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all right well I am uh filling in for Tim today uh he is away traveling I can only assume that has something to do with the fact that it is bastile day
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um I I in thinking about what I wanted to bring out I actually have had uh this particular study kind of waiting in the wings have committed some things to writing and it was of extraordinary importance when first we showed up to
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this congregation uh because of my time among the Presbyterians and uh experiencing some of the currents in teaching that were among them so in part
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I will be bringing out one of those currents um if it doesn't feel entirely applicable to you I still hope that it will be instructive uh and just take it as me uh bringing out a bad example of
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teaching that doesn't necessarily cut so close to what is personal to this congregation um but also at in the last couple of years I think we've had good
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reason to take a pause and think about the destructive um the the destructive capability of a focus of EX excuse me a
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focus on focus on externals uh to the church uh that our that our flesh leads us to focus on things that are outward of the body
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unspiritual and even to put confidence in them and I think over the last couple of years we've had enough examples of how a focus on externals really is a perennial danger to the church secondly
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scriptural truths certain excuse me certain scriptural truths are more easily co-opted than others uh in service of such errors particularly in leading our Focus away onto
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externals uh and I think that the truth that man is made in the image of God is one of those teachings that is more easily co-opted than others uh that's in part because in the record of Genesis
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very little is said about what that means uh and so we're going to examine the the Council of scripture as a whole on that and try to address uh why it is
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that one why it is that that teaching is so easily co-opted to lead our Focus astray onto externals and then to why that's completely improper and where our focus should be when discussing the
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image of God in man Um this can be seen as a companion to uh Tim's study uh his godd has cre Creator study um In Session 8 uh on July 2nd in case you're
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interested in going back and giving that another listen he made a quotation which I thought was really good and I I'll just consider this study to be a takeoff on this one quotation he said God gave
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man a body to help him comprehend God's self-revelation God gave man a body to help him comprehend God's self-revelation The more I've thought
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about that the more that seems completely appropriate to the whole teaching of script scripture U so let's begin first we would have to take a look at Genesis 1 that's obvious where where we first learned that that our heritage
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is that of a a unique creature made in the image of God so uh Genesis 1: 24-28 and God said let the Earth bring
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forth living creatures according to their kinds livestock and creeping things and beasts of the Earth according to their kinds and it was so and God made the beasts of the the Earth
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according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind and God saw that it was good then God said let us make
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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
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all the Earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth so God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him male and
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female he created them and God blessed them and God said to them be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth and subdue it and have dominion over the
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fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth so notice then as I said that the
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text of Genesis really doesn't Define for us what the image of God means supplying us only with a related Mandate of mankind to have
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dominion the even the purpose of this Dominion is not explained only that man should have it and with what mankind is to fill the Earth other than with the
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results of their being fruitful and multiplying is not explained uh nor what is meant by the need to bring the earth into submission and that in studying
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this uh years ago was one of the things that gave me pause why does the Earth need to be subdued why is that part of the blessing he speaks over them I think the explanation then must
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be because it is not explained in Genesis 1 must be revealed later in scripture and in summary the law the Psalms and the prophets all univocally testify that man's proclivity is to make
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images of God or gods and it decries that proclivity as an affront to God's glory car characterizing it as man making God In His Image and bowing down
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to the works of his own hands rather than recognizing himself as the work of God's hands and bowing down to God that's the message in summary of the law
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the prophets and the Psalms the clearest explanation with which scripture supplies us is I is in the New Testament in identifying Jesus as the image of God the king of all
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creation and especially of a new creation so and look there's a few uh scripture references that I have in your outline um one is uh Colossians 1 15-1
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17 he is the image of the invisible God the firstborn of all creation for by him all things were created in heaven and on Earth visible and invisible whether
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Thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things created through him and for him and he is before all things and in him all things hold together 2 Corinthians 4 3-4 is similar
