Being Human

eyes them and we begin to understand them. We need to understand who it is. I've got them confused back there because I didn't have my mic turned on. Thank you. We want to look today to discover who we are by discovering how we came to be, who and what we are. There's a website, a NASA website that you can go on and you can find these incredible photographs that the Hubble Space Telescope has taken. It's just amazing pictures. I want to show you some of that. It's just set to music. I want you to look at this just for a moment in the context of Psalm chapter 8 in which David begins to praise Almighty God as he observes the greatness of his creation. And then in the midst of that, he asks the question that we are asking this morning, what is man?

That you are mindful of him. Now, let me warn you, the resolution here isn't near what it should be just because of the building and everything, but these are incredible photographs of God's creation. They are just raw pictures. And notice? That's the taste of the day. It should reflect you in a way It would stand for days to day. What's the problem now? That's in the form of the day. It might been only about that. And that's it. You talk to us. Because we are here today. You talk to us. We want you only to be our real neighbor. Because we are so understanding. Psalm 8, which is quoted there, David is offering a praise to God as he looks at this massive and glorious creation. And right in the middle of this word of praise, he asked this question, what is man that you are mindful of him?

And a lot of the immensity of God's creation, what is man anyway? Why is this humanity so important to the living God? Where do we derive our dignity? The more we look at the immensity of the universe, and we think of ourselves as being less and less. And that the Bible gives us the answer, the basis of man's dignity and identity. It tells us where we fit, what roles that man is to play in this universe that God created for his own glory. It tells us what significance we really are. It tells us we're not just a grown-up germ or a cosmic mistake, who by sheer chance emerges from the slime, but we were created by special creation by the hand of Almighty God. Let me read to you from Genesis chapter 1, beginning in verse 26.

This is the middle of the sixth day of creation. All along, if you notice the pattern has been and God said, let there be. And now notice the change that takes place in verse 26. Then God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. God created man in his own image. In the image of God created him, male and female, he created them. God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

Then God said, behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of the earth and every tree which has fruit yielding seed, it shall be food for you and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food and it was so. God saw all that he had made and behold, it was very good and there was evening and there was morning the sixth day, thus the heavens and the earth were completed and all their hosts. Wow, think of man's predicament here in this modern area in which we find ourselves and as we discover more and more about this creation, more in the grand cosmic scale and also more on the minute little tiny scale, we begin to see the glory of God in ways that we never have before, this physical universe.

Humanism tells us that man has dignity because we must give it to him. The problem with humanism which exalts man and speaks of the greatness and glory of mankind is this. How can a creature have dignity if his origin is chaos? If he comes from insignificance and he is moving health or shelter towards insignificance in the future, how can he have dignity in between his origin and his end? That's exactly what humanism offers us. Man is the exalted creature with great dignity who arose from nothing and who is destined to nothing but in between magically he is a supreme creature of dignity and we must treat him with dignity. The basis of this theory is purely preference and emotion. It's because we're human beings and we feel like we should treat mankind as being significant and treat them with dignity but not because of his true nature.

The response of the existentialist philosophers was they just laughed at the humanist who wanted to have their cake and eat it too and said there's no logical, reasonable basis for you elevating man the way that you do but the response of Christianity is completely different. The response of Christianity is a historic one that we base the worth of man in history not philosophy. The key to man's worth and his dignity is his origin, its creation. The Bible tells us that man was shaped by the hand of God that he was animated by the breath of God and that he is directed by the purpose of God. If you notice several things in this text that we read beginning in verse 26 we're just going to look at a couple important things here because when we get to the second chapter the second chapter is going to look at this creation of man in great detail and the purpose of God has for him and so forth.

We want to look just at a couple of things in this text today and notice several things about this creation account. First of all in the creation of man for the first time God reveals his plurality. He says let us make man in our image. Now early in the text as you know the plural form of God is used throughout the word God Elohim in the Hebrew is a Hebrew is a plural form. It implies something and many interpreters say it's simply a plural of majesty or an editorial plural but according to biblical theology when we look at the book of Genesis through the lens of Jesus Christ in the New Testament I don't think there's any doubt at all that what this reveals is the plurality in the person of God.

