Restored In His Image

This is North Way tape number 466. This message was delivered by Pastor Jay Passavant of North Way Christian Community on January 19th, 1986. Alright, you all should have your outlines. Would you turn with me to Genesis chapter 1? Genesis chapter 1. Lord, allow the time that's necessary. Verse 26, Then God said, You all there? Then God said, Let us make men 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. And so God created man in his own image, in the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. As you hold that place, turn your New Testament all the way to the book of Colossians. Book of Colossians. Turn to chapter 3. Look at verse 9. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge, in the image of God. Restored in the image of God. This issue is as powerful to us and as relevant to us as yesterday's newspaper. Nineteen-year-old Christopher Caldwell, with some accomplices, walks into a house occupied by an 88-year-old man and his 85-year-old wife. By his own confession, brutalizes, tortures, and kills this elderly, helpless couple. Christopher Caldwell was guilty. Admitted to it. But for six hours, the jury of Allegheny County deliberated his sentence. And finally, the next morning, brought back the verdict, guilty, with the penalty being death in the electric chair. And why would it take six hours to return a verdict of guilty with death as the penalty in the electric chair? Because that jury wrestled for six hours with what each one of us know to be the incredible preciousness and value of a human life. And even in a case so blatantly obvious, where one man had taken that precious life from two others, oh yeah, they were 88 and 85, they were at the end, they weren't useful anymore by some standards. And he's only 19 and he has his whole life. Maybe he'll reform. And so for six hours, they wrestled and finally made that decision that he should die as a result of his heinous crime. But that's not the only story in here. On page five, there's an interesting story about a little girl, now two years old, who two years ago was denied medical treatment for spina bifida an operation that she needed. And the government wanted to file suits and said she was going to die if she didn't have this operation. And the people resisted and they fought the government. And by some miracle, this child, now two years later, is alive and doing quite well. A whole story there unfolds. What about terrorism? What about the value that terrorists put on human life? To walk up in an airport waiting room and pull out a submachine gun and just shoot randomly at people. You see, beloved, these are issues that have to do, at their root, with the image of God. Now as I was praying today about what we are calling Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, how many of you know, we don't have any place around here for religious expression, right? We're not interested in just going along with someone because, well, it's the thing to do around the country. How many of you remember those times in the old churches where we had those crazy attempts at ecumenism? You know, like, save the California condor Sunday. Or, this week we're celebrating Christians United Against Nuclear War. I mean, you know, who's not against nuclear war? These aren't things that are worthy of getting ourselves involved in. We need to know that what God is saying to this church is relevant and fits with what His Spirit is saying around the nation and around the world. And I believe we've been demonstrating that. And so the issue for us this morning was discerning what is it to us as a people that God is saying on Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. The Lord did not direct me today to talk to you about abortion. Back in November of 84, I had a message on that subject, and you can get the tape and hear what we had to say about that. He didn't direct me to talk about related issues like child abuse and child pornography especially, and euthanasia, and all the things that have to do with this spiritual bondage that's coming upon our nation. But rather to talk about the subject that I believe is foundational and has given rise to all of this because of the lack of knowledge of it. And that's the issue of man being created in the image of God. What does it mean for us as a church to believe that we are creatures unlike any other creature created in the image of God? You see, if we come to terms with this truth, beloved, I'm convinced it'll tell us not just what we have to stand against, but what we have to stand for. You see, as Americans, for example, when we sit down and talk rationally with people from terroristic countries, we would say, well, we're Americans. We wouldn't dream of walking in to an airport waiting room and shooting down children and innocent, helpless people. So we're against that, but we're also for security and peace and freedom and the opportunity to live a life without fear. Do you see what I'm saying? So if foundationally your identity as an American means you stand against something, it also means that you stand for something. And I want to share with you today the truth about our identity as creatures in the image of God and