Giving
Welcome to Refinery Life Australia.
Today we start a new series titled The Doctrine of God.
Today we are talking about The Image of God.
Prayer
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Text
Genesis 1:27 AMP
27 So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.
2 Kings 17:29 AMP
29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the houses (shrines) of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities where they lived.
Scripture Reading
Genesis 1:24-28 AMP
24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to (limited to, consistent with) their kind: livestock, crawling things, and wild animals of the earth according to their kinds”; and it was so [because He had spoken them into creation].
25 So God made the wild animals of the earth according to their kind, and the cattle according to their kind, and everything that creeps and crawls on the earth according to its kind; and God saw that it was good (pleasing, useful) and He affirmed and sustained it.
26 Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth.”
27 So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.
28 And God blessed them [granting them certain authority] and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subjugate it [putting it under your power]; and rule over (dominate) the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
2 Kings 17:27-29
27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Take back [to Samaria] one of the priests whom you brought from there, and have him go and live there; and have him teach the people the custom of the god of the land.”
28 So one of the priests whom they had exiled from Samaria came [back] and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear [and worship] the Lord.
29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the houses (shrines) of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities where they lived.
Introduction
These two Bible texts present a contrast and a choice, God created people in His own image, and people created gods in their image.
After the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel, the king of Assyria made a new policy.
He decided that the people he had transplanted to the captive province of Samaria ought to embrace the religion of that land.
Accordingly, he arranged to send one of the captive priests to the ancient shrine of Bethel to teach these people “how they should fear the Lord” (2 Kings 17:28).
It didn’t work!
Governmental plans for religion seldom do.
Verse 29 says “Every nation made gods of their own.”
Which will it be for us, will we live as those made in the image of God, or will we make gods in our image?
This is our problem, who is created in whose image?
Is the god we worship merely a projection of ourselves, or is He, our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend?
Like a coin, our message today has two sides.
- On one side of the coin, people today have created a god in their own image.
“Howbeit every nation made gods of their own.”
In their mythologies, the Greeks and Romans created gods in their own image.
Their gods wee not contrasted os being totally different from other people.
They conceived of their gods as being like themselves, with the only difference being not in kind but in power.
This was not a revelation but projection.
Unfortunately, like the ancients, people still make gods of their own.
What is this god like that humankind has created in its own image?
- This god that humankind has created is merely “superman.”
These days God is referred to as “the man upstairs,” or “the big guy,” or “someone up there who likes me,” and so on.
It is only a step from such familiarity to idolatry.
Many modern people think of God as an easygoing, good natured, grandfatherly being.
This is not “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” but a god in our own image that we have fashioned ourselves.
B. This god that humankind has created grows and changes.
This startles us.
Those who propose this idea are called “process theologians.”
In simplest terms, they teach that God has not yet grown up but is still growing and maturing.
These theologians do not mean that our ideas of God are developing.
That would be correct if it was the case.
They do not mean that we are maturing theologically.
They mean exactly what they say, that God has not yet grown up.
C. This god that humankind has created is subject to death.
He is mortal.
Some theologians proclaim boldly, even gladly, “God is dead.”
You may have heard people say, “God is dead, and the church is His tombstone.”
This type of speak is a symptom of the disease.
D. The god that humankind has created is a power to be manipulated.
This is a “positive thinking” cult that construes religion as a surefire means of getting what you want, presenting God as a vast reservoir of obedient power that we can manipulate for our own purposes.
This is nothing more than primitive magic, which is the attempt to master techniques that will harness the superhuman forces of life for personal ambitions.
E. This god that humankind has created is advanced science.
Is science the answer to all our questions?
Can anyone who is in need of technical information, or one who is ill, or one who is troubled by some psychological problem merely go to scientists to get an answer?
Has science taken over the social function that was originally satisfied by religion, the function of offering ultimate security?
Has belief in science replaced, by a large measure, belief in God?
Must we start saying, “Praise science from who all blessings flow”?
This is not to berate or underestimate the advances and contributions made by science.
But the hope of salvation by the advancement of science is a false hope.
This is a god that people today have created in their own image.
And what a god it is!
2. On the other side of the coin, God created people in His own image.
Genesis 1:27 says, So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.
If we look in Genesis, creations story is a great religious poem.
Here we are only concerned with its climatic creation of people.
“God created man in His own image.”
What do these words mean?
At least two things.
- God is a person.
He has created humans as people like Himself.
A human being is the only creature formed after the pattern of the divine.
This is the first great truth with which the Bible comes to grips.
It is basic, fundamental, and lies at the foundation of everything else.
The God of the Bible is personal.
Little that people do, except sinning, is omitted from the catalogue of God’s activities as He is pictured for us in Scripture.
All our relationships with Him are clearly personal.
God is a person, and He created every human being as a person.
B. As a person, God has intellectual, moral and spiritual qualities.
He has created people with these same qualities.
However hard to define, people have a uniqueness that gives us a subtle superiority over the rest of creation.
This opens up for us problems, discoveries, joys, powers, and temptations that make us special creatures.
- “In His own image” means , for one thing, that like God, people are rational beings.
We have a mind.
We have the ability to think.
“In the image of God” implies that, at least, people are like God in having a mind and a capacity for living by plan and purpose.
2. “In His own image” also means that, like God, people are moral beings, free to make moral choices.
Planted deep in the heart of humankind is the earnest desire to be free.
Once we begin to believe that we are created in God’s image, it becomes difficult for us to become enslaved.
God has limited His own freedom by giving people their freedom.
This is natural and necessary, since God created people in His own image.
A significant part of that image is the right of self determination.
God has given us this right, and He continues to respect it.
He will not cancel His gift.
3. Further, “in His own image” means that, like God, people are spiritual beings capable of spiritual relationships.
The Bible ushers us into the presence of the living God.
Conclusion.
It is by faith in God as He revealed Himself in Christ Jesus that people respond to the great truth of their being created in the image and likeness of God.
We were made to walk and talk with God.
We can have fellowship with our Creator.
Respond by faith and faithfulness to God, who comes to you in human flesh through Jesus Christ.
He wants to dwell within you as the living Spirit.
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
Giving
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer.
Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
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