Monthly Archives

July 2018

Created to Work

By | Public Blog, Uncategorized

Today there are two dangerous extremes that people exhibit when it comes to looking at the topic of “work.”  One extreme is to view work as something evil and, thus, something to avoid as much as possible.  This view of work can be seen in how people dread Monday mornings, get some relief when “hump day” (Wednesday) comes and celebrate Friday’s with a shout of TGIF.  When work if viewed as something that is a burden, the goal of work becomes making enough money to retire comfortably as soon as possible.

The second extreme that many people exhibit when it comes to viewing work is the concept of defining your life by your work.  A person’s value is determined by what he/she does.  When people see work as what defines them, there is often a dissatisfaction with one’s job and a constant effort to “climb the ladder” of success.  Work dominates every waking moment and one is said to be a “workaholic.”

Either of these extreme views of work goes against the fact that God created man after His own image and, therefore, He created man to work.  Work has dignity because it is a reflection of who God is.  Throughout Scripture we see the fact that God is constantly “working.”  In Genesis, He performed six days of the “work” of creation.

Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.  And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.  Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.  Genesis 2:1-3 (NKJV)

The Psalmist continually praised God for His “works.”

Say to God, “How awesome are Your works!…Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men.           Psalm 66:3,5

O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works. Psalm 71:17

Jesus also was known for His “works” while He lived on earth.

And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples. Matthew 11:2 (NKJV)

In order to fully understand what it means to be human, every person must realize that God created man to work.  This is seen in Scripture by what is referred to as the cultural mandate in Genesis 1:28.  Here we find God telling Adam and Eve to …be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it…  This is actually God’s job description to man.  Nancy Pearcey explains it this way in her book, Total Truth.

The first phrase “be fruitful and multiply,” means to develop the social world: build families, churches, schools, cities, governments, laws. The second phrase, “subdue the earth,” means to harness the natural world: plant crops, build bridges, design computers, and compose music. This passage is sometimes called the Cultural Mandate because it tells us that our original purpose was to create cultures, build civilizations—nothing less.

From his very beginning man was created to work.  One of the primary goals of education must be the effort to guide a child to understand the gifts and talents that God has created in him/her and to develop those talents and gifts.  When this is accomplished, the child can then become sensitive to God’s call on his/her life.  By answering God’s call on their lives our children can then perform work in order to fulfill God’s will for them.

The problem Christians face today is that we have lost the idea of vocation when it comes to work.  This loss has evolved over many years.  The progression that took place in how work is viewed goes something like this.

Work is God’s Call became Work is a job to be blessed by God which then became Work is a job to get ahead and is now seen as Work gives one the ability to consume.

Tim Keller wrote a powerful book, Every Good Endeavor.  In his book, Keller addresses the need to regain the concept of work being a vocation to which God calls a person.  He writes:

We must recover the idea that work is a “vocation” or calling, “contribution to the good of all and not merely…a means to one’s own advancement.”…To one’ self-fulfillment and power…Something can be a vocation or calling only if some other party calls you to do it, and you do it for their sake rather than your own.  Our daily work can be a calling only if it is reconciled as God’s assignment to serve others.

Kevin Swanson explains how a biblical view of work should guide the education of our children when he writes in his book, Upgrade: 10 Secrets to the Best Education for Your Child:

Everybody is gifted and has a purpose in God’s world…Each child has a specific calling, framed by his unique talents and abilities…The challenge of the first eighteen years of a child’s education is to find that calling…A fulfilled life will be determined by whether he/she has centered in upon his or her life calling…A successful education is achieved when a child is prepared to make maximal use of his God-given talents and abilities in the accomplishment of the child’s calling.

In his book, Designed for Dignity, Richard Pratt states:

By filling and ruling over the world, we fulfill our true purpose in life.  We reach the heights of dignity because we represent and extend the authority of the King of the universe.

Let me close with a statement made by Puritan theologian and writer William Perkins.  He wrote,

The main end our lives…is to serve God in the serving of men in the works or our callings.

There a couple of questions we need to answer.

  1. How do you view work?  Is it a burden or a blessing?
  2. How can your work be done in order to fulfill the cultural mandate?
  3. How are you modeling and teaching the next generation that man was created to work?

