- “So God
created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
(Genesis 1:27)
a.
Mankind was created after the image of
God—to live godly, righteously, and holily
b.
Because we’ve all sinned, we’ve fallen
from this image and need to be restored
c.
The Son of God became a man and lived
how mankind had been created to live
i.
“Anyone who has seen me has seen the
Father” (John 14:9), “Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4),
“The Son is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), “The Son is the
radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (Hebrews
1:3)
ii.
Jesus taught us by word and example how
to live after the image in which we were created
d.
Seen prophetically in creating mankind
after God’s image is that the Son of God would become a man 4,000 years later
and truly live after this image in which we were created
e.
Our only hope of salvation is to be
restored to our created image, and the only way to be restored to our created
image is by being conformed to the image of Christ
- We glorify
God when we live as we were created—we fall short of glorifying Him when
we sin
a.
“For all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)
b.
God is glorified when we submit to our
created gender, assuming the roles of men and women, honoring our parents, and doing
to others as we would want to have done to us
- “Then the
eyes of both of them were opened, and they
realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”
(Genesis 3:7)
a.
“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth
and do not need a thing.’ But you do not
realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel
you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover
your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”
(Revelation 3:17-18)
i.
We don’t realize we’re naked, that
we’re no longer covered as when we were created
ii.
Our sinfulness is spiritual nakedness before
God but we don’t see ourselves as He does
b.
Like Adam and Eve, we also try to
“clothe” our own selves by covering up our sins
i.
We make excuses, we blame others, we
compare ourselves with others that are living worse than we are, we portray a
false image of ourselves, we want ourselves to look good
ii.
We say things like: “They’re just
old-fashioned, times have changed,” “That’s true for you but not for me,”
“Don’t push your values on me,” “Well, everybody’s doing it,” “That might be
how things are done in America but not in my country,” “God created me this
way,” “It’s my life,” “Nobody’s going to tell me how to live,” “I just can’t
help it,” “Don’t judge me!”
iii.
“‘Do not be angry, my lord,’ Aaron
answered. ‘You know how prone these
people are to evil. They said to me, “Make us gods who will go before us.
As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has
happened to him.” So I told them, “Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.” Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it
into the fire, and out came this calf!’” (Exodus 32:22-24)
iv.
“You shall not make for yourself a
carved image” (Exodus 20:4 NKJV)
v.
Aaron blamed the people then made up a
story to cover his sin and appear innocent
c.
“All
you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” (Matthew
5:37)
i.
Not answering a Yes/No question with simply
Yes/No is a type of cover up
ii.
Rather than answering just Yes/No we
justify and explain ourselves, “Well, No I didn’t get it done on time but I
overslept and the traffic was bad then I couldn’t find a parking spot …”
d.
Since having fallen from the image of
God, we try to clothe ourselves in our own self-image
i.
We care greatly about the impression we
make on others, how we’re seen by them
ii.
We want to be seen as intelligent,
strong, beautiful, wealthy, reputable, successful, cool, powerful, popular,
tough, funny, witty, generous, caring, humble, kind, patient, etc.
e.
A hypocrite is a person who acts like someone
they’re not—they portray a false self-image
- “The LORD God made garments of skin
for Adam and his wife and clothed
them.” (Genesis 3:21)
a.
Baptism is the point where we stop
trying to clothe ourselves and allow God to clothe us
b.
“So in Christ Jesus you are all
children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
(Galatians 3:26-27)
c.
“Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think
about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Romans 13:14)
d.
“You were taught, with regard to your
former way of life, to put off your old
self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in
the attitude of your minds; and to put
on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
(Ephesians 4:22-24)
e.
“Do not lie to each other, since you
have taken off your old self with
its practices and have put on the new
self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” (Colossians 3:9-10)
- We’re
restored to the image in which we were created by being conformed to the
image of Christ
a.
Jesus Christ never glorified Himself
and never sought glory from others
i.
