Beginnings (Genesis 1-11) / Lesson 3: Humanity - The Bearers of God's Image

to get an understanding of why going through the beginnings, Genesis 1 through 11 is essential for us and why doing this is going to be something that's going to really clarify for all of us better how to read our Bibles. And so tonight is again, it's another kind of continuation as we're going to be continuing, getting ourselves ready. As I've told you, as we're going through this, that we're going to be looking at three different rebellions along the way. And Lord willing, next week we'll hit rebellion number one, but this week is prep work. And it's important for us just as last week was important to kind of set a good foundation. This week's important for us to begin to understand exactly what happened in that third chapter of Genesis. And so as we go to this, we're going to be looking, and I've just taken this, we're going to be looking at tonight and divided it into six different sections. And hello, that's all right. I thought, man, somebody's calling me. Just don't start calling me out. How about that? Humanity, tonight we'll be talking about humanity and really the focus is going to be on the, what does it mean to bear the image of God? What does that mean? We live in a culture that has so minimized what it means to be human, that we're turning it into things like, well, if someone is a viable member of society, then yeah, we'll take care of them. But if they're not, then what's the use? And if someone gets pregnant and they really don't want the baby, well, what does it matter? And if someone is old and let's say, whatever, they have Alzheimer's, they have some kind of disease, they are bound in a wheelchair or someone who is in a coma, what does it matter? Are they really any value to society? And I think that's important for us to look at. And the best place to look is as to look at what God says about a human being and how he talks to us. And so as we're going again, I just shared this last week, I've shared it every time about the keys for unlocking. We're just really looking at God's redemptive story. In Genesis 1 through 11, they serve as what I'm just calling it, the preamble to God's redemptive story, revealing that the human condition is rooted in three basic rebellions, the fall in Eden, the transgression of the sons of God and the disinheritance at Babel. Which set the stage for a cosmic war over the nations, ultimately won by Jesus Christ to redeem mankind and restore a global Eden. And so tonight we're just really focusing in on being an image bearer. What does it mean to have the God stamp, to be created in the image of God? And so in Genesis 1, verse 26, it just says, then God said, let us make man in our image

after our likeness. And so as we come to this, there's several things we're going to be looking at in that, but let's just begin. And let's just start with really the first idea about what does it mean to be made in the image of God? And so as we look at that, we need to understand that the image of God is a matter of a status that we're put in. It's a status that God has made us. It's not an attribute. In other words, it doesn't, it's not about intelligence. It's something more than that. It is a status. In other words, basically it's this, it's, you do not have the image. You are the image. It is who you are. You are a bearer of the image. And literally the word, whenever it says that in Genesis 1, verse 26, let us make man in the word that's used there, the Hebrew word that's used there, actually a good translation of that would be to call it, to use the word as, that he said, let us make man as our image after our likeness. And so as we're thinking about that, we need to think about what does it mean to bear that image? Now, if we said, well, What is, what does it really mean? Well, I believe we've had the perfect picture. The perfect picture was found in Jesus. He is the perfect picture for that. He was the perfect image bearer. And so as he came, he bore that image and then he showed us and demonstrated to us what it looks like to be carrying and be walking in the image. Now he was the perfect one because he was God in the flesh. But we as the image, we bear, we are the reflectors of that very image. And so just know that you and I have inherited a certain dignity. And so if you want to write this down under that first thing, being an image bearer is not an achievement to be earned,

but a reality to be embraced. It's imperative that we see that. It's imperative that we understand that. As I had earlier, whenever I talked about that idea, you know, is a person who's in a coma, do they really matter? They do to God. They bear the image of God. It's imperative for us to see that. The dignity within every human. And if we don't see that, we're missing what God sees. That's why whenever Jesus came and died on a cross, he didn't die just for those who, you know, have it together. He came for the messed up. The ones that look like there's no chance. Because he sees us as we are and who we are and who we hopefully and prayerfully will one day be. I've talked about C.S. Lewis before. Some of you've heard about him and know about him. He's written several books, but he wrote a book called The Weight of Glory. And in that, he began to talk about what does it mean to be the bearers of the image, bearers of God's image. And the fact that we have been created, literally, the Bible talks about this, as a little lower than God's. And one day we will be like God. It doesn't mean we're going to be a God

in the sense of what, you know, the Mormons might say or something like that. But we are sons of God. And that's where we are becoming that and we are going to ultimately be that. And C.S. Lewis wrote this in his book, The Weight of Glory. He said, it is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest, most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship. I know that kind of messes with us, but how many times do we read in the Old Testament when an angel would appear and the people fell down before them to worship? And the angel quickly said, don't worship me, I'm not God. I'm not saying that we are God, but I'm saying the glory in which you and I have been created is so overwhelming. The Bible says, no eye has seen, no ear has heard what God has prepared for us, well, who we really are in him. So just know that it's imperative that we understand and why is it important? Because we'll never really understand the fall. We'll never really understand why would Lucifer do what he did? Why would a certain number of angels choose to rebel against God?

