Life Centered and Rooted (Gen. 1:26-28) (7/19/26)

We are continuing our Christian Foundations series

that began with Psalm 37, Trust God and Do Good.

Today the title of our sermon is Life -Centered

and Rooted. Life -Centered and Rooted. And it

will go through Genesis, part of Genesis chapter

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

1 and chapters 2 today. Let us pray. Our God

and our Father, we thank you for sending the

Spirit to give us life and to empower us for

the call you have given us to carry your words

of life to the ends of the earth. Please allow

the words of my mouth and the meditations of

all our hearts to be acceptable in your sight,

O Lord, our rock and nearest kinsman, Redeemer,

Jesus Christ, our risen Lord. Amen. Our text

today is found in Genesis chapter 1 beginning

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

in verse 26. Then God said, let us make man in

our image according to our likeness. Let them

have dominion over the fish of the sea, over

the birds of the air, and over the cattle, 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. Then

God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful

and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Have

dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds

of the air, and over every living thing that

moves on earth. These are the words of Almighty

God. Receive them in your hearts. As a reminder,

Sometime on Saturday evening I send out on the

realm the listing of these three points and then

the supporting verses either directly spoken

of although sometimes just for your information

There's a longer passage there that kind of gives

greater and more full context that I don't always

get into all the details on a Sunday morning

So I encourage you to look on the realm look

check your email box for those things So the

three things that I want us to see through this

passage today are this. We are created for worship.

We are created for worship. God made all people,

every single one of us, either male or female.

God made all people either male or female. And

there is but one mission. Final thing, there

is but one mission. Before we go all the way

into this, I just want to say this. One of our

problems is we do not have a united mission a

lot of times in our churches and many times in

our households. We have to have a united mission.

There's one mission. We're going to talk about

that today. And all of this is from a life centered

from worship. rooted in creation life centered

from worship and rooted in creation Satan is

the enemy to truth and therefore an enemy of

Christ and if an enemy of Christ then an enemy

to the bride of Christ the church as one commentator

puts it Satan is destitute of truth his interest

in the world is supported by lies and falsehoods.

Jesus himself said in John 844 that Satan was

a murderer from the beginning and does not stand

in the truth because there is no truth in him.

When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own

resources for he is a liar and the father of

it. Those who would follow the father of lies

and falsely shepherd God's people Jesus spoke

of those folks in this way in John 10 that they're

a thief and that thief does not come except to

steal kill and destroy I This is Jesus speaking.

I have come that they may have life and that

they may have it more abundantly So the contrast

is between lies, death, and destruction in Satan

and his children or abundant life found only

in Christ Jesus and by the power of the Spirit

in this church. We are surrounded by a great

many lies. I imagine even without the big things

that have happened If you are 10 years older

today, there were things that 10 years ago you

took for granted as truth. And then here you

are 10 years later and you understand truth in

a very different fashion. We are surrounded by

a great many lies. Satan has more and more loudly

perpetuated lies about what we are made for and

our mission. in the world. And because all these

lies are out there, and he brings lies, death,

and destruction, confusion, anger, despair, and

depression are the emotional and intellectual

realities of our time. If we do not know who

we are or what we are or what we are made for,

We live a stymied and frustrating life Satan

desires to steal kill and destroy mankind by

countering God's design and mission for us Since

we were made male and female and for dominion

and fruitfulness all ideas and actions that strive

to make people androgynous That's a big word

kids out there. You're going Well, there goes

Pastor again saying something else I don't know.

So to be androgynous is in all things to be genderless.

That is saying that, doesn't matter if you're

male and female, all things are suitable. And

this is counter to our God -given creational

identities and callings. To be androgynous, is

defined as neutered. That is to say, you're not

male or female. In being neutered, fruitfulness

and dominion is taken away. It takes both sexes,

male and female, to be fruitful and to take dominion

as God has given it to you. It is no wonder that

there is so much angst in the world. Satan has

sold the lie of autonomy from God, escaping from

the things that God has bound us with. Satan

has sold that lie on every street corner and

sometimes, yes, even sometimes in the church.