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and even if our gospel is veiled it is veiled to those who are perishing in their case and this is important because this picks up on what I said about the law and the prophets and the Psalms in
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their case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God and finally a familiar one
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Hebrews 1:3 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
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power I think for us before I touch on the error that is more among the Presbyterians perhaps I think for us from our cultural background inquiry into what it means for man to be made in
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the image of God invariably devolves onto the sciences and we've discussed this several times that just simply isn't how scripture presents it
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okay that our understanding of scripture should be derived from nature is exactly backwards from God's purpose in revealing himself willing that all creation should be brought under the
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lordship and Dominion of Jesus who is his exact image and other words to talk about man in our discussion of what it means for man to be made in the image of God is really starting in the in the
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wrong place we need to start with talking about God in whose image we are made and specifically because we have the whole Council of scripture to I think quickly remember because it is so
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explicit that we are talking about Jesus lordship him being the image of God and we must take that into account starting with God and not with man being the key
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then to having a god- centered focus and a god- centered Theology and not a man- centered theology that is after all what we're talking about a focus on externals is nothing more than having a man-
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centered theology in one's heart if not EX exactly in one's mind okay what it means to be specially created in the image of God if we rely
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on creation itself our explanation is going to be less than useful okay mistaking the necessary consequences of a thing for the for the essence of the thing itself or arguing in the wrong
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direction in other words whatever attributes man has is the result of being made in the image of his God not the other way around okay cultural we as a
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congregation are perhaps more predisposed to getting into an argument immediately if in our minds only with the darwinists and I think that we are thereby if if that's our response if
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that's immediately where we go when looking at the image of God we're thereby entrapped by a focus on creation rather than the Creator we would accuse the theistic evolutionist of being focused on things of this creation and
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not on the spiritual things of God and their formulation but I think we can become as easily embroiled in that wrong thinking ourselves by immediately running off to what about creation
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justifies our understanding of the image of God um but so much for that we've had a lot of discussions about that I think there's another form of the same error that I'd like to discuss which it's
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hopefully more palatable because it's not triggering hot button issues and I hope more meaningful in that it has more to teach us so um Genesis one of which
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we've been speaking is narrated PR to the fall of Man in sin but again in my thinking of this I thought you know really that's not necessarily even the best place to go and we examine our own
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role as as people in creation we are fallen in sin more apropo would be to examine the habits of early man after the fall of sin uh so in Genesis 4 um
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it's unfortunate but I think it's more appropo to our natural condition so I'll read briefly uh Genesis 4 it's not long um but I think I think it'll be good to have in our minds what it actually says
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when reading quotations uh from the sermon that I've uh done done some pulling from now Adam knew his Eve his wife and she conceived and bore Cen or
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Cain saying I have gotten a man with the help of Yahweh and again she bore his brother Abel now Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain a worker of the ground in
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the course of time Cain brought to Yahweh an offering of the fruit of the ground and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions and Yahweh had regard for Abel
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and his offering but for Cain and his offering he had no regard so Cain was very angry and his face fell Yahweh said to Cain why are you angry why is your
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face Fallen if you do well will you not be accepted and if you do not do well sin crouches at the door its desire is for you but you must rule over
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it Cain spoke to Abel his brother and when they were in the field Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him and Yahweh said to Cain where is Abel
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your brother he said I do not know am I My Brother's Keeper and yahe said what have you done the voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground and
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now you are cursed from the ground which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from my hand when you work the ground it shall no longer yield to you its strength you shall be a
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fugitive and a Wanderer on the earth Cain said to Yahweh My Punishment is greater than I can bear behold you have driven me today away from the ground and
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from your face I shall be hidden I shall be a fugitive and a Wanderer on the earth and whoever Finds Me will kill me and Yahweh said to him not so if anyone
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kills Cain Vengeance shall be taken on him Sevenfold him Sevenfold and Yahweh put a mark on Cain lest anyone who found him should attack him then Cain went away from the presence of
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Yahweh and settled in the land of node East of Eden Cain knew his wife and she conceived and bore Enoch when he had built a city he called the name of the