Created to Worship

By | Public Blog, Uncategorized

One of the most important aspects of understanding what it means to be human is to grasp the reality that God created man to worship.  When we hear the word worship today, many Christians immediately think of a style of music in the church.  However, worship has a much deeper meaning than just one part of a church service.  Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines worship as to adore; to pay divine honor to; to reverence with supreme respect; to honor with extravagant love and extreme submission.  Another definition that combines all of these aspects of worship together states,

To treat someone or something with the reverence and adoration appropriate to a deity.

Man has an unending desire to want to worship something or someone.  This desire is rooted in the fact that God created man in His own image.  In doing so, God instilled into man a need to worship someone or something outside of man’s own physical existence.  When one reads about how God created man, he/she finds insight into this unquenchable desire for worship.

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.  Genesis 2:7 (NKJV)

Man was created distinctively different from all other creatures.  The distinctive difference is found in the truth that God actually breathed His supernatural breath into man.  The result is that man is a living soul.  Of course, this would cause Adam and Eve to only worship God prior to the Fall.  After the Fall, man was still a living soul.  However, with man being separated from God and man’s spirit dead in sin, man had a vacuum in his soul that must be filled with something.  Even though man is born a sinner, he still has a desire to worship.

God knows of man’s created desire to worship and that, because of sin, man will focus his worship on something or someone other than God.  Whatever is worshipped apart from God that cannot satisfy this longing.  That is why God’s first instructions to Moses was that Israel was to only worship God (Exodus 20:3-4).  When we think of idol worship in the OT, we think of images carved out of wood, stone or metal.  “Modern man” thinks that he is too sophisticated to worship mere tangible objects.  However, today man still worships false gods.  The objects of many Christians’ worship today are things like power, appearance, wealth/possessions and, even, education.  The truth of the matter is that every person has to worship something.

The reason why this is so important is that we will become like what we worship.  Lambert and Mitchell in their book, Reclaiming the Future, state,

…all people serve some ‘god’ or ‘gods’ in their lives and in turn are transformed into the image of their gods.

This truth is emphasized over and over again in Scriptures as is seen in this passage.

The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.  They have mouths, but they do not speak; eyes they have, but they do not see; they have ears, but they do not hear; nor is there any breath in their mouths.  Those who make them are like them; so is everyone who trusts in them. Psalm 135:15-18 (NKJV)

I recently read an article by Tim Tomlinson about how easy it is for man’s worship to become misplaced.  Tomlinson was reflecting on what took place around the world when rock music artist, Prince, died.  He stated,

His [Prince] death dominated the news at every level — nationally, regionally, and locally.  There have been hundreds of “live” reports given from the various locations associated with him.  Billboards throughout Minneapolis are paying homage to him by flashing his image and the symbols he used during his career to establish his “brand.”  Radio stations have interrupted their regular programming to play Prince music non-stop for days.  Interviews with weeping and distraught fans have been aired and printed in the local media.  There have even been god-like references made about him such as: “On Prince we trust” or “Hail to thee, Prince.”

The article went on to state,

What this all points to is our innate human desire to want to worship something or someone.  It is a God-given impulse that is good and right and satisfying — but only when it’s directed toward the one true God.

We say that, as Christians, we worship God, but do we?  If someone could only look at our calendars and checkbooks, would it reflect that God is the only focus of our worship?  When you and I evaluate what we think about the most and what captivates our imaginations, dreams and plans, would it point to true worship of God?  We cannot forget that the Bible is full of warnings about worshipping idols:

..if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. Deuteronomy 8:19 (NKJV)

Are we guilty of idol worship?  Are we treating someone or something in our lives or in our schools with the reverence and adoration appropriate to a deity other than God, Himself?  We have been created to worship and what we worship, we will become!

A person will worship something, have no doubt about that.  We may think our tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of our hearts, but it will come out.  That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character, therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping, we are becoming.  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Created to Reproduce

By | Public Blog

It is hard to comprehend how mixed up society is today.  A major point of controversy is being battled over one’s gender.  It has even gotten to the point that some “experts” claim that one’s sex is biological but one’s gender is a choice.  One’s gender is determined by one’s feelings.  In fact, some parents have even chosen not to identify the gender of a newborn baby because they want the child to be able to choose whatever gender he/she wants to be.  Again, the issue at the bottom of all this craziness is determined by what it means to be a human being.

