(1) One of the books in our family library is a children’s book entitled, ‘The Blah’ by Jack Kent. It is the story about a young boy who feels like ‘a blah’ when no one pays attention to him and then gets very upset when his older brother steps on a prized crayon as he is coloring which then leads him to imagine himself leading an army of blahs against the terrible crayon breaker, older brother Billy. One of the things he says to himself in the story is that ‘no one pays attention to a blah.’
This morning I want to share, especially with our graduates, that we are not blahs or blobs of meaningless matter. We are, to quote the Psalmist, ‘fearfully and wonderfully made.’
(2) In addition to our honoring our grads today, we are also beginning a new series, ‘Hearing the Word of God’ based on the phrases written by Ron Forseth that he calls, ‘The 51 Word Bible’ that he composed as part of his 25 ways to engage the Bible. (3) Here is the 51 word Bible:
God’s Creation! Satan’s Deception. Adam’s Consumption. Noah’s Boat. Abraham’s Faith. Joseph’s Dreams. Pharaoh’s Oppression. Moses’ Escape. Doubters’ Wandering. Joshua’s Conquests. Judges’ Strength. David’s Slingshot. Solomon’s Wisdom. Prophets’ Proclamations. Israel’s Scattering.
Mary’s Delivery! Jesus’ Miracles. Rabbi’s Lessons. Lamb’s Death. Resurrection! Spirit’s Arrival. Disciples’ Testimony. Paul’s Letters. Churches’ Multiplication. World’s Demise. Heaven’s Triumph!
We are going to spend time over the next several months looking at these phrases because they provide us with a significant overview of the Bible that I believe will help us in personal and corporate Bible study.
Our first phrase, ‘God’s Creation,’ fits in line with our text and our context this morning because the main point that I stress to our grads today is that we are not blahs or blobs but that we are fearfully and wonderfully made because God created us.
And this is important to note because as you move into adulthood through college and/or work you will (if you already haven’t) encountered people who think God, faith, and Christianity is a stupid and fruitless pursuit. It is not!
In our main text this morning we read the Christian perspective of human creation, ‘So God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them.’ This verse and the chapter in which it appears leaves a great deal open for discussion and interpretation but behind it all is that we are here on earth because God created us to be and there was, and is a purpose for our existence.
A great deal of discussion and debate has been taking place in recent years between those who believe that our earth, universe, and us have merely evolved out of something else. Much has been made of what some call the ‘small gap’ between the apes and we humans. Now from a biological perspective there are some similarities between our genetic make up and other mammals.
Long will I remember a 20 to 30 minute event at the Toledo Zoo about 2 or 3 years ago when a then young gorilla put on a show for us as he frolicked and romped around his habitat. He was sooo cute and cuddly, but as we have since passed through that outstanding exhibit, he has gotten bigger and bigger.
They are fascinating and magnificent creatures. But while we share certain biological characteristics with them we are not the same although God created both them and us! They may seem human to us but they are not human! After all who shoots and poaches the other one on the one hand then seeks to save them and their habitat on the other hand?
What scripture does not give a full account of in scientific terms is made up for in mystery that requires faith. We do not have the full details of the 6 days of creation laid out for us but we do know that it was by divine design, not a random act or process, that this magnificent place we call earth, and the wonderful animal and plant kingdoms with which we co-exist, were created.
I have been reading the book, ‘The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief,’ by Dr Francis Collins.
Dr Collins is a devout believer and a geneticist who lead the mapping the human genome which is as the Encarta Dictionary says, ‘the full complement of genetic information that an individual organism inherits from its parents, especially the set of chromosomes and the genes they carry.’ In other words he helped to map out our DNA that is a very basic part of life structure. I studied genetics in high school and college but it was very rudimentary compared to the hundreds and thousands of hours he has spent on studying and understanding human DNA.
In early 2000 he and a group of researchers announced the first mapping of the human genome. It was a big deal and it was announced with pomp and circumstance. It was accorded a White House press event during which he said, ‘It’s a happy day for the world. It is humbling for me, and awe-inspiring, to realize that we have caught the first glimpse of our own instruction book, previously known only to God.’ He went on to say that he said what he said because the sequencing was ‘both a stunning scientific achievement and an occasion of worship’ because in his view, ‘there is no conflict in being a rigorous scientist and a person who believes in a God who takes a personal interest in each one of us.’