Well, it was because of who God made. So as we go to this next part, there's another thing, and this is gonna sound a little sticky, but hang with me. And what I'm gonna be talking about in this next section is really who are, in Genesis 126, the us and the our. Now, we in, I may even say it this way, since the council of Nicaea, if you wanna say, if you wanna say, since the 400 ADs, since the Trinity became a theology. Now, I'm not saying it's wrong, it's right. The God, the Father, God, the Son, God, the Holy Spirit. But since that time, we've always referred to this as the Trinity, and it is a picture of that. It is a foreshadowing of that. But you remember whenever we started out and I said, okay, whenever we are gonna be going to the scriptures, we wanna go to it, not as a 21st century believer, but let's go back to the people who originally, what did they see this as? When they heard this, what did they hear? They didn't know anything about Trinity. they just knew about God. But they also knew there were other beings that we'll be looking at as we go forward that were called Elohim, gods. Now they aren't God, I'm not saying please don't hear that, I know it messes with us but the Bible has it everywhere about these angelic beings that are called Elohim. It doesn't mean they're called God, it means they dwell in the heavenlies, that's what it means. Just like you and I are earthlings, we dwell on earth, that section of Elohim is that. Now there's only one God and the Bible is clear about that. But as we look at it, they would have heard God saying to a group of people that the Bible talks about called the divine council, let's make God, let's make man in our image. Now that's what they would have heard, I know that kind of

makes us nervous and I'm not saying that we are losing sight of the Trinity, we're not. But you need to see this in order to understand what's coming in the scriptures. For instance in Psalm 82 verse 1, and I could go through the whole thing, in fact Jesus quoted out of this in John chapter 10. But in Psalm 82 verse 1 says God stands in the divine assembly, he judges among the Elohim, the divine assembly is the divine council. And that last word he judges among the gods is he judges among the Elohim. So remember when John 10, whenever Jesus was there and they were getting ready to stone him, and he said, what have I done or said to do this? And he says, you're calling yourself God. And he said, isn't that what the Psalm says? And he quotes Psalm 82 about them being gods. And he's talking about a heavenly Rome and the fact in fact Psalm 82 is built around the fact of God condemning those sons of God, those angelic beings that rebelled against God. That's what he's talking about. But you remember the story that we find in first Kings 22, whenever a guy named Micaiah a prophet had been called to come and they said, hey we want you to come and give us a word. He said, oh man, go ahead and go. You know, Ahab was there and Jehoshaphat and King Ahab said, he's not going to say anything good about me. He never does. Every time he talks to me, he cuts me down. And so they got Micaiah to come and he said, yeah, go ahead and go into battle. That's fine with me. And they said, come on, tell us the truth. And he said, you're going to go, but Ahab, you're going to be killed. And then he says, I saw in the heavenly realms, I saw in the courts of God. In first Kings chapter 22 verse 19, he said, I saw the Lord sitting on his throne and all the hosts of heaven standing around him. You remember what he did? He says, what do you think we need to do to make Ahab go so he can be killed? One said this, one said that, and then one said, I know what I'll go as a deceiving spirit in the prophets. He said, that'll work. You remember that? I know it makes us nervous, but we're not going to understand what God's, what the scriptures are talking about, unless we begin to see that here he's, that they would have seen it in a broader standpoint than we do. And it's important for us to understand that, to see that, that reality of how they would have seen it. Now, the way the Bible talks about that is it says that, that whenever God created all things, that he created things in such a way that there would be two groups. If you have your outline, you want to write this down. God established two ruling groups intended to work together, a heavenly host

