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Image Bearer :  Part One             February 8th, 2026

“In the image of God He created them”

I’m going to preach for 2 weeks on the idea that you and I are created “in the image of God”.

I have a very specific reason for doing this.  I think our most basic motivations come from identity, and as Christians (here in the US) we don’t fully live into that identity.

• • When you live in your true identity you get more done and you feel better doing it.

• (I am an LPN.  It exhausted me)

• Once a woman takes on the identity of “Mom” her priorities change, her behavior changes…even her desires change.  And this isn’t just for people who have given birth.   
• What if your identity didn’t change…and you were asked to do “mom” things.  That’s a teenager babysitting the neighbor kids.  Not quite the same, is it?

Here’s another example:  We’ve all heard the story of the child who was being groomed to take over the family business, but was struggling with it, because it wasn’t their passion, and it didn’t fit their gifts and abilities.  Some people want to paint the great outdoors, some want to hike in it, and others want to fish the streams.  And still others want to cut down trees and start moving rocks around.   The point is: if you’re being asked to cut down trees that you would rather be painting, you won’t have much energy for that.

I want to propose to all of us (myself included) that we don’t always do what the Bible asks us to do.  We don’t live in our true identity.   If we did:

• Our energy and effectiveness would go up
• Our effectiveness goes up.  Happiness, joy, satisfaction….all go up.

This sermon explores our second most basic motivation for being obedient, gratitude.  Think of the obligation you feel to respond when someone does something nice for you.

The primary motivation is love, always has been and always will be.  (You provide for your children or grandkids, etc. even when they don’t reciprocate).

Do we feel obligated to respond to Christ with obedience after receiving his outpouring of love on us?  And if we don’t…what does that say about us?

Specifically, I want to explore the idea of making disciples.  The great commandment left for the church was to “go and make disciples”.  Aside from “be holy as I am holy” I can’t think of anything more pressing for the church to be engaged in.  And yet, we spend many hours in labor that don’t seem to make disciples, and really don’t make us any more “holy” either.

In some ways it’s almost like a person who is spending the rent money to buy flowers and yard decorations.

Let’s take a look today at this wonderful gift of identity that we have received from God, which we should be so grateful for, and which should inform the way we live.

1. Jesus comes “from” the Father. 
   1. Hebrews 1:3a  The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God…
   2. Jesus reflects (radiates) the Father. The NIV says “the exact representation of his being”
   3. John 16:28 Yes, I came from the Father into the world, and now I will leave the world and return to the Father.”
      1. John 17:23 says “I am in them, and you are in me”

Conclusion:   Jesus was born (presented to humanity) in the image of God. We were meant to see the character of God in Jesus.   Also, it is the nature of God to reveal himself by taking something from Himself.

Let’s go all the way back to Genesis to see the pattern begin.  

1. People come “from” the Father (Trinity)
   1. Gen 1:26-28  26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”27 So God created human beings in his own image.  In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
   2. Eve is brought out of the image bearer, making her an image bearer as well.
      1. “Every one after it’s own kind”    Eve is from the “God kind”
      2. Angels aren’t the “God kind”.    Animals aren’t the “God kind”.
   3. Eve is not created “inferior” like animals compared to man, and she isn’t fashioned “from heaven” like the angels are.    At the same time, we recognize that she isn’t shaped from the earth.(like Adam)

What are we seeing here?  God produces man  “out of himself”.  Genesis 2:7 says “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”   (shaped by God’s hands, receiving God’s breath.  Nothing else in creation has this)

1. The pattern repeats for Eve 
   1. It makes sense then, that God is demonstrating the same concept to us when He created Eve…  specifically in the way He created Eve. Formed by God’s hands, filled with the attributes of God (some different from men) 
   2. The Trinity gives “birth” to man.  Man comes “out” of God.
   3. Man is an extension of God.   Eve repeats it.  Eve comes “out” of man.
   4. What Eve is to Man, is what Man was meant to be to God
   5. Since man was created to be one with God, the same is true for Eve.

1. Men and women reflect the image of God
   1. Both men and woman are created to be “one”:   Rejoined in some way to become “one flesh”
      1. Could this be a nod toward John 17?
      2. People are created in the image of God;  All people everywhere are created and designed to reveal the glory of God.
      3. The image of God goes beyond appearance, and speaks to behavior, identity
      4. 1 Cor 11:7b

1. Seeing people as image-bearers changes the way I treat them
   1. Those who don’t know Jesus personally
   2. My spouse
   3. My children
   4. My co-workers

Questions:

1. God presented himself in human form and was perfect in that form.  Adam and Eve were perfect while in human form.   What did you grow up believing about our bodies?   Are they good or bad?
2. How does this change the way I treat my spouse?
3. How does this change the way I listen to my spouse?    What about my children?
4. When I am talking to my boss at work, or someone else’s spouse at work; how should knowing this impact me?   What changes will I have to make?
5. Is this concept true for people who don’t have a relationship with Jesus?   What do you think?    Should they be treated as image-bearers?

Image Bearer Part Two   (ideas, in process)

Matt 12:48-50   48 Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” 49 Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. 50 Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”

Heb 2:11-13  1 So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.[d] 12 For he said to God,  “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters.  I will praise you among your assembled people.” 13 He also said, “I will put my trust in him,” that is, “I and the children God has given me.”[f]

Romans 8:29-30   For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

• Everything God made was created to reveal His glory.  Not just people, everything.

Creation reveals (proclaims) the glory of God.

Romans 1:20  20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Psalm 19:1-4

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.

The skies display his craftsmanship. 2 Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. 3 They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. 4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.

What happens when we forget, or simply don’t acknowledge that we are image bearers?

1. Because we are created to emulate or pattern ourselves after something, we look for something new
2. When nothing new presents itself, we become “Lords” unto ourselves
3. Since our nature is already fallen, worshipping it leads us into a downward spiral.  Decisions made without God’s input lead us away from holiness, which in turn becomes our new normal.  And the cycle repeats.
4. Our value system is corrupted.

What happens when we don’t see others as image bearers?

1. We treat them as “less”.   Meaning, in a way that we would never think to interact with God face to face.

Everything in all creation is intentional.  Designed.  That means it has a purpose.

• So the attacker says “we evolved”

Everything in all creation is relational.  Whatever the purpose is, this is the means by which it will operate.

• This is why the “spoken word” is such a big deal.
• Moses strikes the rock instead of speaking
• John 1:  Jesus is the “word made flesh”
• Genesis 1:  God speaks things into existence

Everything in all creation is designed to give God glory

• This is the purpose.   We are designed by God to give Him glory through our relationship with others and our relationship with creation.   And we do this by having a relationship with God.

Relationship is the way we are one

In John 17 Jesus prays that we will be “one” with both Jesus and the Father

When we go to heaven, what sort of bodies will we have?  Paul responds to this question in 1 Cor 15, beginning with vs. 35.   He concludes, above all else, that the body will still be physical. (I hadn’t thought of it quite that way).  The seed is physical, it grows in physical ground and it produces a physical body.  Sure, it’s different…better, more…but it’s still physical.  The physical seed doesn’t somehow produce a spiritual entity.   

What if:  our spiritual bodies were always meant to be connected to a physical body?

What if instead of receiving “wings” and a wispy spiritual body,  we are simply going to receive a different, upgraded physical body?

• When Jesus was resurrected he appeared in a physical form