols, like when people

make a little image of their god. Um

these false gods. It's the same idea.

So there's a connection here with the

idea of what was happening in the

nations surrounding Israel at the time.

In the ancient neareastern world,

especially in Mesopotamia, which was the

cultural world of Genesis, there was a

there was a ritual that scholars called

the Mispe ceremony or the mouthwashing

ceremony. And what this was was that

craftsmen would carve idols of their

false gods uh out of stone or

wood or whatever material they had. Um

and then they would do this ceremony

where they would the priests of these

false gods would symbolically open the

mouth and nostrils of this uh idol so

that a deity could enter it. So

incantations were spoken over this idol

and then the idol's mouth was washed

with water

and after that then the idol was usually

installed in a temple to this god or to

some shrine or something

and the language used in these

installation ceremonies often involved

standing the statue in its sacred place

and then once installed the idol was

treated as the living presence of the

god. So they they would wash the mouth,

wash the nose of this idol and then say

some words and it would the idea is that

now the god has entered this idol and

then they would stand it upright in

their sacred place.

Now that is sort of the the custom of

the day. Now listen to

Genesis 2 which is a another um creation

narrative

u focused on Adam and Eve and and the

Garden of Eden. And starting in verse 5,

it says this. When no bush of the field

was yet in the land, and no small plant

of the field had yet sprung up, for the

Lord God had not caused it to rain on

the land, and there was no man to work

the ground, and a mist was going up from

the land, and was watering the whole

face of the ground. Then the Lord God

formed the man of dust from the ground,

and breathed into his nostrils the

breath of life, and the man became a

living creature. And the Lord God

planted a garden in Eden in the east,

and there he put the man whom he had

formed.

Now, do you see any parallels there?

Isn't that interesting? I think it's

kind of cool, right? God forms the man

from the dust like a sculptor who might

form an idol. God breathes into his

nostrils the breath of life, just like

in these ceremonies. And God places the

man in the garden. In the Hebrew, it's

literally he causes him to stand or

installs him in the garden. And the word

choice is all intentional because what

it's doing is it's intentionally echoing

the idol ceremonies of the world around

uh at that time and overturning it.

Right? In Mesopotamia, people made gods,

but in Genesis, God makes people. In

Mesoa Mesopotamia, priests perform

rituals to animate statues. But in

Genesis, God himself breathes life into

the human. In Mesopotamia, idols are

installed in temples, but in Genesis,

God installs a living human in his

garden temple, right? The Garden of

Eden, representing a sort of holy of

holies in the temple of creation. I

think that's really cool.

And I love how the Bible in in in this

story is sort of throwing shade at at

the culture of false gods and idol

worship.

It's almost making fun of them.

And furthermore, throughout scripture,

God forbids carved images of himself.

Why does he forbid the people of Israel

from carving images of him?

Well, not only because he's invisible.

How do you carve an image of God? But

because he has already given himself

given the world images of himself

everywhere, right? People are the little

idols of God, the little statues of God,

right? You, me, every human being. We

are all living statues in God's cosmic

temple.

Man, when I first learned about this a

few years ago, it it kind of blew my

mind. Like, this is really interesting

to me.

So what does it mean that we're made in

the image of God? In part, I think it

means that we in some sense are God's

God's living statues, God's idols, his

living idols uh in uh in the world.

Okay. So that's kind of what it means to

be made in the image of God. Now, let's

talk about what this means for us. This

is the this is the so what part of the

sermon.

Made in the image of God. Eh, okay. So

what? Cool. Interesting information. But

what do I do with that? Does it mean

anything for me? Well, yes. And I think

there are three main takeaways

from this truth that we are all made in

the image of God. The first is this that

we should seek to represent him well.

We know that God is love. God is good.

God is gracious and kind. God is

compassionate and just and as his

imagebearers, we have a calling to

represent him well to all of creation to

be like him, right? To model his

character, to be good statues.

Have any of you ever gone to like a wax

museum somewhere? You ever wax museum,

right? Like Ripleys or Madam Tus or

something, right? Well, sometimes uh

when you go to a wax museum, the the

statues that they make are like pretty

accurate. Other times they're terrible.