and an earthly family. He created two groups, angels and humans, right? Angels and humans. And so as we see that, we begin to catch a little bit more of a glimpse because suddenly God is making a being that is made like the angels that are already there. And I'm going to tell a little bit more about this in just a minute, but as we look at it, we need to see that. Now let's go on next to what I'm just calling man's responsibility. And it says after that in verse 27, he says, or in verse 26, the last half of it, and then 27, he says, 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 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 air, of the heavens, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And he said two things, he said to subdue and to have dominion. And whenever we hear that word subdue, it just sounds kind of harsh to us. It sounds like what he's saying is just go out there and exploit the world that's out there, and he's not saying that at all. To subdue, we have to think about it like this, and I didn't, I'm not taking time tonight to spend time in Eden, in the garden. But the garden of Eden was in reality, it was, if you want to say, it was like a temple. It wasn't a building temple, it was a garden, but it was a connection point where God and humanity connected. Just like the temple was that connecting point, just like as new believers, when you give your life to Christ, you become the temple of the Holy Spirit. And so it was the temple of what God had made for a place, and then he said to be fruitful and multiply, and then he said, fill the earth. Take this there. Take what's here, there. I'm giving you a responsibility.

In other words, he was teaching mankind, and he was telling us that we were to be order and chaos, that beyond that, it was out there, but it was not, it had not yet been subdued. It had not yet been brought into order. To subdue literally means to just bring it into order. That's what he's talking about there. He's telling us that that's what he wants done. And whenever we think about that, and then this is what's kind of neat about it, is it literally was a priestly stewardship. That he literally was giving Adam a priestly responsibility, and you say, well, what do you mean by that? Well, whenever he says to him in that, he talks about how he's wanting Tim in Genesis chapter two to work, and as he's telling him to do those things, to work and do the labor that he has for him there, to work and keep the fields and keep the garden. Those two words, work and keep, are the same words that are used for the Levitical priests whenever they are serving in the tabernacle or in the temple. Their job was to work and keep in the temple, in the garden, and so in the garden, literally we are those priests here on earth to do that. And so that's important for all of us to see and important for us to walk in, because we need to understand that even now, though we're in a fallen world, even now though that we are not yet there, we have a divine responsibility to work and keep, to be part of that. We're not going to see it in its fullest yet, but we are there. And so just know this, it doesn't matter what job you're in, you need to see whatever you do as something that is sacred. If you're a believer, you have a sacred vocation. It's a reality that you walk in, and we need to see that. There is no secular divide. And so if you have your outline and just want to write this down, dominion, to take dominion is stewardship, modeled after God's rule. It is a priestly vocation to work and keep the world for the Father's glory, okay? That's literally what our responsibility is, and that's what it is now.

So whatever job that the Lord has put you in, don't see it as, well, I'm just doing a job so I can live. See it as a sacred vocation that God has called you to, to fulfill a divine mandate even now, even in this place where we are, so that we might live for the glory of God. Now let me go on to the next part, that's section four. And it's just what I'm calling the two accounts of creation. I know many times you may have heard people say, well, just the Bible has got all kinds of problems. I mean, it shows two creation accounts and how different they are and all this kind of stuff. And people will argue about that. What is really going on here though? Well, I think it's important for us to see it, that what's really happening is that there's differences of perspective. In Genesis chapter one, it's a cosmic perspective. It's saying, let's look at it in a global sense. But then whenever we come down to chapter two, it's an intimate, it's like, it's a difference between flying at 30,000 feet and driving over the church and sitting in here in a pew, how about that? It's that kind of difference that we have. And so as we're looking at it, we need to see that God's telling us here, I wanna take you in and I wanna show you a deeper reality of what's going on here. And so as we're looking at it, we need to see that as we look to the, in chapter one, it was a blueprint of the universe.

We looked at that last week, but now we're going down into the details, getting down there in the details of what all God is doing. And so as we come down here, we get to see in a very detailed way, the way God created man. And he talks very detailed about it, about what he says about in the creation of a man and what he did and what he says about that creation of a man. And I heard this back some time ago, and I thought it was kind of an interesting way and being old computer guy, I thought it would be an interesting way of looking at it, is that in a way, it's kind of hardware and software. It's that dual nature of humanity. It's that reality that we have both, the hardware is the dust, we're human. We've been made of the dust of the ground. That's what we come from, that's what we are. But on the other side, it says he breathed into us. And that word breathe is that word ruach. It's the word for spirit. He breathed into us the breath of life. And then we became, and it literally in the Hebrew says, we became a living soul. And so as we look at that, we need to see that in this, there is this in chapter two, this reality that God is saying, I want you to know how I made you and who you are.

