MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(Powerpoints used with this message are available at no charge. Just email me at mnewland@sstelco.com and request #145.)
ILL. Some years ago, Time Magazine featured a story about Peter Sellers, a well-known English actor. The article was about him appearing on the Muppet Show & being interviewed by Kermit The Frog. His interview began with Kermit telling Peter, "Now, just relax & be yourself."
Peter Sellers responded, "I can’t be myself because I don’t know who I am. The real me doesn’t exist."
Now I suppose that Peter Sellers was trying to be funny, because he was a comedian by trade. But on this particular occasion his words were anything but funny. In fact, they were rather sad.
One of his long time friends, commenting on those words, said, "Poor Peter! The real Peter disappeared a long time ago. What he is now is simply an amalgamation of all the stage & screen characters he has ever played, & now he is frantically trying to unsnarl that mess & find out who he really is."
I don’t know if Peter Sellers was ever able to unsnarl the mess or not, for just six months later he was dead. But whether or not he did, he wasn’t alone in his feelings. I’m convinced that many people go through life wondering who they are, & what they’re supposed to be doing, & where they’re going.
A. There are many beautiful & insightful Psalms, & today we’re going to turn our attention to the words of a Psalm written by David a long, long time ago.
It is the 8th Psalm, & as I read it, I can just picture young David sitting on a hillside outside of Bethlehem, gazing up at the moon & stars, his heart filled with the wonder of it all. Then taking out his harp, David begins to sing, & here are some of the words of his song:
"O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children & infants you have ordained praise. . .
"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon & the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
"You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings & crowned him with glory & honor.
"You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks & herds, & the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, & the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the sea.
"O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" (Psalm 8:1-9)
(Musical ensemble sings 2 verses of, "The Wonder of It All.")
B. As David looked up at the vastness of God’s universe, he felt his own smallness. So he asks God, "What is man that you are mindful of him?" – that You care about him?
ILL. Psychologists tell us that there are two major crisis periods in life. One comes during adolescence, & the other when we reach middle age.
During the early teens our bodies go through tremendous changes. We develop acne, & our feet seem awkward. Our voices begin to change. And as a part of the growing up process we begin thinking about who we really are, & what we’re going to do with our life. Now that’s adolescence!
Adults face some of the same problems during middle age, & we call it the "mid life crisis." You see, our adult bodies go through changes, too. Our skin no longer has acne, but it loses its elasticity & develops all kinds of wrinkles.
We men begin to lose our hair, & often start fighting the battle of the bulges. The print on the page gets smaller, & the lights seem to get dimmer.
ILL. But one middle age mother came to the conclusion that there was not a whole lot of difference between some of her physical problems & those of her teen age children. Take their eyesight, for instance. Both of her children seemed to have a real problem with their eyesight.
For example, her teen age son could look in a refrigerator full of food & say, "There’s nothing to eat." Her daughter could open a closet full of clothing & complain, "I don’t have anything to wear."
Psychologists tell us that birthdays with zeros behind them are often considered either a blessing or a curse. For instance, we look forward to the birthdays of 10, 20, & 30 as stepping stones on the road to maturity. And the 70th, 80th & 90th birthdays are seen as milestones to a triumphant old age.
But birthdays at 40, 50, & 60 are not seen as milestones, but as millstones around our necks because that’s when we begin to realize that the battle between youthful strength & decay is being won by decay.
ILL. I really enjoy Snoopy, the dog in the Charlie Brown cartoons. One night Snoopy was stretched out on top of his doghouse saying, "I can hear my heart beating. I can hear my stomach growling. I can hear my bones creaking." Then he complains, "My body is making so much noise that I can’t sleep."
I feel that way sometimes, don’t you? I feel as if I’m losing the battle, & decay is winning. So before it’s eternally too late, it is important to find an answer to David’s question, "What is mankind that God is so concerned about us?" What are we, & where are we going?
C. The world gives us all kinds of answers. Some scientists tell us that we’re just accidents of nature, no more important than the cockroach that runs across the kitchen floor. But that kind of answer just doesn’t satisfy.
It seems to me that the only place we can find an accurate answer is in the Word of God. And the first answer that it gives to the question, "What am I?" is this, "You are a special person created in the image of God." We are special, created in the image of God!
I. WE ARE SPECIAL, CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD!
A. In Genesis 1, God reaches down & takes the dust of the ground. He forms it into a human body, & breathes into its nostrils the breath of life. Adam blinks his eyes, begins to breathe, & becomes a living human being.
God realizes that it is not good for man to be alone, even though surrounded by the beauty of paradise. So God puts Adam to sleep & takes a rib & forms woman. God causes her to live & breathe & become a part of Adam’s life.
For some time, & we have no way of knowing how long, Adam & Eve live in God’s created paradise, walking & talking with Him in the cool of the evening, enjoying the purpose for which they were created, to have fellowship with the Lord God Almighty, to honor Him with their lives.
And we’re also told that they were created in His image. Not that they look like Him, but that they think like Him. They can make decisions like He makes decisions, & they’re responsible for their decisions.
They can love in the same way that God loves. They can hate the things that God hates. They are mirrors of God Himself because God created them in His own image. He created them to be the objects of His love.
