Three ways we live out the Imago Dei

Seven different times God refers to what he has made as "good" in the creation story we find in Genesis 1. The seventh time that description is qualified as "very good". What is different? The "very good" happens on the sixth day, just after the Author of the universe creates humans in his own image.

 

The imago dei - which is Latin for the image of God - refers to the unique design placed on humanity designating people as His image-bearers to the world. As His image-bearer, humanity serves as representative through God's investment of glory and sufficient intelligence, awareness, reason, and compassion to rule and reign over the earth.

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. (Gen 1:26-27)

These verses have big implications for all humans. Perhaps most important is to realize God has created you with a purpose. "We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10) 

I want to share three ways the imago dei distinguishes humans from the rest of creation.

1. Relationship - Our relationships with other humans are unique to any other creature. In the wilderness it is not uncommon for a chimp to kill another chimp for territory and natural resources. When this happens, a chimp detective shows up with his magnifying glass and notepad to search out the killer and seek justice, right?

Okay, that's not the way it works. If a chimp kills another chimp, it's just business as usual. There is no court system or revenge. That's just reality in the chimp world.

That is what makes you and I unique and it plays out in our relationships. When a brother or sister is sick or in need, we step in to help. That's the imago dei. We live in the image of God when we live in relationship with each other. When we gather together as a church body, we are living out the imago dei. After all, even God exist in community; Father, Son, and Spirit.

2. Rule - Humans have been given dominion over the rest of the created world. If I go to a restaurant and order a steak. The waiter doesn't gasp with great horror. Instead, they ask how I want it cooked. That's because we have dominion. We exercise authority. We bring order to the chaos. 

Now, it is also because of that authority from God that any abuse, any type of cruelty toward animals is evil.

3. Worship - My relationship with God is different than any other creature's relationship with Him. Humans alone have been given the ability to seek God and understand Him. Your family dog doesn't pray. He doesn't fast (unless you forget to feed him). Humans have a spiritual and moral capacity that is superior to any other creature. 

David's words in Psalm 8 sum up our response to the imago dei in worship: 

O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
²     Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
    to still the enemy and the avenger.

³ When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
⁴ what is man that you are mindful of him,
    and the son of man that you care for him?

⁵ Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
    and crowned him with glory and honor.
⁶ You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under his feet,
⁷ all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,
⁸ the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

⁹ O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You are valuable because God made you in His image. That's the imago dei. It's a call to reflect God's glory to the rest of His creation.

Do you know the most common command in the Bible?

 There's a story about a football game where the home team was just getting pummeled by its opponent. Someone in the stands kept yelling, "Give the ball to Calhoun! Give the ball to Calhoun!’’ They tried another play, and again the home team was smashed to the ground, losing valuable yardage. Again came the cry, "Give the ball to Calhoun!’’ This happened two or three times more before a tall man raised up from the pile of human bodies on the field and responded, "Calhoun don’t want the ball!’’

I am afraid this is true of many Christians today. The task is laid out before us. We know we will be triumphant because the victory has already been won. But, are you willing to go?

In Mark 10, the rich young man approaches Jesus. In verse 17 we read, "And as [Jesus] was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 

It appears to be a good question. We all want to know the path to eternal life. The problem is the rich young man wasn't ready for the answer. Jesus tells him, "Go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." The rich young man goes away sorrowful because he had too much stuff.

Instead of asking for the path to eternal life, the rich young man should have been asking himself if he was willing to go.

I am not sure where I picked up the following quote. I wrote it down somewhere along the way: "The most common command in the Bible is "Go." The second is, "Do not be afraid." If you want to know how Christians should live, you can start there."

You have never talked to a mere mortal

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which,if you say it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - These are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”

Those words are from C.S. Lewis in The Weight of Glory. Have you ever thought about his point? For me, it offers a deeper meaning to helping others. We spend so much time accumulating stuff and building our wealth despite Jesus' command in Matthew 6 to not lay up treasures on earth. Jesus says those things will be lost or destroyed.

Lewis reminds us about our neighbors. Have you taken the time to invest in the immortal?

An open-handed life

The following clip is an excerpt from a recent sermon at the Monrovia Church of Christ I have put with some animation...

"God provides his blessing for the less fortunate, often through the wealth of the saints. He's blessed us in order that we may bless the ones around us. You have been blessed by God to live an open-handed life, not a life of greed saying, "What all can I accomplish? What all can I get?" Instead, live a life of giving to the people around you. Live an open-handed life."

The problem with perfume

My parents say I broke a lot of hangers when I was a child. My mother would lay out my clothes for me, but I wanted to choose my own clothes. I would go to the closet and pull down what I wanted to wear. The resulting fashion sense looked like this...

