Made in Whose Image?

The podcast discusses the importance of understanding our identity in Christ. It emphasizes that our beliefs about ourselves shape our actions and ultimately our reality. The goal of the series is to discover God's truth about who we are, leading to a shift in our thinking and a new reality of life, freedom, and peace. It explains that when we come to Christ, our old sinful nature dies and we become a new creation. While our spirits are saved, our souls still need transformation through sanctification. The podcast encourages us to see ourselves and others based on our identity in Christ, rather than our circumstances. It concludes by stating that although we may still have areas to work on, we have been made new and are seen by God as righteous and forgiven. Welcome to CCI Fellowship's podcast. Thank you for joining us. At CCI Fellowship, we are reaching God, reaching each other, and reaching our community. We pray that this week's message challenges you in your walk with the Lord, causes you to grow in your faith, and encourages you in your love for the Word of God. All right. Praise God. Open your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 15. We are in Part 2 of our Identity Series. You know, last week I said something about not knowing where to start, so we'll start at the beginning. We're going to go back to the beginning. It makes a good foundation to build this on, but as I have been thinking about this series and trying to figure out how long it's going to go, I keep thinking of new things to talk about. So, we're just going to allow the Holy Spirit to take us along. The good thing is we don't have to rush. We have a lot of time to study it, but I encourage you not to miss a part of this series. If you, for whatever reason, can't come to church, then listen to the audio during the week because I believe the way God is going to put this series together is going to be like building blocks. If you miss one of those blocks and come in at a later time, then the structure that God wants to build through the Spirit, through this series, is going to be lacking some strength in it. So, be sure to either be here or to listen throughout the week to the audio whenever it's posted. There is so much that is linked to our identity in Christ. There's so much that depends on our understanding of who we are. There's so much that brings freedom and victory whenever we understand where God has placed us in Christ. We're going to talk about who we are. We're going to talk about what we are. We're going to talk about where we are. We're going to talk about what we have. There's a whole lot of W's in there. But we're going to go through all of those things because it equips us for being the people that God wants us to be. It equips us to just be sons and daughters of God. It equips us to be bondservants of God, where we are His instruments of righteousness. So we know how to function. So we know where we can function, with what authority we can do things in. And it equips us for how we interact with each other. Paul says, we determined not to know anyone except for their condition in Christ. In other words, he said, we endeavor in ourselves to look at everyone under this condition. They are either in the family or they need to get in the family. We see them either as saved or in need of salvation. We see them as either having been made children of God or in need of being born again children of God. That was his only criteria. He didn't see race, color, creed, nothing. He boiled it down to, have you received Christ as your Savior or not? It makes things a lot less complicated. And I think if we as humanity, as the church, would adopt that same perspective in how we see each other and how we see the world, it would fix a lot of problems. It would fix a whole lot of unity just within the church if we would see each other based on who Christ says we are, not what our circumstances are. First Corinthians 15, the first part of verse 10. But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. Father, we bless your name and we thank you for these moments together. Fill our hearts with your wisdom and knowledge. Praise you in Jesus' name. So the title of part two in this series is, Made in Whose Image? So our identity is what we think about ourselves. Proverbs 23 verse 7 says, As a man thinks in his heart, so he is. What we believe about our identity will be displayed in how we live out our lives. It's displayed in our confidence, it's displayed in our actions, it's displayed in our endeavors. Because the root of it is what we think we are or who we think we are in our hearts. Identity creates tendencies in the way that we think. Tendencies shape our actions. So we act out the tendencies, habits, customs that we think and believe about who we are. Those actions have consequences or create a result. Those can be negative, those can be positive, but there are consequences to our actions. And the consequences of, I can't say that word tonight, consequences of our actions shape our reality. Did you get that? Tendencies shape our actions. Actions have consequences. Consequences of our actions shape our reality. So if we want to change our reality, if we want there to be a change in our lives, we can't just start by changing our circumstances. We can't start by just changing who is around us. We have to start with who we believe that we are. That is what leads to change. Our goal in this series is to get into God's truth about who we are, which will then cause a shift in the way that we think, leading to a change in the way that we live or the way that we behave, resulting in a new reality of life, freedom, and peace. I'll give you a minute, for those that like to take notes, take pictures, whatever. This is our goal in this series. And I'll state it over the next couple weeks so that we're clear on why we're doing this. To get into God's truth about who we are, which will then cause a shift in the way that we think, leading to a change in the way that we behave, resulting in a new reality of life, freedom, and peace. What is our reality? Well, my reality is that I need a new job. My reality is that I don't have a whole lot of