It's like this is supposed to be Britney

Spears. Like what? It doesn't look

anything like Britney. Right. And and

and so sometimes there's there's people

there's a lot of people walking around

in the world that are uh a pretty bad

representation of God. They're not doing

a good job of imaging his character. And

we need to make sure that we're not like

that. We shouldn't we shouldn't be image

bearsers that look nothing like the

original.

But yeah, we have messed things up,

right? Sin has messed things up. We

don't always do a great job of imaging

God, of being his living statues. We

don't image his character perfectly in

the world. in a way were sort of like

broken statues or broken mirrors

reflecting the image of God but not

perfectly. one one time when I was a

student pastor uh and I was speaking on

this the topic of the image of God in my

church and you know the pastor

graciously gave me opportunities to

preach once in a while and I I don't

know those old sermons were not so good

but anyway um one time I was talking

about this and I actually had a mirror

on the on the stage and to illustrate my

point I smashed the mirror and I tell

you what people did not like that I

don't know people I guess superstition

or something But people were like really

really unhappy with the fact that I

literally smashed a mirror on stage. So

I'm not going to do that today. Uh I

learned my lesson. But I was saying I

was trying to illustrate the point that

you can still see your reflection in

this mirror but it's broken. It's broken

by sin. And that's in a way how we have

messed up the image of God in us. We

don't reflect him perfectly. So in light

of that God knowing that he sent Jesus,

right? And Jesus is the perfect image of

God. It says in the Bible in 2

2 Corinthians 4:4

Corinthians 4:4, Christ who is the image

of God in Colossians 1:15, he is the

Colossians 1:15

image of the invisible God. He is the

perfect representation of God. Hebrews

it tells us that he never sinned. So

even though all of us reflect the image

of God with a sinful distortion, there

is no sinful distortion in how Jesus

reflects the image of God. And so part

of his purpose was to show us how to be

human. The Bible calls him the second

Adam, a reset back to what uh it looks

really looks like to be the image of God

without the interference of sin.

And when we put our lives in Christ's

hands, when we turn to him in repentance

and faith, the Holy Spirit moves in to

our lives. And Christ begins to renew

the perfect image of God in us, picking

up the broken pieces, gluing them back

together,

helping that statue that started to

crumble take its shape again. It's a

work of restoration that God does in us.

Paul says that Christians have quote put

on the new self which is being renewed

in knowledge after the image of its

creator.

That's in Colossians 3:10. And in 2

Colossians 3:10 2 Corinthians 3:18

Corinthians 3:18, he has a similar

thought. So all of us who have had that

veil removed, who the barrier when we

trust in Christ, it's sort of like the

barrier between us and God and the glory

of God is removed. So we can have enter

into relationship with God. And so all

of us who have had that veil removed,

that separation, can see and reflect the

glory of the Lord. And the Lord who is

the spirit makes us more and more like

him as we are changed into his glorious

image.

So you see the idea here that through

Christ as we trust in him he gradually

through life sanctifies us makes us more

sacred causes us to become more like

perfect Jesus

more like the image of God.

So yeah what does it mean to be made in

the image of God? How does that what

does that mean for our lives? It means

we should seek to represent him well.

And the only way we can truly do that is

to trust in Christ as our savior. And he

will begin that transformation work so

that we can truly image him well to the

world. Okay. More on sin, Jesus, and

salvation in future messages in the

series. Um, but to bear God's image

means we are called to image him, to

represent his character, his justice,

his mercy, his love out into the world.

So when people see us, they catch a

glimpse of him.

What else does this mean for us that

we're made in God's image? Well, it

means that we actually belong to God and

should give ourselves fully to him.

I want to read from uh Mark's gospel

in chapter 12. Uh this is Jesus. He's

having a discussion with some uh

Pharisees and supporters of Herod that

are trying to trap him. And uh and so,

oh wait, hold. So that's not the spot.

Oh, yeah. No, that's the right spot.

Okay. Mark 12 uh 13 and onward. Um

so they're asking Jesus, should we pay

taxes to Caesar or not?

