Introduction
Psalm 8 is one of my favorite passages in the Bible; probably from working 3rd shift and wishing I could make the world work around a night owl schedule.
Psalm 8:3–6⠀3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him? 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, And hast crowned him with glory and honour. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet:
One of the most humbling things is to look at the universe and then look at yourself and wonder at how insignificant we seems. I was born, I’ll live, I hope I make a tiny impact in people’s lives, I’ll die, my grandkids might know me and my great-grandkids won’t even know what my name was… and the universe will still roll on even when 1 of the 8 billion people on a tiny planet of the vast cosmos passes away. We seem insignificant.
But notice how the passage moves from focus on the heavens and the humility of man → to the focus on man and the exalted place God has given him. Right now, we appear to be lower than angels, a small part of God’s puzzle, yet God has created us as the final act of his creative work. We have dominion over all things that God created, and we are to, like God, create and spread his image around the world. And though we appear insignificant, we even one day will judge the ones we are presently a little lower than in status. Remember 1 Corinthians 6? We will judge the angels.
Idea
Instead of dreading a life of insignificance, being imagers of God makes every person significant—not because of who they are but because of Who made them.
Created for God’s Glory
What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.
Why does an artist paint an image, a musician make a song, a designer to make a product, or a coach to draw up a play?
To bring glory to the artist and attention to the object and joy to the observer.
Isaiah 43:7⠀7 Even every one that is called by my name: For I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
Revelation 4:11⠀11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Created in God’s Image
Original Creation
Made in God’s image
Genesis 1:26⠀26 And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
After the Fall
Genesis 9:6⠀6 Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
James 3:9⠀9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
Even after sin entered the human race, we are still in the image of God. But it is what has been called a marred or distorted image.
Satan attempts to recreate in a sinful image
Example of AI, not artificial intelligence but artificial images. What does Satan do? He compares our lives to the lives of others and he attempts to fill in the blanks with artificial pieces to make it look better to the human eye. But no matter how good it looks, it is only artificial and not real.
- the home dynamic
- the devaluing of human birth
- the devaluing of human life
- the minimization of human death
- the maximization of human pleasure
Recreated in the image of Jesus Christ
Though Satan may attempt to recreate what God has done, might we expect God to recreate what he has created?
Romans 8:29⠀29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Colossians 1:15⠀15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Colossians 3:10⠀10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
2 Corinthians 3:18⠀18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:49⠀49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Responsibilities as Creatures in God’s Image
Towards All
How someone looks will not affect how we treat them.
How someone acts will not affect how we treat them.
How high or low in life someone is does not change their status as made in God’s image.
Every person is an opportunity to love for God.
Every person is an opportunity to learn from God.
Towards Christians
We will be patient with our brothers and sisters in Christ
Going back to a verse above, Paul taught that we are changed into the image of Christ—very slowly.
2 Corinthians 3:18⠀18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Towards Self
Romans 7:24–25⠀24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Understanding this doctrine (that we will see more under the teaching of sanctification) will help us to live a life of hope rather than despair.
Image Restored
Look at every person in this room. I am assuming everyone in here is saved. If so, then look at every person and realize that you are looking at someone made in the image of God. And because of the redemption of Christ, you are looking at someone that is also being confirmed to the image of Christ. Little by little.
Would that affect how you pray for one another, love one another, interact with one another, care for one another?
Would it cause you to be more patient with one another? You say, but I know so and so and they did this or they struggle with that or they said this or they didn’t do that… true perhaps. But a nanosecond after the coming of Jesus Christ it will be very apparent that the people in this room were not just common folk who happened to live in the same community and go to the same church.
When we see him, and we become like him, and we see him as he is…
We will also see every other Christian become like him.
So just as we want people to be patient with us because we are still a work in progress, we also—understanding this doctrine—will realize that our brothers and sisters in Christ are works in progress as well. And what makes them so special is not the image they give off at their worst, but it is the image they will finally be given when the Artist Jesus Christ paints his final brushstroke and says, for the second time, “It is finished.”
Final Questions
Do you often lack joy in the Christian life?
Why were you made? To glorify God.
Why were you saved? To be conformed to the image of Christ.
What then will bring you the most joy in the Christian life? Glorifying God by spending your life with the realization that all things are being done to make you more like Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 10:31⠀31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
Questions & Applications
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