money. My reality is that I'm suffering with sickness. My reality is that my marriage is a mess. My reality is that, just name it, whatever your situation is that you're going through. Those are circumstances. The reality is, if you are a believer, you belong to God. You have an identity in Him. That is reality. Everything else flows from that. Okay, so how do we apply that to our situation? The more that we understand through Scripture about our identity, then we can use that identity and that authority that God has given us to affect what our reality is. And our circumstances may change. So as we move forward, let's look at this from back at the beginning. Made in whose image? Second Corinthians 5.17 says, if any man is in Christ, he has a new creation. He is a new creation. The old has died and the new has come. So what is it that died? What is it that has been made new? We look in the mirror and we still see who we are. We look at each other and we still see who each other are. So what is it that died? Obviously, it was the image and likeness of Christ. Of God that died when Adam sinned. That's what died. So we're born with this sinful nature. We come to Christ and He says, the old has died and you have been made new. Our spirits come alive. We are a new creation. And see, that opens up the opportunity. It opens up the work of sanctification. Sanctification is that our spirits are now alive and should be in control of our being. Our soul is still in need of transformation. That transformation is called sanctification. It's God taking out of our lives the things that are related to the old man and putting in things related to the new man, which is one who is alive spiritually. That is what has died and that is what has come to life and be made new. Do we still have things from the past to work on? Oh yeah. Scripture tells us in the New Testament, it uses salvation in different tenses. This isn't in my notes, so I'm just going to add two minutes here. I'm going to add Val's two minutes. The Bible says about salvation, it uses different tenses. Scripture tells us in one place that we have been saved. Those who have been saved. What is that referring to? That's referring to that initial step of salvation where we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. Our spirits are revived and our being as a triune being becomes complete again. We have been saved. Our spirits have been saved and sealed for the day of Christ's return. When God comes and He collects all those that belong to Him, that's that. We have been saved. Then it says those who are being saved. The verse in Hebrews says that Jesus along with those who are being saved. So what is it that we are being saved? I thought we were already saved. Yes, you were saved on the spiritual level. We are being saved, or as one version, being sanctified, puts it, on the soul level. And then Scripture says, we'll be saved. Which is it? One day when Christ comes back, or we die, whichever one comes first, our bodies will then bear the fruit of salvation. So you have been saved in the spirit. You are being saved in the sanctification of your soul. And we are looking toward the salvation of our bodies at the coming of our Lord Jesus. So when it says in 2 Corinthians 5.17 that you have been made a new creation, you have been saved. You have become new in the spirit, man. But that soul, I mean that soul still needs a whole lot of work. So that's that process. We still deal with the things of the past. So it says that the old has passed away. Yes, the old no longer has a right to have authority in your presence. That doesn't mean we don't need to work on things. That we don't need to forgive things in the past. Forgive people from the things that have happened in the past. Or work on our own pride and arrogance that we used to just give into. And now we have to purposefully humble ourselves before God and each other. There's growing that has to be accomplished on the soulless level. But that doesn't change that we have been made new creations. That doesn't change the way that God sees us as His righteousness in Christ. It doesn't change the way that He sees us as those who have been forgiven. Those who have been set free. Yeah, but I'm still walking in some bondage. Yes, you have been set free. You just got to get that bondage to be a reality for you. The freedom from those things. Does this make sense? Some have some very confused faces. People say often, we're all made in the image of God. We're all God's children because He made man in His image. Let me show you. As I said, we'll go back to the beginning. Exactly whose image we were born in. Alright. Genesis 1 verse 26 to 27. Then God said, let us make man in our own image, according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in His own image. In the image of God, He created him. Male and female, He created them. So when it says man in these verses, it's talking about mankind. And as He created mankind, He made male and female two versions of mankind. But it says, let us make mankind in our image and according to our likeness. So the word image means a physical representation or a visual representation of something else. Likeness refers to being like or to resemble having a similar makeup. So image is a visual representation. Man was created to reflect or portray the image of the Godhead. Though in a finite capacity, of course. We were created in His image as a three-part being. 1 Thessalonians 5.23 says, This image of God, the Godhead that we bear, is that we are three-part beings. Spirit. We are a spirit that has a soul that lives in a body. That's the order. And before we come to Christ, that spirit is dead. We are soulless. The ability to reason, to make decisions, to know right from wrong. But still only part of what God intended man to be. We bear His likeness in that the qualities that we find in the unity of the Godhead are also within us. It means like but not equal to. Remember what we read last week concerning Lucifer. It said that he said in his heart, I will be like the Most High God. And thus he was jealous of mankind because mankind was made to be like the Most High God. While these terms seem very closely related, there's a distinction that needs to be made. And that will help us understand how we can become new creations through Christ, conforming to His image, while at the same time still bearing the physical appearance of man and bearing the need for sanctification. It shows us how we can be one and the other at the same time. Although this side of us is actually dead according to scripture. Your old man is dead. So put on the new man, which is Christ, so that you don't give in to the sins of the flesh. Are you with me? Genesis 2, verse 16 and 17. