The Word: Genesis 1: 27(KJV)
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Dig Deeper: Genesis 1: 28 (KJV)
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Think about it
CREATED IN HIS IMAGE
We have been talking about discipleship, following, imitating, copying God.
Our text today is a common, perhaps popular and simple:
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Man was created in God’s image – A carbon copy of God. When you see a man, you have seen the form of God. God has head, arms, legs, mouth, ears like we do. We were moulded after the form of God. A goat does not look like God. A dog does not look like God, an elephant does not look like God. Only man out of all the creatures on earth was created in the form of God.
Now put on a thinking cap of a designer or a manufacturer: Why would you produce an item or a product to be your carbon copy?
Ideally it will be because you want that item or product to be a kind of representative of you. When people see that product, you want them to automatically think of you.
God’s mindset when he created man was no different. He created man to represent him. So when man arrives in a place, it’s like a representative in the stead or place of God has arrived.
After he created them in his own form, then he pronounced a five fold blessing on them:
‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion’
So many preachers have said so many things on these five fold blessings. But what is striking looking at it again is that the blessing God pronounced is what he does. God is by nature fruitful (bareness is unusual with him), he multiplies things, he replenishes situation, he subdues opposition, he is King and his creation is his domain. In other words when I am fruitful, multiplying, replenishing, subduing demonic opposition or having dominion, I am actually copying God and exhibiting his traits.
Remember we said a disciple is a follower, an imitator, a copycat of God. And remember you have been made in his image: (God copied himself in creating you or God created a copy of himself in you) It only follows that you and I have been created to copy God. That is the general purpose of mankind. That is our general calling.
Nuggets:
I have been created as an image of God to copy him in all I do
Our memory verse for March 2018
Luke 9: 23
23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Let’s take a few moment to learn our memory verse for this month by heart. It can be memorised in 3 lines:
Line 1: And he said to them all,
Line 2: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,
Line 3: and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Once you say it a few times it will stick.
Prayer focus: Our next level prayers:
Lord please help me to copy you in all that I do
On Grace:
Masterlife Workbook: The Church is embarking on weeks of discipleship workbook study: Masterlife now on the 2nd workbook: The Disciple’s personality