Now we have hints of it in the Old Testament but it's not revealed until Jesus Christ comes into this world and we discover that Jesus Christ the Son of God is equal with the Father. It is through the revelation of Christ that we come to understand what we have come to term the Trinity or the triunity of God that there's a plurality of persons in the Godhead and when he comes to create man in his own image God says let us make man in our image. There's an interesting thing in chapter 2 when he creates the man and the woman and he says for this cause of mental leave his father and mother that's hard for a lot of guys leave his father and mother clued to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.

Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 4 it says, Hero Israel the Lord our God he is one. That same Hebrew word there it had means a one in the compound unity. It implies the fact that there is something about this oneness of God that also includes a plurality in God a plurality of persons a father a son and a Holy Spirit as we find later on in Revelation in the in this unveiling of God's character through the word of God. We discover that when God creates us in his image he creates us as a God who's made up of three persons who has had perfect unity and communion throughout all eternity and so he creates us in his image so that we too can experience communion with one another with God himself. He creates us in order to reveal himself in us a lot of times we speak about the fact that God in scripture is is revealed through what's called anthropomorphic language you know what anthropomorphic language is that's probably a word you use all the time anthropomorphic means that it's we use human terms to describe God because we need terms to describe him and so we talk about God's hands and his eyes and his feet and yet God does not have a corporal body but we use anthropomorphic language but probably a better way to put it is that man is described in theomorphic language because you see all the attributes of man that God created us with reflect the character and nature of God.

Notice the second thing in this text not only the plurality of God but the way that he makes man let us make man in our image according to our likeness now what in the world does that mean created in the image of God and according to the likeness of God. There's a lot of discussion about the difference between these two words what's the difference between being made in the image of God or after his likeness probably the best solution to this is these are synonyms are there these two words called grammatically and diodes where you use two words to describe one thing and both those words together constitute what it is to be created in the image of God. One nice thing helpful thing about the word likeness is it lets us know that man's only a facsimile of God he's distinct from God he is not God we are not new age thinkers who think that we're all a bunch of gods here but rather that we were created in the image and after the likeness of God.

