Genesis 1:27, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them.” PS.139:14, “Fearfully and wonderfully made.”
- Marilyn Adamson: “Human brain…simultaneously processes an amazing amount of information. Your brain takes in all the colors and objects you see, the temperature around you, the pressure of your feet against the floor, the sounds around you, the dryness of your mouth, even the texture of your keyboard. Your brain holds and processes all your emotions, thoughts and memories. At the same time, your brain keeps track of the ongoing functions of your body like your breathing pattern, eyelid movement, hunger and movement of the muscles in your hands. The human brain processes more than a million messages a second. Your brain weighs the importance of all this data, filtering out the relatively unimportant. This screening function is what allows you to focus and operate effectively in your world. The brain functions differently than other organs. There is an intelligence to it, the ability to reason, to produce feelings, to dream and plan, to take action, and relate to other people.”
- “The eye…can distinguish among 7 million colors. It has automatic focusing and handles an astounding 1.5 million messages – simultaneously.”
Note the process 2:7, ‘formed’, ‘became a living being’ but note the same word is used for sea creatures (1:21-22) and land animals 1:24. But 1:26, “In our image” is an important phrase for it reveals that Man (male and female) unlike any other are made in the image of God. This is the wonder and the nobility of mankind.
- Kidner: “The words image and likeness reinforce each other.”
After the Fall Gen 9:6 – Man still in God’s image and we are reminded in James 3:1-12 (section re taming the tongue) – warned against cursing those: “Made in God’s likeness.”
- Hebrews 1:3, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.”
- 2 Cor. 5:17, “In Christ…a new creation; the old has gone the new has come.”
- 1 Jn. 3:2b “We know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”
James Packer: “Scholars…there is general agreement that it (in His image) has to do with dignity, destiny, and freedom.” You are unique, special and eternal – no robot!
As we consider being created in His image we should recognize:
- God’s Creativity,
- How He communicates.
- He is a Moral Being.
- Desires relationship but need to be in fellowship to display His likeness.
- He is personal has personality or character.
- Anon: “To be a person, we have to be able to think, to reason, to feel, to judge, to choose, and to communicate in words that constitute a language.”
*We have personality because we are created in God`s image! He is a Person! Speaks in languages that we can understand and listens to us are we listening to Him?
- 2 Corinthians 3:18, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
What a wonderful God we serve!
Your friend and Pastor
Jim