Christ the Image of God

When Adam sinned, he fell and so did we. We seek to amend ourselves, but we don't know what men did.

Looks like sensing our brokenness. We try to restore ourselves with morale up to you will with authenticity, but with fumbling the dog trying to redraw reports right when we have no idea what it should even look like you know I'm growing up I was tripping back in March. Just as international conference was to begin. We did a quick pivot though and presented the conference as an online streaming of our theme couldn't of been more timely and it still is. As we continue to navigate these challenging times we need to consider the radical implications of being made in the image of God is Dr. Michael today and a coach I went everyone desperately wants to be fulfilled yet where the culture which doesn't know what it means to be human witnessed the abortions, the racism, the object defying the people in the sex industry and if we don't know what it is to be human.

How can we ever know how we can be fulfilled as humans. None of that should surprise us for you cannot know what it means to be human without Christ.

The image of God in my aim now is to look together at what it means that Christ is the image of God and see what that teaches us about what it means to be human, not in the first few hundred years off the apostles image of God was a theme that grabbed theologians when we don't really see today.

Theologians like Irenaeus and Athanasius.

They love this theme because they saw the story of reality is the story of the image of God, fraternity pulsed, the son has always been, as Hebrews 1 verse three puts it, the radiance of the glory of God the exact imprint of his nature. He is, as Paul explains in Colossians 1 the image of the invisible God, not just like God not just friendly with God. He is of the very being of the father so that when he appears, we do not just see a faint echo of divinity went Philip in John 14 ask simple Lord, show us the father. Jesus said to him, who have seen me has seen the father, for he is the very expression of the father affect image and radiance of the glory of God.

He is the image of God, that in Genesis 1 we read about the creation of Adam told that he was created in the image of God.

Genesis 127 off to our likeness. Something pool picks up in Romans five is fascinated pool that describes Adam as the tone of the one to come.

Romans 514.

In other words, Paul is saying the first Adam was intended to be a picture of what Christ, the lost Adam would be like for a member. Adam was crowned by God is the ruler of all creation in Genesis 1, God said, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and of the birds of the heavens and of every living thing that moves on the Genesis 128, Adam was to look off the and rule over the creation as God's steward and region note that Adam was ever true monarch in the beginning we are being shown the end of humanity. Adam was serving as an illustration of the one to whom every knee will bow to every creature will submit the lost item would be crowned the everlasting King of all that is also strikingly cold, the son of God.

In Luke three, verse 37 Adam was created son of God, specifically to be like an created son of God, reveling in the love and care, the eternal son had always enjoyed Adam was made to know the love of the father.

Adam did or what he was made to pay by sinning a listen to Satan when listening to Satan.

He was no longer imaging Gault. He was doubting God's fatherly kindness to him so he was no longer being a faithful son. He was the prodigal son even in his sin he actually still managed to serve as a mirror image of the son of God. Adam did not do what he was commanded and precisely because he no longer loved the father and in that moment, he could not have been more perfectly opposite to the son of God said John 1431 I love the father. I do exactly what he commands. But more than over the first Adam shows us what the lost.

Adam is like through his marriage and the candidate in Genesis 2 sensibly makes you sit up and wonder because the engines is to remember it's it's a world before old death and agony.

Adam is wounded. The load caused a deep sleep for lipoma and while he slapped the Lord took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. Adam full's into a deep, strange, deathlike sleep and from his side.

The Lord takes a rib and builds it into a woman and she comes from him, and they become one husband and wife of John Calvin when you wrote about this he wrote in this we see a true resemblance of our union with the son of God redeeming the biblical commentator Matthew Henry elaborate success in this as in many other things.

Adam was a figure of him that was to come full out of the sight of Christ. The second Adam's spouse, the church was formed when he slept the sleep of the deep sleep of death on the cross in order to which his side was opened and they came out blood and water blood to purchase his church and water to purify it to himself. Wonder the apostle Paul reading of this first wedding in Genesis 2. Sword is a picture of the lost ultimate wedding saying reading from Genesis 2.

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and the two shall become one flesh. Because this is a profound mystery.

But I'm talking about Christ and the church.

Ephesians 532 but in Adam we see Christ's glorious intention to give life to his bride to be one with soap.