But I wanted tonight just for take a minute to just, and I could spend a whole evening on it, but we're not gonna do that. Why did he put the tree in the midst of the garden? Why did he do it? Well, we've talked about it a little bit, but in reality, it was the moral test. It was the test for us to be able to make a choice on our own. You see, he created us in a way to have genuine relationship. And I've talked about this, is that to have a genuine relationship, you have to be able to say no. And so as you're looking at it and you have your outline, just write this down. The tree of knowledge was not a trap. It was a necessity or a necessary component for a relationship of love. Now that's what it was. He said, you can eat of any tree in the garden, but not this one. And the day you eat of it, you'll die. And so he was saying, I want us to be in a relationship of trust. I'm trusting you with this. And I hope you can trust me that I'm not holding out on you in any way. And so that's what it was. It was the way to build that relationship

to say, I choose to follow you. I choose to walk with you. I choose to live for you. It was a divine choice. And so, and the next thing in your outline, just write this down. True relationship requires the option to leave. To say no, to reject. That's the only way you can have a true relationship. So as we're looking at that, we get to see a little bit more about how God made us and about what he has for us. And now I wanna go, and I'm just gonna take a few minutes. And this is gonna be, I think it's kind of interesting about the way God formed Eve. And so as we look at it, there's a bigger story going on here. The forming of woman. And so as we're looking at it, it just tells us in that Genesis chapter two. Starting down, it said, the Lord God said in verse 18, it's not good that man should be alone. I will make a helper fit for him. What does it mean to be a helper fit for him? And then it tells what he did after that. Well, what does that mean to be that? Well, it means a lot more than what we want to say it means. It has a deep, deep and rich meaning to it.

Now, you know, on the left side, the statement you've heard, and people have said it, it's been written about poet poetically, women are not formed from Adam's head to rule over him, nor from his feet to be trampled by him, but from his side to be as equal. And so we read that side, but there's a much deeper meaning I want to share with you. So if you want to just write this down in your outline, you can. As Eve was formed from Adam's side, the church was born from the wound in Christ's side. I want to show you something that the Bible, and it's a beautiful picture. In fact, I believe that it is literally a prophetic mystery. You know, the apostle Paul, whenever he talked about husbands and wives, and he talked to us about husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself for him and all those things. And then he said, and whenever he talked about this, about the two becoming one, he said, this is a divine mystery. In other words, it carries a much deeper, more rich meaning than what we have an understanding of it. And so whenever you think about that, just think about some of the things that I've got on here, just for instance, in this,

that whenever you look at it, the Lord put Adam into a deep sleep when he was going to be bringing forth Eve. First, he put him in a deep sleep before you and I could become the bride of Christ. Christ had to go into the deep sleep of death through crucifixion. It says after he had gone into that deep sleep, that his side was opened to remove a rib. The Bible tells us that whenever Christ had died, they took a spear and they shoved it into his side. And what's interesting is when they removed it, what came out? Two things, water and blood. I want you to think about this. When a baby's born, what are the two things that happen? There's water and there's blood. And so as we look at this and we see this, literally what God is giving to us is he's giving to us the picture of the birth of the church. Literally in the forming of Eve, he's saying, I'm taking you out of Adam. That first Adam to be by his side, to be a co-regent with him, to walk along with him. And what does God say to us as the church? He has taken us from Christ and we now are to rule with him. Do you see that?

Well, that's what's happening right here in the forming of the woman. It literally is. That reality. Now, let me just go to the last thing. And man, I'm getting way ahead. This is great. We might even get done a little early. I don't know though, because we're gonna look just for a few minutes at what I'm just calling it the angelic understanding. What brought about the deception that came in Genesis chapter three? What really brought that about? Why did Satan do this? Why did Satan do what he did? Now, we know what the Bible tells us. There are several things that the Bible shares with us. It tells us that he wanted to be like God. He wanted to rule. But I believe there's a much deeper meeting that the scripture talks to us about. And it has to do with God making us. You see, the Bible tells us that whenever God was forming us in Job chapter 38, it says that the angels were singing as he was forming creation. In other words, it started off with a woohoo. But I think whenever we got to Genesis 1.26, And he said, hey, and they're looking at everything,

and they're going, man, this is awesome. And he said, he said, hey, we're gonna make another being that's like us, that's gonna rule everything. Now, to get it, put it in perspective, let's just say that you work for a company, and the boss has started the company, and he made it, he started it, brought you in, got several workers there. You've been working up the ladder, and you are the one that is right there, basically in charge. You're right there with him, along with everybody else. He's still the CEO, but you're right there with him, maybe the chief operating officer. And then, he has a son. Now, it doesn't take you long to think, you know, in 20 years, he's gonna give this entire company over to this little rug rat. And I don't think I like that much. I've worked way too hard. Now, that's really what happened. Suddenly, the angelic host realized, oh man, he's making a being. And not only that, we're a being that, even though we are like them in some ways, we are not like them in one critical way, and that is that we were created to be sons and daughters, not to be the hosts that work alongside. But to be joint heirs, to be the relatives of the creator.

