Resetting the Image.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] If you are new here, if this is your first time with us, I just want to welcome you. [0:04] My name is Steve. [0:06] I am so glad to see you, but I want to ask you first to pray with me. [0:10] Father, come before you asking that you would soften our hearts. [0:16] Lord, I pray that you would prepare us this morning to hear your word. [0:20] That you would engage us in a way that would draw us into your life and draw us into worship

[0:27] of you. [0:29] Lord, that you would clear our minds. [0:32] That you would bring us to a place this morning where we are engaging you for who you are [0:39] and realizing what it is that you want to do in our lives. [0:42] Bring us an all this morning that would captivate us. [0:49] Bring us to an understanding of who we are in Jesus and who you are for us.

[0:55] That we would walk away changed this morning. [0:58] That we would walk away having worshiped you. [1:01] In the name of Jesus I pray. [1:03] Amen.

[1:05] Well, this morning I think all the evidence of what we have experienced in the first service [1:11] and what we have experienced throughout the entire morning. [1:14] I really believe that God wants to do something in your life today. [1:16] I believe that for each and every person here today. [1:19] I believe that God wants to change you. [1:21] That God wants to draw you to himself.

[1:22] That God wants you to understand him in a way that you have never understood him before. [1:27] I believe that he wants to draw you to the truth of who you are in his image. [1:33] And how you exist in this life as a person that is made in his image. [1:38] Last week we talked about creation and we took a look at the fact that God planned creation [1:44] and he created all that exists in order to demonstrate his power. [1:48] But also to demonstrate his wisdom and the plan that he had for creation.

[1:53] And the reality that creation exists to find its ultimate purpose and ultimate meaning in Jesus. [1:59] And that when Jesus went to the cross and when Jesus rose from the dead. [2:02] He was unfolding God’s purpose and plan to bring himself that glory that we see all throughout the Old Testament. [2:09] That he proclaims that he is going to bring to himself. [2:12] But this morning I want to take a look at really us. [2:17] At humanity, at who we are.

[2:19] That we were the final thing that God created in his work of creation. [2:24] And that in creating us, he created us a little bit different than he created all of the rest of creation. [2:30] And that we as some people have put it, were the crown jewel of what he created. [2:35] And the way in which he created us shows us that we are special to God.

[2:44] But the reality is that inside of us we are like the rest of creation. [2:48] That we are not special in and of ourselves. [2:52] That the only significance that we have, the only good that we have in us is in being connected to the one that created us. [2:59] We saw last week that every time that God created, he looked and he saw that it was good. [3:05] And the reason that it was good is because it emanated from him. [3:08] It came from him and it is connected to him.

[3:11] And that when we take creation and we disconnect it from him, we take away that which is good. [3:16] And so the good that is in us, I want us to start with this morning, is that we are from God and we exist for God. [3:25] But I want to talk about a little bit to kind of bring us into what it is that God creates us for. [3:31] And how it is that God wants us to live by talking a little bit about what is going on in Village Church. [3:38] That God is a God that gives and he gives us life and throughout the rest of creation and the rest of history we see that he gives over and over and over again. [3:46] And so I want to talk a little bit about the giving that is taking place inside of our church.

[3:50] I want to talk about first the fact that in one of our groups in the McBride’s Community Group, [3:56] that they put together a gift card basket for a family struggling with medical bills due to cancer. [4:02] They gave, they brought all their resources together and gave this over to this family. [4:07] That James McLean and his wife Kelsey’s group helped a group member’s coworker who needed repairs and landscaping on her home, [4:14] but she was physically unable to do it. [4:16] Todd and Bev Shloman’s group cleaned out a widow’s yard that was buried in leaves from years of living in Brandermill.

[4:23] Doug and Donna Puryear are active in caring for the homeless and they involve group members in that task. [4:30] They’re also seeking to start a Capernaum group with Young Life which cares for people that have special needs. [4:35] Nate and Katie Shloman’s group this week is collecting basic needs for a group that cares for the homeless as well as men [4:43] with addictions getting back on their feet at Mercy House. [4:47] We’ve had people in our church buy groceries for other group members when they knew that the family couldn’t afford it. [4:54] We’ve had people in this community of Village Church have medical bills piling up and people in the group got together

[5:01] and we’ve had anonymous donors come up and write checks and say, here I want to pay for your medical bills for you. [5:07] But the question that that really begs I think this morning is why do we do stuff like that?