What does it mean? Well the point is this that God wants us to understand and Moses wanted the people of Israel to understand there is some way in which man is made special he is peculiar he has a peculiar unusual extraordinary link to his creator different than all other parts of creation you are linked to God as a human being the uniqueness of man the basis of his dignity the basis of his worth is the fact that he is the image bearer of God and that's true of every single person who is a descendant of Adam regardless of what their capacities or incapacities are they are image bears of Almighty God the theological term for this you probably have heard is Imago Day the image of God that man is the bearer of God's image that he is made in the image of God and this sets him apart from all other creatures it's the reason that God treats him differently what does it mean what does it mean to be in the image of God to be image bears of God to have this unique relationship that we do with the living God now this is a very complicated and controversial issue because the word image here is used most often in the Old Testament it's used about 17 times and there's 17 other times that the Aramaic word is used in Daniel and most of the time it's used to refer to a physical image in the likeness of something that represents a person or a thing and yet it is used five times here in this text and in the book of Genesis and in the New Testament to refer to something very significant and that is we were created in the image and after the likeness of God some of said it has to be physical because the word speaks of a physicality that somehow we physically look like God that if you could ever get to the third heaven and see God in his true essence and nature he would have a physical being to him now this has been rejected by the church because they accept the testimony of all of scripture and the scripture says that God is spirit and we must worship him in spirit and truth that he is not corporeal he doesn't have a physical body when Jesus became a man and took on a physical body a physical human nature that was a miraculous thing that God came to dwell in flesh but God from all eternity is without a body and so how can we be the image of God in what sense do we bear the image of God where is this image in this likeness maybe it's some internal spiritual kind of dimension of man that is in the image of God well during the middle ages the church many in the church began to teach that man since man is a rational animal and just like God he has the capacity to think and to reason to make decisions he has a will he can make more judgments like God does that the image of God is all internal it has to do with the spirit and the function of the mind there's a problem with that the problem is that throughout the scriptures we are told that it is the totality of man not just what is on the inside not just his spirit or soul but his whole physical being all that he is body soul and spirit we are image bears of Almighty God and so this idea of saying that the image is on the inside you can't see it from the outside is just fun to biblical thinking now certainly these things are included in the image of God it is the fact that we are rational beings we can make decisions with moral beings but if we're going to be true to the text then we have to see that not only the spiritual side of man is in the image of God but the totality of man including his physical life bears the image of Almighty God what in the world is that name God does not have a body but we do and in our bodies in our human nature which has a physical part to it the image of God is stamped on our beings on our body soul and spirit and the whole of man is the image bearer of God the entire person and this is why the God designed us the way that he did in Psalm 94 it says that God created us with eyes to reveal the fact that he's a God who has eyes and he can see people in their misery and their affliction he gave us ears so that it would reveal the fact that God can hear the cry of those who are in need when you approach the living God he wants you to understand what he is like and so he creates man in his own image but what does it mean to be created in the image and likeness of God well first of all it means that man has a unique capacity to mirror the character to reflect the character of God that man has the capacity he's created with the capacity to mirror and reflect the character of God when it says that we are image bears it means that you can look at man and you can see a reflection of what God is like so I am set in this world by God and I'm given a human nature by which I have an ability and a responsibility to live in such a way that the character and nature of God is reflected in my life what a responsibility think of the responsibility that Adam and Eve had when God created them before the fall in their perfection to perfectly reflect the character and nature of God and this is seen in the early chapters of Genesis in fact throughout the Old Testament because to this covenant people to those who have faith in him God says you shall be holy for I am holy now there was a cause man to be a light to the world to reflect and mirror the character of God how are people going to come to understand who God is and what he is like through those who reflect his character and his nature I'm created as a human being with a capacity and a duty in a particular sense to resemble God he calls me to be like him to show the world what God is like think of that think of the responsibility you have as followers of Jesus Christ the Apostle Paul says in 2nd Corinthians that as you gaze upon him as you relate to Jesus Christ you are being transformed from glory to glory that growth in this walk with Jesus Christ makes you more and more an image bear an effectual image bear of the living God so there's a sense in which the transfer takes place this transfer from God to man the imprinting of the divine image on the human creature it's an amazing thing that we are the image of the living God now there's a great distinction in understanding this between the humanist idea what dignity is based upon and what we understand the dignity of man to be based upon why is it that humanists see no problem in destroying unborn life an unborn human being and Christians have a great problem with that well it's this the humanist says that man's dignity is intrinsic in him it resides within him the Christian says man's dignity is extrinsic that it comes on the outside that it is placed upon him by his creator it's a huge difference we say intrinsic dignity we mean that he has dignity in or by himself belonging wholly to that thing humanity he has his own weightiness his importance it's built into him goes with our humanity human beings have dignity they say the problem with that is that they also teach that man's origin and his destiny are out of nothing out of something that has no purpose whatsoever and out of this nothingness this chaos man arises and he heads for chaos and nothingness in the future so where does his dignity come from well Christianity is also very