Should we pay them or shouldn't we?

Jesus, it says Jesus saw through their

hypocrisy and said, "Why are you trying

to trap me? Show me a Roman coin and

I'll tell you. And when they handed it

to him, he asked, whose picture and

title are stamped on it? Caesars, they

replied. Well then, Jesus said, give to

Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give

to God what belongs to God.

His reply completely amazed them.

So, you've heard that phrase before,

render unto Caesar what is Caesars's and

render under God, unto God what is

God's, right? the words of Jesus and

people, you know, we could talk about

what all this means. Lots we could say

about it, um, about paying your taxes

and all that kind of stuff. Um,

but I just want you to notice uh that

what Jesus says here because he's he's

saying that the because the Roman coin

bears the image of Caesar, it therefore

belongs to Caesar. And then when he says

give to God what belongs to God, the

implication is you bear the image of

God. God is stamped on you like Caesar

is stamped on this coin. So you belong

to God. So therefore give yourself to

God in the same way that you give Caesar

back his money.

I I just think it's really neat, right?

The We live in a culture today of self,

right? of me first, of individualism, of

autonomy.

But a Christian worldview says actually

not me first, me second, God first.

I belong to him. And if that's if that's

true, then I should surrender myself to

him. Recognizing the image of God in me

should lead me to recognize the lordship

of God over me.

I think that's an especially a good

reminder

especially good reminder um

at the be at the season of Lent, right?

We're in we just entered the season of

Lent as church Christians worldwide and

we don't really talk so much about Lent

here in our Baptist church, but uh if

you were a Roman Catholic or in a in a

higher church context, you you Lent

would be a major focus. And the idea of

Lent is is a time of of self-sacrifice,

a time of repentance and letting things

go in order to give ourselves fully to

Christ. And and I just think that's a

that this is in line with that message

of Lent that we belong to God and we

should give ourselves fully to him.

Okay. And the third thing that I would

say is a a key takeaway of the concept

of the image of God in us is that we

should uphold the sanctity of human

life.

Starting with the sanctity and value of

your own life,

by the way, right? His unconditional

love for you is a guarantee in

scripture. The Bible says in Romans 5:8

Romans 5:8

that God demonstrates his own love for

us in this way. That even while we, the

human race, were actively participating

in sinful choices contrary to God's ways

in rebelling against him that he

nevertheless, even with us in that

state, sent his son to die for us.

And as the old song says, if that isn't

love, then the ocean is dry. Remember

that song?

If that isn't love,

for God so loved the world that he gave

us his son. So he loves you. Be let's be

crystal clear on that. He loves you.

Your life is precious to God. It's good

that you exist.

And it also means that every other

person because we know the image of God

is in everyone. Every other person is

likewise loved, valued and treasured by

God. And therefore we should uphold the

sanctity of life, the sacredness, the

holiness of life.

I want to read a quote. Uh this is a

long quote but it's it's from the um

ethics and religious liberty commission

of the Southern Baptist Convention. And

this was written uh at the time when uh

Russell Moore was the head of the Ethics

and Religious Liberty Commission. And I

really like Russell Moore. Uh they they

fired him. Uh so I don't know if they

would agree with this statement that he

made back then. Uh they didn't like the

he he wasn't uh they didn't align with

their politics. U but this is what he he

wrote or they wrote at the time about

the idea of the image of God in everyone

and what that means.

They say Christians work to eliminate

starvation,

disease, and poverty because even the

poorest of the poor are created by God

in the image of God. Christians work to

rescue and rehabilitate abducted

children because there is no such thing

as a disposable human being created by

God and in God's image.

Christians fight abortion because

children created by God in the image of

God should not be terminated and

discarded. And because mothers created

by God and in God's image deserve our

care. Christians uphold the dignity of

the elderly and disabled. Because all

who are created by God in his image are

fearfully and wonderfully made and dear

to him.

Christians work on behalf of all

immigrants because they too are created

by God and in the image of God and

should be welcomed as we would welcome

Christ. Christians work for religious

liberty because the freedom to follow

one's conscious conscience is part of

what it means to be created by God in

the image of God. Christians work for

the flourishing of marriage because it's

an instrument of blessing for women and

men created by God in the image of God.