[5:14] What is it that when you help someone else, when you care for someone, what is it inside of us that when we walk away from that, [5:23] we feel a little more fulfilled than we did before that? We feel good about it. [5:27] I’ve never really walked away from helping someone and said, man I wish I hadn’t done that. What in the world?

[5:35] What is it in us that just instinctively tells us even when we deny it and we’re like I need that a little more than they do [5:41] so I’m going to hold onto that for myself, but what is it that kind of urges us to care for other people? [5:47] What is it that pushes us as humans to live for more than just ourselves, to find a purpose that is greater than us? [5:56] And what is it inside of us that says, man you were meant for more than just this stuff of this world, that’s all about you.

[6:06] And what is it that we’re supposed to base that on? And what is wrong if we don’t do that? [6:14] Is there something wrong with me if I live my entire life and I never feel an urge to help anybody else? [6:20] Because let me tell you, you probably know someone like that, you may be like that yourself, or it’s just all about you.

[6:27] Dog eat dog, every man for himself.

[6:31] The reality is that Genesis chapter 1 draws us in and gives us an indication as to why it is that we give to other people. [6:40] So join me in Genesis chapter 1 verse 26 this morning.

[6:46] It will be on the screens as well. [6:50] Verse 26, then God said, he begins to speak into existence, [6:56] Let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, [7:01] 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. [7:07] So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. [7:14] And God blessed Adam, and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it,

[7:21] 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. [7:28] So right here in this text we see that man is separated from creation, and given an authority that the rest of creation does not have. [7:36] That we were given dominion, that we were given this stewardship over the rest of creation, [7:44] to where we are told, you are responsible for creation existing in the way that I intended for it to exist. [7:51] I give you the authority that I have over you over the rest of creation. [7:57] And so God sets man apart, and even more than that, if you look over one chapter in Genesis chapter 2 verse 7,

[8:02] here’s what we read, [8:04] Then the Lord God formed the man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. [8:13] So we see that God does not simply just speak, and man exists, he speaks his plan, but then he involves himself, [8:21] he forms man out of the dust of the ground, and then to complete man’s creation, he breathes life into man, [8:28] he breathes his own life into man. No other part of creation experiences this except for mankind. [8:36] That we were given the very breath of God into our lives, and that is what gives us life.

[8:43] So we are set apart, we are given a life, and then in this, in Genesis, if we go back to Genesis 1, 26-28, [8:49] the first thing we see this morning is that man exists to represent God, and be like God.

[8:58] Man was created to be in the image and likeness of God. [9:02] Now what this means, that term for image and likeness is the same term that’s used to mean representative throughout scripture. [9:10] That we exist to be God’s representative in all of creation. [9:17] And when we live our lives, that’s a huge responsibility. [9:20] That as I go about my life, it is a responsibility that I have on my shoulders to represent God, [9:27] and I’m told this from the very beginning.

[9:30] That in creation there is nothing as similar to God as us. [9:36] And he tells us, use that for creation’s good.

[9:43] So how do we understand who we are? [9:44] Well the first thing we have to understand is that to understand ourselves, we have to understand God. [9:51] A full understanding of man’s likeness to God would require a full understanding of who God is in his being and in his actions, [9:59] and a full understanding of who man is and what he does. [10:04] So last week we saw that God is powerful. [10:08] I mean God simply decides to create, he speaks creation.

[10:13] God is powerful, and in that power he desires for creation to constantly point back to himself. [10:23] He wants creation to show his power. [10:27] So in understanding what we exist for and in understanding who we are, we have to understand the power of God. [10:34] So in that sense I know that I exist to show how powerful is in the way that I interact with creation. [10:41] I also exist to show God’s wisdom in how I interact with creation. [10:47] So in order to understand who I am, I have to understand who God is, in order to understand who God is, I need God’s word,

[10:52] I need God’s revelation of himself. [10:55] I can’t do it without God.