concerned about human dignity as you know it's a great concern of Christianity in the teaching of the Bible it's a priority of the church probably the church has always been and always must be a passionate concern for human dignity we care about people a church should be marked by a spirit of compassion for people because of our understanding who people are and what they are because we understand who they are and what they are based upon something other than intrinsic dignity we understand that dignity the dignity of man is extrinsic in other words it's not built in it's not found in his brain or his heart or his liver or the flow of his blood it's built on something completely different our dignity is derived it is dependent it's assigned to us by the living God it is the evaluation of Almighty God it says man has dignity why is it in a front to God to take a human life the book of Genesis says it is because when you kill a man you kill a a person who is created in the image of Almighty God and a million and a half babies that we exterminate every year in this in this country are human beings created in the image of Almighty God that's their worth that's their dignity that they come from the hand and the heart of God man's value is found in this but God created man in his image that's where his dignity lies that's how the Christian church is always understood and that's why the Christians church can say you as a human being are important you have a measurable value it doesn't matter what you've accomplished or you fail to accomplish you have a measurable value because the one who is eternal the one who does it possess intrinsic glory and dignity has created you and he has stamped you with dignity by making you in the image of Almighty God you are created in the image of God you bear his character you mirror whether well or lousy you mirror and reflect his dignity why is life so precious because we were created in the image of God the Bible says in the book of Genesis that when you take a life you're killing God in effigy you're basically attacking God himself that's why murder has the penalty and scripture of death because a man who takes another man's destroys one who's created in the image of God his life shall be taken God says that's why we care about every human being on the face of the earth no matter how corrupt how debase they are how sinful and impenetinent they may have become because in caring for them we are bearing the image of Almighty God you're one of the most astounding verses in all the Bible you may have heard of it is John 360 because in the context of the book of John when when John uses the word and the lips of Jesus when Jesus uses the word world you have to understand the context of that book the context of the gospel of John the word world has the emphasis of a humanity that is at enmity with God a world that is organized against him and yet John says for God so love the world that he gave his only begotten son that who server believes in him should not perish but have eternal life that's why we care about human beings and redemptive history think of this have you ever thought about this that redemptive history the fact that God has worked out a plan of redemption at the cost of the life of his own son reveals reveals the value of human beings now some hyper Calvinist and I am a Calvinist you don't know what that means good but if you do know what it means I believe in the sovereignty of God I am a five and a half point Calvinist but some Calvinists have the idea that God does not value the unsaid the not elect how inconsistent with the gospels Jesus Christ speaks to a rich young ruler who does not hear his message and turns away and does not believe on him and the text tells us that Jesus heart was affected because he loved that man Jesus said to Jerusalem oh how often I would have drawn you to myself like a hymn gathers your chicks but you would not he wrapped over Jerusalem he wrapped over their unbelief see God does value human life he does value this humanity in fact he takes human being so seriously that they're going to stand in a day of judgment and they're going to be personally face to face held accountable for their life because God counts them to be so valuable created in the image and likeness of God and throughout redemptive history God is so concerned about human life and human beings that he pursues them he pursues rebels and sinners he sends Jesus Christ in the world and he embarks on this cosmic plan of redemption an amazing thing that we proclaim the truth that God does love sinners redemption is the very heart of the Christian faith and redemption flows out of creation redemption reveals the fact that God does care about his creation he does care about a humanity that he created in his own image David said in Psalm 139 that when he was in his mother's womb God was weaving him together he was making him and forming him in a words he was stooped over personally involved in the formation of his life I take it that that's a very poetic beautiful way of saying that God does care about people I don't know if you've ever sat all the way through a program like on Sunday mornings early there is a program put on by this group out of Oklahoma City feed the hungry I forget what it's called now but if you ever sit through one of those just sit through 30 minutes of seeing fellow human beings in the most needy kinds of situations and see if you don't see the image of God in the most wasted dilapidated human body that you can imagine why does it tug at our hearts because they're created in the image of God you were created in the image of God you are descendant of Adam designed and created in the image of God it's because of creation that we care about redemption there was no creation there'd be no possibility of redemption there would be nothing of ultimate worth but God to pay the price of the life of his own son there would be no hope of redemption if there was no creation and there would be no power for redemption there'd be no reason to redeem anything there would be nothing that is worth what God was willing to pay for you and me you see I have been made in the image of God it means I am somebody and my roots go far back far beyond kentakute kentakute goes way back before that all the way back to the garden of Eden back in the garden of Eden God formed the father of every single one of us Adam himself and Eve created them in the image and glory of God and that's why we are who we are it means that I really am somebody you go back and read that account and God reaches down stoop over scoops up some dirt he hovers over it and he breathes into it the breath of life is not amazing what an amazing account why would God do it this way and why would he describe it to us in this way that man becomes a living soul an inanimate piece of dirt was animated the Hebrew the Latin word animus means breath or wind or spirit God animated us I am alive because of the breath of God you're alive because of the breath of God this is why this whole issue of euthanasia is so significant who are you to take away the breath of God in the body of a human being what a