A Special Creation - Pastor Dan Cravillion

A Special Creation

1-18-2015

Genesis 1:26-27

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. 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."

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

Genesis 2:7

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.

God made man uniquely/intimately compared to rest of creation.

·      God didn’t speak man into existence but formed man from dirt then personally breathed life into man (Adam)….how intimate!

o   Man is distinct, unique from all creation. Man is not the most evolved animal!

·      There were not millions of human-like creatures before God breathed soul into “Adam”.

o   B.B. Warfield, (theistic evolutionist) quote

Man is uniquely made & is the only creation “made in His image”. Gen 1:26, 2:7, 5:1-2, Ps 8:3-6

·      “image of God” =imago Dei means image, shadow, or likeness of God.

• similar but not identical to the thing it represents or is the "image" of.

·      This doesn’t mean bodily, since God is Spirit (Jesus Christ is now in resurrected bodily form in heaven). Jn 4:24

o   Though our physical bodies do reflect the “image” of God.

§  Our bodies allow us to see, hear, speak, touch, smell, etc. 

·      All things scripture describes, God does.

·      We are much more like God than rest of creation in many ways but a full understanding of man's likeness to God would require a full understanding of who God is.

Some ways we are made in the image of God would include:

·      Intellectual ability: wisdom, abstract reasoning, think logically, learn, develop greater skills/technology

o   Apes cannot discuss the incarnation or understand complex commands. 

§  Beavers build the same kind of dams for 1000 generations

·      We are able to love, be creative/merciful/just, sense of right/wrong (animals respond from fear/hope of reward), make ethical choices.

o   Only man is morally accountable before God.

·      We can grow to be more like God (holy, honest, patient), but not become God…

o   After the fall, we are still in God's image but some parts of image distorted or lost.

§  Death (soul/body separated) and punishment for sin was not God's original plan for man.

o   We can partially restore that “image” in our thoughts, words, actions because of Christ’s sacrifice & the Holy Spirit indwelling in Christians.  Rom 2:14-15, Col 3:9b-10, 2 Cor 3:18, Rom 8:29a, 1 Peter 1:14-15, Jam 3:9

The most important way we are more like God than rest of creation is that only man has spiritual nature & is immortal like God.

·      Immaterial spirits enable us to relate to God as persons, (pray/praise him).

·      The fact is that everyone will not cease to exist but will live forever (either with or apart from God) This is the Biblical truth behind one of LEFC’s CORE VALUES: To strategically share the Gospel with our local, regional and global neighbors.

Because the Creator created man more like Himself than rest of creation, He made us in His image we should:

• TREAT EVERYONE w/kindness, dignity & respect….life is sacred.
• This includes children in womb.  Gen 9:5-6, Ps 139:13-18

§  If we depreciate the value of human life we’ll lose sense of meaning in life.

• ACCEPT YOURSELF because God's image is imprinted uniquely on each.
• There are no duplicates; you, are the only you that has ever been or will be.
• REALIZE: you will be most happy when you grow to become more like Jesus Christ.