[10:59] And so the reality is that God creates everything we see.

[11:06] Man makes culture as we steward God’s creation. [11:13] So God creates and then we make culture. [11:17] Each and every person in here, you come from a background, you come from a culture. [11:21] In your life, through the activities that you do, you are cultivating a certain type of culture in your life. [11:27] Whether it be for good, whether it be for bad, whether you come from a good background or whether you come from a bad background, [11:33] you are cultivating a culture with your very life.

[11:37] And what God has called us to do is God has called us to cultivate a culture that points directly to him. [11:44] He’s not called us to cultivate a culture about ourselves and about who I am, [11:49] he’s called us to cultivate a culture that points directly to him and is all about who he is. [11:55] And we don’t do this by disengaging from the world because here’s one reaction. [11:59] We could look at all of creation and we could say, man, it is not pointing to God. [12:04] It seems pretty bad out there. And sometimes, frankly, it does.

[12:07] I watch the news. It’s a dangerous world out there. [12:10] So here’s one reaction. Here’s a story I heard a few weeks ago about the way one person reacted to this. [12:14] It is that he bought thousands of acres in Montana and he’s moving out there with his family, I mean all of his family, [12:20] and they are going to build a compound, they’re going to put a big wall around it. [12:22] This is happening in Iowa as well. [12:24] And they are like, we’re going to go out there and we’re going to cultivate a culture that is so separate from the evil of this world

[12:31] and it’s going to be great because it’s going to be us there doing it. [12:34] The problem is they’ve already messed up because you’re kind of making it about yourself from the very beginning.

[12:41] Say, I’ve got to separate, I’ve got to make something, I’m better than them, I’ve got to go out there. [12:46] Well, you’ve already cultivated a culture that’s not really about God, it’s more about you. [12:52] And so we’re not called to disengage from creation, we’re called to be involved in the culture [12:59] and create a culture inside of the culture that points to God. [13:05] So you can’t disengage to make good, you have to be active because God has not disengaged himself from creation. [13:14] You’ve got to understand that the plan of God reveals that he is constantly involved in constantly moving creation.

[13:23] As long as it’s not going towards the sun and about to explode, God’s active in it. [13:29] So as long as there is a world, God is active. [13:32] And here we are to be people that steward creation and watch as God moves and respond accordingly.

[13:43] So what do we do?

[13:45] Do we just sit back, watch culture, watch what God’s doing and then just kind of think about things? [13:50] No, we get to work. We’ve got to do something. [13:54] In Genesis chapter 2 verse 15, here we see something that takes place before sin enters into the world. [14:02] Is that God puts man into the garden that he has made and he says, work. [14:07] This is going to be a bummer for some of you because some of you are expecting there to come a day when work’s done. [14:14] Friends, work is not a curse.

[14:17] Work is something that happened before sin entered into the world. [14:20] So we’re going to be working for eternity. [14:22] Now the pain of work and the sweat of the brow thing, that’s probably going to go away. [14:26] It is actually going to go away when God institutes his kingdom. [14:28] But guess what, lazy people, you’re going to be working. [14:32] If you’re going to be in God’s kingdom, you’re going to be doing something.

[14:35] So start preparing now.

[14:38] But here’s the reality. [14:39] We have a divine mandate on us. [14:43] He says, be fruitful and multiply. [14:45] He says, have dominion. [14:47] He says, subdue creation. [14:50] You know what he says, when things don’t go the way that God has clearly said that it should go,

[14:55] it is the responsibility of those who know God, those who trust in him, [15:00] those who have his mandate to roll their sleeves up and get to work to righting wrongs.

[15:08] To get to work to making injustice into justice. [15:12] That we have a responsibility and a task that we are to do.

[15:18] But that begs another question.

[15:21] How do I know if my work in life is giving glory to God? [15:27] This is the key, most of you, because I know a lot of you, you have jobs. [15:32] You’re in school, you’re doing things, you’re working. [15:36] I mean you’re even looking back and you’re like, those things you’re talking about are people serving each other? [15:40] I even do some of that. [15:41] I took somebody out to lunch, I didn’t even do that.

