Big Idea: When the questions come about who we are and our place in the world, we gain courage knowing God’s whistle-blowing truth.
Humanity: We believe that every person is uniquely created in the image of God but, through sinful disobedience, is broken and has alienated themselves from God, others and the creation. The result is that every person is in need of healing and reconciliation.
It had been a particularly long day in a particularly long week with some heavy conversations and some enlightening conversations and some clarifying conversations. And so as I lay my head on my pillow, in that existential moment that comes when you are getting ready to fall asleep, I was asking questions once again about my identity – my purpose: “God who am I and what am I doing here?” (Oh, and this was this past week – funny how it fit into my message preparations!)
Not the first time.
Circumstances, sometimes challenges lead to my speculating about my purpose. Like when I was making the decision 8 years ago to come to Grace: lots of questions about who I was, my gifts, my calling, what God wanted (wants) me to do in the world.
Other times, it’s NOT circumstance - it’s deeper than that – it’s questions of guilt and shame in my heart that make me wonder how God looks at me – “who am I to him.”
Numerous times in my life questions like this have come up. I’ve wondered about who I am, who God has for me to be – what God is asking of me, especially in world that seems so messed up often times.
What about you?
Do you ever struggle with questions like these? Wonder who you are? Do you have a grasp on your identity as a human being?
I know that may sound funny, but it means something that we are human – and it means more than that we are a bunch of molecular cells bonded together in a form of what we call persons.
As you encounter challenges in life, do they ever cause you to ask questions about your calling? Your purpose on this earth? What God has for you to do?
You look around at the world and have (existential) moment thinking, “What’s this all about really? Why do I exist? Life is hard; the world seems really broken. What am I here for? Just to make money, be a family, do a job, play some games?
Are their moments where you question who you are – where you wonder what God thinks of you?
They may be hard questions, but if we are honest, I think we recognize feelings and questions here that we have experienced.
Our understanding of our identity as human beings matters for these questions and others like them. So today we want to talk about what we believe about humanity – about what it means to be a person created by God in this world.
And we talk about it with a purpose in mind.
RE-CAP and OVERVIEW:
This series entitled Here We Stand is focused on us knowing what we believe so that we can have courage to face tomorrow. We have considered our beliefs about Jesus and His resurrection particularly AND last week, our belief about God.
So what is it, today, that we know and believe about ourselves - humanity - that gives us courage to face tomorrow?
Allow me to show you.
Turn with me to the story that opens the Scriptures to see: Genesis 1:26
GOD:
We aren’t going to read the whole story here, but move to verse 26. As you are, let’s remind ourselves of this chapter. It’s the beginning of the Bible so we are at the beginning of the world – the creation story. The chapter is telling us about God’s good creation: heavens, earth, sea, sky, land, water, plants, animals, and NOW: humanity!
READ - Genesis 1:26-28
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Right here at the start God makes a profound, destiny-shaping (existential) statement about who we are - our identity: we are image bearers of God, created in the likeness of the Tri-une God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Human beings are made in God’s image. Humanity was made in the image of God.
We believe that every person is uniquely created in the image of God.
But what does that mean? In some ways, “image bearer” feels like a vague, even nebulous term. And if you’ve every researched it, you might have come across a number of ideas and speculations.
Well, here’s how we understand it.
FIRST – being an image bearer of God describes the essence of who we are – the essence of who we ALWAYS are.
Every human being in this world is an image bearer of God! And we NEVER lose that image.
Yes, as we will learn in a moment, the entrance of sin into the world through disobedience marred this image; it distorted it.
BUT… it did not obliterate the image of God in human beings. The image of God as the mark of each person in this world is NEVER lost!
It is never lost BECAUSE, being made in God’s image is NOT a descriptor of us – like male, female, brown hair, blonde hair, short, tall – it is NOT an adjective describing us.
It’s a phrase describing the way God made us:
“To be human is to be the image of God.”
The Mission of God, Christopher Wright (421)
It is what distinguishes us for the rest of creation.
So again, first, what does it mean to bear God’s image?
It means “to be human.”
And this has HUGE ramifications for seeing the DIGNITY of all people – beginning with OURSELVES – do you get that about you? YOU bear God’s image. Look in the mirror – that’s God’s image right there!
And it impacts how we see one another – look around! We don’t see labels first, but the image of God first.
So ALL humanity has dignity. Every one of us – from the person sitting next to you to the business executive to the student in class with you to the man panhandling on the street! Every person is God’s image bearer.
It is why death – particularly death incurred when life is taken from a person like through abortion, capital punishment, war, murder, or the like – is so horrible! Taking human life is removing God’s image from the world.