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city after the name of his son Enoch to anoch was born irod and irod fathered meu Yael and meu Yael fathered meusel
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and meu shael fathered lamech and lamech took two wives the name of the one was adah the name of the other Zillah adah bore yabal he was the father of all
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those who dwell in tents and have livestock his brother's name was yubal he was the father of all those who played the lra and the pipe Zillah also bore tubal Ken he was the forger of all
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instruments of bronze and iron the sister of tubal Cen was Nama lamech said to his wives Ada and Zillah hear my voice you wives of lamech
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listen to what I say I have killed a man for wounding me a young man for striking me if Cain's revenge is Sevenfold then
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LX is 77 fold and Adam knew his wife again and she bore a son and called his name sat for she said God has appointed for me
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another Offspring instead of Abel for Cain killed him tet was also born a son calling his name Enos and at that time people began to call upon the name of
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Yahweh so again were not informed by Genesis one or 1 or two for what purpose God made Man In His Image nor for what purpose they were to have dominion and fill the Earth and being truly ancient
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and limited in their detail the record of these early chapters of Genesis leaves much to the imagination and hence one of man's problems the unchecked imagination invariably backfills such a
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text with whatever our emotional commitments already are and so we can end up realizing very easily Paul's warning in second Timothy the time is coming when people will not endure sound
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teaching but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into
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myths such myths are the are the result of a sermon by the late Dr Timothy Keller uh called Genesis 4 A Tale of Two Cities and I will give you a few
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quotations from that as a case in point first what we see here in the descendants of Cain from verses 17 on to the bottom is extremely telling of the
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one hand we see even though human beings are sinful they're still in the image of God do you know why they're creating
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okay um he has a long ex excurses into uh the word culture and its atmology and relating it to cultiv debate and then gradually kind of working around to because he's he was so Tim Keller was a
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uh teaching Elder in Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Metro New York um and during the later part of his life was very prolific in his writings so of course when he's relating it to
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cultivate meaning gardening or tilling the Earth obviously his audience in Metro New York has no practical idea of what he's talking about so he has to work around to what his real passion was
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uh in life which was the Arts okay so he he makes a long Rabbit Trail which I won't bore you with but he works back around to even though Cain and his
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descendants are twisted by sin they're still providing still providing culture and hopefully you can hear the implication of that statement there that
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what evines that man is made in the image of God Is Man's ability to cultivate okay him having played fast and loose with the word culture and cultivate Etc okay in other words the
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imod Dei is primarily seen in man's creativity in his formation okay the family of Cain is in a death spiral of sin but they're being creative look
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hooray okay in other words being creative must be some objective good in and of itself if we're inventing that then there's something God glorifying
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about that and and in so far as we say that man's works and abil let's just say his abilities man's abilities testify to the glory of God like the heavens do
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okay all on their own because God made them but then going from that into man's works is in my mind a bridge too far
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we're we're now assigning objective goodness to just the very idea that men are creating culture in his in his parlons and I just don't think that this will do and again to justify that that
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is exactly what he saying he says further we saw that we are made in the image of God that means we reflect god well who do we reflect we're reflecting
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a Creator God because we reflect a Creator God in whose image we are made we ourselves are creative again the implication being that the essence of
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what it means for man to be made in the image of God how you most closely see that is man's creativity except for revelation the end of revation the New
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Jerusalem cities aren't looked upon F right in scripture right somewhat of a Twist to find something inherently
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good and reflective of the image of God in what Cain's descendants then do especially building a city and Sodom Bon right I mean city after City
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concentration of human wickedness yes and that was kind of a constant Obsession of of Tim Keller's in in life was the you know the a romanticizing of the city uh and all this even going so
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far at one point to say that have we ever we think about how to bring the gospel to the city but have we ever thought about how the city brings the gospel to us and just kind of embarrassing even to repeat such uh
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driil um but such was the such is the end result of what I what I'm identifying is ah this is really at the root we've just misunderstood completely
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are think yeah I think I think he's um he's defining the image of God in terms of man's creativity God to see not looking to God right he's looking to an aspect of man's nature as
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a creature um and even one in which you do see a correspondence I mean God as Creator and then his special creature having this impetus to invent is Not an