[15:44] I bought somebody a birthday card. [15:47]

[15:50] Mandate accomplished.

[15:53] I’m not just living for me. [15:55] You ever just do something good for somebody and then you totally ruin it because you’re laying in bed that night [16:00] and you’re like, I am such a good person.

[16:04] Everybody’s so lucky to have me.

[16:09] But how do you know if the things that you’re doing in your life are in any way coming close to fulfilling God’s mandate [16:18] and you’re not aware of what it is to subdue his creation, to point creation back to him, [16:23] to cultivate a culture that shows the power, that shows the wisdom of God in action? [16:29] How do you know that?

[16:32] Fortunately, if you were paying attention last week, [16:35] God does not just put us in creation and expect us to walk this earth [16:39] and try to find this metaphysical, mystic reality [16:43] in which we kind of center our lives and cultivate goodness. [16:48] You know how the 20-somethings will say, I’m just trying to find out who I am. [16:52] I’m just trying to find my meaning.

[16:55] By the way, if you’re asking yourself that question and you’re just thinking about you, [16:59] you’ve already kind of gone off the grid. [17:02] You are never going to find who you are in you. [17:06] The reason you’re wondering who you are is because all you’ve got is you to begin with and you’re just confused. [17:12] So the reality is that we need God to show us what it is to live as his image bearers, [17:20] what it is to subdue this world, what it is to exercise dominion over this world,

[17:26] and what it is to steward his creation in such a way to where it points back to him. [17:31] And the beauty of everything in Scripture is that it all leads up to Jesus. [17:37] And who we have in Jesus is the image of God on perfect display for everyone to see. [17:45] So the second thing I want you to understand this morning is that following Jesus engages the image of God. [17:52] You’re like, what do you mean by that? That sounds too simplistic. [17:55] Well, look in Colossians chapter 1 verse 15.

[17:57] In Colossians 1 verse 15, it describes Jesus as the image of the invisible God, [18:03] the firstborn of all creation. [18:06] So if we are to have any hope to find out, man, what does it look like to really embrace [18:14] and really experience living as someone with the image of God, Jesus. [18:20] Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2 says, [18:22] looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.

[18:27] So if you want to see what it is to have a perfect trust, a perfect faith in the work of God, [18:36] where do you look? Jesus.

[18:40] You are never going to find the purpose of your life if you never get to Jesus. [18:50] The best hope that you’re going to have for finding any purpose and meaning [18:55] is to have a purpose and meaning in yourself that’s going to lead to your happiness in this world. [19:00] That’s going to be a subjective thing that’s always going to be fleeting, [19:03] always going to be like a carrot on a string in front of you. [19:07] And as soon as you grab it, it’s ripped away. And in the end, your eternity is damned.

[19:13] Outside of Jesus, that’s your best hope.

[19:17] You cannot find purpose apart from him. [19:24] You cannot define the image of God apart from him. [19:29] It’s obvious that we have not reflected God’s image in the way that we should have. [19:34] But in Jesus, what we have ruined, God has redeemed. [19:39] It says the reality is that each and every one of us go through life not doing things the way that God intended us to do. [19:46] I know I do. As soon as I think I’m getting it right, I do something to ruin everything.

[19:51] But the hope that we have is that God did not leave us alone in that, [19:56] but rather sent Jesus to be our ultimate example so that we could have something to look to. [20:02] We could have a hope to look at and we could see that is what it means. [20:07] That is God’s standard. [20:09] And I could look to Jesus and first find hope in him and second find an example in him.

[20:17] But what did Jesus do? [20:19] Alan Hirsch puts it this way. [20:22] In Jesus, God has given us the archetype of what it means to be human. [20:28] So I think our whole definition of what it is to be a human being is totally whack. [20:33] I think it’s totally off base.

[20:36] I think that when we look inside of ourselves, the best thing that we do is we’re like, [20:40] okay, I’m a human being. What does that mean? [20:42] So we find someone on earth. [20:45] That’s a great example as to whatever we want to do and we base it on them. [20:49] But the reality is that Jesus came and he’s fully God, but he’s also fully human. [20:56] So, God intended for man to be a certain way, for humans to live a certain way.