So what are we made for and who are we? We are

first created as worshippers of the Almighty

Triune God. Dearly beloved, as the Word of God

proclaims in so many places, starting in the

Garden of Eden, we were made for face -to -face

relationship with God with joyful obedience,

melodic song, gratitude, humility, and a true

table of breaking bread in His presence. This

of course was disrupted by sin in the fall But

God has been working his plan of reconciliation

and redemption through his son Since the first

Adam's fall and this was fulfilled in Christ

Jesus death on the cross resurrection Ascension

and in ascending of the promised Holy Spirit

To the earth to hover over his people and the

waters of baptism to transform our hearts, minds,

affections, and actions. If we do not make Lord's

Day worship and fellowship the center of our

lives, everything else will be off and out of

calibration. If we forsake the assembling of

ourselves with God's people on the Lord's Day

in worship, joyfully receiving His call, confessing

our sins, being consecrated. Children, you know

this. Being consecrated by the word sung, read,

and preached. Which is God, of course, changing

us and turning us into a living sacrifice by

His word, cutting us up, rearranging us, casting

some things off, and then conforming us to Christ

Jesus. And by being transformed by the fire of

the Spirit, we are able to join the table of

fellowship with God the Father through the Son

by the power of the Spirit. This gracious unity

with the Father and the whole congregation sets

us up to be commissioned, flowing with the Spirit

as the river of life to our separate posts. The

river of life is flowing out into the world and

you all have been given your outposts that is

centered on the church and in worship and in

Christian fellowship and it is flowing out to

your post. There we will produce fruit all year

round transforming the nations. We must acknowledge

that to take dominion and to be fruitful cannot

be done in isolation from God or our fellow Christians.

Our lives must be centered from worship. This

alone changes us and the world. You know, we

often lack faith, stressing. Having difficulty

really believing that simply doing what God says

and how he says it Will right the ship and see

the nations converted confessing Christ and Worshipping

God and in all things living for him and his

glory You know, especially for men we're doers

right women are glorifiers men are doers We want

to get out there and we want to wrestle the world,

and there's a place for that. We're going to

get to that. But we have the tendency to want

to fix everything. God reminds us that unless

he builds the house, unless he builds the world,

that is through his spirit, through his church,

through his people, that the laborers labor in

vain. I pray every morning that each of your

mornings, you are praying, asking God to bless

you, to build the house through you in morning

prayers. And then reflecting at night, giving

him thanksgiving and praise and assessing his

work through you. The triune God created the

heavens and the earth, not as something to be

consumed, but as a tutor and a mission. In creation,

we learn of God, Romans 1, and ourselves. Later

on in Romans 1, we learn all about how sinful

and corrupt we are. And you know what else we

find in the scriptures? We find our mission.

I'm going to list off a few scriptures here for

you, but we see our mission defined in Genesis

1 28 Genesis 2 15 Genesis 9 1 Leviticus 26 19

Matthew 6 10 and Matthew 28 18 through 20 and

that's just to name a few I Know it doesn't seem

like for you But go read those. And again, I

sent that out to you. Go read it. The Christian

life is not merely intellectual or some kind

of spiritually, ethereal, mystical thing. This

is the error of Gnosticism. You see, the heresy

of Gnosticism is this, that our goal in life

is to become so spiritual in some thing outside

of us, it's out there. But not to have it impact

the world in which we live in. That soil outside,

our households, our buildings, everything that

we do. God has a call for us and our mission

in all of those things. It's not simply out there.

God made all things in his creation. And what

did he do? He declared it good. And on the sixth

day when he made man, he declared it what? Very

good. God has been actively involved with his

creation. God didn't just, okay. He created the

world, and He spun it out there, and it's just

working, and He's way back here. No, He's been

involved with this creation, especially men,

since day one, and will be active in it with

men throughout all of history and even throughout

eternity. God the Father sent the Son into the

world, and we see this magnified in this, that

God the Father sent the Son into the world as

a man in flesh, who as Titus 2 says, concerning

our Savior, the God -man Jesus, who gave himself

for us that he might redeem us from every lawless

deed and purify for himself his own special people.