Adam was created as the sum of the one to come in from that moment, all of history would be the story of these two men, Adam, the head of the old humanity and Christ, the head of the new and the fate of every person will be wrapped up in one or the other and what Adam would break Christ would mend soda tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam committed the mother of all sins and he fell into death at a tree across Christ abate his father to the uttermost and conquered death, Adam brought sin and death. Christ brought righteousness and life and then wrote GK Chesterton on the third day, the friends of Christ coming at daybreak to the place found the grave empty and the stone rolled away and in varying ways they realize the new wonder about even. They hardly realized the world died in the night what they were looking at was the first day of the new creation with a new heaven and a new and in a semblance of the Gartner Gault walks again in the garden in the cool note of the evening, but of the dome.

Yes, that first Easter morning was indeed a wondrous new beginning like a new Eaton reestablishing all the Gault had once declared good man. Yes, gaunt walked in the Gault ruler over all things in perfect harmony with God, only now to be no threat of death. No danger of a serpent to record whole death had been swallowed up in victory.

Serpent crushed and where Adam had been banished from the Lord's presence and expelled from paradise.

Christ will ascend to be where man was made to be with God.

A man would sit with God in perfect harmony. Adam had been told fill the earth and subdue it but Ephesians 410 Christ ascended far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. He gave gifts to his people that his people might be built up the vein. The new humanity might fill Gault's new creation.

Yes, Christ mended all without him broke humanity the image and likeness of God.

That was broken and Adam was mended in Christ more than mended. But Jesus is greater than Adam as there was more glory in the days of Solomon than in the days of his father David, so there will be more glory in the days of the son of man than ever that had been in the days of the first man. First, the lost item is so much superior to the first so must his writing. Be and he, unlike the first man will never full will fail as I did and so the rule of the son of man in paradise restored will never possible way in harrowing times.

Think of the Son of Man unit.

One of the great heroes of the faith was the mighty fourth century theologian Athanasius's name means immortal.

This quite appropriate. Had a lovely image to help us get how Christ is the image of God and how he restored the image of God and humanity. He said Adam was like a beautiful portrait painting on hand. The image of God was drawn.

What happened to the full was portrayed was constantly wrecked.

Adam was no longer anything like God become vicious selfish horribly on the holy's of the image. The painting was ruined. So how could this precious portrayed be restored. The problem was there was nobody who knew what the portrayed once looked like they couldn't restore it to restore it. You have to know God. You have to know what he's like. Otherwise, you could never know the image of God should look like there was anyone hope the original subject of the portrayed had to come and have his likeness redraw on the canvas of humanity.

Only the one whose likeness was originally drawn on Adam could restore and renew it.

So the image of God himself came took humanity to renew his image. In eight he came and showed us the image of God in the flesh and in Christ alone could humanity be restored from what Athanasius cooled all this, the humanizing of mankind.

Only he image of God himself could re-humanize us only in him. Could we, as Paul puts it in Colossians 310 put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge off to the image of its creator friends.

No wonder our society is crawling with identity issues with the image of God ruined in Adam's sin is dumb to know what will therefore, we seek to amend ourselves, but we don't know what mended looks like sensing our brokenness.

We try to restore ourselves with morality or with authenticity, but with fumbling in the dark trying to redraw reports right when we have no idea what it should even look like all we can come up with monstrous operations only hope of wholeness is in Christ.

The image of God. Humanity can be mended.

Nowhere else to be out of Christ. Whatever we do what ever we try is to remain dehumanized by the full, to know Christ to be in him is to be humanize to be renewed in the likeness of God, because in Christ we see perfect humanity, we see humanity as we should be no we often use a negative word to describe Christ's life. It was we say sinless which it is the sound immediately. Very excited, sinless, think what it means that Christ was sinless means he was knocked selfish all class rule, abusive, twisted patsy proud to base sinless is useful and that is what humanity should be and is destined to be in Christ. This grew humanity that we see in Christ is so full of life. Just think what Jesus was like as a man as you read the Gospels, he was anything but boring and anemic. Here was a man with power and charisma running over with life, health and healing loaves and fishes, everything abounded in his presence so compelling. People find them.

The crowds with wrong round him men, women and children, the sick and the mad, the rich and the poor. They found them so magnetic. Some just wanted to touch his clothes kinder than some. He befriended the rejects and he gave hope to the hopeless.

The duality of the despised found they mounted to him.

His closest friends found that the Son of Man came eating and drinking, being with him.