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Accident I'm not saying that doesn't exist but I'm saying that's not what shows forth the image of God in man uh and was not the um primary purpose of
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God making Man In His Image that's that's what I'm saying thank you for that um and and as Chuck mentioned um you know uh that it just oh excuse I was
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going to get to that in a minute just uh pardon me I lost my place all right to repeat the unstated premise of of the syllogisms that he's
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doing uh is that God's Essence then because we are talking about man in the image of God so I guess God's Essence then gets defined with reference to
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Creation now he didn't go that far but if you're going to Define what it means for man to be made in the image of God in terms of creation you're in fact
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seeding what it means for God to be God in creation and this just won't do we do serve a Creator God but God was God before the Act of Creation he is God
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outside the Act of Creation God did not become God by creating he already was so simply saying that we are made in the image of God and
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we reflect a Creator God and that that's somehow the whole definition of what it means to be made in the image of God you are you are making God's Essence then somehow rest in his creative act and I
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don't disagree that we come to know God first as creatures sort of with the witness of creation around us we do that's because of our limitations not
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because of God's Essence otherwise why do we have scripture scripture leads us uh beyond the witness of nature uh into something that is outside seems like the
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issuea well it's not so much the creative thing it's the picking the one feature because people do the same thing with rationality they say well the
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intelligent birds and men who aren't all that rational right shiny are
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shiny are creative or maybe it's language communicate whatever so it's picking any one particular feature to the image of
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God thats to seems to have to be more about the position of man in creation and what he does than any particular
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aspect his character well I definitely am going to make an argument for what I think is the essential definition of being made in the image of God um uh but uh but to establish first that this
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romanticizing of man's creativity is in appropriate because it really is what it is and this is where it touches on our proclivities okay not all of us are thinking in this you know in some and
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he's not either I mean he didn't start with a kernel of of a poor idea and then everything worked from there no this idea about the image of God becomes the excuse for much bad teaching so it it it
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kind of works in Reverse of the way I'm addressing it but I'm just going to go right for the throat here and say your whole problem is really that you think the image of God has something to do with man being creative and therefore
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culture becomes this objective good that no okay there there's not an objective spiritual good of the creativity of man and I'm not saying that man's works are
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not generally suitable for his use either there's a difference when God created the heavens and the Earth and all that is in them he saw that all that he had made was very
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good note all that he had made uh and I I can't I don't think I can stress this enough given the last few years all that he had made was very good the
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proclamation of it being very good is made without reference to anything man ever has done it's man made without reference to man's works man was then endowed after with dominion over God's
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creation by God as a gift but when man fell in sin the creation was given over to corruption and subjected to futility so thereafter man's position is a bit
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different we'd say Okay thereafter The Works of man over creation are no longer rightful Dominion but legal appropriation okay I and if you think
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I'm picking at nits here consider the difference between what we just read in Genesis 128 and in Genesis 9 I'll read Genesis 128 first and God blessed them and God said to them be fruitful and
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multiply and fill the Earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth now compare this
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genus 9 genus 9 1-3 and God God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth so far so
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good the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens upon everything that creeps on the
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ground and all the fish of the sea into your hand they are delivered every moving thing that lives shall be food for you as I gave you the
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green plants I give you everything and I don't know that I have read in theologies that I have read enough cons enough consideration of how
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Stark the differences are there that is what God says to Noah and therefore by extension to his seed okay to us is not
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have dominion do what you like whatever your proclivities are it's fine you know M the Earth for all it's worth that is not what he says he simply says the fear
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of you and Dread of you are on on the beasts and the birds and everything I gave your father Adam and had he had dominion over and was even bidden subdue okay and they're going to be food for
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you into your hand they are delivered like an like an enemy okay enemy okay so then we have to think with sobriety
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about the the specific invention I of man we can't think with glowing Hearts about all the things we do the contrast I see is that you know
