The Image of God

Today on Renewing Your Mind.

What is above all the sanctity of life, gender marriage were personal property law and order.

It is the sanctity of the creator creature relationship therein is the basis and the foundation of all ethics and of all laws we as Christians move with gauze and morality are celebrated and the truth is suppressed this past March. We hope the 2022 international conference here in Orlando. Our theme was upholding Christian ethics and this week we have the privilege of bringing you selected messages from encumbrance to help you navigate the challenging ethical issue today. Dr. Stephen Nichols addresses what it means for minimum to be made well more beautiful portrait of our creation could not be painted then that portrait which is painted for us in Genesis chapter 2 will look at Genesis chapter 2 verses 5 to 9 with you. These verses are absolutely foundational to who we are and they also show us foundational E who God is. This is the beginning of ethics.

These opening pages of Genesis. So I invite you to turn with me to Genesis chapter 2 we will look at verses 5 to 9. Consider them together when no Bush of the field was yet in the land. No small plants 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, the 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. The Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the East and there he put the man whom he had formed, and out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the site and good for food, the tree of life was in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of the good and evil.

We see in this text. This beautiful almost mystical seeing of this mist arising from this creation that has just been spoken into existence and is Genesis 2 recalls force has yet to be formed, and God comes into the scene and causes all of this vegetation to rise causes all these animals to be put on the landmass causes all of the fish to be put into the sea. All of the birds we put in the air, but this passage pauses for a moment to talk about that special creation of Adam as a play here on the Hebrew word, the word for man is Adam and the word for dust is Adam literally of the ground literally man is of the dust. How this is the first picture we have of our identity as human beings we are of dust people frail, finite, Calvin uses this to remind us that this point fundamentally to humility and then so unlike everything else in creation where God simply speaks into existence all the magnificent creatures and beasts and flora and fauna. So unlike that in an anthropomorphic expression God as it were, reaches down and grabs this handful of dust and he forms it like a skilled Potter would form Clay like a carpenter would make some fine piece of furniture like an architect to design a building like an engineer would build it like some master craftsman God fashioned us and then breeze and we became a living creature of this word living creature is used back in chapter 1 verse 21 of the sea creatures commentators have rightly pointed that out. But commentators have also pointed out the uniqueness of what is happening here. No other created thing has the breath of God poured into it to bring it to life and the result is this magnificent creature of dignity, humanity, but once we see that man is created, we see that God has a place for man places a garden.

If you have a garden garden is somewhat of a sanctuary isn't somewhat of a break from the hustle and bustle somewhat of a break from all of the macadam in the concrete that surrounds us. We know this particular garden. This garden very curiously in this text were told it's a garden in Eden. A few verses later will be told it's the garden of Eden. But this is the garden in Eden. We know this garden is a sanctuary because as we read in a few verses creator God will again in this anthropomorphic way walk in fellowship with his special creation of Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening, and what's more we know this is a sanctuary because once Adam and Eve transgress and break the law and eat the forbidden fruit in Angel with something that even tops the best of our science fiction writers, an angel with a circling flaming sword stands guard over the sanctuary is a holy place, the God has made for his creature. We have man we have a place we have a purpose. We are put in to this creation to work. We see it here we see later in chapter 2 we are told to work and to keep it in. This is prefall.

This commission to work but above all in this text we have God know if you notice this, but I would point out two things that we learn about God in just these verses. One is that God is the singular soul sovereign actor didn't lined up on one side God and on the other side man. All of the active verbs are on the side of God is doing all of that work here all the action here man is passive. Take a look at it. The Lord God formed the man the Lord God breathed into his nostrils the Lord God planted a garden. The Lord God put the man whom he again formed and then verse nine, the Lord God made to spring up every tree. This emphasizes the soul sovereign agent of creation is God, but did notice the name of God. Chapter 1 it's God here four times. We have a compound name. The Lord God and Lord is Jehovah and God is Elohim and Jehovah means preexistent self existent, all creatures are contingent. We have seen, being after being after being come into existence by the power of another. In Genesis chapter 1. All beings are contingent, except the most perfect being the necessary being who is God, so God the perfect being is the source of all being. So he is Jehovah, the preexistent one. The self existent one and we have Elohim, mighty in battle. It speaks of a king to say the Lord God is to say, the creator king, and it is a very quick implication isn't what do we creatures owe to the creator king obedience and worship. And therein is the basis and the foundation of all ethics and of all laws. This, as we will say again and again is before the fall. This is the establishment of the natural order, and in this passage we see two things that we must hold onto as we begin to discuss together. Ethics and that is we are created in the image of God and God is the creator king.

We can plumb a little bit deeper here as we look at this passage we see, of course, the sanctity of life. Let's think through this idea of sanctity.

The opposite is profanity or vulgar just come to mean negative for dirty language in its purest etymological form. It simply means common and so the vulgar or the profane is the common and so the holy or that which is sanctity is the uncommon, the extraordinary and so we see it in our creation.

It is the common element of the dust of the ground and then God through his touch again anthropomorphic like, but it speaks to the intimate connection of God with his creatures that God in his holiness sanctifies human life, the sanctity of human life. If we go back to chapter 1 and we see the image of God there in verse 26 and we drop down to verse 27, we see that gender is part of this natural order. Gender is part of the created order.

There is a sanctity to gender and then as we read past.

Verse nine, we come to those final verses of chapter 2 we find the sanctity of marriage hereto, the verbs are active on God's part. God causes Adam to fall asleep. God extracts is a careful surgeon. The rib from Adam.

