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God created the human-being Genesis 1:26-2:3 Key Verse: 1:31 "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day." Last week, we learned that God created the heavens and the earth (Ge 1:1). We learned that our lives are not an accident, but that we are created by God according to his sovereignty and purpose. Today we will learn about the human beings whom God created. I pray that God help us to know who human-being is, why we are created. Let us pray. Someone bought a computer at Youngsan computer market. The computer is the up-to-date model with best specifications of CPU, memory, mother board and huge hard drive storage. All of the programs installed in that computer are the state of the art. Unfortunately, however, he did not know the computer. So, what he can do is only using Micro-soft word for writing and printing and storing the documents. When we bought something, however, we should have read the manual at first and know its specification and how to use it properly. We, human being can not be compared with computer. We are far more valuable and smarter than the computer. Our life is so valuable. So, people want to live a happy life. However, it seems so hard to live such a life. What is the reason? It is because they do not read the manual at first, which was made by God. The manual is Bible, in particular Genesis. In Genesis, there are detailed explanation about the origin of the universe, the origin of the world and the origin of human. Through today’s message, we can find how God created human in the beginning. The knowledge of creation of human will lead us to the right way of our life. May God help us to know the truth of creation of human being and find the meaning & purpose of our life. First, man has two natures. In five days God created the world and all material things, as well as various living creatures. On the sixth day he created animals and man. Man and animals were created on the same day. So man has an animal nature. But also, man was created in God's image. So men are different from animals. Men have an animal nature, and at the same time they have God's image in them. So, if we lose God’s image, we become like animals, even far below animals. Second, man’s position. Look at verse 26. God said “let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Because he was created in God's image (1:26,27), man is in a position just under God. Only when man keeps his position can he be a true man. Man is originally "Adam." "Adam" means dust or clay. Man is a lump of clay---he is weak. So, for him to keep his position is very difficult in this sinful and perverse generation. If mankind slips from his position and falls down to the level of animals, then he becomes flesh (6:3). When man and woman became flesh at that time of Noah, God was grieved and his heart was filled with pain. (6:5-8). Human history always tells us about the tragic result of change of position of human being. The communist revolution came from materialism, which believes that the material, the economy is the origin of the world and put materials over human and God. So, on that thought, they could slaughter people for their purpose, the communist revolution. Humanism came from the thought that human-being should be most valued more than anything else, even more than God. However, nowadays the humanism is losing its ground because the people in the world become not trustworthy. They are more and more evil and selfish. Everywhere, there are hatred, rebellion, homicide, genocide, strife and war. If human being lost its position, always there had been problems and tragedies in this world. According to Bible, man is the lord of all creation. It is our sacred duty to keep our position as a human being. Let’s read the verses 26 and 27 again. "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." When God made mankind, he made them in his own image. Verse 26 refers to God as using the plural, "our image." This is just a Hebrew expression. We can find that human beings resemble God. "Image" here refers to God's characters. God is holy; there is something holy about us. God is love; there is also godly love in us. God is almighty; man's possibilities are limitless. As a result, man should grow in the image of God. He is the lord of creation. He rules over all things. God made man in his own image so that he might rule over the whole world. The hope of God's children is to become more and more like God, to grow more and more in his image. Third, man is mission. Look at verse 28. God had a purpose in creating man in his image. He wanted man to rule over, to have dominion over all other created things. "To rule over" the world means that God has appointed man to be the steward of the world, to oversee and care for all creation. It is a great blessing to receive the task of being the steward of the world (28). And this is the mission that God has given to us human beings. So at his birth, a man enters the world for a definite purpose in God. No one is happy until he finds the purpose of his life in God. Man has a definite mission for which God created him. There is something that God has given him to do in this world. We can almost say that man equals mission and mission equals man. Each one of us has a mission from God. If one wish to fulfill his mission, he must work. So the person who doesn't like to work is giving up his divine right as a human being. David's greatness did not lie in the fact that he was a king or that he had great ability. He was great because he served the will of God in his own generation (Ac 13:36). Paul's greatness does not lie in his great scholarship or in his passion. He was great because he obeyed the world mission received from God; he gave his life to fulfill his mission (Ac 20:24). Many say that Abraham Lincoln's greatness lies in his presidency after falling down seven