To be human is to be dignified.
To be human is to bear God’s image.
And YOU ARE THAT IMAGE – YOU: uniquely created by God, marked by God, loved and valued by God.
SECOND – understanding our identity as God’s image bearers reveals what we are here for on earth: purpose and relationship.
{CG: What does it mean to bear God’s image?
It is the essence of what it means “to be human.”
It reveals that we are made for a purpose and for relationship.]
Bearing God’s image reveals that we are here for a purpose – with a calling!
Where do I see that in the passage? It is in the words of 1:28. God calls human beings to the task of filling the earth, ruling over it, subduing it.
God has a creative calling – he is God, creating and ruling over all of creation; BUT he shares that calling – that “job” if you will – with humanity in creating us in his image. So this is where we get our purpose / calling for being in this world!
You wonder why you are here on this earth sometimes – question your purpose? Being in God’s image tells you why – to do the works that God does! To be part of the benevolent care of His GOOD creation.
Being image bearers reveals that we are here for a purpose, made for a calling.
And it reveals that we are made for relationships. Relationships with God and with others. As image bearers we were created in relationship.
So our purpose – what we are here for SINCE we are image bearers – is inextricably linked to us being in relationship.
And this makes sense by being in God’s image! We believe that God is – at the core of who God is – relational BECAUSE we believe God is “tri-une.” God is Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And so God is relational within God’s self – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit giving, receiving, and sharing love with one another. It’s the essence of what we mean when we say that God is LOVE.
But what that “theological” stuff means for us is the truth that we believe that we are intrinsically relational as well. We are made in relationship – to be in LOVING relationship with God and with one another.
It is what we are HERE FOR. And all this is because we are made in God’s image.
(the image of the God who is love, who lovingly created us to give, receive, and share His love)
You and I – and EVER SINGLE PERSON IN THIS WORLD – are uniquely created in the image of God – in the image of God for a purpose and for relationships. It is the essence of what it means to be human!
You and I are uniquely created in the image of God – in the image of God for a purpose and for relationships.
BUT there is a challenging reality that goes with this truth: every person is:
An image bearer who through sinful disobedience, is broken and has alienated themselves from God, others, and the creation.
Why?
The creation story that continues in Genesis 3 tells us: choices were made in sinful disobedience that have brought brokenness and alienation into the human race.
Sinful disobedience that has rendered the human race broken and alienated from God, others – including within oneself (e.g. physical sickness; emotional brokenness), and the creation – that has rendered humanity struggling to live its identity (as humans were meant to live when first created) with its purity of purpose and wholeness in relationships.
We can read the story in Genesis 3, but for the moment let me summarize: it’s the story of Adam and Eve being tempted by a serpent to go their own way – to declare their independence from their Creator for the sake of self.
And when that choice was made, represented in the eating of a forbidden piece of fruit, we are introduced to the world as it WAS NOT meant to be – the world left to its own devices, human agendas – the creation and all humanity now broken; humanity alienated from God, others, and the creation itself - consequences that would be passed on to the entire human race.
Humanity’s purpose and relationships that image (verb) what it means to be human NOW distorted / marred.
And you know it, don’t you?
The broken places that we see in this world, you and I experience – we live in them everyday.
We speak of them as the Six Broken Places – six realities of the world in which we now live that demonstrate with such clarity that our world is NOT ALRIGHT – that brokenness and alienation are the right descriptions of what ALL human beings face because of disobedience:
o With God
§ We see that human beings are alienated from God and lost.
o With others (within ourselves and with one another)
§ We see that human beings are alone and lack loving relationships.
§ We see that human beings alienate and dehumanize each other resulting in discrimination, racism, war, and genocide.
§ We see that human beings’ bodies, minds and spirits are broken.
§ We see injustice abounding everywhere resulting in systems of poverty, hunger, disease and slavery, among others.
o With the creation
§ We see that the physical creation is in decay and groaning because of abuse and neglect by human beings.
And as I said, we know that the world isn’t as it is supposed to be, don’t we? We can all see how broken the world is.
I know for me, this was a week where I think I saw ALL 6 of the broken places up close and personal in the lives of people I know and pastor.
You know them up close and personal too, don’t you?
You hear these broken places and you think, “I am lost from God – I don’t know that He loves me or wants me.”
OR you remember your loved one who was a victim of discrimination OR a casuality of war.
You are reminded of the friend you are praying for whose body is breaking down and for whom you long to see well.