God fashions Eve. Another word for formed and then God anthropomorphic Lee grabs Eve by the hand and leads her to her husband does not an arranged marriage by parents. This is not Adam on his reformed dating And there's a sanctity to marriage and there is the sanctity of work, but work is not a result of the fall thorns and sweat and frustration and conflict and toil.

That's a result of the fall. The work is not a result of the fall.

There is a sanctity to work. God made us to do. Adam and Eve enjoyed the fruits of their labor. And as we see the codification of what is the universal law and the 10 Commandments as we see the codification of what has been present from the very beginning of creation of the universal order of things, even personal or private property as sanctity the fruits of one's work with life gender, marriage work, private property, and the sanctity of law and order. There is the tree of good and evil. There is a law when a seed in a few verses the conditionality of this Edina life in paradise.

There is a consequence huge cosmic consequence.

But you know what is paramount to all of this. What is above all the sanctity of life, gender, marriage work, personal property law and order is the sanctity of the creator creature relationship that is the foundation and the capstone.

And again, what do we owe our creator as creatures for that verse. The Paul says what do you have that you haven't been given and that's fundamentally what it means to be created and the fundamental implication of that is gratitude. And from that gratitude springs obedience and from obedience is worship. That's what is at base of this creator creature relationship in the sanctity of it, is it not why that is the first petition of the Lords prayer we don't start with us and we don't start with our needs, physical or spiritual get to those we start with the holiness of who God is and is not that the first five of the 10 Commandments to honor God to give the creator. His rightful place and do as creator king. We owe God. Obedience and worship with us. We see in Genesis chapter 2 verses 5 to 9. Now we must ask what does it look like in our moment, but are we facing today. There has been from the beginning. The conflict between the serpent and the seed but in our day the serpent has taken the form of crass, aggressive secularism. We've seen it on the rise, and we feel it palpably. There are other states there are Islamic states, but in the West, especially, there is a force of secularism and here's what secularism does secularism profane's all seven of those items that we saw as having sanctity starts with life as a chilling quote what does it matter if three quarters of the world parishes as long as the remaining one quarter or communist is a quote by Vladimir Lenin. 1920 world's population in 1920 was 2 billion souls, 2 billion living creatures formed from the Dustin the divine breath into the nonchalantly of no consequence 1.5 billion lives kind of a worldview is that is a worldview that profane's human life and what did we see in the 20th century, but dozen of genocides or purging's, or ethnic cleansing's whatever euphemism is used when we look within the borders of these United States and since 1973, 60 million+ murders and abortion, the secularist cheapens life. The secularist profane's life gender what we told gender is a social construct. You can create your own identity. You can make your own identity a direct affront to Genesis chapter 1 male and female he created them. Soulmate reflects on creation speaks of God's majesty speaks of the heavens as the work of God's fingertips.

No matter how amazing the universe is, no matter how amazing the night sky is is but the work of God's fingertips in the mountains in the season, the earth, what is man that you are mindful of him. This this small creature. The vastness of the universe, which itself is but the fingertip of God.

You see the scale here God, the universe man yet you have crowned him with glory and honor, and yes, it's a messianic Psalm, and yes it is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. But make no mistake about it, it's a commentary on creation but then you go to second Corinthians 4 for a pulse is something is utterly fascinating. Christ is the image of God.

Two different we were made in the image of God and image of God in us is fallen and cracked and marred, but Christ is the image. Now we have hope in Christ does what Adam could not do, he keeps the law every single point of it utter fulfillment in Christ undoes what Adam did by purchasing us from the cross with his blood.

Our only hope. As fallen image bearers is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul's leaving Ephesus because the Ephesian elders together with him in the book of acts.

Ephesus was a wicked city and idolatrous city but look under the hood was idolatry, secularism wasn't the worship of Diana has some inner fulfillment was crass materialism follow us was hedonism drunk on it with fallen into that city could have done any number of things he only remembers the Ephesian elders that he said to them when I got to you do know what I taught you repentance before God and faith in Jesus Christ. That is our ultimate hope that is the ultimate message. That is our only hope in our only message is the gospel of Jesus Christ and so we look out on this world and we say, repent, repent before God, you have profane the sacred creator creature relationship. Repent and put your faith in Jesus Christ is the very foundation of Christian ethics is Dr. Steven Nichols has shown us how God's word addresses the moral confusion that surrounds us. This week on Renewing Your Mind.

We are pleased to future messages from the 2022 link international conference here in Orlando where he concentrated on the theme upholding Christian ethics containing a Christian understanding of ethics can prepare us to stand for the truth love our neighbors well and seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, those are core tenets of the Christian faith, and they describe why Dr. RC Sproul started later ministries more than 50 years ago to teach as many people as possible about God and his holiness like for you to hear from one of our ministry partners. His name is Dennis and he called us recently to tell us of the impact that RC and Lincoln are ministries have had on his life so I written materials to strengthen and worry in my eyes opening the Scriptures actually taught I grew to really see his sense of humor is ability to communicate difficult ideas in a very understandable way and I've only been growing ever sense them over these last decades.

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You can call us at 800-435-4343 or you can give your gift online at Renewing Your Mind.work but any discussion about Christian ethics must include marriage. Marriage is not something that was formed by a nation that what predates countries.

It predates governments marriage is authorized and instituted by God. Marriage is given by God. That means God gets the regulated dockets that define it.

God just to declare what it is and what it isn't. The truth about marriage tomorrow here on Renewing Your Mind