[21:01] No one ever did it. [21:03] From Adam through Jesus, no one had ever done it. [21:06] But then Jesus comes and he lives perfectly what it looks like to be a human being [21:14] according to God’s design. [21:16] So we have an ultimate example as to what it is to be a human being and everything else is less than. [21:22] So what did Jesus do?

[21:25] Well, Jesus lived first for the glory of God and then for the joy of others. [21:32] Notice that when the religious leaders of that day come to Jesus and they say, [21:37] okay, Jesus, what is the greatest law?

[21:41] He puts it pretty simply, doesn’t he? [21:43] He says, first, you love God. [21:46] Then, you love others as yourself.

[21:50] And Jesus does this perfectly. [21:52] And I want to use two examples. [21:54] First example is that when he’s in the Garden of Gethsemane about to go to the cross [21:58] to die for the sins of humanity,

[22:02] he looks at the burden that he’s about to bear in that sin and he says, [22:06] Father, if there be any other way, let this cup pass from me. [22:09] Then he says, but not my will, but thine.

[22:12] Jesus obeyed God perfectly in every instance, even when it caused struggle in his life. [22:20] He obeyed God. [22:22] But secondly, he lived for the joy of others.

[22:28] The ultimate example of this is the cross.

[22:32] At every cost to himself, Jesus went to the cross, [22:36] not for his personal human gain, but for your gain and for your joy.

[22:46] Jesus goes to the cross and sacrifices everything so that you could have good. [22:53] And what is that good? [22:55] It’s to be connected in relationship to the Father. [23:00] But I don’t want to stop there. I want to give you more examples. [23:01] So here’s what Jesus does. [23:02] Jesus heals the blind.

[23:05] Did he need to do that? No, those blind people were sinners.

[23:10] But guess what? He wanted to live for their joy. [23:13] So he shows them he’s God and he makes them be able to see. [23:16] He heals the deaf. He makes the lame to walk. [23:20] He looks at a leper and he says, be whole, and his body’s healed completely.

[23:26] Jesus made the dead rise.

[23:30] And one day, this isn’t in my notes, so sorry. [23:34] Be prepared, I’m going somewhere here.

[23:37] Jesus is questioned because he heals someone. [23:41] But then he does something that the religious people were just like, what? [23:46] He said, your sins, oh yeah, they’re all so forgiven.

[23:50] And they said, who do you think you are? [23:53] And he poses a question to them. [23:55] He says, well, which one was harder, to heal him or forgive his sins? [23:58] And you’re putting a strange predicament there as a human being because you’re like, [24:02] well, I can do neither of those. [24:05] So I don’t really have a good rubric to measure the difficulty.

[24:10] But what does he do? He does it for their joy.

[24:15] And how do we know that? Because Jesus writes injustice over and over and over. [24:23] But always in that sense, he also looks to them and he says, [24:27] I also give you something better, the forgiveness of sins. [24:32] Even with the woman found in adultery, he doesn’t just say, [24:36] okay, you’re good, they’re not going to kill you. [24:38] No, he heals her spiritually. He says, go and sin no more.

[24:41] Presupposition there is he’s taken the other sins away.

[24:46] You see, Jesus lives to make others glad in who? In God. [24:54] He brings us the reality that we exist for more. [24:58] We exist to know God and to live in a right relationship with him. [25:07] And so in Jesus and in Jesus alone, do we ever have any hope as to seeing what it means to be someone that bears the image of God [25:16] and what it means to actually walk in that image? [25:20] It means to live for more than just yourself.

[25:31] If you’re looking for the point in life, where do you look? Jesus. [25:36] If you’re looking for what you should do in your life, where do you look? Jesus. [25:41] If you’re looking for how you should live and what you should live for, where do you look? Jesus.

[25:47] Jesus is our hope. Jesus is our example. [25:53] So what does that mean for us? [25:56] Because if you look at Jesus and then you look at yourself, when I measure up, are we? [26:03] Thankfully, Jesus gives us more than just an example. [26:07] Jesus gives us a hope and the fact that he sacrificed himself for our sins. [26:11] He gives us a hope in that he rose from the dead, proving that he has power over sin and death and that he can give us life.