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that's a that's a very Point yes there is a difference I mean we're talking about the difference between not sin and sin which is huge that's everything that affected all of creation therefore it's everything so really I'm just going to
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go out on a limb and say that that's that's not us by nature in sin okay sin okay and we but we do have the right of the
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ability to use the created order for our use and in thinking about this such Appropriations can
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be either legal or illegal okay legal Appropriations used for
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God anyone disagree that this is so I'm allowed to make sharp instruments out of metals I dig out of the earth I'm not allowed to sink them into my
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neighbor's skull I can do do excellent work with a sharp tool and then broadcast it abroad how how awesome and great I am build myself up or for the
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glory of God okay our works have to be addressed with sobriety and we need to ask ourselves even though I'm not saying this is a like I'm not going to find you chapter and verse with a decision tree
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here this is just the way I think about it okay but we need to ask ourselves about our abilities about our intuitions our proclivities our specific works and
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inventions our engineering our art Arts our uh music um we need to be asking ourselves how spiritual is it really it
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it really all depends on for what is it being intended to whose glory is it to be given for whose glory is it to
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redound okay Dr Keller's argument makes any invention of men basically some sort of objective good and if he doesn't say and he doesn't I mean he doesn't say
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that deliberately okay but instead sews this confusion where now we don't know well I I play a musical instrument is
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that a spiritual gift I mean we sing in church what what do I do with that okay I have great abilities in in Gifts of
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service but you know am I using them enough am I am I doing the right things these kinds of confusing questions which I experienced more at the time that I Was
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preparing this but which I think are just sort of part of human nature I think these things come from this this style of confusion where we're not thinking with sobriety about our works but instead just sort of generally
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putting all of our abilities and works Under The Heading of dominion over creation and I just don't think that's what scripture presents to us at all
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ourselves okay this this passage in Genesis 4 he was preaching on I'll leave Tim Keller here for the for the time being is is really tailor made to soberly remind us
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where the acrs of the world come from the things we use all the time instruments of iron and bronze okay musical instruments that's very sobering okay animal husbandry and farming the
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things that Keep Us Alive they're they are credited to Cain and his descendants that's very sobering it should be very sobering okay he makes one right turn in
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his treatment of Cain and that the we're never going to say that Cain and his descendants were simple brutes they were great men they were doing truly great things I mean who who first thought of a
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musical instrument not invented one musical instrument out of many having had experience with music and invented a new one we're talking about just inventing the concept of musical instruments that's amazing these were
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great men okay but scripture decides to tell us a scant few things Cain was a murderer his descendants were men of violence that
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has to be a data point in our whole assessment Cain's efforts in building a city stood in opposition to the Judgment for his murder he was condemned to be a Wanderer on the earth and the next thing
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we see him do build a permanent settlement okay his descendants were Fair were similarly committed to their own greatness even lch makes himself a song to his wives about how awesome he
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is okay so culture as we know it was invented by sinful men committed to their sin their sin and it isn't we have to go smash all of our our good things or never play
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musical instruments uh in the Assembly of of of the church again it's it's that we just need to think with sobriety about them okay and I'll remind
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especially about musical instruments that musical instruments became incorporated into the worship of the Tabernacle and the temple and that's that's also an important data point but why is that I'm not going to trace that
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thinking why is that that and how does that work you have to start with this is still an invention of man now work from there that's what I'm encouraging so if
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the imod de and this is the final sort of the kudagra on this in my opinion finally if the imod day is shown Us in man's creativity and culture making what do the generations of set have to show
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for it nothing the only thing that is said of their works is that Noah believed God and constructed an arc as directed by God and then the only other thing that is said about them at all is
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that Enoch walked with God that's it they have no culture to show for it in the scriptural record and that that silence needs to be deafening to us they
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were here living as strangers on the Earth by faith and we follow after their example knowing that we share in the Fulfillment of the promise made to them
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and in the faith that they died in being made perfect with us us as Hebrews says that's from Hebrews 11 I just a few questions in this regard
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do we have a hard time with our Afflicted position in the world you never had trouble with that does wrongly have you ever had the thought