Christians work for racial unity and

reconciliation because all people

created by God in the image of God share

something much deeper than skin color.

In short, there has never been a human

being who was not created by God in

God's image. And that's what animates

everything we do. the common thread that

holds it all together. God's image

compels God's children to love all

people.

Amen. Amen. That's an amen. I think

I think what this statement is getting

at is what is sometimes referred to as a

consistent prolife ethic. A consistent

pro-life ethic or being completely

pro-life from womb to tomb. Right? It's

not just about being anti-abortion. When

we think pro-life, most people think,

well, you that means you're against

abortion, but a consistent pro-life

ethic goes far beyond that. I adhere to

a consistent pro-life ethic. It's why I

don't agree with non-medically necessary

abortions, and that's a whole another

conversation. We don't need to get into

all of that. But it's also why I'm

opposed to things like the death

penalty. Why I lean towards pacifism.

Why I support efforts to protect the

environment. Why I think advancements in

medical science to save lives are a good

gift from God. Why I don't think the

world needs a trillionaire.

And why I am deeply troubled by the

sudden rapid increase in normalization

of medical assistance in dying in Canada

right now. And just like other things,

we're not going to get into a robust

discussion on that in here and now. But

I do think it needs to be said because

of the cultural moment that we're in as

a country right now that Christians

should not view maid medical assistance

in dying or physician assisted suicide

as something that is normal or

acceptable.

uh in Genesis 9:6, which we read back at

Genesis 9:6

the start of the message, it prohibits

us from killing others because they are

made in the image of God. And if that's

true, then of course this applies to

killing ourselves as well.

Physicianass assisted suicide is not

something that the Christian should

receive or support.

And I have sympathy for those who face

extreme suffering at the end of their

lives. I really do. And I have walked

with people who are dying many times.

And in those very rare situations, I can

understand the argument. I can

understand the argument on merciful

grounds, even though I still don't think

it's the right choice when other end of

life care options exist to reduce

suffering. But I can tell you from

firsthand experience and from what I'm

hearing from others that medical

assistance in dying is not being offered

only to people who are facing extreme

intolerable suffering at the end of

their lives. It is being offered as an

easy way out. It has been normalized in

Canada as a good, reasonable medical

choice for almost anyone who has been

diagnosed with a terminal illness.

I I've been a pastor for 16 years and in

15 of those years I never had to deal

with this issue now. It's only been

legal in Canada for like eight years or

10 years or something like that. Um

but I still it's not something I've had

to deal with until the last like 6

months. And in the last six months,

there's been multiple times that I have

come up against this or have have

encountered this several times or people

in people in in their families are

experienced have said that they're

experiencing this and I'm sure many of

you have as well. The numbers keep

rising right now in Canada. And I do

think that this is an issue that

Christians really need to think about

and talk about and and discuss and

consider

the sanctity of all those who bear the

image of God.

All right.

Closing thought.

Christians believe that every human

being is made in the image of God and

all the different layers of what that

means. We talked about that already. So

what do we do with that? Well, it means

that we we ought to represent him well

in the world, right? We need to be good

statues. We need to be accurate

representations of God. The only way we

can really do that is through trusting

in Christ as our savior and allow the

Holy Spirit to begin that work of

transformation in us. It also means that

we need to give ourselves fully to him

because his image is stamped on us like

Caesar's image was stamped on the coin.

Give to God what is God's. Give yourself

fully to him. And it means that we need

to defend and cherish every human life

because his image is stamped on them as

well.

So when you walk out of this room today,

remember that everywhere you go, you

carry his name. You carry his likeness.

And as we do that, may people see your

life and catch a glimpse of him.

All right, worship team, you can come.

Wow, we are boogieing today. That's

good. Coming up in this series uh as we

begin to approach topics like uh the

fall of mankind, the descent into sin

and the plan of salvation

as we move towards Easter, we first need

to understand who is our enemy. What

about Satan and his demons? So that's

next week's topic. We're going to talk

about the forces of evil in the