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"The Image of God"
Over New Years my wife Debbie and I went to Epcot. We’d already
been there once and loved it. This time when we went back we
rode some rides, enjoyed Moroccan food and had overall great
fun. I noticed more this time that the overarching theme of
Epcot is the achievement of humanity. A lot of who, what, where,
when and how, but not really any “why.” The classic irony kept
popping up: in an amusement park slated as the “happiest place
on earth” celebrating human achievement and brotherhood and
fellowship, was peopled with many crying children, moms at the
end of their rope, and roller coasters that kept suffering
machine delays. The whole time I thought: Even with all the
human achievement and a future full of possibilities if there’s
no actual “why?” or reason for all this then what’s the point
to existence, what’s the purpose beyond having a good time?
Kind of bleak when you think about it. It almost seems that
the whole Epcot experience, or any celebration of human
achievement, awards ceremony, recognition is an attempt to
step beyond the dull human routine to answer the question of
“why?” Why should you do your best, why should you try to find
your purpose? And we all know what everyday routine is like.
It is often dry, dull, boring, or to paraphrase documentary
guru Ken Burns: long periods of tedium broken only by moments
of sheer terror. But even in this we still desire purpose,
we desire more, we think and dream and strive to grow, but
our dreams never turn out quite like we’d want, our desires
dull, and all too often life takes unexpected turns toward
disappointment. Trust me, I’m right with you. And then, to
make things bleaker, to make matters worse, the common thread
of the big bang and evolutionary thought run amok in our
culture. Think about it, if the universe exploded out of
nothing, lasted for billions and billions of years until a
germ developed into humanity, and one day the sun will burn
up and civilization will cease and return to nothingness,
then what’s the point? There is no “why?” to existence,
reason to press on, hope in achievement.
But if you were here last week, you heard Pastor Arp speak
of the ultimate hope that crashes through the apparent lack
of purpose in the universe. In the beginning God created.
There was a beginning, there will be an end, it will be
dictated and directed by the creator of the universe, God
Himself. Out of His eternal wisdom and love God spoke things
into being from nothing, crafting and molding the cosmos in
His creative power. And then He gets to making humans! The
crown jewel of this physical creation, forming them special
out of the dirt, dust, clay of the earth and breathing in His
special very own breath of life, and making us in His image.
This image language is so striking and powerful. Scholars and
theologians have debated back and forth what exactly being made
in the image of God means, so the best way we can describe it
is to list off in broad terms what the image of God means. Being
created in the image of God means we are different from the rest
of the animals, we have desires beyond instinct. God gave us
reason and intellect. We know what it means to do more than
survive, we can also enjoy invention and creation. And we’re
given the charge, by God Himself, to rule over the animal kingdom
and serve as stewards, custodians, gardeners of this planet so
abundantly teeming with life. But even more so, we are given,
in the image of God, a purpose. Our purpose, our direction in
life is to bring glory and honor to God in what we do. We are
to reflect the character of God. We are to enjoy and appreciate,
and care for creation, given to us by God. And we are to enjoy
work, and imitate God by resting on His appointed day. And so,
in being the crown jewel of this earthly creation, we were made
special, given purpose and direction by the Creator of the universe,
made to reflect the glory of God. We are precious and unique in
creation not because of what we do, but because of how and why
we’re made.
But after reading this remarkable section of Scripture it’s
easy to look back down around us, in the world we live in,
the world of streets, broken relationships, and kids throwing
tantrums at Epcot, and find the Word of God hard to believe. I
admit, at first glance, I get kind of skeptical myself. If
we are created so wonderful, so special, made to rule over
the animals, plants and the earth, and reflect the glory of
God, why such pain? Why do humans so often act more like
animals than even the animals themselves? If we are made
with such a purpose, as shown in the text, then why do
people struggle so hard to find meaning in their lives? If
we are created to reflect the character of God, then why
do so many reject God or make their own gods to follow? It
may seem like we’re back to where we started, searching for
the “why?” to existence, except now the “why?” doesn’t have
to do with purpose. This time it has to do with why we don’t
act like we were created to act.
For the full and absolute why in detail you’ll have to come
to next week’s worship service, but now I’ll tell you what
this has to do with you and me and this text. The original
man and woman, Adam and Eve, though they were created by
God for His glory, they decided that wasn’t enough. Tempted
by the Devil himself, they rebelled against God, and much
of their image was lost. By choosing to go against God,
and instead try to steal His glory for their own, the
human race was infected with sin, the disease that
darkened and distorted that same image we were meant to
live in.
Think of it as a mirror, a mirror that reflects
light. When Adam and Eve, the representatives of the whole
human race, rebelled against God that mirror distorted,
darkened, grew smoky, covering up most of the surface of
that mirror. Our understanding of God and His purpose for
us in caring for creation were changed, corrupted, almost
lost. Now, instead of brightly, fully reflecting that image
of God we can only catch glimpses of our original design
and purpose. Yet still man desired to see the reflection
of God in mankind, and ever since those separated from the
revealed Word of God have been trying in vain to recapture
that lost image. It’s easy to see: false gods, idols, misguided
living, obsession with money, attempts to elevate and celebrate
the achievements of man above all else. But all are misguided,
false, and miss the true mark of what we were meant to be and
why we’re here.
But I have good news for you. Do you remember why God
originally made mankind in His own image? Was it because we
earned or deserved it? No. God gave mankind the gift of His
image because He loved us and He desired to create, love,
have His crown creations give him glory. And God, despite
humanity’s attempts to steal the glory of God, despite how
mankind has darkened its understanding and perceptions of
its purpose and creator, this God never gave up on this
human race. In the person of Jesus Christ, long after God
created man in His image, God chose to give the gift of
re-creation. On the cross God fulfilled His promise to
offer re-creation of that image, to fulfill the unattainable
pure longings of the soul, to re-establish direction and
purpose to the human race. And He did so for you. That’s
why we remember the story of the Bible this year, we
remember how God chose to create a perfect humanity and
promised to re-create His distorted humanity because He
chose to make us special and to love us despite our faults
because He created us in His image to bring glory to Him.
And here we are, thousands of years after Christ, and many
more thousands of years after the creation of all things.
Though in Christ we have been set free from the eternal
consequences of man’s rebellion against God, which is sin,
the image of God has not yet been completely revealed in
us. It won’t until the final resurrection when Jesus makes
all things new. But until then we have the power of the
Holy Spirit, who over time reveals more and more the image
of God, and in our daily walk with Jesus our original purpose
and destination in life is made clearer to us. So enjoy this
week. Enjoy things like Epcot, enjoy family and friends,
enjoy work, enjoy creation. Use your life, happiness,
experiences to reflect the hope and joy found in Christ
to the rest of creation. But do so knowing you are special,
unique, and re-created through the power of the cross.
Amen.
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