“I do not accept glory from human
beings” (John 5:41)
ii.
“I am not seeking glory for myself” (John
8:50)
iii.
“If I glorify myself, my glory means
nothing” (John 8:54)
b.
“Such a person’s praise is not from
other people, but from God.” (Romans 2:29)
i.
We want people to like us, approve of
us, include us, respect us, and recognize us
ii.
As Christians we are to please God and
seek praise from Him, not from people
c.
Being conformed to Christ’s image means
we don’t seek glory and praise from others
- “In your
relationships with one another, have
the same mindset as Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5)
a.
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2)
i.
Renewing our minds is not positive
thinking but having “the same mindset as Christ Jesus”
ii.
“… to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:23-24)
iii.
It’s the mindset that we’re no longer
living for rewards in this life but for eternal rewards
b.
“… he made himself nothing”
(Philippians 2:7), “… made Himself of no reputation” (NKJV)
i.
The mindset of Christ is that we don’t
seek a good reputation or a good self-image
ii.
“I have set you an example that you
should do as I have done for you.” (John 13:15)
iii.
“To this you were called, because
Christ suffered for you, leaving you an
example, that you should follow in his steps.” (1 Peter 2:21)
c.
“… he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
(Philippians 2:8)
i.
What if you were falsely sentenced and put
to death with everyone thinking you were a criminal? This is what happened to
Christ and He didn’t try to explain or defend Himself.
ii.
This doesn’t mean that we’ll suffer to
that same degree but after the same image
iii.
We’re to have this same mindset of not
caring what anyone thinks about us
iv.
I used to be the worst about worrying
what other people thought of me
- “Then the
LORD God formed a man from the dust
of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and
the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7)
a.
We were literally created as vessels of
clay to be used by God however He pleases
b.
A clay pot doesn’t have its own will,
doesn’t do what it wants, doesn’t complain, doesn’t care what others think,
doesn’t seek its own glory, but allows itself to be used as it was created
- “And we
all, who with unveiled faces contemplate
[reflect] the Lord’s glory, are
being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the
Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
a.
Other Bible versions translate the
phrase “reflecting the glory of the Lord” (NET), “reflect the Lord’s glory”
(God’s Word Translation, Names Of God Bible), “reflect the glory of the Lord”
(NLT), “reflect the glory of the Lord as if we are mirrors” (The Voice)
b.
The idea is that others are to see Christ
reflected in our lives and for Him to be glorified
c.
We can’t do this ourselves—we are being
conformed to His image by His Spirit
- To be
conformed to the image of Christ we must obey Him as He obeyed His Father
a.
“‘My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of him who sent me and
to finish his work.’” (John 4:34)
b.
“For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him
who sent me.” (John 6:38)
c.
“I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.”
(John 14:31)
d.
“If you keep my commands, you will
remain in my love, just as I have kept
my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” (John 15:10)
- To be
conformed to the image of Christ we must please Him as He pleased His
Father
a.
“This is my Son, whom I love; with him
I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17)
b.
“I seek not to please myself but him
who sent me” (John 5:30)
c.
“I always do what pleases him” (John 8:29)
d.
“For even Christ did not please
himself” (Romans 15:3)
- Repentance is
the stripping away of the façade, guise, and cloak of the self-image we’ve
been portraying and exposing the “nakedness” of who we really are—sinful,
weak, helpless, and lost
a.
Repentance no longer makes excuses,
blames others, or hides behind a self-image
b.
Repentance takes full responsibility for
sins and accepts the consequences
c.
Repentance is turning away from how we used
to live as if that old person is gone
i.
“Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” (Acts 2:38)
ii.
“…to
put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness
and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:20-24), “…taken
off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”
(Colossians 3:9-10)
iii.
“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as
Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. … For we know that our old self was crucified with him so
that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin” (Romans 6:6, 4)
d.
I delayed coming to Christ because I
worried about what others would think of me, but I came to learn that what
people think of me is temporary but what God thinks of me is eternal