Made in the Image, Restored to the Image

REFLECTION QUOTES

“Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other.”

~John Calvin, the opening sentences of his Institutes of the Christian Religion

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

~Aristotle

“When the ancient philosopher Thales of Miletus was asked what was the most difficult thing to know, he answered, ‘Thyself.’”

“The constructs of idol and image overlap and both take their clue for meaning from outside themselves, either in reverence or in rebellion to the only true and living God…The image finds its flourishing in its relationship to the original. Creatures [us] find their satisfaction in the God who made them. The idol represents both a false fulfillment and a perversion or corruption of the creature.”

~Richard Lints, Identity and Idolatry

“I liked myself better when I wasn’t me.”

~Carol Burnett

“In this book I attempt to tell the story of Jesus, not my own story. Inevitably, though, a search for Jesus turns out to be one’s own search. No one who meets Jesus ever stays the same.”-

~Yancey, Philip. The Jesus I Never Knew

“…we were not created to be self-sufficient. Nor were we re-created in Christ to be so. Sanctification is the process of learning increasing dependence [on Christ] not autonomy.”

~Jen Wilkin, None like Him

SERMON PASSAGE

selected passages (ESV)

Genesis 1

26 Then God said, “Let us make manin 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.

Genesis 3

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Hebrews 1

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Philippians 2

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Colossians 1

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.