Waynesboro Church Of Christ

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Here are some articles and sermon outlines you may find interesting. Click on any title for the full text.

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THE RESTORATION OF THE IMAGE OF GOD IN MAN

Creation in the image of the creator is both audacious and full of promise. In some limited way man was created as an icon of God. In the beginning God created man and female in His likeness and image. “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Gen. 1.26-27 NSAB). God endowed humankind with a special feature that separated him from all other creatures on earth (Gen. 9.6). With God’s gift of image-bearing, man was separated for a unique relationship with the Creator.

The Image Damaged

Since the term “likeness” means “resemble, or liken”, one of the similarities that man had with God in the beginning was separation from sin. Morally, man was completely spotless. But as the account of the Bible details, man chose to eat of the forbidden fruit, which tarnished his image of purity (Gen. 3.6). The fullness of man’s likeness to God was corrupted. No longer did man feel perfectly comfortable in the presence of the Almighty, so he hid himself from God’s watchful eye (Gen. 3.8). The perfect bond between man and God was destroyed. The inherent relationship that God intended for his image bearers, one of inseparable union, was damaged by man’s cognizance of sin. The perfect purity of man was lost and was replaced with guilt and fear (Gen. 3.10). Though man still had certain characteristics of Godlikeness (freewill, eternal soul, and emotions), nevertheless the intended relationship between man and God was smashed (Rom. 5.14-19). The image of God in man was defaced by the appearance of sin in the world.

The Image Restored

Even though man disobeyed God in eating from the forbidden tree, God never refrained from enacting a plan to restore perfect fellowship with man once again. The story of the New Testament is one of Christ’s redemptive works in restoring the image of God in man. Athanasius of Alexandria in 318 stated, “He become human that we might become like God.” The dream of the Creator was to renew humanity from his desecrated condition.

This restoration of man was accomplished through the death of Jesus Christ. Man is able to restore the rightful relationship with God through the transformational act of baptism. In salvation God performs an act of re-creation and provides man with a fresh start. This start is found in baptism, which makes man into a new creation (Gal. 6.15). Man’s sins are washed away and his original intended purity before God is restored. “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor. 5.17). God is remodeling the tarnished image of God within man (2 Cor. 3.18). Through Christ man has been restored to the previous level of relationship that he once had with God (Rom. 5.19).

Also, Christ demonstrated the characteristics of living on earth as the image of God. Jesus, Adam, and Eve were the only sinless humans who have lived on earth. But Adam and Eve lost their sinless status when Satan beguiled them in the Garden of Eden. Christ has been the only human to completely embody perfect holiness before man (Heb 4.15). He showed humanity the level of relationship that one can have with the Father when the image of God is completely untainted (Col. 1.15).

The Image Perfected

The work of redemption is a continuous endeavor on part of God and man. God with man’s partnership is constituently chipping away at man’s blemishes of character. The Bible commands to live “godly in the present age” (Titus 2:12). The term “godly” means “to develop godlike characteristics.” Man is instructed to work on developing behaviors that match the “image of God” label that is ascribed to him. Man is portrayed in the Bible as God’s crowding masterpiece, but has been corroded with sin. The work of restoration in renewing the image of God in man is perfected in man’s humble obedience to the creator (Matt. 5:48).

Finally, at the end of time when Christ returns to escort Christians to the heavenly realm, the image of God will be perfected in faithful humanity. Christ has set the precedent in becoming the firstborn from the dead (Col. 1.18). The creation of man will be completed at the end of time. Man will receive a heightened glorification from the Lord (Rom 8.17). Any stain on man will be removed. The glory of man will be intensified to the full status of the title of “created in the image of God.” The relationship with God will be perfected, as well as the moral standing of man.

The Bible begins the story of redemption in the Garden of Eden where man was created in the image of God. The rest of the Bible unfolds the account of God’s great restoration of His defaced image in man. At the close of the Bible, the Apostle John has a vision of the restored state of man with his Lord in heaven. “And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him” (Rev. 22.1-3). God’s image-bearers are in full fellowship once again.

Matthew Morine