(4) Let’s return to our main text for this morning and take a closer look at it.
(4a) God created people in his own image…
What our text says is that God, a Higher Power, Our Heavenly Father, the One who sent Jesus to die for our sins, is our creator…
The Judeo-Christian perspective as outlined in Genesis 1 and 2 say that God is the creator of our world and our existence. His choice to create us was His choice. Why did He do so? An ancient statement of our faith gives us a hint, ‘The chief end of man is to glorify God.’
(5) In Psalm 8 we read: ‘When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
the moon and the stars you have set in place—
what are mortals that you should think of us, mere humans that you should care for us? For you made us only a little lower than God, and you crowned us with glory and honor. You put us in charge of everything you made, giving us authority over all things— the sheep and the cattle and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents. O Lord, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth!’
Arno Penzias, a Nobel Prize winning scientist whose co-discovery of our universe’s ‘background noise’ has contributed to the Big Bang theory has written, ‘The best data we have are exactly what I have predicted, had I nothing to go on but the five books of Moses, the Psalms, the Bible as a whole.’
For us then to be created in God’s image, is an act of utter greatness and love that our minds have trouble comprehending but our hearts and souls resonate with. But because we are, we have been given characteristics of personality and abilities of our Heavenly Father.
(6) This leads us to the second phrase of our text, God patterned them after himself…
Because God created us in his own image we are patterned after God. Wiley and Culbertson have written that there are two types of images that we need to be aware of as it relates to being patterned after God.
The first is the natural image of God. They indicated that this may be ‘conveniently summed up under the term ‘personality’’ which they say includes ‘spirituality, knowledge, and immortality.’
The second is the ‘moral image of God.’ which they sum up in the word, ‘holiness.’ One they basically conclude, cannot be lost in any one but the other, the moral image, is amissible’ or ‘not as it should be.’
As we will see in the future, Satan’s Deception and Adam’s Consumption (to quote from the 51 word Bible,) creates a fatal flaw in our moral character that the Bible calls sin. But we still matter to God and went Jesus came to die on the cross for our sins, He did so that our moral nature could begin to be reshaped into what it once was… as God intended it to be.
The final phrase is an important one… (6a) male and female he created them…
In Genesis 2 we have more detail of humanity’s formation by God’s hands. In verse 7 we read, ‘And the Lord God formed a man’s body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And the man became a living person’ and over in verses 18 and 21 and 22 we read, ‘And the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion who will help him… So the Lord God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. He took one of Adam’s ribs and closed up the place from which he had taken it. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib and brought her to Adam.’ How can it more simply said than this… men and women are both creations of God and both men and women matter to God and are worthy of respect and dignity?
God, in His wise observation saw that there was something missing for Adam and because there was something important about companionship, something that we cannot live without, God saw to it that we do not have to live alone!
So we are not blobs or blahs who have a meaningless journey through what we call reality. We are people! We have value and meaning and purpose in the eyes and heart of our Creator!
Our value in life is more than to organization we work for, the company we keep, or the family we are raised in. Yet while those groups are important to us, our most important value is to our Creator because in the end, at the end, it is to Him, and Him alone that we will answer for how we have lived our lives in light of His purpose and plan.
(7) This morning, I challenge our grads, and really all of us, with the challenge that Joshua offered to the Israelites as they began a new chapter in their history as Joshua was moving toward the end of his life and career as their leader. Joshua 24:14 and 15, “So honor the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. But if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”
Grads, serve the Lord no matter what, where or when. Serve and follow Him when it is easy and when it is hard. Serve Him by using all of the gifts and talents that He has given you. Bloom where He plants you! Make a difference for Him in the work, family, and communities that you will do and enter into in the years ahead.
We praise God and celebrate with you this day! Congrads! Amen.
Collins quotes are found on pages 6 and 7 of his introduction to his book, The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.
Penzias quote is found in Collins’ book.
Wiley and Culbertson are quoted in their Introduction to Christian Theology.
Power Points for this sermon are available by e-mailing me at pastorjim46755@yahoo.com and asking for ‘060307slides’ Please note that all slides for a particular presentation may not be available.