And we could stop right there. Oh man, work of

Christ for me. So good for the internal me. But

it doesn't stop there. It says, zealous for good

works. Trust God and do good God made all peoples

from one man and one woman God created us in

his image a relational creative and glorifying

image As you know God took that which was Darkness

formless and void and he filled it incrementally

making it increasingly glorious and good each

day. Now this is really important. Moms and dads,

even moms and dads of older children, you look

at your children and you say, they're not done

yet and they're wearing me out. You ever think

that? All right. Now, I hope you're not telling

them that, but children, it is a reality. And

so part of what you're supposed to do is joyfully

obey your parents. Ask clarifying questions in

a respectful manner. But you are glorifying God

in your attitude towards your parents. Parents,

your attitude towards everything you're doing.

And I know, it feels like, oh, when they just

get older. Well, I have children. My youngest

turns 20 this week. Up to 35, and you know there's

a mess of them. I see continuously areas they

need to grow. It's not done. I'm praying. I'm

working. My active work in it on a daily basis

is significantly different. Actually, I think

it takes even more prayer and more faith in God,

more pleading with God when you have to step

back from it than when you're actually in the

midst of it. Turn to Jesus. lean on him, but

understand that in God's instructions, what he

teaches us, that he made things incrementally

better over time, making it more and more glorious,

more and more in some ways gratuitous. He could

have given us food that was bland, but no, he

gave us this idea we make it incrementally better.

What do animals do? They go and they just eat

their food. What do we do? We cook it. We season

it. We figure out different ways to cook it and

season it. We're constantly making it, changing

it, glorifying it. When you get wore out in your

marriages, child rearing, your vocations, and

all the work in this world, ordinarily, what

God is doing is teaching us that changes happen

incrementally over time. Be patient. Be long

-suffering. Be understanding. Be joyful in the

slow process. And I know, moms, dads, you're

thinking, this is the thousandth time. All right,

maybe it's the 888th time. But that I have told

my child this. Trust God. Do good remain steady

and steadfast Do not be dismayed or disheartened

or frustrated Be faithful trust God and do good

and watch what God does Slowly over time in every

area of your life When God got to the sixth day

his crowning creation was to make man And to

make him in his image and to make them male and

female There are only two genders male and female

God by a sovereign will Chose for each one of

you that you would either be male or female Children

look up here look up here. This is really important.

You have no idea the chaos That's going on in

the world out there God sovereignly before the

foundations of the world chose that you would

either be a girl or a boy. Don't wish you were

a boy. Don't wish you were a girl. God made you

this. Be joyfully content in it and find God's

grace and glory for you in this of being male

or female. For we are not to think that it would

be better to reject what God has assigned us

remember when we reject what God has given us

We are charging God that he is sinned Lord have

mercy Rejoice in it being made male or female

embrace your God given differences as men and

women as they are glorious and yes, also important.

We're gonna step a little deeper and look at

the creational implications of this. In Genesis

chapter two, beginning of verse 18, it says this,

and Yahweh God said, it is not good that man

should be alone. I will make him a helper comparable

to him out of the ground. Yahweh, God, formed

every beast of the field, every bird of the air,

and brought them to Adam to see what he would

call them. And whatever Adam called them, each

living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave

names to all the cattle, the birds of the air,

and every beast of the field. But for Adam, there

was not found a helper comparable to him. The

first thing that we have to notice here is that

God said it was not good for man to be alone

Okay, now we need to recognize That being made

in his image the triune God Is three persons

distinct from one another Yet they are a perfect

society of love who are distinct and yet submits

to each other for the glory and benefit of others

having made man in their image, they see that

man and his aloneness is not good. God brings

all the animals who come from the same ground

as Adam. This becomes very important, right?

And so he does this. When God does this, he brings

all the animals before him. Adam begins his place

of taking dominion. You see, naming things is

Dominion over it. Have you ever driven by and

seen a street name that had like a family name?

