Do you ever feel that you are pretty unimportant and that everyone you meet seems to treat you that way? Do you share with many a modern man the view that man is just a speck of dust on a relatively small planet that orbits a fairly small star in the galaxy called the Milky Way? If your answer to either of those questions then you are not basing your thinking upon what the Bible teaches. Because the Bible gives man a very impressive status indeed. Knowing the truth about ourselves as to just who we are is of great importance and will help us to live out of lives as they should be lived.

Genesis chapter One records for us the Creation week when God made all things. That account, which we began to consider together last week, records for us the creation of mankind and now we are going to see just how the Biblical account see mankind (male and female) as being unique in the world that God has made.

There are a number of things to note:

1. Man is the apex of God's creation activity, the very last thing that He made before He rested from all His labours on the 7^th Day, the Sabbath. As we read through the first chapter of Genesis we find that on the 6^th Day God spoke and called for the earth to bring forth all the land animals – livestock and every creeping thing. Having created these God pronounced them good – that is, they conformed perfectly to what He wanted them to be.

There is just one more act of creation to be performed now and Moses suddenly slows the speed of the narrative down

2. Before proceeding to the creation of man God now does something He's not done before – He holds a Divine Consultation! There is something new here, something special is about to take place and so Moses writes about it differently – he doesn't want us to miss the importance of what is about to happen.

God is not asking any angels for advice – indeed He asks advice of no-one – rather there is here an early intimation of the Trinity or at least of a plurality existing in the Godhead.

3. Up till now as far as life has been concerned a phrase such as "according to its kind" has been prominent: (vv.11, 12, 21, 24+25). But now a different expression is employed God speaks in a fresh way, one in which He has not spoken before. Man (male and female) is to be created with a primary reference not to his offspring but to His maker – he is to be made in the image and likeness of God!

4. Not only is man blessed by God – as the sea creatures and the birds have been and as the Day of Rest (the Sabbath) will be – but he also receives a special commission to fulfil. This commission places him in an altogether different category from the other life forms that God had created. Man is immediately given the task not only of multiplying and filling the earth but of subduing it and of exercising dominion over all the life it contains.

Man as described in this very first chapter of the Bible is special indeed!

The whole creation account has been structured by Moses to show that God had worked progressively, bringing order out of chaos, in order to have a world fit for man to live in! And with the creation of this being made in the image and likeness of God the work of creation has been completed!

5. Man's being made in the image of God is not treated in the Bible as some isolated fact of no practical importance. Not only is it reaffirmed subsequently eg.Gen.5:1 but it also becomes the foundation upon which other teachings are based – the heinous crime of murder for example Gen.9:6. Murder is so bad because it destroys a man who is an image bearer of God! In the NT too James (Jas.3:9) refers to this when talking about how we use our tongues – one moment to praise God and the next top denigrate a person made in His image.

But what does it mean to be made in the image of God?

Over the years many different suggestions have been put forward as to exactly what is involved. Many arguments have taken place and the focus has most often been placed upon some characteristic within man. And so with this approach man has been studied in his moral, spiritual and rational capacities. While much of this may well be true it does tend to leave us rather cold being informed in the head without being warmed in the heart.

Is there anything else that might be said?

Well others have chosen not to look so much for some specific quality in people themselves but argue that the image refers to the fact that God has created man as His counterpart. Man has been so made that he might have a history with God. The image in this view is all about relationship. And as man on earth lives out this relationship he becomes God's counterpart, His representative and glory.

Perhaps a couple of examples will give us some idea of what this means:

In the ancient world rulers would place statues representing themselves in all parts of their empire – someone crossing the frontier and entering their territory would soon be confronted with such a statue that declared whose territory this was and who was in charge. The statue directed thought to the one represented – there was a clear "relationship" or correspondence existing between the image and what it represented.

This is not limited to the ancient world however: Example of Bourguiba with his statues in Tunisia. Any Town Hall in France has its photo of the French President on the walls. And lest we think it only applies to others – British Embassies and Consulates around the world have their photos of the Queen! The symbolism is the same – the image refers to the power and authority of the one portrayed.