[26:20] And he says, it’s only found if you trust in what I’ve already done. [26:25] And in that, he gives us the hope for a different life. [26:29] He gives us a hope for a new life. [26:32] Finally, this morning, re-engaging the image of God demands a reset. [26:39] I don’t know about you, but I was raised in the 80s. [26:43] Some of you are older than that, obviously.

[26:46] Some of you are younger than that. [26:48] Nothing personal. [26:49] But when I was growing up, I had a Nintendo. [26:52] I had the original Nintendo. [26:54] If you had the original Nintendo, we can talk. [26:58] These new graphics, they’re way better, but man, that original Nintendo is what I learned everything on.

[27:03] Remember when we also said graphics can never be better than this? [27:07] We were wrong.

[27:11] But here’s the thing. [27:11] In my Nintendo, I would sometimes put the game in and it would just not work. [27:17] Do you ever have to blow in it, man? [27:18] You’re just taking that cartridge.

[27:22] Now, if I saw someone doing that, I’m like, what a weirdo. [27:26] But here’s the thing. [27:27] Sometimes you would have the game going and the screen would just get so crazy. [27:32] And you know what you had to do? [27:33] You had to hit reset. [27:34] But sometimes you did that and you lost all your progress.

[27:38] It’s like, oh, I’ve lost everything that I had already been working on.

[27:44] But the reality is that Jesus gives us this reality that we need a reset.

[27:51] The reality that we need to start over. [27:55] That oftentimes all of the progress that we’ve gotten so far, if we’re honest, it has benefited no one but us. [28:03] I have been the chief benefit of Steve.

[28:08] And the reality is that the most loving thing God could ever do, so that I could know what it is to bear his image, [28:15] is to take everything that I’ve looked at as progress and take it away. [28:19] And make it so that I see new progress that I need. [28:23] And that’s what I see in Jesus. [28:25] You see, the most difficult change that Jesus commands us in our lives [28:28] is that we reset from a place of selfishness to a place of selflessness.

[28:36] See, because this is the true thing, is that sometimes when you’re looking at what career you should do, [28:40] when you’re looking at what type of spouse you should have, [28:43] when you’re looking at your relationships, when you’re looking at money, [28:46] when you’re looking at possessions, [28:48] what you’re really doing is that you are looking at the best possible life that you can have for you. [28:56] You’re looking for the best possible life that could just make you comfortable,

[29:01] could make you happy, could give you all the stuff that you want. [29:04] And so we hold our lives in just this tight grip, because this is the stuff that’s really good for us. [29:10] And then Jesus is saying, no, you need a new life. [29:13] And we try so hard to grab a hold of it, but we’ve still got the fist closed.

[29:19] I can’t lose that stuff. [29:23] A couple weeks ago we watched a message that centered on Romans chapter 12, verse 2, [29:29] and here’s what it said, it’ll be up on the screen, [29:31] that do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, [29:36] that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. [29:43] And here’s what some of us do with what we want the image of our lives to be about.

[29:50] Because we get all this gain in this world, but we want hope in the next one. [29:58] And so we hold on to all this gain while trying to simply have hope, [30:02] but not wanting any change in this world. [30:04] But Jesus says, by my very life, by how different it was that I lived, you need change.

[30:13] And so what Jesus does is he lives his entire life without a closed hand, but instead he has an open hand. [30:21] Because this is what God does. God gives. [30:25] And I can talk about so many things that the image of God is about in our lives, [30:29] but this morning I want us to focus on one aspect of God’s image, and that is God is a giver. [30:35] In creation, God gives his life into this world, and he gives his breath into us, and he gives his image into us, [30:45] and then he continues to give. He doesn’t condemn the world, he continues to sustain it,

[30:51] and he gives life, and he gives a people into this world to represent him. [30:55] And then through those people, he gives his very son. [30:58] You want to talk about a demotion? You want to talk about giving more than anyone’s ever given? [31:02] Go from being the eternal God of the universe to being part of creation. [31:08] And that’s what Jesus did. He gave everything over into this world. [31:13] And then on the cross, he gives everything over into us.