Joe Carter Road. Ever seen something like that?

It's like that all over the South, if it's not

like that around here. I know in the city of

Annapolis, you might not recognize it, they might

not have the first name, but there's a lot of

streets over there that are named after family

names. That's not uncommon. Why do people do

that? That's our street. We made that. We built

that. We did those things. So here Adam is naming

all the animals. He is taking dominion. When

your parents name you children, names matter,

and they chose your name. This is important.

But you see, none of the animals were found as

a comparable helper. Adam could guard and tend

the garden. But he could not complete the task

of fruitlessness or fruitless being fruit, fruitfulness.

He could not complete the task of being fruitful

and taking dominion over the whole earth alone.

So God did something radically different to solve

Adam's dilemma. God made the animals and Adam

both from the dust of the earth. Adam. was different

than the animals, and that God was intimate with

him, and that he breathed his own breath into

man. But his origin was still of the dust of

the earth. In Genesis 221, we see this, and Yahweh

God caused a deep sleep to fall on to Adam, and

he slept, and he took one of his ribs and closed

up the flesh in its place. And then the rib which

Yahweh God had taken from the man, He made into

a woman and He brought her to the man. God put

Adam in a death sleep. And during this death

sleep, God tore Adam open. That's what that word

means. It's literally the word tear, tear open.

These are the same words that are used for the

sacrifices in the Old Testament where they tear

an animal. in half. God tears him. And he took

a piece of his side and made woman who would

be his helper or easer, which is not like, you

know, you're on a carpentry work site, right?

And you got the finished carpenter and he's doing

all this. And you know, what does the helper

do? He picks all the trash up off the ground.

That's not a helper like that. This is a helper

that helps him complete his mission in a glorious

fashion, in a distinctive way, as a woman. You

know, God even uses this same word, helper, to

describe himself with covenant Israel. Happier

you, O Israel, who was like you, a people saved

by Yahweh, the shield of your help and a sword

of your majesty. I'm certainly not saying that

in this way God made woman comparable to himself,

but that it is a glorious help. It's a help in

a way in which a man cannot do on his own. Another

reference for this is Psalm 146 .5. Happy is

he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose

hope is in Yahweh, his God. This helper for Adam

is glorious and an end. A genuine need for him

to be fruitful and take dominion. She is different

from Adam, not just physically, but also in origin

and purpose. God gives the man to the woman.

And in verse 23 of chapter two, Adam says, this

is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.

She shall be called woman because she was taken

out of man. Therefore a man shall leave his father

or mother and be joined to his wife and they

shall become one flesh Where we hear Adam first

speak it is in glorious poetic prose He didn't

just speak it. It was a poetic prose Glorifying

his words and thankfulness to God towards that

woman Now Adam, which means from the ground or

soil or Adama, right, he gets that name, that

first name. He also has a second name, man, or

ish. Adam's first name is rooted in his origin

and his task to till the earth, to take dominion

over the earth. And his new name, man, originates

from his relationship or relation to his wife.

Two orientations, one for the task and one for

his relationship with his wife. The woman also

has two names. Isha, her name, that name being

an origin out of man. That is to say, from man,

woman. And of course later she gets Eve as relating

to her orientation towards her children. They

have one mission, to be fruitful, multiply, to

take dominion to the earth. Now listen, I'm not

talking about, not any couple in here. is set

forth to rule the whole earth. That is Christ's

job. But God has given you a particular place

of responsibility, a particular patch of dirt,

a particular vocation, a particular thing that

He has called you and your household to. And

that is your unified mission. If you have a divided

mission, wife one way, man this way, in the larger

mission goal, Your household's divided and cannot

stand. That's what the scriptures teach us. They

have one mission that's gloriously and radically

different orientations in that united mission.

God created Adam and Eve and so all mankind in

His image and male and female. Even in the fall,

the curses of sin are linked. to their pre -fall

orientations. And I know you're saying, Pastor,

this is probably getting complicated. Hang with

me because this is important. Here's what God

said after the fall. I will greatly multiply

your sorrow to the woman, and your conception

in pain you shall bring forth children, and your

desire shall be for your husband, and he shall

rule over you. Those curses are tied to what?