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die. This is where we find that God establishes within mankind free will. Some people have an issue with free will. And God's understanding and knowledge of everything. Some would say that the verses in Romans that talk about predestination, the verses in Ephesians that talk about predestination, that that removes from us free will. Because God knows whose are His, who are going to accept Him as Lord and Savior, and so those are the ones that He died for. Remember we talk about not excluding verses from Scripture, that we have to take the whole counsel of the Word? You have to forget a whole bunch of verses to get to that point of belief. Because God established in man free will. Scripture says He desires that all men would be saved. Romans it says that if by one man, Adam, death came to all, so by one man, Jesus Christ, life has been made available to all. We still have a will, a free will. And that is a representation of the will of the Godhead. The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are equal in their Godhead. They are different in their function. But the Father is not the Son and He is not the Spirit. The Son is not the Father nor the Spirit. And the Spirit is not the Father nor the Son. But there is the will of the Father. You can read that in John 6.40. There is the will of the Son. You can read that in John 5.30. And there is the will of the Holy Spirit that we have talked about before in 1 Corinthians 12.11. That the Spirit gives the gifts as He wills. Now we know because we are still here that Adam and Eve didn't die a physical death but a spiritual one. And what died in Adam when he sinned was the likeness of God. Man still bears the representation of God. Or the image of God. Which is why it can still be said that yes, mankind was made in the image of God. But it cannot be said that mankind still bears the likeness of God. Because Adam gave that up. In Genesis 5 verse 1 through 3 and this is where it will make sense. Hopefully. Genesis 5 verse 1 through 3. This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them and called them mankind in the day that they were created. And Adam lived 130 years and begot a son in his own likeness and after his own image. Named himself. Anytime we study scripture. Every time we study scripture. We must keep this question at front and center. Why does it say that? Why does it say that? Otherwise we just read through and go, oh, oh, yeah. And we tend to miss a whole lot of information that God would want us to capture. Because we're not paying attention. When you read scripture, ask. Why does it say that? Ask the Holy Spirit. He's the one that reveals all truth to us. He's the one that wrote scripture. In the first place, I think he understands what he meant when he inspired man to write it. Why does the Holy Spirit inspire the writer of Genesis to make a distinction in verse 1 and 2 from verse 3? Anyone have an idea? Spirit of God left no doubt. He made an absolute separation between the fact that Adam and Eve were created in the image and likeness of God. But because of sin, everyone born after that is born or begotten in the image and likeness of Adam. Well, we were made in God's image. Yes, but you were born a sinner. You were born a sinner. That's why we needed a Savior. That's why Jesus came. Because we were born with a third of our being dead. We were born incomplete. We were born bearing the image of sinful man. That's also why Jesus couldn't be born of a man. He had to be born through the seed of the Spirit. Because in that manner, he didn't bear the sinful nature of man, thus being fully God and fully man, and the only one suited to be our Savior and the sacrifice necessary for us. Satan got Adam to give up his likeness. He got Adam to give up part of what he contained in him regarding the fullness of God. And Jesus came to restore that to us. Everything that Adam had before the fall, Christ came to give us. To restore to us. To sow and reap within us. We have this verse, Acts 13, verse 33. God has fulfilled this for us, their children, in that he raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second psalm, You are my Son, today I have begotten you. You know, for a long time I had a hard time understanding this verse. Today I have begotten you. How is it that God has begotten Jesus? Jesus is eternal, just as God the Father is eternal. So how could there be a start to Jesus? In the genealogies of the Old Testament, we see, even in our verse that we just read, Adam begot Seth. What does that word begot mean? Gave birth to. Begot in the human form is the offspring of a man and a woman. Jesus, who was born of a virgin, the offspring of the Holy Spirit who put the seed in to Mary in the first place. How? Don't worry about the biology. It happens. Scripture says it happens. Let's just leave it at that. We could run circles and circles around whether it makes sense or not. It was miraculous. Miracles don't make sense. But on that day, the psalm is looking forward to the day of Christ's natural birth. God says, today I have begotten you. This psalm is also referenced in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 5 and chapter 5 verse 5. Today I have begotten you. Today you have become my son, God says. God says. Speaking of the beginning of Christ's existence as the God man. Not his existence as God. He is always eternal. But on that day where God said to his son, okay now is the time. That in the fullness of time, in the fullness of God's plan, he said, Son, now you got to go down there. It's time. And he was born of a woman. In order that we could