We have been looking at various distinctives that a person possesses because that person has been created in the image of God.  In the previous two weeks we have seen that every person has been created to reflect and to relate.  This week’s post is all about the fact that God created man in His image to reproduce.

When we go back to the beginning of human history, we find that God created man distinctively different than any other living being.  God’s Word is very specific when it comes to how God created humans.

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:27 (NKJV)

God didn’t leave it up to choice when it comes to gender.  He specifically created man as either male or female.  How He created me determines my gender not how I feel.  There is a specific reason why God created man as male and female.  That reason is that God wanted man to reproduce.  After God created Adam, He stated that everything was very good.  However, He then stated that it is not good that man should be alone.  So God created woman from Adam’s side.

The first command that God gave to man after He created them is found in Genesis 1:28.

God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth.

It wasn’t that God simply wanted to have a lot of children being born and filling the earth.  He wanted man to replicate God’s image and fill the earth with image bearers of Him.  Even after the Fall and the Flood, God tells us what one of our created purposes is.

And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.  Genesis 9:1 (NKJV)

God created man as males and females.  He did this so that they could reproduce and fill the earth with His image bearers.  Listen to how Dr. Tony Evans puts it.

Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with children – why?  Because man was created in the image of God.  So the goal of having children is the replication of God’s image, not just the replication of your image…so the purpose of children was the replication of God and the advancement of God’s kingdom in history.

Another important passage of Scripture that makes it clear that man was created in God’s image so that man would reproduce is found in the book of Malachi.  God is telling His people why He isn’t paying attention to all of their religious sacrifices.  The reason He states is that their homes were a mess.  Infidelity and divorce were rampant.  Then God says something very interesting.

But did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit?  And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Malachi 2:15 (NKJV)

God not only created man to reproduce but He also wants man to reproduce a certain kind of offspring.  God wants the earth filled with godly seed.  

One of the main reasons there is so much gender confusion is that the education children receive no longer explains to them that they are created in the image of God.  Instead they have been taught that they are merely products of time and chance.  Because of this, they are taught that they can choose to be whatever gender they feel like they are — and the choices are not limited to merely two.  In fact, I was recently reading that a person had the option to choose over 70 different gender preferences by which the person can identify oneself on Facebook.

We must get back to teaching our children that God created them as either being male or female.  He did this so that they can reflect, relate and reproduce.  We must also make sure that the schooling they receive will teach these same truths from the earliest of ages to adulthood.

Created to Relate

By | Public Blog, Uncategorized

In order to fully grasp what it means to be created in the image of God, we must understand that God created man for relationship.  The doctrine of the Trinity is a crucial foundation stone of Christianity.  The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three separate persons in the Godhead.  I cannot fully understand this reality with my finite mind.  However, I can understand that God is a relational God.  The Father, Son and Holy Spirit have always and will always be in perfect fellowship with one another.  In Genesis 1:26, the Father tells the Son and the Holy Spirit let us make man in OUR image.  Since God is a relational God and man is created in His image, then man was created to relate!

There is something inside each and every person that causes us to want to be with other people.  Loneliness is one of the leading causes of depression, addiction and suicide.  In fact, many of the people who have carried out horrific acts of mass murder, do so because of bullying that isolates them from meaningful relationships.  I find it intriguing that even when a person wants to do something wrong, he/she often wants others to join in with him/her.  Many of the Proverbs warn us about not joining in with others who want to practice wickedness.  Those who want to do wrong always are trying to entice us into joining them.

Of course, God’s first reason for creating man to relate is that we might enjoy a personal relationship with Him.  When Adam and Eve sinned, they hid themselves when they heard the voice of God walking in the Garden.  The Scriptures record that God was searching for them.

And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.  And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?  Genesis 3:8-9 (KJV)

Sin broke the relationship between God and man that was the fundamenta reason why God created man in the first place.  Even though Adam tried to hide from God, God searched for him and restored Adam into a relationship with Him.  This is the very reason why God’s Son gave His life on the cross for man’s sin.  It was to restore man’s relationship with God.  In fact, that is what eternal life is really all about.  It is not merely being saved from Hell and saved to Heaven.  It is about knowing God.