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well yeah but man's made in the image of God so about anything related I know I've heard it and I've heard it here but does wrongly apprising the
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image of God exacerbate that frustration about our Afflicted position in the world um do we even fall into admiring the world and being frustrated with ourselves or with other brothers that
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they are not more presentable or successful and if our creativity and culture is really supposed to be the means of showing God's glory to the world I think such frustration would be
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understandable but I'm wanting to Proclaim booming that it is not this was just a uh just a single verse and that you're probably familiar with Psalm 73
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in which the prophet assf asks says that that he was next door to slipping away from the the courts of Yahweh entirely
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because he saw the prosperity of the wicked and just couldn't wrap his head around that okay but one of the things that he says uh in this uh in this Psalm
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was um was um there uh in in verse 10 Psalm 7310 so he's been saying their their pride is their necklace violence covers them as a
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garment their eyes swell out with fatness their hearts overflow with Foles they scoff and speak with malice loftily they threaten oppression they set their mouths against the heavens and their
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tongue struts through the Earth and this was the Striking thing to me therefore his people turn back to them and find no fault with them
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the people of God LED astray by the prosperity of the wicked LED astray by the reality that the sons of this world are comfortable and at home and at ease using the accouterments of the world and we having
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been called into the Kingdom of Light out of the kingdom of darkness just anymore so the Psalms uh bear witness to the frustration
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too God revealed himself as I am who I am to Moses okay in other words what God who who God is does not flow from what he
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does we've already kind of discussed that that God did not become God in the Act of Creation man being made in the image of God is not his creativity okay any more that God being
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God is his creativity okay his creativity flowed from the overwhelming love of God in himself his Supreme
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righteousness okay led him to create all that is with wisdom is the first of his created works first of all
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wisdom so our identity as being made in the image of God really really can't have anything to do with that we reflect a God who is
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perfect love within himself and has perfect self- knowledge and our creativity and culture and Imagination are more likely to lead us astray frankly than enrich us toward God a few
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data points on that uh Deuteronomy 7:25 uh the carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves lest you
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be ens snared by it by what by the gold lest you be ins snared by by it for it is an Abomination to Yahweh your God Psalm 115 and I I won't read the
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entirety of it just a brief blurb here their Idols are silver and gold the work of human hands he says below those who make them become like them so do all who
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trust in them and I find it interesting how much the law of the Psalms and the prophets just combine the work of men's hands just with idolatry almost like they're interchangeable it's really
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striking when you start to look at it you're hardpressed to find the The Works of man discussed aside from what is kind of his ultimate work and what would have been the finest objects in the town
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which would be the town Gods Isaiah 44 9-20 is another is another really good one um but the the the basic kernel of it uh is found
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toward the end nor is there knowledge or discernment to say half of it at cons concerning a tree that this Artisan cut down half of it I burned in the fire I also Bak Bread on its
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coals and then he stretches his hands out to it as at the other half carved into a god um worshiping actually that
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one might be a good one just to get out for a
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second excuse me the iron Smith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals he fashion it with hammers and works on it with strong arm he becomes hungry and his strength fails he drinks no water and he
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is faint the carpenter stretches a line marking it out with a pencil shaping it with Plains marking it with a compass he shapes it into the figure of a man with
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the beauty of a man to dwell in a house he cuts down Cedars or chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the Trees of the forest he plants
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a cedar and the rain nourishes it then it becomes fuel for a man he takes part of it and warms himself he Kindles a fire and bakes bread also he makes a God
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and worships it he makes an idol and falls down before it half of it he burns in the fire over half he eats meat he roasts it and is satisfied also he warms
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himself and says Ah I am warm I have seen the fire and the rest he makes into a god his Idol and falls down down to it and worships it he prays to it and says
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deliver me for you are my God they do not know nor do they discern for he has shut their eyes so that they cannot see and their heart so that they cannot
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understand no one considers nor is there knowledge or discernment to say half of it I burned in the fire I also baked bread on its coals I roasted meat and have eaten and shall I make the rest of
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it an Abomination shall I fall down before a block of wood he feeds on ashes a deluded heart leading him astray he cannot deliver
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himself or say is there not a lie in my hand in other words he's bowing down to a proxy of himself he fashion something
