In His Image

17. In His Image July the 6th, 1954. Good morning, friends.

One of the saddest facts about us is that we are more interested in our sales than in

the more important things of life. We tend to be radier to study psychology, which tells

us about our ways than to study theology, which deals with God's ways. This tells us, of

course, that there is something wrong with us, that we are basically self-centered, more

interested in our sales than in all heaven and earth. Why are we like that? Were we made

that way? Did God the Creator make us so?

The shorter catechism asks the question, how did God create man, Westminster's shorter

catechism question 10, and then tells us that we were created in His own image, in knowledge,

righteousness, and holiness, with dominion? If we were created in God's own image as

Scripture tells us, then we were not originally created self-centered, weak, and sinful, but

as men and women ordained to think God's thoughts after Him to perform His will and to

delight in His way. The image of God in man is not a physical appearance,

shape or form, nor is it man's soul or mind as such. The image of God is knowledge, righteousness,

holiness and dominion. These are the things which characterize God. His knowledge is perfect

and complete. His righteousness total, His holiness beyond our conceiving, and His dominion

absolute and unbroken. We were created by God to exercise the functions of His image under His

Word and purpose, but man rebelled against God and tried to set up shop on His own. His slogan was,

Every man, his own God, which was a total submission to the temptation,

you will be like God, Genesis 3, 5, and I.V. No, this is the reason why all of us are by

nature self-centered, why we are more interested in ourselves than in the rest of the world,

and why we enjoy talking more about ourselves than about God.

Some people are ready to tell you all about their dreams, their hourly X and pins,

Junior's precious ways, their troubles with the monthly payments and so on and on,

but ask them about their faith in God and they'll resent the question. After all, they'll tell you,

My religion is my own private business. Well, it doesn't make sense to me. As far as I can see,

our X and pins, dreams and payments are all very private affairs, and yet we spend quite

a bit of time making them public every day. On the other hand, God is a very truly important

public matter, the only truly important one and the basic one, individually and collectively,

we stand or fall in terms of Him. Then why do we make ourselves a public matter

and of God a private affair? Is it not because we read ourselves as more important and unconsciously

and instinctively see ourselves as God? We feel that the world should hear and know of the details

of our life because life would not be full or complete without that proclamation.

This is how we function in our capacity as little gods,

but the tragedy is that our rebellion against God has marred and broken His image in us.

We can never have true knowledge of anything unless we begin with God as creator.

Any other attempt to establish knowledge gives us only a world which is meaningless and monstrous

and knowledge itself occurs. Apart from God, there is no true righteousness, only self-righteousness,

a disgustingly false and hypocritical thing. As for holiness, it is more remote than the stars

to man apart from God. All man's attempts to recreate holiness by pomp and circumstance

through magnificent services and rituals, through beauty and art only leads to a greater mockery

and a more obvious failure. The higher we build up our pretensions, the more obvious our weakness

becomes. As for dominion, man clearly has lost that. Man no longer has dominion over the world

over his own area of activity or over himself. Self-control is a major public and private problem.

It is a mental problem as well, and men, having lost control over their lives,

find it hard to retain a hold on sanity and readily surrender to a helpless withdrawal from

this world that will not submit to them. Thus the image of God and man is clearly broken,

obviously shattered. Man is unable to be that which he was intended to be, but God does not

leave us helpless this way. He comes to us in Christ to recreate a fallen humanity.

By faith in Christ, we are regenerated in the image of God, and this recreation is made perfect

in the world to come. Paul reminds us of the nature and privilege of our regeneration in the image

of God, saying, Puton the New Man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created

him, Colossians 310, Puton the New Man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness,

Ephesians 424. Do you not know that the sins shall judge, or rule, or have dominion over the world?

1 Corinthians 6 2