Image Is Everything Series

A man once said, “I set my alarm to tell me when to get up, but some days I need something to tell me why I should get up.”

In his new book, “Truth Changes Everything,” Jeff Meyers, president of Summit Ministries, where many of our students and young adults have received apologetics training, and where Nick Frey has served the last two summers, writes: “America has passed a tipping point…a majority now say that truth is up to the individual and that ultimate truth cannot be known. Learning to ‘speak our own truths’ was supposed to lead to dignity and harmony. Instead, our society struggles with unprecedented levels of social conflict, purposelessness, and loss of identity.”

He shares some alarming stats:

• 75% of young adults say they are unsure of their purpose in life.

• 50% believe there is no absolute value associated with human life.

John Stonestreet offers this commentary, “Our real cultural crisis is a catastrophic, culture-wide loss of meaning…now we are living with the existential results of a culture untethered from God, and therefore untethered from any fixed reference point for truth, morality, identity, and meaning.”

An example of this happened in our community Monday night when a 13-year-old boy allegedly held a woman at gunpoint in Davenport, struck her in the head with the gun, and stole her car before getting in a chase with police and crashing the vehicle in Rock Island. Props to the Davenport Police Department and the Rock Island Police Department for chasing the boy on foot and arresting him.

This makes me wonder how that woman felt and what would cause a young teenager to be so untethered from truth that he would have no regard for the value of human life. I also wonder about this boy’s parents and am more convinced of the need for us to live on mission by taking the gospel to people living without purpose.

In contrast to the despair found in the younger generation, I want to share this picture of our students praying on Wednesday night. After Pastor Chris spoke on prayer, they divided into groups and every five minutes they rotated through seven tables where they spent time praying for friends who aren’t saved yet, unreached people groups, political leaders, the sick and injured, spiritual leaders, their enemies, and for our world as a whole. Some students had never prayed for more than a few minutes at a time, so to spend a total of 35 minutes in prayer was something very new.

Tears were shed, and students hugged and encouraged each other. And several students asked when they could do it again. They finished the night with small group leaders praying over the students. Pastor Chris commented, “At one point I stood in the middle of the room and surrounding me I could hear this generation crying to God in prayer.”

It’s our turn to pray for our children, students, and young adults right now.

Last week we focused on what God created on days four, five, and the first part of day six, as we celebrated how God forms and fills His creation for His glory and our good. Next weekend, our topic will be “Gender Matters.” You might want to invite a friend or family member to join you. I also want to give parents a heads-up that the message will have a PG rating which some children may not be ready to hear, while those who are older should hear.

Our focus today is only on one verse, Genesis 1:26: “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.’” Our main idea is this: Because we are image-bearers of God, our purpose is to reflect, reveal, and represent Him.

We’ll begin with exposition and conclude with some implications which will help us remain tethered to the truth.

Notice how verse 26 begins: “Then God said…” It’s as if there’s a solemn pause after God formed and filled the earth in the previous verses. As He considered creating man and woman, anticipation builds as we get ready to hear what God is going to do next: “Let us make man…” The phrase “let us” is an emphatic imperative and could be translated as, “we will.” It’s like God is consulting within Himself before creating man. Up until this point, God’s speaking had been intentionally measured: “Let there be.” With the creation of man, it became more intimate and magnified.

The plural use of “us” is early evidence for the Trinity, as is the name Elohim, which is in the plural. The word “said” is singular, signifying there is plurality within oneness. One pastor captures it well: “God, who is one, communes with Himself – the Father to the Son, the Son to the Spirit, the Spirit to the Father – and in perfect agreement, Adam and Eve were created.”