We’ve been talking about the truths that support and secure our faith. And we’ve spent a number of weeks looking at the truth that there is a God. He is infinite, eternal, perfect, and gloriously good. He is exceedingly better - God pre-eminent. And He is the sovereign almighty Creator of all things. Everything He does AND everything He makes is good, and waaay back in the beginning, He created all things out of nothing, and they were exceedingly good. [Gen 1:31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.] Soooo good!
AND in Creation God saved the best for last. Man [that Hebrew word literally is "adam"]. Human beings. Gen 1:26-27 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Made by God, in God’s image, this likeness=resemblance: i.e. NOT God, but distinct resembling God unlike any of the rest of creation. People have eternal souls, we are endowed with the physical/intellectual/spiritual capacities to rule together over all of God’s earth.
"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw 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 other of these destinations.
It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all 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, civilization—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.
This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously—no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.
And our charity must be real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner—no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment.
Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses."
(CS Lewis)
People are self aware [observe how we use a mirror vs how any other creature might], we are keenly aware of [time - unlike any other creature]. Yes, all these capacities began to break down after the Fall. Yes, these capacities can be undeveloped. But in or out of the womb, all humans (you and I) fundamentally bear God’s image because God says we do [Gen 1:26]. He says this of no other creature. We are set apart. It speaks to our personhood, beings with personality. Emphasis on personal. Not just our likes & dislikes & quirks but our unique God-like capacity for intimate relationship. Even our use of language, words - is just like the God Whose likeness we bear. Compare the development of any other creature to that of a human baby. A couple of years after birth, what normally happens? Humans begin to talk, to use words. That never happens for any other creature. Take dogs for example - what we’re hoping for with our puppy is that in a year or two not that she will be communicating with us intimately but that she will stop destroying our home. We, people, are wired for relationship - with our Creator, as well as with one another*, and in fact the entire rest of the Bible after that first part of Genesis focuses on this unique relationship between God and man.
The LIE says, man is just an animal. A highly evolved animal. But no different, nothing special. And definitely not accountable or tied to any Creator. But in fact God gave man a unique sacred crown. (Psalm 8:4 What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.) People are God’s masterpiece. The piece de resistance. Precious image-bearers of the exceedingly great God Who made all things, and Who uniquely made man for a personal relationship with Him. Everything else God makes in Genesis 1 is in the 3rd person - “let there be, let there be…” But when it comes time to make man, God ups the ante. He gets more involved. Somehow, He puts more of Himself into it. “Let US make man in Our image…” (1:26). First person. God takes man more seriously than anything else in Creation. And with that God takes the taking of human life very seriously. God’s penalties for killing a human are qualitatively different than those for killing any other creature. Gen 9:5-6 “Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man’s brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man.” We’re not taking the time here to discuss capital punishment. Suffice it to say, man is entirely set apart in the order of God’s creation. God set man apart and put him in charge (i.e. gave him responsibility). Note how this plays out in 2:19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The Lord actually involves the man in this aspect of the creative process. Creator God brings all the beasts and birds to the man, and the man uses words (like His Creator) to name the creatures. And look how God has empowered man in this process - “[whatever] the man called a creature, that was its name.” No other creature is elevated in this way [Psalm 139:13-14 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.]. God gave man a crown.
And don't you know, the world HATES this truth. It rejects the crown, because it rejects the Creator. Evolutionism gives man no exalted status - we’re just the latest beneficiaries of an IMpersonal random process. There’s nothing special about you or me. No elevation, no expectations - no accountability - cuz that’s how the world wants it. We’re just highly evolved animals, ipso facto we can just behave/do like the animals whenever the instinct or the feeling comes to us. Do whatever you want (i.e. live like animals - within “reasonable” limits and when it’s not too impositional). And the world twists the crown. Tho the world says there is nothing special about man, about me, the world still makes it all about me [Ezek28; Is14]. It’s hard to handle, the truth about this crown. God blessed us, showered His breathtaking goodness on us, on people - not so that we would make it all about us but so that we could know Him personally, enjoying and celebrating His glorious goodness, now - and forever. God gave man a crown.
God also gave man a unique sacred calling. Genesis 1:26,28 “…let them rule…subdue the earth and rule over it…” These are military terms - conquer then rule. No other creature is called to this. 2:15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. [no other creature creates gardens]. Literally, man is called to serve and to guard God’s creation. It’s a job, a responsibility. No other creature does this, they just exist. They look in a mirror and do what? They’re born, they reproduce and they die. Bees make honey. Cows make milk (and manure)(not ice cream). But man cultivates! AND, man creates [well, re-creates] - and appreciates! We take what God has made - raw materials - and we create something, and THEN we stand back and look at what we made, and admire it. Wow, that’s pretty good (which is pretty much what the Lord did in 1:31). Maybe it’s IN a garden - or in a kitchen, or in a studio, or in a workshop, or in a factory, or on paper, or on a computer. No other creature (re)creates masterpieces like God’s image bearers. Or admires them. Skyscrapers, and rocket ships. Bonsai trees, and gourmet delicacies. Botanical gardens and master bedrooms. Bouquets and board games. Poetry and science fiction. Symphonies and cinematic universes. We harness the earth, all our science and technology (engineering, agriculture, medicine, so many other practical fields) for the greater good of all earth’s inhabitants. At least, that’s our calling. Cultivate and keep. God gave man a calling.
And don’t miss the sacredness of this calling. God put Adam in a place called what? The garden of God - Ezek 28:13 “You were in Eden, the garden of God…" It was paradise, it was spectacular, and it was precious - cuz it was all very good, AND it was all God’s stuff. Still is. The LIE says, this is MY stuff. My life. My precious. Or maybe it’s nobody’s stuff - finders keepers. First-come, first-served. Survival of the fittest. Dog eat dog. No, no, no - it’s all God’s stuff. He’s entrusted all His stuff to you and me - including you and me. It’s HIS. All His. He’s put us in charge, but we’re simply taking care of it. Ours is a sacred calling. God’s stuff, His creation, His [creatures].
This crown and calling totally is the fountainhead of things like mercy, and justice. God has called us to take care of His stuff, including and especially to care for and look out for one another. Our neighbor. Love. Next week, we’ll dig deeper into just what man did with his calling, this sacred trust. But for now, suffice it to say, God has blessed each of us. Fearfully and wonderfully made. And why has the glorious God showered so much goodness on us? [Psalm 67:7 God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth may fear Him.]. It is NOT about us…
*The lack of human contact, and the sensory deprivation that often go with solitary confinement, can have a severe negative impact on a prisoner's mental state[31] that may lead to certain mental illnesses such as depression, permanent or semi-permanent changes to brain physiology,[32] an existential crisis,[33][34][35][36] self-harm and death.[37] Prison inmates assigned to solitary confinement were 3.2 times as likely to commit an act of self-harm. The United Nations considers solitary confinement exceeding 15 days to be torture
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