Her orientations of her names who she is She

came from man desire for her husband Childbirth

her orientation towards her children's her origin

and orientation and to the man he says this Cursed

is the ground for your sake and toil you shall

eat it all the days of your life Both thorns

and thistles shall bring forth for you and you

shall eat the herb of the field and in the sweat

of your face you shall eat the bread till you

return to the ground. For out of it you were

taken, for dust you are, and dust you shall return."

The point of all this is to point out that for

every man and woman there are in God's creation

order not only differences physically, but also

differences in orientation. God has made men

and women for different things. And when wicked

men and gullible women attempt to change what

God has sovereignly proclaimed in both creation

and his revealed word, it brings hardship and

destruction to all people and the whole world.

There is something else of note here and that

is, That there are obviously built -in potential

struggles in balancing dual orientations Okay

By that I mean if the man's orientation is towards

his labor and vocation and towards his wife and

his wife's orientation Excuse me to her husband

and to her children right There are built -in

tensions. You don't have to add any sin in it.

There's just built -in tensions there. Am I right?

If you've been married a little while, you know

that's true. Here's the thing. This is a feature

and not a bug, as these were put in place before

sin entered the world. God did this when He created

all of these things and people in this way. And

he said it was very good. So by God's design,

there is a built -in sinless strife and conflict

so that we may mature to greater glory in imaging

our God. Don't try to make your wife like a man

or your husband like a woman. Or for that matter,

don't mess around with your children in that

same way. Mothers. Don't try to turn your boys

into little girls. That's usually the problem

that we have, but also don't turn your girls

into boys. We talked about this strife just a

little bit. Have you ever thought to yourself,

husbands, why does she have so many words, so

many details, so many things? I wish you'd just

get to the point. So I could tell her how to

solve it Okay, or on the other side of it wives

have you ever thought to your husband? Why is

he so obtuse and mysterious and not really saying

what's on his mind and? When he does it comes

out like a hammer Am I speaking reality here

So some of that is built in by God's design and

it isn't sin You have to recognize that you have

these dual orientations. Now, here's the thing.

In our sinfulness, we often default to dealing

with those things in very sinful ways towards

one another. Am I telling the truth? Discontent,

anger, impatience. But what God has done here,

is He has given us a way to mature. And we can

do it in a God -honoring way, glorifying and

being thankful for these wonderful differences.

I'm just going to tell you, if I had to mother

my children, if my wife would have died after

child number eight was born, I didn't need help.

It had been a wreck. Praise God for His sustenance

in that. I'm not fit and cut out to mother. You

see, all of this is for our Christian maturity.

This becomes like two voices singing in harmony,

or two dancers who flow about in glorious choreography

developed incrementally over many years. By God's

design and marriage, we radiate God's image in

a way that cannot be done without both one man

and one woman. So we are able to complete our

mission given to us by God That is taking dominion

and being fruitful and multiplying filling the

earth In God's image taking the area of responsibility

in our realm given to us by God and Rearranging

it so that God's will in heaven is done here

on earth When this happens we are truly fulfilling

Matthew chapter 5 where Jesus says You are the

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

light of the world a city set on a hill cannot

be hidden Listen when we live as Christian families

as we live as a unified Christian church When

we have a centralized mission of worshipping

God and flowing out from that Living as God has

designed us to live and taught us to live Right?

It is radically different. And people see that

and go, what is that? And Peter tells us, what?

Be prepared for the answer when they ask you.

It also says, do they not light a lamp and put

it under a basket? No, but on a lamp stand. And

it gives light to all who are in the house. Let

your light so shine before men that they may

see your what? Your good works. On your inside,

internalized, that are never shared with anyone

else, know in every aspect and every area of

your life. See your good works and glorify your

Father in heaven. This is converting the nations.

Now for those who are single, there are several

things to know. Yes, God's ordinary means for

transformation of the world is worship. and marriage.