[31:17] And he takes all of our negative life, all of our sin, onto himself and gives us his righteousness.

[31:26] And then, God continues to give, but it’s through us as we become like Jesus.

[31:36] So what is that going to be like for us?

[31:40] Well change is necessary when you’re re-engaging what has been lost. [31:46] In 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 14, Peter writes that,

[31:55] That’s interesting. [31:58] Because what he’s saying is that at one time, before you knew God, [32:04] you had an ignorance, but stop living according to that, and live according to your present knowledge. [32:12] Guess what a lack of ignorance is? You used to not know, but now you do know, [32:16] So stop living like you used to not know, and live like you know. [32:21] Then he says this in Colossians chapter 3 verse 10,

[32:23] And have put on the new self, that new stuff is really change, [32:30] which is being renewed in the knowledge, what? After the image of its creator. [32:36] So when we see God’s perfect image as shown in the person and work of Jesus Christ, [32:41] We see what that is, and we have knowledge of who God is, and then we live like those who know God.

[32:49] Then in Romans chapter 8 verse 29 he says this, [32:52] For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, [32:59] in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

[33:04] Do you see that? What is God doing? [33:07] In Jesus, he is showing that we were created for confirmation. [33:13] We were created to conform to the image of Jesus, [33:18] and that is a process of becoming like him in our lives. [33:25] Then in 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18 he says, [33:28] And we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of God.

[33:32] What he is saying there is that the glory of God has been shown in Jesus. [33:39] We are being transformed into the same image, [33:44] from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

[33:54] So God shows us what it is that we live for in Jesus, [33:59] and if you watch Jesus, what does he do over and over? [34:04] He gives, he gives, and finally he gives the greatest thing, life in him. [34:14] So what does that call us to do?

[34:19] Acts chapter 2 verse 45 shows one of the reactions of the early church to coming to faith in Jesus Christ. [34:26] Here is what it says, it says, [34:29] And they were selling their possessions and belongings, [34:32] and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.

[34:39] When you come into contact and when you engage in the person of Jesus, [34:45] that type of change, it doesn’t cry out, someone should really start a new program for this.

[34:54] They didn’t have any programs going on for this. [34:58] In following Jesus, what just happened is it engaged the image of God in them, [35:04] and their reaction was that when they saw someone have need, do you know what they did?

[35:11] They looked in that hand that had been closed for so long, [35:17] and they said, do I have a way I can fill that need?

[35:23] And they gave, and they gave, and they gave.

[35:30] This isn’t a program, this is a life.

[35:34] Those things that I talked about at the beginning, [35:37] they were not things that I was involved in, they were not things that we started as a church. [35:43] You know what those were?

[35:47] Those were moments where people saw a need, [35:51] and the image of God inside of them just began to instinctively rise up, [35:57] and instead of saying someone should do something, [35:59] they looked in that open hand and they said, God wants me to do something.

[36:07] Friends, being conformed to this world is finding our hope and our meaning and our trust, [36:12] and everything that we have in this world, [36:15] and building a kingdom that’s all about us, [36:18] and having all this stuff and saying, man, I have some great stuff, [36:22] I have a life that’s all about everything, it’s all about me, [36:25] but when you follow God, you look in the hand of everything that you’ve ever done,

[36:28] and you don’t just stop enjoying creation because God has obviously said, [36:32] creation’s good, it’s for us to enjoy, [36:34] but He said your enjoyment of it’s just going to be a little different when you’re like me, [36:38] because you enjoy it, and then you live like you don’t need it.

[36:42] It calls everything into question. [36:45] My career, my money, my finances, everything. [36:48] And it says, you know what, God may want to change some of this stuff, [36:52] and whatever He wants to change, He’ll change, [36:53] but I’m not just going to live for the benefit of me, [36:55] I’m going to live for the benefit of others, because that’s how God lived.

[36:58] When we engage the image of God, we become givers, [37:02] and we learn what it actually is to worship God, [37:06] and that can be a very uncomfortable thing, can it not?

