Prayer

O Lord my God, how majestic is your name in all the earth. Creation declares your glory, and it is a wonder to be alive to see it. And your steadfast love endures forever! I praise your great and mighty name. I thank you for sustaining me through the night. I thank you for your abiding patience and grace. I am sorry, Lord, for the ways I have misused what you have given, and especially in failing to redeem the time that you have given me. Please forgive me, Lord, and teach me to use all things you have given at all times to the honour and glory of your name. You have made me to be an earthly image of your glory, please remake and renew your glorious image in me, and in all the saints of God in your church. I commit this day to you, please keep me and deliver me from the evil one. I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Reading

Gen 1:24-31.

“And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25. And God made the beasts of the earth 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. 26. Then God said, “Let us make 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 all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

28. 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 fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29. And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

Meditation

The idea of being “spiritual” is a common idea for Christians. We talk about going deeper in the spiritual life, or we might say that someone is a very “spiritual person”. But what do we actually mean when we’re talking about spirituality? As we continue on in our studies of the image of God, we find that spirituality is not just some added extra in the Christian life. It’s not something that some people have and some people do not have. We are all both spiritual and physical beings. A spiritual nature is an innate part of what it means to be human, it’s part of what it means for us to be made in the image of God. So I want to invite you now to pause and reflect for yourself. Consider the fact that you too are a spiritual being, and consider now what that means for your life.

So far in our studies on man as the image of God, we have seen that the image is not part of who we are, it is who we are. We are made in the image of God, we are images of God, and every aspect of who we are finds it’s original in him. We’ve also seen that what this all means is that ultimately we are glory bearers. On day one God declared his intention to shine his glory and presence into the creation. On day six he showed us how he would do that – his glory would chiefly be displayed in the creation through us. We are glory bearers! Furthermore, as we multiply, so too does God’s glory, which by our multiplication is designed to expand out into the creation.

However, we have also seen that mankind has defaced and broken that divine image. We now all fall short of the glory of God and we no longer display that excellence and glory. Finally, we saw that the image of God’s likeness is restored to us now through Christ. These things constitute our groundwork on the doctrine of the image of God. We now zoom in for a closer look at the details of what it means to be made in the image of God, and the first point of call on this quest is to consider the fact that we are earthly images of heavenly glory. But what does that mean?

In our studies of the creation days, we have found that with the creation of man on day six is the climax and fulfillment of the purpose of day one. God’s purpose revealed on day one was that God would shine his glory into creation. That plan would be fulfilled as he imaged his glory into the world through mankind. The same principle works for days two through five as well – all culminate in the creation of man. We could say that man is the fulfillment of creation, he fulfills the building expectation and purpose of days one through five.

With that broader principle in mind, I would like for us now to begin considering specifically the relationship between the creation of man and day two. Let me remind you of what we have learned of day two. We learned that the heavens are a symbol of heaven. Heaven, as we know, is God’s spiritual heavenly dwelling place, he sits enthroned in the heavens (Ps 2). When God created the expanse on day two, he likewise called it “heaven”, which was not coincidental. There is a real parallel between the heavens, and the heavenly dwelling place of God itself. In scripture more broadly, God affirms this parallel by using the images of the physical heavens to teach us about his heavenly dwelling place. For example, cloud covered Sinai when God descended; a pillar of cloud came down upon the Tabernacle as well. We also found in our studies of day two that, in the fullness of time, God’s plan is to unite heaven and earth. The New Heavens and the New Earth, this will be the dwelling place of God with his people. What is God’s dwelling place? Heaven!

As we consider day six, we see these threads all drawn together in the creation of man, for we find that man himself is created as an earthly image of heavenly glory. Now what do I mean by that? When we pray “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”, this prayer is realised as God’s heavenly likeness is imaged on earth through man – and more specifically through Christ and the recreation of the divine image in God’s people. But let me turn more particularly to the details of day six.

Why is it that I say that man is an earthly image of heavenly glory? To start with, we must see clearly that man was uniquely created as a spiritual being. As images of God, in our nature we have both heavenly aspects and earthly aspects, and one of the senses in which we are heavenly, and were fitted for heaven in our original state, is that we are endowed with a spiritual nature. This is important, for God himself who is heavenly is spirit. We are spiritual beings, and in that sense we carry with us something of a heavenly makeup in the nature of our being.