times and getting up eight times. But in reality, He was great because he received God's mission from the Bible to protect human rights, and he fulfilled that mission. Consequently, greatness of life always comes from mission received by God. In our times, men and women of mission look like strange people. Our mission is to teach the bible to the campus students and raise them as Jesus’ disciples. For that purpose, we do not leave Jaegi-dong after graduation or marriage. Our homes are located near around center. Our summer vacation should be scheduled with summer bible camp. If people knew our life, they would look at us as stranger. However, the life of man without mission is wretched. They only work for life security and enjoying their life. Emptiness and meaninglessness is the typical words for their life. For a lifetime, they are trying to find what to do for a living. They are trying to make the meaning and purpose of their life. However, before death, all of their lifetime will become empty and meaningless. But God sees man of mission as great. No matter what we are called to do, we must not be swayed by what other people think of us. We must seek to accomplish the mission that has been given to us by God. Fourth, man has the Sabbath. Look at verse 2:1-3. God worked hard for six days and God blessed the seventh day and made it holy. On that day, God rested. God gave the Sabbath day to man as a day of rest. The Sabbath is a holy day. "Holy" means "set apart" or "different." God set the Sabbath day apart from all the rest of his creation and gave it to man as a day of fellowship with God. If there is no rest through fellowship with God, man withers like a flower in a vase. The word "Sabbath" means "rest." On the Sabbath we must stop doing worldly things and go to God for refreshing our spiritual strength, love and joy through worshipping God. We can receive God's love and strength from him by studying the Bible and praying and by serving God and God's sheep. People of our times have forgotten the law of the Sabbath. As a result, the people of our times are filled with tiredness---even though they have so many long week-ends and holidays. But Christians must keep the Sabbath holy and on that day have deep fellowship with God. Fifth, God was so happy to create man (31). Let’s read together the verse 31. "God saw all that he had made and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning---the sixth day." On the first five days of creation God made all things. On the sixth day he made man. He created the heavens and the earth and all things, and after each day's work, "God saw that it was good." But when he finished creating man on the sixth day, "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." The adverb "very" is added. There are two meanings that we can find here. In the first place, God is saying that of all his created things, man is the creature of special joy of God. In the second place, God thinks that each of us is the best, and very good. When we consider this, we realize that we exist because God created us. In God's creation, there are all kinds of people. Each person thinks that he or she is the best one or the worst one. We can find our own self as we come to know God personally and experience God's glory. We can find our individuality in God's word of truth. What is the individuality? It is a character, personality, uniqueness, and distinction, which distinguish one person from others. There are many people who have very good human backgrounds and good human circumstances, but who have never become individualized. Unless one finds himself in God and lives before the eyes of God, he cannot form his own individuality. So they have no individual personality. They do not know who they are. They do not know how to live or why they live. They do not know why they work so hard. It is because they do not know the truth of God who created mankind and said, "It was very good." Human conditions cannot be the problem. God made everyone an individual, with his own special characteristics and qualities. He made each person for a purpose. We do not need to worry about what others think of us. Each one must think who am I before God? Most importantly, what does God think of me ? God created me and was very pleased. We must receive this truth in our hearts. We must realize that out of the 5 billion people in the world, God made each of us with a special nature and character and gave a special meaning to each life. It's a wonderful thing to discover the purpose and meaning of our life. Someone might ask this question. How could God know the 5 billion person and make an individual relationship? Jesus said in Matthew 10: 20-30. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered” God knows everything. God hear our asking when we pray. So, we can make personal relationship with God whenever and wherever. When we know God personally, at last we can find ourselves, our characters and our life mission. When I believe that God made me and was very pleased, then I can feel more and more freedom in my life. New possibilities appear for wonderful self-discovery and great self-fulfillment before God. I can find the real joy of being human. The fact that God created me and said it was very good gave me true meaning of life and freedom from other people. In this lesson we learn that God the Creator appointed man to be the steward of the whole world. When God made each of us he said, "It was very good." So it never matters what others might think or say about me. The important thing is what God says about me and what God thinks about me. Because God loves us absolutely, we can say that we are very good. We can especially experience this when we use our lives for his good purpose. May God help us to live such a purpose driven life based on God’s manual about human-being. Let’s pray. |
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