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.  John 17:3 (KJV)

Not only does God want to have a relationship with every one of us, He also wants us to live in fellowship with each other.  Man is not designed to live life alone.  In fact, after God had declared His creation to be very good, He stated that something was not good.

And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. Genesis 2:18 (KJV)

God then formed Eve out of Adam’s side so he could live in relationship with his wife.  Marriage, the family, church and community were designed by God for relationships to flourish.

When Jesus was asked what was the most important commandment in life, His answer gives priority to the fact that being human means understanding that we were created to relate.

Master, which is the great commandment in the law?  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:36-40 (KJV)

To be human is to understand that we were created to reflect and to relate.  Here are a couple of questions that I have to ask myself on a regular basis.

  1. Is my relationship with God a true measure of how He created me to relate?
  2. How does my relationship with my wife demonstrate that I have been created to relate?
  3. How does my relationship with my children show them what it means to be created in God’s image?
  4. Do I love all people as I love myself?
  5. How does understanding that I have been created in the image of God for relationships answer many of the issues facing society today?

Created to Reflect

By | Public Blog

In order to understand what it means to be human, we have to go back to the beginning of human history.  Even though the world tries to convince us that man is merely a mechanistic organism that is the result of billions of years of evolutionary change, the reality is that man was designed in the mind of God and created by the Word and will of God.  In Genesis 1 we find these words.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:26-27 (NKJV)

After God had spoken the rest of creation into being, He declared that the final act of creation would be the creation of man in the image of God.  This makes man the crown jewel of God’s creation.  He is uniquely designed and is the only being that has God’s image stamped on it.  Even though most Christians have heard and would agree that every person is an image bearer of God, many have not given a lot of thought to the significance of this reality.  What does it mean to be created in the image of God?

Biblical scholar D. J. A. Clines explains the meaning of Genesis 1:26-27 by stating,

Thus we may say that according to Genesis 1, man does not have the image of God, nor is he made in the image of God, but is himself the image of God.  “The Image of God in Man” ( Tyndale Bulletin 19, 1968, 53-103)

To understand what it means to be human begins with knowing that every person was created to be a “copy” or a “graphic image” of the Creator – a formal, visible, and understandable representation of who God is and what He is really like.  God’s final act of creation was done in a different pattern than His creation of all other living things.  If you read the creation account in Genesis 1, you will find that all the plants, birds in the air, creatures in the sea and animals on the land were created according to its kind (Genesis 1:11,21,24,25).  God did not follow this same pattern when He created mankind.  In his article, Imago Dei, Mark Ross explains,

When God makes man, He breaks the pattern that He has set by creating living things according to their kinds. The tenfold mention of this pattern causes us to expect it with each new living creature to appear, but something quite different happens when man is made; he is not made “according to [his] kind.” Neither is man created according to any other kind among the living creatures. Man does not, therefore, belong to their kinds, whatever similarities there may be between him and the other creatures. To put it in modern scientific language, he is not a particular species within a given genus of living creatures. Man is unlike any of the other living creatures (v. 26). Surprising as it is, man is made according to God’s “kind,” made in the image of God (imago Dei). Man, like God, is a personal being.

Some people would argue that when man sinned, he lost the image of God.  Even though God’s image in man was marred or disfigured by sin, it was not lost.  This is a very important truth if we are going to be able to understand who we are and what gives every man and woman intrinsic value and inherent worth.  Focus on the Family explains it this way in a Q&A reference on their website.

…it is precisely the Image of God that makes man human; man could not lose the Image without ceasing to be what he is. Furthermore, it is only because he retains it, even in a broken or distorted form, that man is redeemable and worth redeeming.

Over the next several weeks, I will present a series of short posts that will help us understand the significance of the words in Genesis 1 – in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  In the meantime here are some questions that will be helpful in understanding what it means to be human.

  1. How well does your life reflect a “graphic image” of God?
  2. How does being made according to “God’s kind” define who you are and why you are here?
  3. How has sin marred God’s image in you?
  4. How does the reality of Imago Dei address today’s cultural issues of abortion, euthanasia, gender confusion and marriage?