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that is the Pinnacle of his abilities his own abilities his own creativity his own culture and bows down to it saying my God so
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God so what is the essence of what it means to be made in the image of God we are made in the image of the invisible God okay and yet God has seen to it that he
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made a creature who is able to know God and be known by him and that I argue is the essence of
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what it means to be made in the image of God that we may know God and be known by him okay and this ties in with the purpose of man's dominion over all of
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creation too as it must because that's one data point in Genesis 1 Isaiah 11 I think demonstrates this this is Isaiah 11
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Isaiah 11 1-10 there shall come forth a chute of the stump of Jesse and a branch from his root shall bear fruit and the spirit of Yahweh shall rest upon him the spirit of
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WI wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yahweh and his Delight shall be in the fear of Yahweh
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he shall not judge by what he sees with his eyes or decide disputes by what he hears with his ears but with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of
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the earth and he shall strike the Earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips he he shall kill the wicked Dominion
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righteousness shall be the belt of his waist and faithfulness the belt of his loins and now listen to what follows because listen to How it it gives us even a picture of what creation must have been like before sin and yet Isaiah
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is saying this one will come and Usher in this order the wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard lie down with the young goat and the calf and The Lion
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and the fatten calf together and a little child shall lead them the cow and the bear shall graze their young shall lie down together and the lion shall eat
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straw like the ox the nursing child shall Play Over the Hole of the Cobra and the weaned child put his hand on the adders Den they shall not hurt or
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destroy in all my Holy Mountain for the Earth shall be full of the knowledge of Yahweh as the waters cover the sea
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the image of God Jesus the image of God taking dominion over the Earth and what does he do fill it with the knowledge of Yahweh this is what it means to be made in the image of God why did Jesus Christ the image of
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God appear that we might be made in His image how are we made in His image through the knowledge of Christ get fits
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well must also remember that these things are given to us not that we may love the world but that we may not love the world which is why we must think with sobriety about our works um
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Philippians 3 I have in your outline look out for the dogs look out for the evildoers look out for those who
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mutilate the Flesh and don't get distracted by the fact that he's talking about a particular Jewish slant on the flesh okay as as Paul often does he's using this the most spiritual
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application of a fleshly ordinance possible those ordinances of the law that's as close as it gets he's using that as he often does as a proxy for all things fleshly okay for we are the
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circumcision who worship by the spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh though I myself have reason for confidence in the
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flesh Also if anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh I have more circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel of The Tribe of Benjamin a Hebrew of Hebrews as to the
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law a Pharisee as to Zeal a persecutor of the church as to righteousness under the law the law blameless but whatever gain I had I
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count as loss for the sake of Christ indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for his
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sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as trash in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own
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that comes from the law but that which comes through faith in Christ the righteousness from God that depends upon faith that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and share in his
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sufferings becoming like him in his death that by all means possible I may attain the resurrection from the
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dead and speaking more specifically about the things that would be close to our minds 1 John 216 for all that is in the world the desires of the Flesh and the
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desires of the eyes and the pride in possessions is not from the father but is from the world and the world is passing away Along Ong with his with its
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desires but whoever does the will of God abides forever we have been made in the image of that one who came and said sacrifices and offerings you have not required nor
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taken pleasure in them but a body prepared for me here I am as it is written of me in the role of the book to do your will setting aside the one the law for the doing of the will of
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God it it seems me that that has been a a perennial struggle for the people of God and that is how to live in the world your teaching I think is very accurate but has also motivated aestheticism and
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monasticism yes it has and if you if if you consider what Paul says in Romans 1 and I've mentioned this before and also what he says elsewhere
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in Romans that all things are Sanctified through prayer and and Thanksgiving yes it seems to to me it's that Thanksgiving yes you give thanks for that which you don't inherently deserve mhm and so by
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saying thank you you're acknowledging your subordinate position and that what you do have and you do enjoy is a gift right who who thanks one
