We unpack the word of God to humankind: "Be fruitful and multiply". It is noted that in order for humankind to fulfill this word, man and woman must come together as man and woman, which is an affirmation of the goodness of the gender binary. After the fall, making babies is an act of faith in the face of sin and its devastation. In the New Testament, the command to be fruitful and multiply is expanded to all Christians, both single and married, through their participation in the great commission.
The puzzle of humanity has a moral dimension. We are capable of acts of great compassion and even heroic virtue. Some even sacrifice their lives to rescue others in peril. Yet some deep stain of corruption still plagues human life. The evidences of the darkness of the human heart are pervasive in human history, yet such darkness still surprises us. Something seems to have gone dreadfully wrong.
Where can we go for help as we wrestle with this riddle? We must go to God if we are to find the answer to this most baffling riddle. For God our creator has spoken to us through his Word and has revealed his answer to the human dilemma. He spoke both of our dignity and our depravity. And, as importantly, he also revealed the one way that human depravity can be destroyed and human dignity established through divine redemption.
In the second sermon in the "Human" series, we turn to the first chapter of Genesis to understand what it means to be created in God's image. The Bible declares that every human being is worthy of dignity and respect by virtue of their being image-bearers of the Creator God. This means that we practice no violence of curse none of God's image-bearers. Our bearing of God's image points us ultimately to Christ who is the very Image of God. As Christians, Christ is transforming us into His image through the work of the Holy Spirit within us.
In this introduction to our new series, "Humanity: Divinely Designed; Divinely Defined" Pastor Dan asks the question, "Who Tells You Who You Are?". It is argued from Genesis 3, that only God has the authority to define us, for He is the One who has designed us.