And this can be a hard thing because some of

us are having difficulty finding a partner. Some

of you may be widowed. Some of you may have some

type of hardship that is preventing you. Now

Jesus says this in Matthew 19 in a discussion

with his disciples after speaking to some lawyers.

Right on marriage and divorce and he says this

when he's speaking about the challenges of marriage

And I say to you whoever divorces his wife except

for sexual immorality and marries another commits

adultery and whoever marries her who is divorced

commits adultery and in this point where Jesus

is talking about faithfulness fidelity and particularized

reasons For divorce not easy divorce Not just

because we don't feel like we want to work on

it anymore. His disciples said to him, if such

is the case of the man with his wife, it is better

not to marry. They're like, man, if this is the

burden, maybe it's just better not to get married.

Jesus responded and said to them, all cannot

accept the saying, but only those whom it has

been given. So there's a norm and there are a

select few that are given this or sometimes it's

for a period of time For there are eunuchs who

were born thus from their mother's womb and it

could be disease or malformity or other sovereignly

arranged things by God and there are eunuchs

who were made eunuchs by men mutilation and There

are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs

for the kingdom of heaven's sake he who is able

to accept it Let him accept it. Now listen to

me for just a moment here. Jesus is talking about

a very small narrow, even for those that are

dedicated themselves to God. This is a very small

narrow thing. There's a lot of bad teaching on

this. They're telling young people, oh, go live

your life. Go figure it out. Have children later.

Get married later. No, no. No, no. God has made

you for this. This is part of his working in

your life. Seek marriage, seek the good things.

And for those who are in a difficult spot, sovereignly

administered to by God, be joyfully content,

keep asking him for relief, keep working through

these things. And in the meantime, understand

that God does call a few and he has a plan for

them to be fruitful. Where do we see this? Acts

Acts 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8 with the Ethiopian eunuch, right? He

is saved, and he carried back the gospel and

established the church in Ethiopia. We could

certainly say Paul, who at least at the time

that he was writing that, had not been married

or was not married at that time. We don't know

what happened beforehand, and he never speaks

to it. But by the Spirit, he certainly speaks

with a lot of wisdom to married folk, I'll tell

you that. We also see in Jeremiah 11, this is

where it's, again, very narrow, where God actually

tells the prophet not to get married and not

to have children, and yet through the prophet

of Jeremiah, many were saved, edified, and blessed

by his work for the kingdom of heaven. These

are special circumstances and not the norm. Do

not become discouraged. no matter which side

you're on here, whatever your circumstances you're

in, joyfully accept that you were made male or

female, joyfully and obediently love one another,

serve Christ, be a blessing. And of course, all

of this, we say like, this stuff is just beyond

me. I'm having so much difficulty carrying the

load of these things. Well remember and I don't

want to belabor it I keep bringing it up almost

every single week since we started this series

in John 14 Right We're not left to make bricks

without straw. We are not orphans because Jesus

Always keeps his word He says this if you love

me keep my commandments And I will pray the father

and he will give you another helper and he that

he may abide with you forever the spirit of truth,

whom the world cannot receive because it neither

sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for

he dwells with you and will be in you. I will

not leave you as orphans. I will come to you."

That should encourage us. It is the work of Christ

that reconciles us to the Father and the power

of the Spirit that enables us to do all of these

things. Because of our loving Father sent the

Son to die, and rise again we are delivered from

our sins and now the Holy Spirit proceeds from

the Father and the Son and in that we can know

that we are created for worship and that God

has sovereignly made all people male or female

and so we can live out our one mission a life

centered on worship and rooted in creation. Let

us pray. Our God and our Father we give you thanks.

for the revelation of your word. We praise you

that you have created the universe and made us

uniquely in your image and male and female. With

joyful and humble gratitude, we thank you for

making us men and women and the glorious and

gloriously found in our radical differences in

our singular mission. Help us, we pray, to embrace

the truths of Your Word and stand to our assigned

post, trusting in You and joyfully doing good.

We ask all this for the sake of Jesus Christ,

Your Son, who reigns with You in the Holy Spirit,

world without end.