regain the complete nature that God desired for us to have in the first place. Well what good does knowing this do? I'm already saved. Yeah, did you know all of this before? Proverbs tells us, gain knowledge and in all your gaining, gain understanding. Having knowledge is one thing, understanding knowledge is another thing. When we understand that we were born in the image and the likeness of sinful man. Yes, we have already received Christ. Yes, we understand we were in need of a savior. We were sinful and you know scripture says we need a savior to go to heaven. When one of our kids got saved, I don't remember which one, you can tell me. I'm probably going to get it wrong, so it doesn't matter. Exactly. One of them said, I just don't want to have a black heart. That was Stephen. He wanted a pink heart. That was Stephen. I just want a heart that's alive. Catherine said, what did Catherine say? She said I want to be a princess. She said basically what sticks in my mind is I want to be a friend of God. Can't be a friend of God if we don't know what we were before. You know scripture tells us that when we were dead in our sins we were enemies of God. Well, I was never an enemy of God. I got saved when I was five. I grew up in the church. What enemy? How was I an enemy to God? Because you were born an enemy to God. So you see, when we understand that the image we were born in lacks so much, it brings us a greater appreciation for what Christ has done to make us new creations. It should bring us a greater appreciation. It should bring us an understanding of how this whole process worked to bring us to life. So that from life, then we can build on everything else in our identity. And understand, like Paul said in Romans chapter 7, why do I do the things I don't want to? Why don't I do the things that I do want to? And he concludes that though with my desire I serve God, but it's this sin in me. He separates himself in his identity and desire to serve God from this sin that tries to remain alive in him. He says, who will separate me from this body of death? Thank God in Jesus Christ our Lord. And from there he goes into Romans 8.1, which is in my mind probably the best chapter in the whole Bible There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit of God. Thank God that he sent his Son so that we would not die in the image of man, that we would not die the physical death in the image of man, but that we would live that spiritual life and that eternal life in the image of Christ. Whenever someone says we're all God's children made in his image, it makes me chuckle because I just don't understand. I wish everybody understood it because it's so life-giving. Philippians 2 verse 5 says, Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, humbling himself and came in the likeness of sinful flesh. He came in the likeness of sinful man. That word likeness in the Greek calls back to the Hebrew in Genesis and it means sharing a similar form or appearance, though not identical in essence. We were born in appearance and essence of Adam, but Christ came in appearance though not identical essence of Adam. It's a resemblance but not an exact copy. Again, pointing to what it says in Hebrews, that he is the author of our salvation, the perfect sacrifice that we needed. Ephesians 2 verse 4 through 10. I'll close with this. Adriana, you want to come up with the team? Chew on this this week. Meditate on it. Read over it. If you aren't a note taker and you're like, you know, Tuesday, like, what was it that he said? Go back and listen to the audio. Go to YouVersion. Look up an event, CCI Fellowship. All of the notes are there. The YouVersion Bible app on your phone. We'll let them come in. Ephesians 2 verse 4 through 10. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, and raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest anyone should boast, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. You are a new creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works. Not salvation by works. I told you. Why did it say that? That's got to be our question. Why did it say that? I think it's interesting for all of the debates throughout all of church history about is salvation by works? Or is it by grace? Do you earn it? And how we as humanity, we have a problem grasping the grace of God. We want to do something to earn it. So we talk a lot about works. And the Holy Spirit says, you're not saved by works, you're saved by grace, for works. Not by work, but for works. We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Do you know who you are? Who are you? Some people struggle with that. You are made now in the likeness and image of God. And you're being transformed more and more into the image of Christ day by day. In 1 Corinthians it says, though our outer man is perishing, this body is going to die. They're old, they can't see anymore. I'm not claiming that over you. Just using that as an example. This outer man is perishing, but our inner man is being renewed every day. More and more into the image and likeness of Christ. We were made for more. We weren't made just to exist, we weren't made just to accept Christ as our Savior and wait for the day that we die and go to heaven. We were made for more. We were made for victory. We were made to make a change. We were made for good works. We were made to glorify God. So I pray that, again, that you chew on this this week and ask the Holy Spirit, what do you want to teach me through this? What is it you want to say to me through this? It was a whole lot of information. I don't know what I think about it. That's okay. Don't stop thinking about it. And allow the Holy Spirit to bring truth and life to you as you meditate on His Word. Amen? Let's stand together. Father, I pray that you would seal this Word in our hearts, that in our getting of knowledge that we would also gain understanding, and that that understanding would produce fruit in our lives. In Jesus' name, amen. If you would like prayer or more information about our church, contact us at fellowship.cci at gmail.com. That's fellowship.cci at gmail.com. Or follow us on social media. We hope to see you or hear from you soon. Blessings.