what it means that we'll stand against, but more than that today, what it means that we'll stand for. Now what is this thing of the image of God? What is an image? Well, how many of you saw an image this morning? Come on. How many of you looked in the mirror today? How many of you were shocked with what you saw? It really can't be me. Are you serious? I don't look that way. Ever try to change your mirror a little bit? Ever seen what a cheap mirror does to your image? That's why you say that to all the mirrors you see anymore. A mirror is a genuine, accurate reflection or resemblance, an image, that is. And we are prone to think all the time of images in physical terms. You may have been one who's been privileged to be in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican and seen the wonderful, the breathtaking work of Michelangelo. I've seen this. Your neck gets a little bit crooked as you look up, but you see that tremendous picture that he painted on that dome ceiling of Adam in a reclining kind of position and his arm muscular and just perfect in its proportions and his finger extended. You all know what I'm saying? And God reaching down his hand. And it's interesting, isn't it, that there in that work of art that stood through the centuries, and it is magnificent, the best that human talent and skill could do is to show God in man's image. What you see is God's arm. How many believe God has an arm like that, right? He probably doesn't. But you see, that's what we have to think of because we can't conceive of an image that's spirit. And that's what God is. When we think of images, it's easy for us. Think of your little kids. I'll tell you, there's such a joy in seeing that little smile that you recognize came from your wife or that pleasant manner that came from your wife. Those wonderful features of appearance that came from your wife. And to see that kid throw that book down. It came from you, right? I'll never forget when Jonathan was born. He had a heck of a time coming through the birth canal. I remember that. And I remember when I first saw him, I checked his armband. My other two kids looked a lot like us, but I didn't know that this has to be our child. I mean, I saw him coming out of there, but I said, Jonathan, pass it on. And he has grown over the years in our image, and I can see features in him. That's easy for us, but it's another thing altogether, isn't it, when we talk about the image of God. What does it mean for you, beloved one, to be created in the image of God? You see, the Bible says in Genesis 2-7 that Adam was formed just like all the other animals. Adam had flesh and he had organs and he looked in some fashions, as all the evolutionists tell us, like all the other animals. But the Bible says that God did something. It says that he breathed into him the breath of life. And I would submit to you it is at that point. It's not in the flesh, but it's in the spirit that the image of God is imparted. The Bible never says that God breathed the breath of life into the cows. And so the breath of life, you see, isn't just... The breath of life is the impartation of the image of God to man. And that's what Adam took upon himself. And I want to share with you today that that image has two principal characteristics. And Amy and Al, your song was beautiful in bringing out one of these today. The two characteristics were, or are, number one, the holiness of God, and number two, his immortality. And I want to use his sense of destiny for that word. Now, the holiness of God, now say with me on this, the image of God, which means his holiness, is the attribute whereby God preserves the integrity of his own being. That is to say, God will never be less than he is right now. He will never be less loving. Isn't that great to know? He'll never be less just. He'll never be less pure. He'll never be less kind. He'll never be less giving. Holiness means there's no change in the perfection of his character. That's the holiness of God. And his immortality doesn't just mean that there's a life that never ends, church. It means that God is full in his own being of purpose. You know, I have to chuckle sometimes when we think about, how many of you ever ask the question, what was there before there was anything? You ever ask that question? What was going on before God created the universe? You ever have the image of God just like, oh, this is so boring. What am I going to do with all this? And we think of God somehow like, you know, sitting on his throne and changing his legs. Well, this is really slow. I've got to do something. God never lacked direction. He never just, he didn't just think up us. He never lacked purpose. And I confess to you, my infinite, my finite mind does not understand his infinite purpose. But I know in God, his immortality means that he is constantly moving in destiny. And so you see, when we talk about the image of God, we're talking about holiness and destiny. Now, beloved, these are the qualities, listen to me, that separate us from the rest of creation. Trees don't have holiness and destiny. My wonderful little dog has no sense of destiny except to eat whatever I put in front of her and to run and to wag her tail. That's all