There are many places we could go to prove the spiritual aspect of our nature. We see it clearly in Ecclesiastes 12. Ecclesiastes as a whole gives us a stark picture of life in a fallen world, but more especially in chapter twelve Solomon speaks of man returning to his eternal home. In Ecc 12:7 he speaks of the dust returning to the earth, and the spirit returning to God who gave it. Part of being made in the image of God includes that we have a spiritual nature, and so God – as the supreme spiritual being – thus made us to be an earthly image of heavenly glory in this sense. And so then all the aspects of having a spiritual nature, being our personality, the ability to think, know, feel, and to will to do – all of these are reflections of and, in a sense, aspects of heavenly realities. Even the fact that we can enjoy personal communion with God – no animal has that privilege! Nor are they capable of it. For such communion to be possible, there must be a part of us that is capable of operating in the heavenly, spiritual realm of God. We are earthly images of heavenly glory by virtue of being spiritual beings.

However, we must quickly add to this that although we are spiritual beings, we are also earthly beings. Our earlier reference to Ecclesiastes 12 revealed this truth, and we see it clearly in Genesis 2 as God forms the man out of the earth itself. We are earthly images of heavenly glory, being made as physical beings. With this in mind, then, let me immediately affirm that our bodies are a good gift from God. Historically, many Christians have downgraded the dignity of physical things, as though physical reality itself is degraded and defiled by nature. As we read Genesis 1, and see the goodness of God in creation, our response to such ideas must be: Not so! This is affirmed for us in the New Testament in 1 Timothy 4:4, which says “everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer”.

Building on these twin pillars of human nature, our spiritual and physical nature, we must likewise keep it in mind that these two aspects of who we are are not separate, but have been brought together as a unity. Body and soul are certainly distinct, but are also designed to function seamlessly together. We are earthly images of heavenly glory. The Dutch Theologian, Herman Bavinck, expressed this well when he said: “Man unites and reconciles within himself both heaven and earth, things both invisible and visible. And precisely as such he is the image and likeness of God.”

Be ye doers of the word…

In the coming studies will unfold these things further, but before we move on let’s pause and consider the personal side of this for a moment. This is not just some theological principle, here is an important thing that you need to realise: you are a spiritual being. How often do you ponder that thought? How often are you aware of it? We are generally very aware of our physicality aren’t we? If one of our limbs was removed, we would feel that loss very keenly. When we are physically sick, it affects everything. It can effect our mood, our energy levels, the clarity of our thought, our motivation, and a host of other things.

We are generally very in touch with our physicality – our fitness, strength levels, the level of our health – all these things are a very integrated part of the way we live. What about your spiritual nature? Do you have an awareness of that? Do we even know what that really means? On one level, we are very intimately aware of our spiritual well-being. When we wrestle with some difficulty emotionally, mentally, or intellectually, for example, we are very much experiencing the spiritual dynamics of our lives. But I suspect that sometimes we may view our spirit as being this detached, non-existent part of us, something that we know exists, but rarely receives self-conscious attention.

Let me try and open this up with a question for you to consider: What does it mean to say that you’re a spiritual being? Consider that for a moment. We have at least a rudimentary, and sometimes in-depth knowledge of our physical composition, but what about our spirit? This is actually a very significant aspect of what it means for us to be created in the image of God – we are spiritual beings earthly images of heavenly glory. In our next couple of studies, we’ll look in a little more detail at the spiritual aspect of our nature. For now I leave you with this consideration: how is the balance going in your life? Perhaps you devote much time to the gym, does your care for your spiritual health match that dedication? Perhaps you spend much time in spiritual disciplines. That is good! But are you doing so with little thought for physical needs and health? Do you eat well? Do you do what you can to be in good health? God expects us to care for both our spiritual and physical health. True, the spiritual is greater in significance, but the Lord would have us to hold both aspects of ourselves in balance and harmony, both helping the other. Don’t neglect your spiritual health, don’t neglect your physical health, keep both in balance and working together in unison to the glory of God. SDG.

Prayer of Confession & Consecration

O Lord, my God, I confess that I have often neglected the spiritual, and given undue attention to the earthly. Even in a sinful sense, I have been enticed and captured by idolatrous desires for earthly pleasures. I confess also that I have neglected the right use of the earthly gifts you have given – both of my body, and the blessings of this life. I confess that I have abused all these gifts – earthly and spiritual – for selfish ends instead of disciplining myself in all things to your glory with thanksgiving and joy. Lord, please forgive me in all, and lead me, I pray, into a right and honourable balance of the spiritual and earthly blessings that you have given me. Help me Lord in all things to seek and realise your glory in my life. I cannot do this alone Lord, you alone can rescue. Without you I can do nothing. The true purpose of my life in this cannot unfold unless you are at work. O Lord, do your good work in my life. Deliver me from my sins, please wash and cleanse me. I am waiting, I am ready, help now my unbelief even in these things. Save me, I am yours. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

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