It was like being with a bridegroom at a wedding. He was generous, genial resolute.

He was always surprising.

Jesus was utterly loving but he wasn't sloppy with his insights would unsettle people in his kindness would win.

Indeed, if you read the Gospels we see Jesus was a man of extraordinary and extraordinarily appealing contrast use of the couldn't make him up. Just try to imagine the perfect man. If you do you'll come up with some wooden caricature of a sink, a bowl, Jesus is so much more realistic so much better than any imaginary perfect man we would make you money. One thing or the other. Jesus you see red blood is unhuman but rough is pure, but is never dull serious but with some beams of wit, shop of the glossy wood out. Augie will come is in debates but never for the sake of a meal when he knew no failings in himself and yet was transparently humble. He made the grandest claims for himself and yet does so without a with pomposity. He ransacked the temple. He spoke of hell fire Eagle, Derrida, Fox Eagle, the Pharisees corpses and makeup. Yet Nefertiti doubt his love as you read his life with a huge heart.

He hated evil and felt for the needy love dog and he loved people so you look at them you have to say. Here's a man truly alive on with it in any way formal flight: vigorous farm off full and complete fall more human than any other. And so it is for those who come to know Christ. They find themselves being re-dehumanized in his image off to his likeness in second Corinthians 3 pole.

He was thinking of Moses, who do remember Moses asked IIc to look upon the glory of the Lord, and the result was we read when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the law in his hand as he came down from the mountain. Moses did not know the skin of his face shone because he been talking with God and pull rights commenting on that second Corinthians 318 and when you hold like Moses, with unveiled face holding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from 1� of glory to another.

Created in the image of God, that we might be like God sharing his life.

His vitality is loving holy character. We become what we were made to be by looking to Christ who is the image of God, but holding him we become most truly human in all our faculties minds, our hearts, our lives, get aligned right and we are transformed into his image friends, it matters what you fix your gaze on every day life righteousness, holiness, redemption of found in Jesus and are found by those and only those who look to him believing. Perhaps I should be clear up is not the we look get some sense of what he's like and then go away and strained to make ourselves like him we become like him through the ferry looking the very sight of him is a transforming thing for now contemplating him by faith we begin to be transformed into his likeness, but so potent is his glory� When we clap eyes upon him physically at his second coming, then first John 32, when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is that fool unveiled physical sight of the glorified Jesus will be so majestically affecting it will transform our very bodies around us. The sight of him now. By the spirit makes us more like him spiritually. The sight of him face-to-face will finally make us balding and so is he is difference looking to Christ. The image of God will do for you what, no self-help books will do pressing into no him and to know the privileges we have in him our righteousness before God. Our adoption as children of God that is my phone, so our identity issues to all our brokenness when we seek to know him as a better is when you find yourself is Dr. Michael Reeves. Your listing to Renewing Your Mind were glad you're with us on this Monday.

There's no question that we can feel helpless as we look at the society that spinning out of control, but we have hope. There is a cure for our brokenness looking to Christ reminds us of who we really are. As we heard Dr. Reese point out that we live in a society that doesn't know what it means to be human, but the confusion has made its way. Unfortunately, into the church as well and that's why were offering an important resource to you this week it's Dr. RC Sproul's book the hunger for significance in it. RC explores our search for meaning as humans and importance to our dignity and purpose. We all want to live lives that count and Dr. scroll explains how to live that out will be happy to send you this nearly 270 page paperback copy when you contact us today with a donation of any amount.

Call us at 800-435-4343 or make your request online at Renewing Your Mind.Ward wife is it easy trials and sorrows can overwhelm us, but studying God's word is where we find strength to endure. Isaiah chapter 40 reminds us that God gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength is our goal here at later ministries to come alongside the local church with resources to help Christians grow to gain strength immature financial gifts that allows to continue bringing the wide-ranging word to believers around the world and to say thank you for your gift today will send you Dr. scroll's book the hunger for significance dinner number is 800-435-4343. You can also give your gift to make your request online at Renewing Your Mind.Ward Hall tomorrow. Dr. Stephen Nicholas will be here with the message on the dignity of God's image. All of those things cultures use to quantify people make categories us them. Gender, race, socioeconomic status, scalability, profession, all those things that is our dignity. None of that is worth we will find out the dignity and worth our phone tomorrow on Renewing Your Mind