that she knows to do. But she's so wonderfully consistent that I think she might be holy sometimes. She's always doing those things, right? But animals don't have that. Ever looked in the eyeball of an animal? You notice there's something that just doesn't register there with them? And you say, communicate to me. Say something. Get off my bed and say something to me, right? Our animals can be almost like real, but you know that there's a huge gap. And no chimpanzee or anything else ever had that. It was breathed into us by the Spirit of God. Beloved, it is that quality that sets us apart from the rest of creation and makes us special in the eyes of God. Listen to what C.S. Lewis said. He's so beautifully gifted in his written expression. He said, it is a serious thing, he said, to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw now, you would be strongly tempted to worship. Or else, that same person might be a horror and a corruption, such as you meet now, if at all, in a nightmare. All day long, we're in some degree helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and circumspection proper to them that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. It is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit. Immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. Isn't that profound? You see, we tend to think of one another as just people. It was that mentality, you see, that allowed the Nazis to determine that the Jews was this vermin, lice, to be eradicated, like you and I would take a bug bomb and spray it underneath our kitchen sink. It was the reduction of man from the image of God. And so, beloved, if the image of God is holiness and destiny, then what is it that we've lost? What happened to us? Let me just touch this quickly. You see, man has been marred in that perfect image in which he was created. He's lost it, not thrown it out, but it's been distorted. Much as if you took that mirror I referred to this morning in your bathroom and took a hammer and clunked it enough that it shattered but didn't fall. What would you see if you looked in there? You'd see an arm up here and a hand down there and you just wouldn't look right. Dr. Paul Brand talks about RAF pilots in World War II that he administered medical treatment to during the bombing of London by the RAF. Could you imagine, when he was recalling a story, he said that they had times, at one point, 57 days in a row of eight-hour bombings. Just imagine that. He said waves of 250 planes at a time going over the city, dropping bombs. Eight hours in a row for 57 days. And he said these RAF pilots would fly up and way out-manned and out-powered and out-everything, but just faithfully just picking away at those bombers. Every once in a while they'd take a hit. And that little fighter plane that they had, a Spitfire, whatever it was, had one flaw in it and that was that the fuel line went through the cockpit to the main engine. Every once in a while, when one of those took a hit, the fuel line would explode and the pilot would catch on fire. He'd still be able to eject, but he'd come back and all of his features would just be basically melted together. And it was his job to begin the process of restoration. Restoring those features to have a semblance of that human face that once was there. You see, that physical image was lost and in the same way, sin has burned the image of God and distorted it in our lives. And so we're broken in these images. Now, what does it mean to be then if holiness and destiny are the two characteristics of God's image? What does it mean for us then to be broken? Well, it means, number one, unholiness. What do you think of when you think of unholy? What do you think of when you think of unholiness? Well, you think of nasty deeds, you know, or somebody that's not interested in religion at all. I'm not a holy person. But you see, to me, unholiness means that I'm just broken. My relationships are broken. In fact, if you think about it, we use that word a lot in our culture, don't we? What do we say to someone when we're dating them and we want to end the relationship? Break it off. What do we say when they say that to us? I have a broken heart. What about economics? What do we say when our economics is in disarray? We don't have anything. What do we say? I'm broke, right? Brokenness is a characteristic of the lack of holiness, the lack of God's image being worked out in us. And similarly, church, the lack of destiny in the sense of people's hearts is an amazingly pervasive characteristic today. How many of you know people who are listless and lost in their life? And they're just going through the motions of bringing home a check. Anybody know someone like that? Maybe that's your hand going up for you. You see, in your mind, there may be no purpose whatsoever except just to get by. I remember a bedside discussion I had once with a man who'd worked for 35 years for one company. He had terminal cancer all through his body. He knew he was going to die. And I said to him, I said, sir, do you really think you're ready to meet God? And this is after, you know, this had been in several visits and so on. We came to that point in the conversation. And he said, well, you