B. It is important, I think, that we recognize that we were created by God & that we’re important to Him. Therefore we must not think too lowly of ourselves.
In Psalm 8, as David started to praise the majesty of God, he realized this great truth, "God, You’ve made me just a little bit lower than Yourself, & that is pretty high on the ladder of things. You crowned me with glory & with honor. You’ve made me ruler over all of the works of Your hands."
II. WE MUST NOT THINK TOO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES
A. But then the Bible teaches us, "Don’t think too highly of yourself, either, for your sins have scratched & marred the image of God in which you were created."
Adam & Eve did the very thing that God told them not to do. They had all these things they could do, & only one thing they shouldn’t do, but they chose to do what God told them not to do. They yielded to Satan’s temptation, & all the world trembles & groans because of it. All of us suffer the consequences.
Adam & Eve suddenly realize that they are naked, & are ashamed to be in the presence of God. So they cover themselves up & try to hide from Him. But they find that you can’t hide from God, & soon they are no longer in paradise.
They have children, & their children learn to argue & fight. And the first thing you know, Cain kills his brother. Why? Because they are the products of a sinful environment. They learned it from their parents.
We see that in our offspring, in our children & our grandchildren. They learn from us. The very thing we were created to do we don’t do.
We were created to walk with God. We were created to talk with Him. We were created to have fellowship with Him. But now we can’t because there is a great chasm between us. And that chasm is created by sin.
So the 2nd thing we need to learn is, "Don’t think too highly of yourself, either."
B. You see, there is danger here. If we think too much of ourselves, pretty soon we think, "I am not just created in the image of God. I am God. I will control my own life, & my own destiny."
On the other hand, we can become so focused on our sins that we are totally defeated, & walk around feeling that we’re worth nothing at all. So there is a happy medium that must come from all this. "I am created in the image of God, but my image is scarred by my sin."
III. JESUS MAKES US ABLE ONCE AGAIN TO REFLECT GOD’S IMAGE
A. The third point is that Jesus makes us able once again to reflect God’s image; in other words, to be the kind of people God intended us to be from the beginning.
Here we are, walking around wondering who we are, trying to fill the empty places in our lives, searching, & making foolish mistakes, trying to stuff something into the empty parts of our lives.
But the apostle Paul says, "You don’t have to live that way. You’re created in God’s image &, yes, the image has been marred. But you can once again reflect the glory, the image of God. Through Christ you can be made full & complete."
In fact, Paul says exactly that in Colossians 2:10 when he writes to the Christians there & tells them, “…you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” (Colossians 2:10 NKJV)
When he said “You are complete in Him,” the Greek word translated “complete” is a nautical, or naval, term. And that statement could just as easily be translated in this way: “You are ready for the voyage of life in Him.”
Isn’t that a wonderful way of saying it? You are ready for the voyage of life in Christ, & whatever you need for the voyage you will find in Him. This is where we say that “Christ is the answer.” So what is your question? What is it you need today?
Are you being enticed by the selfish lifestyles of people who have no interest in God? Then turn to Jesus. Are you being waylaid by the arguments of those seeking to put doubts into your mind? Then turn to Jesus. He is ready to help you!
B. I began this message by telling about Peter Sellers saying, “I don’t know who I am. The real me doesn’t exist.” And when you heard his words you felt rather sad for him, didn’t you?
Now, who am I? Who are you? Of all the other labels that I may give myself, the one that counts the most is this, "I am a Christian." I have been born again in Jesus Christ. "Born of the water, & born of the Spirit."
The Bible says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God…” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18)
I have a new life. I have been bought & paid for by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, & I am His. That is who I am.
ILL. Bob Russell, before he retired, was the preacher of one of the largest churches in the United States, the great Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY. At that time, the Chairman of Evangelism in that congregation was a medical doctor.
Dr. Sumi never took a course in evangelism. He just loves God & loves people, & can’t stand to see people lost in their sins. So he goes out to tell people the good news about Jesus Christ.
One day they went calling together in an apartment complex. They went from apartment to apartment, ringing doorbells, passing out tracts, witnessing to people, sharing their faith.
Dr. Sumi was so enthusiastic in what he was doing that Bob says that he was almost embarrassed. Bob said, "Here was this fine medical doctor who was just compelled to tell people about Jesus."
After they finished their time of calling & were heading home, Dr. Sumi looked over at Bob & said, "Preacher, you know what? The church has so much more to offer than we have to offer at the hospital where I work."
Bob asked, "What do you mean?" Dr Sumi answered, "Well, at the hospital I can perform surgery. I can make an incision & remove diseased parts of the body & sew it back up again & give people a few more years of life. But," he said, "here we’re talking eternal life. We’re talking about eternal life."
CONCL. Eternal life! Sometimes I sit back & wonder, "Why in the world are we so concerned & anxious about things?"
You see, folks, the only thing that really counts is whether or not Jesus Christ is your Lord & Savior. In the long run, nothing else really matters.
We extend the invitation this morning & pray that you will respond. It is offered in love, & we pray that you will respond to it & accept the wonderful gift that God has given in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, as we stand & as we sing.