God is that we serve and he creeps man in his own image the humanist never gets out of the dirt they say man came from the dirt he's going to go back to the dirt he somehow spontaneous by chance from the dirt arose a couple of cells got together and vibrated and somehow life came out of that and began to form and he's going to go back to it one of these days and that's the whole story that's all there is the Bible says something completely different we agree dirt was involved but not dirt that in its own power by accident of collision of atoms spontaneously begin to live but rather God animated this life he breathed into Adam the breath of lives and we say that our life the very principle of our being comes from the being of God I mean think of that that God passes his life from us from him to us he breathes into Adam the breath of life he breathes into us his animus his spirit and by it we move and live and have our being the Apostle Paul said those words to a pagan audience who didn't know anything about the Old Testament they weren't believers they weren't covenant people and God says to them it is in this God that we live and move and have our being that he has put us on this earth and he has formed us even into the nations he caused the the the the the effect that he produced was that men would be separate in the nation so that they would look for God that they might seek after him and find him but of course we didn't did we man didn't seek after God and so God came seeking after man because of his great love for us what an amazing thing that in God we live and move and have our being in this text if you notice back in Genesis chapter one there are two marks in this text of the image of God and you looked at this in your house fellowships these last few weeks and that is rule and relationship in this context the two things that he emphasizes the fact that man is a is an image bearer of God is played out especially in these two things in rule and in relationship notice in the text let them rule he creates man in his own image breathes life into him creates him male and female and then says and let them rule over everything on the earth he's responsible to exercise the man over the earth what is amazing thing that we are accountable to God to rule over this earth a unique role as well as a unique nature and character and being divine authority has given the man to rule and he's going to be held accountable we are God's vice regents that's how we were created to rule over creation the authority of God and man will be held accountable for it the book of Colossians it says that rule has been turned on its head and turned upside down because of the fall because man was plunged into sin rebelled against the authority of God refused to rule over the earth under the authority of God and because of that he's plunged into sin and rebellion and the entire race is put in a position where they are at war with God Satan you search his authority becomes the god of this age but Paul goes on in Colossians to say that that whole situation has been turned right side up by the coming of Jesus Christ that God became man the person of his son who comes to be the perfect man who rules under the authority of God in perfection he says his whole life his food and drink is to obey the command of the Father which took into the cross where he paid for our sins when God raised him from the dead it says that he took his seat at the right hand of God a place of authority over the whole creation and he used to sit there until the fathers made all of his enemies a footstool first feed Jesus Christ because of his work is setting things right can you imagine what's going to be like to be in the kingdom of God when it is manifest on this earth and Jesus is recognized by everyone when righteousness covers the earth like the waters cover the sea what is it going to be like then to be a human being created in the image of God what is it going to be like then for those who bowed the need of Christ to actually experience what it's like to relate to God as his image bears what an amazing thing it's going to be and Christ really is our all in all when we really do love him the way that he has created us to love him and reflect his glory in this world it's going to be amazing transformation we were assigned this rule but then one other thing I want you to notice that he creates him and it says male and female he created him now notice not man and woman but male and female he creates man Adam which is mankind the generic use of the word the feminist movement had an arisen back here in Genesis that wasn't really a problem and so he could say he created man and include both male and female and he gives to mankind to male and female his divine image and he says male and female created he then female different roles that's what this means they have different role descriptions the different sexual functions male and female God builds in this unity but he also builds into this humanity diversity and it reflects the glory of God it's the glorious thing to God for women to be women and men to be men that reflects who God really is when we find deep satisfaction in fulfilling the role that God has given us in this world one of the greatest desecrations of mankind created the image of God is when we are dissatisfied and rebellious against our nature as we were created so they're given different tasks different responsibilities God doesn't give the man the responsibility to bear children he gives it to the woman now because of the curse it involves pain and I think the pain that it involves is not just the physical pain of bearing the children delivering the child but the pain of having a child and raising a child and letting a child go amen ladies that's a painful experience in this fallen world but let me give you a word of encouragement first Timothy says it is because it is because of the fact that you are a child there that all of us men enjoy the salvation that has come through Jesus Christ you see if there were no women in this race Jesus Christ never would have come but it was through child bearing Paul says that she shall be saved if she continues in faith it is through the very thing that God curse with pain that he brings the greatest most glorious event in all the world and that is the birth of Jesus Christ now some have tried to postulate some kind of hierarchy of value based upon the differences as you know and that's why we have the feminist movement is because we had men and we've always had men we always will have men who are so foolish is not to appreciate and savor the glorious role that a woman has and because of that men have always tried to dominate women throughout the fall in history of mankind in fact that's part of the curse that we're going to look at in a couple weeks and the men say well you know where the stronger sex where the superior sex and women are inferior because they're physically weaker in fact they're called a helper but that is so inconsistent fact it's so inconsistent that Peter says in first Peter 3.7 that if a man has that attitude then his prayers are going to be hindered if he doesn't