know, I've really done the best I could do. And I think the people I worked with know that I was a good person. And all he had to show for his life was 35 years with one of the steel companies and the hope that somehow he'd done the best he could do. And my heart wept inside when I realized that the scriptures say that God is storing up for us an eternal weight of glory so great that we can't fathom it. When it says in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 7, 8, that I cannot see and mine cannot conceive of the glory that God has laid up for those who love him. That's our destiny. And we ought all to be moving toward that destiny, moving in the purposefulness of God in our lives. Now, you see, this brokenness causes people to go off on tangents and they don't know their destiny at all. And they just go through motions of climbing the ladder of success thinking that that's their destiny. But how many of you know when you get to the top, there's no sense of destiny to that? And then you say, well, what's next? And there is nothing next but to retire and hope that then you'll discover God. You know, what's really a marvel to me is the way our culture now, for the most part, the people of the world who are living in this broken image, this broken model of life, are telling us and our children what should be the right model. Isn't that something? In other words, it's people who have no idea as to what it means to be holy and a person of destiny telling the rest of the world, well, this is what it means to be human. And so you hear our little interview like we heard on WPIT this week of 11-year-old girls saying, you know, my name's this and I go to this junior high school and my favorite groups are Prince, Cyndi Lauper and Twisted Sister. And Twisted Sister is just one group today that is being raised up as a model to young people and don't underestimate the significance of that, whose message basically is in one of their videos, I am not going to listen to what you say, Dad. In fact, I'm going to shove you down the steps, which they do. And in fact, I'm going to push you out the window, which I do. It's those models that somehow have been raised up. That's what it is that we're going after. The brokenness of man is then being portrayed as being the model. And Jesus said, if the light in you is darkness, how great is that dark. And I guess you see, beloved, when it comes down to abortion, those that feel like the image of God means nothing are telling us it doesn't really matter then what that thing is inside of you, even if it's just a little handful of cells. Isn't it strange, though, that common sense tells us that when we climb up a tree with our kids and see a little nest with a few tiny little eggs in it, that there's something in there that we don't want to mess with. And if we let it go, it's going to become a bird and enhance the beauty of God's creation. But somehow, because we can't see in here that little thing, and it doesn't have a shell around it, it has a womb, somehow then, well, that's my body and it's my right, and you know all the arguments. And they violate everything that we know deep inside of us is right. And so the image of God, the holiness and destiny of God, has been marred and disfigured by sin. And you might be here as one today whose life, if you're honest, is broken. Things don't fit together. You don't know what direction you're going. If you left here today, all you know is you're going to work tomorrow. You don't know where it's leading. Your relationships are not fitting together. Maybe you've been broken in a marriage. What's the answer? Well, the answer is, beloved, that God came to restore man in his image. And we just read it in Colossians 3, verse 10. The restoration of man in the image of God. You see, it was the mercy of God to send his only son, in Hebrews 1, 3 says, who is the exact image of the Father. You see, when people saw Jesus, they didn't just see a sort of a resemblance there. They saw the exact representation, the Bible says, of his glory. Not the flesh, but in that spirit. Do you understand that? So when you read in the Gospel of John about the spirit of God in Jesus, you're seeing what God is like. And he sent that son to die for us. That by being born in him, the image of God can be restored to us. What two characteristics then would come upon our lives? What are they? What's the first one? Say it. Holiness. Say it. Holiness. And the second one is our destiny. You are in the process of being restored in the holiness of God. Now, what an exciting subject. Holiness. That's right, I heard one. One amen. Let's be real frank with one another and say that holiness is not high on our I-wish-that-were-me list. Let me give you this. Let me just give you this. This is a dictionary definition of holiness. Holiness is being holy. Okay? Number two, the title of the pope. Number three, dedicated to religious use. Number four, spiritually perfect. Now, how many of you have just been eliminated by those four definitions? Right? And if we're real honest, in the world today, there's not a whole lot of desire. If you went out and took a poll and said, how many people want to be the pope? You'd have a