^1:24 “And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.

²⁵ And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.”

²⁶ “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

²⁸ And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

²⁹ And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.

³⁰ And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

³¹ And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

Over the past seven sermons, we have seen WHAT God created in the first five days of Creation: time, space, the material universe, light, and the 24-hour cycle of darkness and light; the atmosphere; the hydrosphere, and the biosphere; the first, second, and third heavens; and, HE created the flora, fauna, and most of the living creatures on the earth!

In addition to seeing “What” God has thus far created, we have also seen “Why” God created Creation:

God created Creation to create HIS People!

God created HIS people to save HIS people!

God saves HIS People to glorify Himself!

As the Lord allows, this coming Lord’s Day Morning, we will discuss what God did on Day Six! In 1:24-25, God now completes the creation of the animal kingdom by creating the beasts of burden and everything that creeps on the earth.

In verses 26 to 31, God both culminates and Crowns HIS Creation by creating creatures that are made in HIS own image;  creatures with mind, emotion, and will; creatures who will live as long as God lives; and, creatures some of whom will live with God Himself for all of eternity!

Obviously, there is too much theology here to cover in a single sermon, so I am going take whatever number of sermons it will take me to work through the most important of the many important things we learn in these verses about human beings as created creatures of the One True and Living God!

The two most important things here are the facts that humans are

(1) created in the image of God; and,

(2) God gave humans dominion over Creation.

We may talk about dominion later, but, today I want to focus on verse 27 and think about what it means to be a created being created in the very image of God. For this sermon we will have to dive into some deep “theological” water. We are faced with and must answer the question, “What does it mean that humans were created and continue to exist ‘in the image of God?”

When the Bible speaks about what God is “like” and what it means to be made in His “likeness” we are dealing with two things:

(1) His Nature; and,

(2) His Attributes.

According to Dr. John Piper, former Pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, relevant facts about this biblical truth include…

First, God’s Nature: There are at least five facets of God’s nature that He has shared with humans:

1. Eternality

2. Intellect (Mind)

3. Emotion

4. Volition (Will)

5. Morality

Second, God’s Attributes:

There are some Attributes of God that are unique to Himself. In other words, attributes that HE does not share with humans. They are called “Non-communicable” Attributes:

1. Holiness

2. Immutability

3. Infinite

4. Omnipotence

5. Omnipresence

6. Omniscience

7. Self-existence

8. Self-sufficiency

9. Sovereignty

10. Transcendence

There are some attributes of God that HE does share with humans. They are called “Communicable” Attributes:

1. Goodness

2. Hate (Yes, Hate!)

3. Justice

4. Knowledge

5. Love

6. Rationality

7. Mercy

8. Speech

9. Truthfulness

10. Wisdom

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/articles/the-image-of-god 

Humans are unique in all of the created order in that we are created in the image of God. This is not true of any other created thing or being.

For the purpose of personal application, let me give you the two most important things that apply to humans today because of these theological truths…

First, because we are created in the very image of God, we have received several blessings: Mind, Emotion, Will, Morality, Goodness, Hate, Justice, Knowledge, Love, Rationality, Mercy, Speech, Truthfulness, and Wisdom.

Second, because we are created in the very image of God, we have received one great burden: Eternality!

Every human being who was ever conceived is going to spend eternity somewhere!

For those humans who know the Lord Jesus as your Savior and Lord, eternality will prove to be the most wonderful thing God has given to you! Those humans who do have a living relationship with Jesus Christ will live as long as God lives; and, we will live with God and HIS Saints for as long as God Himself lives!

For those humans who do not know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, eternality will prove to be the most terrible thing God has given to you! Those humans who do not have a living relationship with Jesus Christ will endure an eternal conscious existence separated from the mercy of God paying the righteous price for their sins! And, they will suffer the eternal torments of hell for as long as God Himself lives!

All of us have been created in the image of God. This will prove be the greatest blessing – or the greatest burden – we have ever known.

I hope you will read over these verses a few times and think about how they might apply to your life. I am aware that this is, “deep theological water” but all of Scripture is given for all of God’s people!

I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your family and friends by your side!