But surely there must be some way in which the Bible might help us understand more about this being made in the image of God for relationship!

The NT witness

If, at the beginning, man was made in the image of God that image is no longer intact. Our own experience tells us that we are messed up at all levels of our lives – morally, spiritually, and rationally (our thinking is often twisted and perverted so that we can't see things straight). In addition to that – if those things were not bad enough – we do not naturally live lives of harmonious relationship with God. The reason for this defacement of the image of God in our lives will be explained in chapter three when Moses gives his account of the fall of mankind into sin and rebellion.

Looking at Adam in Gen.2 gives us a brief glimpse of man living in relationship with God before the Fall. That chapter shows God providing a lovely environment in which Adam can live. He is given responsible work to carry out in God's immediate presence and is provided with a helper exactly suited to him. But all this only gives us the briefest of glimpses.

So where are we too look for an example which will show us exactly what it is to live fully as the image of God?

The answer and good news of the NT is of course in the person of our Lord Jesus. In a number of places NT writers tell us plainly that if we want to know what it is like to be fully human as God intended us to be we need look no further than Jesus. Indeed He is the only such one!

2Cor.4:4 "Christ, who is the image of God."

Heb.1:3 "He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature…"

Col.1:15 "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation."

So if we want to understand what it means to be "in the image of God", to enjoy relationship with Him what we must do is to look at how Jesus related to His Father. There we see fleshed out for us just what it means to live the way God intended.

Let's take a look at how Jesus lived out His relationship with His Father when He was on earth.

1. He was constantly referring to the Father as He went about His everyday life:

From early on He knew He had to be about His Father's business (Lk.2:49)

Informally as He met with folk He talked about the Father eg. the Samaritan woman (Jn.4:21) or to His disciples as the rich young ruler turned away from following Him (Mt.19:26).

Formally in His teaching He taught about the Father – during the institution of the Lord's Supper He taught His disciples concerning His Father's Kingdom Mt.26:29 and He prays in Jn.17:6-8 affirming that He has faithfully transmitted the words His Father had given Him for His disciples.

2. He believed in His Father's providential rule. This rule He saw as affecting and determining how things would work out in the world both for Himself and for others.

For Himself:-

Jn.8:42 "Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me."

Jn.12:27 "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour."

Mt.26:42 "Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”"

Jn.18:11 "So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”"

Mt.26:53-54 "Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”"

For others:-

Jn.6:65 "And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”"

Mt.20:23 "He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”"

3. He frequently prayed to His Father – and this involves a wide range of times and circumstances:

We see Him prayer early in the morning (Mk.1:35), in the evening (Mt.14:15, 23) and all through the night (Lk.6:12).

We find Him praying in joy (Mt.11:25); in sorrow (Mt.26:37-39); and in suffering (Lk.23:34).

And of course we notice that He prayed for Himself, for His disciples and for others in need.

4. He was conscious of His Father's love:

Jn.3:35 "The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand."

Jn.15:9-10 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father‘s commandments and abide in his love."

5. He modelled Himself upon the Father:

He did what His Father did Jn.5:17-20

He taught what the Father gave Him Jn.8:28, 38

He judges rightly because the Father is with Him Jn.8:16

6. He was constantly revealing God by His life, deeds and words so much so that He could say to Thomas:

Jn.14:9 "“Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?"

7. Finally He makes the promise of restored relationships:

Jn.14:23-24 "Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me."

So in Jesus we have not merely a fleshed out example of what it means practically to live in relationship with the Father as the image of God we also find the encouraging promise that we in whose lives that original image has been shattered and deformed can be remade!

The promise is of restored fellowship and new relationship and it centres upon Jesus Himself.

The terms are simple – love for Jesus and a readiness to obey His word. This comes a response to His wonderful goodness and grace to us as He laid down His life for His people.

Let us learn more and more to live our lives as God intended – in harmonious relationship with Himself where He is no mere idea or theological concept but the One with whom we walk day by day.