Psalm 8:1-9

1 O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. 2 You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you. 3 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—4 what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? 5 Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority— 7 the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, 8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents. 9 O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!

Of all creation only mankind was created in God’s Image and only mankind received God’s breath of life. This reality reveals how special and valuable we are to God, because He took His time forming and shaping us. But there is a problem because even though God doesn’t make junk and we have been created in His image over the years that image has become warped and wounded. What God created as pure and clean has been polluted and silted over by sin. It’s like going to a hail sale where the store will sell you a vehicle that was once a beautiful showpiece but now no one is willing to pay full price for because it’s been beat up. A vehicle that has lost its value as a result of the bumps and bruises that have roughed it up. Sin doesn’t just ding us it damages us and leaves us feeling like second hand citizens instead of special. It’s like the story of the woman who was arrested for prostitution. As she was dragged into the police station, you could tell life had been hard on her. While she was dressed provocatively, her eyes revealed her weariness and despair. As she was sat in the chair next to the arresting officer’s desk she looked over and quietly said “I’m really not like this, this isn’t who I am.” In her heart of hearts, this prostitute knew that something about her wasn’t a harlot. Deep inside of her soul there was the feeling that something was damaged. Now she may not have felt real bad about herself when she compared herself to other prostitutes. In reality she is not that much different than the rest of us who may feel bad about ourselves, but find comfort in comparing ourselves to our neighbors, coworkers, relatives and friends. On a scale of 1 to 10 we may only be a 6 or a 7 but at least we are a few points higher than that other person. This prostitute might have been able to find comfort in comparing herself to other prostitutes, or the pimp that ran her life, and think well I’m better than some. But once she faced judgment, suddenly she realized how dingy and depressing her life had become. In her heart she knew something was wrong, that people didn’t just look at her, they looked down on her. All those looks of lust and less than over the years had taken their toll and slowly worn away at her worth. She sensed that something was wrong, that this was not who she really was. In her heart of hearts she may not have understood the theology, but she sensed the truth that she’d been made in the image of God. Yet her she was worn out and weary, feeling more used and abused than valued and beautiful. But it’s not just sexual sin that stains and strains us, no all sin scares, causing us to question our value and worth. Sin may promise to bless, but instead it will poison and possess, causing you to feel more broken than beautiful. So what can we do to deal with the damage, how do we make what is ruined right? If we have been made in God’s image and we have damaged that image how do we make it right? This is where we discover the grace of God and the power behind His plan. In 2 Corinthians 4:4 we’re told about “… the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Who is the image of God, Jesus. Also in Colossians1:15 we’re told that “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation.” You and I were made in the image of God but we’ve messed it up. Jesus is the image of the invisible God, so if we could just find a way to wrap ourselves up in the image of Jesus, and put on Christ like a coat then maybe we could be ok. This is what the Bible says God wants to do for us. This is the plan and promise of God found in In Galatians 3:27, “and all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.” When we become Christians we are clothed with Christ. Baptism is a picture of God’s promise, it points to us being buried with Christ and raised to live in righteousness as a new creation of Christ. As Colossians 2:12 states, “For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.” We sank down into the water a warped image of God and we surfaced a saint, wrapped in our Savior Jesus Christ, the perfect image of God. When God looks at us He doesn’t see our sin He sees His son. But being saved is so much more that some kind of spiritual cosmetic surgery. When we put on Christ we got so much more than just a face lift, because Christ didn’t just clothed the surface he changed us from the inside out. Acts 2:38 reminds us that to become a Christian we need to “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.” At the moment of salvation God’s Spirit comes to live inside of us, not just to reside but to remake and remold us in God’s image so that we begin to look more and more like Him. Understanding who we really are starts with knowing whose we are. So if you are saved I want to ask you a challenging question are you defining yourself but God’s forgiveness or by your failure. Are you basing your worth on your work or His?

Psalm 8:1-9

1 O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. 2 You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you. 3 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—4 what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? 5 Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority— 7 the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, 8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents. 9 O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!

Last time we saw that we are the crown of God’s creation. Reading Genesis 1 is like looking through a telescope at Creation. The first chapter tells us about each day of creation, but there’s very little detail telling us how God did what He did. It’s like an overview, but then chapter 2 kicks in and instead of looking through a telescope it’s like looking through a microscope where God takes us back to the 6th day of creation, going into great detail. In Genesis 1:26 – God says, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Not only does Genesis reveal that we are created to be image bearers of God but we have been called to “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.” Before we unpack this second statement let me ask you a challenging question about the first one, are you reflecting the image of your creator or that of the culture? We were created to reflect our Creator as well as care for His creation. We were placed in dominion over everything that was created not to destroy and abuse it, or indulge our short-lived pleasures, but to govern and manage God’s creation. We are called to be stewards of His creation not squanderers. This truth has profound implications not only for the environment, progress in technology, and good governance but also us finding our worth in His words. God’s call for us to partake in His creation speaks to work that is worthwhile but we need to be careful that we don’t try to find our worth in our work. Many of us are living limited lives because we are trying to gain our worth from our work instead of the One who invited us into His work. When you try to find your worth in your work, it’s not long before work wears you out and instead of work being a joy it’s just a job. Our worth is not found in what we do but in the One we are doing it for. While God places great importance here on caring for creation we need to remember that we are called to work for creation not worship it. Throughout history mankind has repeatedly tried to create a religion out of worshipping creation instead of worshipping the Creator. There are many today who have fallen under the spell of created things and so have placed themselves beneath creation. They have elevated creation above man the crown of God’s creation, exulting creation at the expense of the Creator. We are called to be stewards of God’s creation not slaves to it. We worship the one who gave us the work, we don’t worship the work. This command to care for God’s creation implies that there was work involved, even in the perfect setting of the Garden. Work did not come as a result of the fall but rather at the request of the Father. To rule gives us dominion to steward the Earth and its resources under the sovereignty Of God. An essential purpose of God for humanity is made clear in this verse: “Let them have dominion…” From the beginning, God intended human beings to be caretakers of his creation. The role given to us by our creator is to be good stewards of our surroundings. Yet, there is another reason he created us, in the second and third chapters of Genesis we discover a most amazing truth. God created human beings so that He might have a relationship not only with Him but also one another. We were made in “his image” that we might be capable of Ruler-ship and relationship. In John 15:16 we discover God’s blueprint for our lives, “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed you, that you might go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit may be lasting, so that whatever you ask the Father in My Name [as presenting all that I AM], He may give it to you.” God has appointed you, which means He has planted you to be faithful so that you will produce permanent fruitful. It is also here in John 15:4-5 that Jesus reminds us that successful ruler-ship is tied to our relationship, “4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. 5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” Our successful ruler-ship of His creation is tied to and dependent on our relationship with the Creator. Our connected to Christ determines our care for His creation. Today society has placed greater emphasis on recycling than on relationship but what we discover is that living for the Savior is what results in a life of service and stewardship. What about you are you living out His words of worth, or are you worshipping the work? Are you pursuing God’s plan and purpose for your life? God owns everything that exists and we are merely managers of the Masters property. He is the maker, owner, proprietor, possessor, source and sustainer and we are the stewards.