OR you experience an overwhelming sense of frustration as you talk to your new friend whose situation only serves to remind you of the unjust systems that perpetuate the cycle of poverty – you think, “ENOUGH God!”
You feel helpless as you hear of another family member suffering from respiratory issues due to air quality being polluted by the factories where they are living.
OR you say, “Yes that’s me – I’m that one alone, lacking loving relationships.”
And ALL of this, the result of sinful disobedience.
Beautiful image bearers of God living in the reality of being broken.
Beautiful image bearers alienated from God, others (one another), and the creation.
Image bearers in need of healing and reconciliation.
We believe that every person is uniquely created in the image of God but, through sinful disobedience, is broken and has alienated themselves from God, others and the creation. The result is that every person is in need of healing and reconciliation.
On this we stand.
Now… how does this belief give us courage to face tomorrow?
How does this belief about humanity nurture courage in us when we look at the world around us?
YOU:
Well let’s face it. It honestly might NOT seem to give us courage – let alone hope – when we see the words broken, alienated, and in need of healing and reconciliation.
What courage is there in that?
This belief just shows us what our poverty is – our deep need: that we are messed up as humans and that we live in a messed up world.
However, that is exactly why it first gives us courage – (because this belief) it tells us what we need God to do for us – for this world – for you and me. It is a truth-telling belief – a “whistle-blower” belief.
It’s a belief that should cause you to STOP, take notice of your dire situation and do something about it!
You are lost from God? Reconcile! He’s waiting for you with open arms. Come in surrender and trust, denying yourself, receiving God’s grace as you choose to follow Jesus.
You are alienated from a family member? Humble yourself and with God’s Spirit, go ask for forgiveness.
You are broken in your spirit – emotionally? Stop self-medicating and choose the healing offering in Jesus Christ.
You are sick of the injustice of poverty in our city? Impact the life of a student and tutor at Shepherd bringing God to them as part of the healing of their broken place… and help lead us as a church as we seek to become strikingly generous in order to do what we can to break the cycle of poverty.
You see the abuse of creation in your company - the way the push for profits in your business is leading you or the company you work for to cut corners on how you treat the environment and you know you are abusing creation? Do something to change the business practices in order to honor the Creator artist’s art work: this world.
Listen to the whistle-blowing of this belief about humanity and our world and face up to the truth that the reality of brokenness and alienation and these broken places are something all of us experience both personally as well as corporately – and IT ISN’T SUPPOSED TO BE THAT WAY!
And so if we believe that it isn’t supposed to be that way,
…THEN, it stands to reason that we believe that the world’s situation can be put to RIGHT.
In facing up to brokenness and alienation, we embrace healing and reconciliation.
So we hear and heed Paul’s words to the Corinthians:
2 Corinthians 5:18-20
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
We choose to respond to God’s invitation to the healing and reconciling power of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection that comes to the parts of our life and our world where the broken places are apparent. We choose to be reconciled to God.
And we do it because of the courage that comes from this honest belief about humanity’s dire situation in this world.
But it doesn’t stop there…
This belief gives us courage because it gives us our identity for living in this broken world: it tells YOU who you are and what you are here for.
You are an image bearer of God – always have been, always will be.
And we gain courage because of what God wants to do for us, in us, and through us as His image bearers.
We gain courage knowing that what God is doing in healing and reconciling us is restoring that marred and distorted image that resulted from the fall. He is setting wrongs to rights!
And He is doing it BECAUSE you are made in His image and that image is NEVER destroyed!
Every human being has importance, value, dignity! You are significant because you are marked with God’s image. And there is courage in this belief. This impacts your confidence, your attitude in moving forward to face challenges and situations in life every day – mundane or daunting.
This truth reminds you that you are not some random accident of molecular structure – you are uniquely created in the image of the eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing, just and loving God of the universe who purposefully created and is personally engaged!
This is NOT psycho-babble, look-in-the-mirror and tell yourself, “I’m important!” to boost your self-esteem.
This is theological, biblical TRUTH that God says, “You bear my image! You have dignity because of me. You are important…you matter…you have value. And you I LOVE - you were created in my image. And I’ve got stuff for you to do!”
And so with courage knowing who we are, we move out compelled by this identity with its calling and purpose for us in this world.
We are being healed and reconciled by God, so we become ambassadors for the sake of God’s mission of healing and reconciliation in a broken and alienated world.
In moments of doubt, moments when we want clarity, moments when the existential questions come, “God, who am I really and what am here for?” we stand with courage on the truth that we bear God’s image giving us our identity and dignity, calling us to our purpose and loving relationships.
On this we stand! (Or… Here We Stand!)
Let’s pray.