very small minority of people. How many people want to be set apart to religious use? I don't. Not in the sense that I think they mean it. How many of you, spiritually perfect? You see, so the world has put this model of holiness, and we think of it. Now, we're really impacted by that, whether you like it or not. And we think it's admirable. How many of you heard people say, that's fine for you. That's a worthy pursuit for you, but don't, listen, I have real life to contend with. And holiness and real life are absolutely in contradiction. Amen? In the mind of the people. In the mind of the world. That's what it is. Holiness is irrelevant. It has nothing to do with corporate America, or raising three kids. So, we just forget about it. Don't even see it as an aspiration. Now listen to what the word meant, even just out of our own development of the word, back in, say, the 11th century. This is right out of the dictionary. The word holy comes from the Latin word, now listen, sanctus, sanctus, sanctity, which means, H-A-L was the root word, which meant, health. And so, when a person would greet another, they'd say, hail. Remember, the greeting of the angel of Mary, hail over, hail is just an extension of the word, H-A-L. How? Which meant, really, when you were greeting someone, you'd say, health to you. It's just like us saying, how you doing? Hoping, you know, rhetorically, that you're doing fine. And then the word meant, wholeness. From W-H-O-L-E, whole, you see H-O-L, which is just one of the variations of that root word, H-A-L. This is all in your dictionary. If you have an exhaustive kind of dictionary, you'll see it all in there. It meant health, wholeness or completeness, and listen to this one, folks. Whole, holy, meant happiness. Come on, now. Holy people aren't happy people. I mean, holy people are miserable under the bondage of God and holding everyone down and restraining all their desires. That's holy. What God means, the Bible definition, as I see it, of holiness is a person who's living their life for God. Simple. Write that down. A person who's living their life for God. Every year of your life, live for God. That's a holy person. And so that's what God's restoring us into. A life lived for God in the home, a life lived for God at work, a life lived for God in relationship. A holy person. And, beloved, I want to submit to you, I want to be, and I believe most of you want to be, that kind of holy. One who is healthy, one who is whole in relationships and unbroken in spirit, and one whose life is happy. That is blessed in the things of God. And also, church, to be restored in His image means that we find our destiny. Being restored to a purpose, you know, Dick Hatch talks about a word that God's put in his heart, and he wrote me a lovely letter after he had been here with us at the Christmas banquet, saying, you recall the talk he had that night about God's vision for your life? You see, the destiny of man is wrapped up in God's vision for your life. And Ephesians 2.10 says that God's created good works for you to walk in. How many of you think you've discovered the good works God's created you to walk in? Alright, some of them, some of them. Alright, not enough of you. Praise the Lord for the one, but God's, doesn't it do something to you to know that you're not just here to kind of make it and then die? And it's all over? But He's created good works for you to walk in. I look for the things that God's created for me to walk in, that are going to be good works and blessings to people. Because His Word says that He's done that for me. And it's this very purpose in life that becomes such a motivator. I think of one young man that some of you know, who really was kind of listless, not going anywhere in life, and hadn't even finished college, and just kind of, you know, moping around from one 7-Eleven to an open pantry job, and kind of making it with all the potential in the world. But when he began to see God's destiny in his life, and the giftedness that God put in him, he caught fire, and went and finished his education, and got his master's degree at CBN University, and set into a position of great responsibility now with one of the major ministries in the world today. Why? Because he caught hold of his destiny in God. And I want to say to you today, you may not be a bum in the sense of having clothes and provision, but you may feel as useless and directionless and purposeless as a bum. And God's word to you today is there's a destiny that you have. Because you're being restored in his image. If you know Christ, you're being restored in the image of God. Colossians 3.10 says. And you can know it. Now, beloved, let me just give you one more thought today. As much as restoration in the image of God is a personal thing, and it is, for Fred and for Paul and for Al, for Vicki, you know, for Nancy, it's restoration personally, beloved, it's also restoration of the corporate image. How many of you know what corporate image is, guys? Gals? Right? How many of your corporations are real concerned about corporate image? I'm not saying, I'm talking at all about what we have come to think of when we say corporate image. I'm talking about the corporate body of