 I'm on the left in those sweet L.A. Gears

On the left again, in the floral print shorts

This killer fashion sense carried over to my college years and beyond...

Who doesn't wear athletic shorts with their tie and blazer?

 

Rocking the orange faux alligator skin shoes at Newscenter 25 in Victoria, Tex.

The point is, from an early age I was a fairly independent dude. That wasn't always a good thing. When I was about two or three, my parents say we were on a family vacation and headed to the hotel swimming pool when I ran out in front and jumped right in the deep end. As you can imagine I wasn't much of a swimmer. My desire to do everything myself put me in serious danger as I began to sink. Because I am writing this blog, it is obvious I did not drown that day. Fortunately, my dad jumped in to save me.

I think this is what it looks like when we try to define good and evil for ourselves. Isn't that the story in Genesis when Adam and Eve are convinced that the fruit will make them as smart as God. They eat the fruit and there are consequences. Evil enters into the world and Adam and Eve are banished from the garden (Genesis 3). This scenario plays out over and over again throughout the Old Testament when people try to live independently from God. Even today when we try to define good and evil for ourselves and seek happiness outside of God we find ourselves drowning in the deep end (Romans 6:23).

The truth is we live in a broken world. We live in the deep end and the only way to get out is to be rescued. But, how many people around us don't even realize they are drowning? In his book "The Invisible War", Donald Grey Barnhouse wrote, "The Church was not left in this world to perfume the dung-heap of fallen humanity, but to take out, one by one, those who will be saved from the coming destruction.”

There is a lot of wisdom in the quote. So, how do we "take out" those will be saved? The answer is pretty simple: we point to Jesus, the one who came to rescue us. That's what it means to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16).

I remember singing "This Little Light of Mine" as a child. The second verse is, "Hide it under a bushel? NO! I'm gonna let it shine." That is an eternal truth, not just a song for children.

You see, we as Christians are called to live in the world, but not of the world. The church is in the world to call others to the savior. But, we are instructed to not be conformed to it (Romans 12:2). That means we are to look to Jesus to define us; our definition of good and evil and our sense of happiness.

Paint, Piercing and Propitiation

Okay, yes it's the classic alliteration perhaps overused by some preachers (there's another "p" if you're keeping track). But, it really does sum up what the sermon is all about.

Posted below is video of my sermon from Monrovia in December. I shared a message that has been pretty heavy on my heart the last few months. I have been thinking a lot about what it means to follow Jesus after reading Kyle Idleman's "not a fan" (You should check it out if you haven't read it). There is one quote from chapter 10 that really got me thinking. Idleman says, "A belief, no matter how sincere, if not reflected in reality isn't a belief; it's a delusion." I even wrote about it in my last blog post. 

I've taught bible classes on this concept of living out our belief using some ideas from Idleman. That morphed into a sermon in November at Wichester Road Church of Christ. From that sermon, I expanded on a couple of ideas and with the help of a video from Jefferson Bethke, developed the sermon below. 

Is your faith delusional?

Are you a follower of Jesus?

That's the question Kyle Idleman leads with in not a fan. I finished this book in the fall of last year (I highly recommend it) and was forced to take a personal inventory of my life and really think about what it means to be a follower.

It's more than just calling myself a Christian, or a even a minister for that matter. Being a follower is being sold out for God.

Is it weird that I have a favorite body wash? Well, I do. And, unfortunately it has been discontinued. I like to use Old Spice Game Day Body Wash.

About two years ago, I ran out and went to buy another bottle only to realize I couldn't find it. As I continued to look, sometimes I would find the label on store shelves, but there was not a single bottle available. It was sold out. And, because it was discontinued that meant they weren't getting any more. Do you realize the implications of a product being sold out. That means it's all gone. There is none left. I would even ask an employee if I was missing something or if they had more in the back to no avail. The bottles were all gone.

Let's translate that to our faith. If you are sold out for God that means you are holding nothing back. Everything you have you give to him. When we become followers of God, he intends for us to be sold out. Jesus makes that clear in Luke 9:23 when he says, "if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself..."

I really like the way Kyle puts it on page 106 of not a fan.

Have you thought about your faith in those terms? You can say you are a Christian. You can go to church on Sunday and have a bumper sticker on your car. But, are you living out what you say you believe. If not, perhaps you are delusional.

These are hard words. For me, it's a work in progress. I find areas of my life that I am holding back from God. Some of my thoughts and actions don't always reflect my belief. Fortunately, I serve a God of grace and find healing through Jesus Christ as I strive to live out my faith. My goal is to be sold out to him, "looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12).