Do you see that? When you see that, you begin to understand that their joy quickly turned to jealousy. Just write this down. The creation of humanity shifted the angels from joy to intense jealousy, which led to the angelic uprising. It literally led to it. It was a conflict that came up. It was a genuine conflict. They were excited, and then what happened was they began to hear about who God was making, what this was, in other words, he said, I made all this, and they're probably even thinking, this is gonna be great. Man, they thought it was for them. And then all of a sudden, they find out it's for us, this other being that he's created, and jealousy began to rise up. And one of them, one of the key rulers literally with him in the heavenly courts was one that we know as Lucifer or the serpent or Satan. And he said, that's not gonna happen. And then some others began to rise up with him. And we're gonna see that as we move forward. And literally what happened was an attempt at a hostile takeover. It was a move that jealousy brought it about. And here's what they knew. And listen, you think about this. What did he know?

If he could in some way prove that we were unworthy to rule this new creature that God had made was unworthy to rule, then he could rule. And he could rule even maybe even a thought of originally maybe even alongside God, be like God. And so what does he do? He deceives. Can you eat from any tree in the garden? We're gonna look at this next week. Well, yeah, except for one. And we can't even touch that one. He says, the day we do, we'll die. You're not gonna die. God knows in the day you eat of it. God knows in the day you eat of it, you'd be like him. And so they took and ate. He thought he'd won. He thought his plan worked. He thought he had done that one thing that would make him become the ruler, in fact. In some ways it looked like it succeeded I mean, who is he called? He's called the God of this world. He's called the Prince of the power of the air. We're gonna see those things. But what began, and we'll look more at this next week, is what is what I'm calling the seed conflict. Then we'll look at it next week where Genesis 3 15 says, God says to the serpent who did this, who usurped, rebelled and then usurped the authority that we had been given, took it from us. He says I'm gonna put enmity between you and mankind. Between you and the woman, the one you deceived. Between the seed of the woman. Your Bible and my Bible says offspring. We'll look at that next week. But Paul clarifies it by saying it was a singular seed.

And then what began was what could be called the seed war. The war for lineage. The war against us. From that prophecy there came all sorts of attacks and counterattacks. And so when Jesus came, first John, what does it say? He came to do what? To destroy the works of the devil. So whenever we come to this, I guess one of the ways we could just maybe end it is, and this may be a weird way of saying it, but basically we're in what might be called a cosmic custody battle. You know the the priests were called, I mean the Pharisees, Jesus called them sons of the devil. He said you're following your father, the devil. But you see God said I'm not gonna leave you as orphans. I'm not gonna leave you in that. I'm gonna pursue you. And so as we think about all this and we're getting ourselves ready for next week and to start really going into all that, my hope tonight was to just let us see first of all that the magnitude of what it means to be an image bearer. That you and I have been created in the image of God. And that we've been created in a way with a status that has been given to us. Not something we acquire, but something is of who we are. It's just the image of God that we have. It was lost in the fall and Christ has come to restore it back. And so we need to understand that because as we go in next week into Genesis 3 and we go into that first rebellion in the fall and it's gonna be something we'll look at and take a deeper look in, it'll begin to make a lot more sense. Okay? Man, we, okay, just know we got done early. All right, let me pray for us and we'll be finished. Father, I just thank you that, Lord, there's bigger stories going on than what we see. It wasn't just the failure of the first couple. It was that, but there was more happening. There was a rebellion that happened even among your angelic leaders. A coup that took place. And in that came the fall and from that came a cosmic battle that we see throughout scriptures and that we are still in the midst of. But I thank you that not one, not one part of it caught you off guard. But in it you had a bigger plan even for humanity than just be like the angels. You had a plan of us becoming your sons and daughters. So I pray, Father, that that as we go we will begin to look at others different than we do now. To see that you have

given us a divine responsibility to be able to go out and to be those bearers of that image, reflections of you. And I pray, Father, that as we get ready for next week in the fall, the magnitude of it will begin to start taking grasp of and be able to understand better. So we just ask you to guide us. We love you, Lord. Thank you for this time we're together and thank you for your word. Pray this in Jesus name, amen.