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from whom they have received nothing right who who who thanks in in a in any situation the Lesser who thanks the slave okay that's yeah thanks for that
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which is his due okay I think that's even stronger we don't we don't deserve but we are we are gifted we are graciously
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gifted I don't think we have to um abjure the use of of the increments of the world not at all we don't have to what we're required to do from our heart
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is to give thanks yes yes in all things to give thanks yes and and you're right th this has also even the truth behind what I'm saying
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has been used to motivate an aesthetic attitude um that will no more do than uh taking pride in one's possessions and by
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the way when John says pride in possessions of pride in the pride of life the word apparently means like the same as one's living in other words pride in one's possessions okay um but
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that will no more do because that still asceticism is an enorm ordinate focus on the body it's still an inordinate focus on creation as if by denying myself a
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connection to the rest of creation I could make myself more spiritually and and I'm saying neither will do neither an Embrace of the of the things that are of this created order nor a pushing away
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from them will will ever will ever do we walk in the world not of it as spiritual people and putting no confidence in the
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flesh doesn't mean we're not in the flesh still have to bathe uh horrible consequences will ensue if you don't um but yes uh asceticism will
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not do because it is the same class of Errors an inordinate focus on externals as if what is on the outside could make me more spiritual within um I'll U I'll
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close with um and I I I would encourage you I I read only a couple of verses from Colossians 1 uh and from 2 Corinthians and and from uh Hebrews
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their contexts I think bear me out that the that the knowledge of God and the proclamation of that knowledge to every creature under Heaven is part of his
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whole discussion of Jesus as the image of God so I was kind of pulling the short passage and then we'd get to the longer one I'm only only going to read the one since we're about out of time 2
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Corinthians 3 in its Fuller context verses 18 through 46 and we all with unveiled face
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beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of Glory to another for this comes from the Lord who is the
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spirit therefore having this ministry by the mercy of God we do not lose heart but we have renounced disgraceful under handed ways we refuse to walk in cunning
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or to tamper with God's word but by the open statement of Truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God just a brief pause on this refuse to
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walk in cunning or tamper with God's word I mean that that's what we're discussing right how many churches have been just wrecked by the presumption that the ability to speak publicly well
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is a mark of spirituality or that uh playing instruments well or being able to appreciate a certain form of music is somehow somehow touches on the spirituality of the congregation or
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how many congregations are LED astray and distracted by acts of service as if even such acts of service were themselves inherently spiritual rather than carefully considering everything
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they do according to the wisdom of God and and how many are led by uh being enamored with the beauty of something
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even just the having a nice space uh into what is nothing less than idolatry that is our proclivity we can
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go there go there too we must think with sobriety about this and understand that when we come up with some awesome way of of uh awesome new way of marketing God's word uh to uh
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to others we are simply falling into the Trap that Paul says refuse to do we refuse to walk in cunning or tamper with God's word now continue but by the open statement of Truth we would commend
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ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God and even if our gospel is veiled it is veiled to those who are perishing in their case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the
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unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God for what we Proclaim is not ourselves
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but Jesus Christ as Lord with ourselves as your servants for jesus' sake for God who said let light shine out of Darkness
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has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ let us
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pray father we thank you that you have given us your word to ruminate on for our entire lifelong and yet not extract all of the treasure that there is there to to truly
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have everything every spiritual blessing available to us in Christ we also give you thanks for your wisdom in creating the world as you did
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and your wisdom in ordaining that we should have your person revealed and explained to us by the Lord Jesus
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who having a body like ours was subject to every weakness yet without sin along with us that we would be called one of his in the in in such a deep way we
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thank you for that we pray that you help us to see our works soberly not to denigrate or say uh it is no good to what is made
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good by Thanksgiving to gifts that you have given us to return thanks to you in all things and then also to give you the glory for everything we are able to do and carefully consider the wisdom of
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doing and saying all that we do and say we ask that the words of our mouths and the meditations of our heart be pleasing to you and we ask this in Jesus name