[37:12] It’s so difficult, that when you actually learn to be selfless like Jesus was, [37:21] it calls us into action.

[37:26] So inside of the church, when we see someone that has a need, [37:30] and we know that we have a way of helping,

[37:34] if we’re engaging the image of God in Jesus Christ, [37:38] we are not a bunch of people sitting around with closed hands.

[37:43] We’re people that got them open, give.

[37:50] So somebody’s hungry, we know about it, our first response is, what can I do?

[37:58] When we see someone with bills that they can’t pay, our first response is, [38:01] how can I help? [38:03] Our first response isn’t, man, you know what, [38:05] somebody in leadership should really do something about that. [38:08] Then we go home, and we go out to eat and spend 50 bucks on lunch, [38:12] and we’re like, man, if only someone had the money to do something about this.

[38:17] Think about that.

[38:22] But it goes outside of the walls of the church.

[38:26] It goes into my neighborhood, it goes into my home. [38:30] Maybe when I get a new washer and dryer, [38:32] instead of making money and posting things on Craigslist, [38:35] I know my neighbors enough to know that they have needs, [38:38] and I just start giving my stuff to them.

[38:41] When the guy down the street loses his job, I go over there, and I say, how can I help?

[38:50] When someone’s appliances break, I go down there, and I try to help, [38:53] and if I don’t know how to fix it, man, maybe I know somebody that does, [38:56] I can save you some money, I can help out.

[39:00] But you know the greatest thing that happens here?

[39:04] It isn’t that you’ve got so much and everybody else has got so little. [39:08] It’s that you are working to cultivate a culture of giving like God. [39:15] Because you will not always have all the answers, and you will not always have all of the means, [39:19] and sometimes you will be the person in need.

[39:23] But the reality is, is that when we begin to stimulate inside of ourselves [39:29] what that image of Jesus in our lives actually looks like, [39:33] we are not alone in this journey, we’ve got an army of givers.

[39:39] And so that people’s needs are being met, in here and out there.

[39:50] It is about loving others. [39:55] I’m convinced, and I’m becoming more and more convinced, [39:57] that we are never more like God than when we were giving.

[40:04] This is what it looks like to be in the image of God.

[40:11] Everything exists to bring Him worship. Everything. [40:17] Let’s get to work. [40:19] As the band comes up.

[40:24] The reality is this morning,

[40:27] that we do not find our hope in just changing our behavior.

[40:36] We don’t find our hope in anything that exists in my life or anything that exists in this world. [40:41] Where we find our hope is in the fact that Jesus gave everything.

[40:51] We have a choice this morning, we have a choice to continue to live a selfish existence that is all about us, [40:57] or we have a choice to live a selfless existence that shows the life of Jesus Christ in us.

[41:05] Jesus, He calls us to reflect on how He gave through the Lord’s Supper.

[41:13] These cups are six stations all around this room. [41:16] There’s juice, and on the plate there’s bread that represent the shed blood and the broken body of our Lord Jesus Christ. [41:24] And here’s the beauty of the Gospel. [41:26] The beauty of the Gospel is what it represents is that the life of Jesus was poured out and it was poured for us. [41:35] And when we drink the juice and when we eat the bread, it is a metaphor for the life of God entering into our lives. [41:45] And when you go to that table, what I want you to understand this morning is what you are proclaiming to one another

[41:50] is number one that you trust Jesus, that you trust in His work on your behalf. [41:58] And secondly, we do it as a church, as a community, and we do it together because we are proclaiming to one another, [42:07] I want to live the life of Jesus.

[42:12] This morning if you’re here and you’ve not trusted Jesus, you’ve got questions, [42:18] you don’t know or have a relationship with God. [42:23] I want you to understand that you can know Him today.

[42:28] That today can be the day of salvation for you. [42:31] I’ll be right over here. I’d love to talk to you in private. I’ll never embarrass you, I promise.

[42:38] But what I want you to understand is that today is the day of salvation for you. [42:45] Today can be the day where you stop living for yourself and you begin a lifelong journey of becoming like Jesus through trust in Him.

[42:59] For those of you who know Him, when you’re ready, come.