learn to treat his wife as a fellow of the grace of God then he won't have a prayer life that's a pretty good reason to get your head straight on that issue isn't it so you'll have a prayer life for a man to appreciate his wife as a fellow heir a weaker vessel by design because of the glory of her work but also a fellow heir of the grace of God Genesis Genesis makes it clear that participation in this exalted dignity of having the image of God stamped on our humanist is for both male and female in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and in the beginning God created us male and female male and female and with that act of placing upon us a divinely originating value a dignity we stand for the importance and significance of human life that's why we believe that abortion and euthanasia is sin it is a violation it is killing God in effigy because we were created in the image and after the likeness of God so we see man having dignity and worth not out of preference or emotion or sentiment but out of history because God created us in his image and that tells us that tells us why God was willing to pay the price that he paid for us is because of the value that he places upon us you know the most wonderful things about being a member of a family is people don't love you because of what you can do or what function you have or how able or capable you are they love you because of who you are you all here love some people just because of who they are and most people on the outside they look in and they say I don't see any redeeming value in that person that person's love because of who they are to you the Bible says because of who you are believer to the living God he was willing to pay the price of his son to redeem you and the glory that you have ahead of you just like you were not created out of you didn't arise out of the primordial slime you are not headed for nothingness you are headed for glory fact you are headed for a day once you're going to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ you're going to be liking it's not amazing that we have that to look forward to you're going to be liking you're going to be liking I'm going to be liking that is one of the greatest basis of hopes that I have hope that I have is the fact that he's going to transform me there's sometimes I am so sick and tired of being what I am but I'm so glad that we have this blessed hope that he's going to transform us I was holding my little grandson this past week Austin I've been studying Genesis and I've been studying the the basis of our worth and Austin can hardly do anything can't do anything for me can't mobile on can't shine my shoes he can't even say nice things to me but it's amazing thing how much he is worth to me and I thought all mighty God what a God you are to look down at people like us who stumble all over ourselves and we try our hardest to be pleasing to God we fail so miserably and yet you love me in such an unimaginable far greater way than I could ever love my little grandson what a God and you know when you love people and I love him it's just it's because I am an image bear of Almighty God animals like herds of horses or packs of dogs get rid of the weak we love them you know why we love them because we're made in the image of Almighty God you were created in the image of God you know if you happen to be here and you don't know Christ you've never entered into a relationship the one with the one who bears the image of God in perfection in fact turn with me to Hebrews let me read this to you Hebrews chapter 1 this is what the Christian this is what has happened to the Christian he has been confronted with a person who is so overwhelming the writer of Hebrews begins his book this way God after he spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways in these last days has spoken to us in a son the Greek there doesn't have the word his it just says in a son in the point of this he has spoken through prophets he has spoken in many different ways but finally he's spoken in the ultimate way in a son the one who was his son he says he spoke to us in a son whom he appointed air of all things through whom also he made the ages and he Jesus Christ is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature and upholds all things by the word of his power that's what a Christian is is somebody who's been confronted by this person who perfectly reflects you know as the word likeness is not used of Jesus just image he is the exact representation of God's nature he makes visible what is invisible in God and then notice this this all powerful and this one who is the perfect image of God it says this is what he has done for us when he had made purification of sins when he had made purification of sins when he had dealt with the sin issue when he had removed the filth that it was attached to us because of our sin when he had made purification of sins when he had made us fit to stand in the presence of a holy God he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high having become as much better than the angel as he has inherited a more excellent name than they Jesus who is the perfect image of God has come into the world to redeem those who bear the image of God even though we bear it so imperfectly the image has been so marred by our sin you look around us and you think of this humanity and what's going on in the world you think how in the world could that be an image bear of God well Jesus Christ has come into the world to redeem those who have marred the image of God if you're today you've never come face to face with him you've never met him personally you've never come to bow the knee to him and confess his name and believe on him and receive him that can happen today you can receive Christ today he speaks to your heart the Holy Spirit speaks into your heart and your life right now you could turn to Christ and experience what it's like to know the perfect one who is the image the exact representation of the nature of God and I invite you to do that let's pray our father we thank you that you have called us out of darkness out of a state of life where there was no manifestation of the presence of God we had no knowledge of you we could see your handiwork in the creation but we had no personal communion with you for which we were created and you came into our darkness through your son and you transferred us out of that kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of your dear son so that we would come to know you and be what you designed us to be we confessed to you that we were so lost and confused trying to find meaning and purpose and significance in life when we have our backs turned to the one that we were created to mirror is such a difficult life the way of the transgressor is so hard we thank you that you turned us and you brought us you made us into your image we are so grateful we praise you we magnify you and worship you and we pray that our lives would reflect every decision we make this week every step that we take every intention that we fulfill would truly reflect who you are and what you are for the glory of God and your son we pray amen