The Story of God: Created

There’s more to us than a handful of dirt. We laugh and sing; we contemplate and exaggerate; we build and we destroy. We take delight at the birth of a baby, we grieve when tragedy takes a loved one. We cry out for justice and we pray for peace. At times we can get incredibly angry, at other times we can do the most selfless acts of love. Yes, we are much more than a handful of dirt. We are human beings. But that begs the question: What does it mean to be human? That’s the question we’re going to try to answer today as we return to the beginning of God’s story as it unfolds for us in the Bible.

In creating man and woman in His image and likeness, God gives us four truths that give our lives significance and meaning:

1) We are made by God    Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:26-27

We are created beings made by God. We are no accident, no after thought. When God said, “Let us make man in our image” He did something with us that’s not seen in any other aspect of creation – not with light, nor water, nor the other elements; not with the sun, the moon, the stars, and not with any other living creature. All those things were brought into existence through God’s spoken word. But when it came to creating humans God got personal. God got his hands dirty and became intimately involved with us. Genesis 2:7 says, “the Lord God  formed the man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.” And so the first human was made by God. He was made by God because God wanted to make him. God planned his existence. You were meant to be. No one alive today is here by mistake. We have a Creator. We are made by God.

2) We Bear God’s Image   So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:27  The incredible truth about being Created by God, is that God has put something of Himself in each of us.  We all now bear a family resemblance: We resemble God in that we have a moral consciousness: each of us has a sense of right and wrong, a sense of justice and mercy.

We are like God in that we have a rational mind: each of us can think our own thoughts, we can think abstractly, solve complex problems, carry on conversations and actually understand one another.

We also bear God’s image in that we have creative abilities: we have ideas, and dreams a hopes. We wanted to make life better, so we invented indoor plumbing, water treatment plants, the internal combustion engine, the Mustang and the CRV.

But above all these, we are most like God in that we are persons! Our lives revolve around other people. No man is an island. We want to share all the good things of life with someone. We love to laugh and have meaningful conversations.   We desire to express ourselves and we want to hear what others have to say. We know what it’s like to share our thoughts, our dreams, our opinions… what we did yesterday. And we want to know and be known in the most intimate of relationships, marriage.

3) God made us unique    “male and female He created them.”   When God created us, God created diversity. Not just biologically, but relationally and emotionally. Every single person is one of a kind. No one has the same eyes, the same finger-prints, the same vocal chords, or the same skin tone. And our personalities… aren’t you glad we are not all the same? Aren’t you glad to have friends who light up a room when they walk in? But aren’t you glad for that quite friend who is faithful as the day is long? God made us all so different. And that’s good.

And nowhere is this diversity more magnified then in the relationship between man and woman. We couldn’t be more different from each other! Yet, we couldn’t need each other more. We are not so much opposites as we are compliments. Man is hard and woman soft. Guys need five words to make a point, she needs 500! We are wired differently, but we can’t live without each other. That’s why when a man and a woman come together God says they become one flesh. And God says this is good.

4) God gave us purpose: God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Genesis 1:28 When God created, only human beings were given a specific purpose. Only human beings were given responsibility. When God created us, the responsibility He gave us was to fill the earth and subdue it. To fill the earth: We were given responsibility to bear more image bearers – to fill the earth with people like God – To fill the earth with unique, creative, moral beings whom God could love and enjoy and who could love and enjoy Him.

This is why every person has significance, worth and dignity. Every person from the Tundra of Siberia to the inner city of Chicago matters to God. Every person born in the ghettos of Calcutta or the Suburbs of Scottsdale matters to God. And whoever matters to Him ought to matter to us. This is why God sent Jesus into the world, not just to die for your sins, so you can be forgiven and set free to know Him. But God sent Jesus into the world so that once you are forgiven and free, then you too then go into the world to bring good news to anyone who bears His image. And that means anyone who doesn’t know Him.

Our place in God’s story begins here: God loves every person created in His image.   And if God loves the broken, the lost, the lonely, the abused, the messed up and wacked out discards of this planet – then they too should matter to us. Part of our purpose as people created in the image of God is to begin seeing every person through God’s eyes… as someone made to know and love Him too. When God created us, He gave us responsibility to fill the earth. And part of that responsibility today is to join Him and be part of the greatest rescue ever known to man. This is why each of us is a part of the story today. It’s part of our purpose in life.