Christ. You see, in the same way that the image of God gives us hope of holiness and destiny in our lives personally, that same power is at work in we, His body. We are people of holiness to be moving, complete in relationship, balanced, knit together, fitting together in God's plan of destiny for this church. Beloved, this is why it's so profoundly important to be part of a local church. If you're here today visiting and you don't have a local church, we invite you to make this your local church. Because there's a destiny. How many people who are coming here regularly believe there's a destiny for our church? You see, and God's moving us in that destiny because His image is upon us. We are His body, and who is the head? Jesus Christ. And He is the full, perfect reflection of the image of God. That means that we're going along with Him. That just gets me a little bit excited. Look and say, well, I know these people though. I talked about that last week. God's restoring us as a church to see His image in one another. So in essence, you see, Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is a call. It's not just a call to picketing. It's not just a call to protesting and writing letters and active involvement. It is those things, and those are good. I want to say tonight the staff at CPC and different ones are going to be here to train you in those things. Those are important. But you see, Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is a call to the church to holiness and to rise up into its destiny. That's what I see it being to us. It's the time for the church to see that the holiness brings power, beloved, and power brings the fulfillment of our destiny. Why did Moses and Joshua and Elijah and Daniel and Paul and James and John and Peter, why did they move in such power in their lives? Because of the holiness of God in them. Why do they have such a destiny that's lasted as a legacy through the centuries to us? Because of the holiness of God that led to the power of God that transformed their lives. And so Sanctity of Human Life Sunday isn't just about petitions and raising up volunteers only. That's good. But you see, when the holy, spirit-filled church begins to rise up in its destiny, beloved, I want to tell you that stronghold of abortion is going to begin to be shaken and broken by a church that believes that God is in it and moving it along in holiness, moving it along in the power of the Holy Spirit. Not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord. You see, church, it wasn't just the picketers. It wasn't just the petitions that closed the Summit Medical Center. No, it was a holy, spirit-filled church moving out in prayer and taking that dominion and tearing it down. For the glory of God. Hallelujah. Amen, Lord. So what are we to do? Well, I see response in three levels. I see the response, first of all, for those who today are here. And in your own heart, you know that there's a brokenness toward God. I can't plead any more than to say to you, God loves you so much. I don't know why you'd want to not be put back together. It's only your fear, I believe, that the enemy lies to you about that keeps you from God. But for some today, to respond to this message means that you begin the process of restoration. You come to Jesus this morning. You let God restore you in the image. Do you know something? Let me tell you something. That RAF fighter pilot that I described, whose face was terribly scarred, man in his knowledge could only do a little bit by plastic surgery to fix the eyelids and reconstruct the nose and put the cheeks back in place. But I can say to you today with full assurance, that the power of God restores you to the perfect image that God had intended for you all along. And if you'll but let him do that, he yearns to have fellowship with you, to bring you into the holiness that he's planned from the foundation of the earth into your destiny as a person. And secondly today, this message is to those people who are here as believers. You've taken that step and that's the majority of us. But excuses and distractions and all the rest have set you in a place where you're not really even expecting God to raise you up in your destiny. Holiness for you is really just sort of a concept, it's not a reality. But God wants today to move you out of that, into the stream of what he's doing. Paul said, we all with unveiled face behold as in a mirror the image of Jesus being transformed from one degree of glory. Then finally as a church, I believe this message today is a summons to us to rise up corporately in the holiness and in the destiny that God has for us. In prayer, in the equipping that's taking place to get you out there in the front lines and in the support that others of you give to be a force in the hand of God to bring about his purpose. Let's just bow our heads together. Lord, we ask you for the response that's appropriate for us, Lord, as we just worship before you these days and these next moments rather, Lord. Would you speak through our hearts as we consider what it is you want of us. Let us just gaze into your eyes, Lord, and see the power of your name and of your love reaching out to us. Look into your holy name.