Bear the Image // Genesis 1-2:3

Join us as we continue with week 2 of our EDEN series!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I had to look around and kind of figure out all right
, what are the rules here, howdoes this place work and how am
I going to survive?
And, on top of that, part of mystory at that time is my
parents had recently gotten adivorce and they did a.
Really you know, they we were.
We were in the middle of it ina lot of ways, and thankfully,
god's worked through that andhealed it, but it was just a

(00:20):
tough situation, and so therewas this emptiness that I was
trying to fill as well, and so Istarted to look around and
think well, everybody aroundhere looks happy, so let me try
to do what they're doing.
And so the first thing Istarted to try and chase was a
relationship, because it lookedlike everybody either lived or
died on whether they were in arelationship.
If you're in a relationship,things are great, if you're not,
that's a problem to be fixedLike.

(00:41):
That's how I saw the worldaround me at that time, and so I
pursued a relationship andeventually I got in one, and
then realized the same thingwe've all probably realized at
some point that time goes on, uh, that shine wore off and what I
thought was going to providehappiness or fulfillment didn't
do that, and so then I thoughtmaybe sports would be the
solution.
So I chased football, uh, goton the team, made varsity

(01:01):
eventually.
Problem is, we were awful, likeabsolutely terrible, like 0 and
20 from sophomore to junioryear, like, no joke, horrible.
They're great now, but backthen.
And so we?
You know practice would startto get hard and you know, I
wanted that Letterman jacket forso long.
And you get it.
And all of a sudden you realizethat's going to get old too and
I thought, all right, maybe it'sgrades.

(01:22):
Right, I need to get into theright college, I need to get the
right test scores and, praisethe Lord, by the grace of God, I
was able to get the test scores.
I got into some dream schoolsand ended up getting to go to
Dallas Baptist, but even that,though it was a good thing,
didn't fill that hole that I wastrying to fill.
And what I finally realizedwhen I got to DBU and I'd walked
through all of this, is that Iwasn't looking for girls or

(01:45):
sports or grades, but there wasthis deeper thing that I was
searching for, and that wasfulfillment.
It was this hole that wasinside of me that I was trying
to fill and try to give my lifesome meaning, and the problem
was everywhere that the worldtold me to look to try and find
that had nothing to offer.
And so why am I telling you thisstory tonight?
Well, because, if I had toguess, had nothing to offer.
And so why am I telling youthis story tonight?

(02:06):
Well, because, if I had toguess, many of you here tonight
are on the same journey, thesame search, and, like me, you
found that everywhere you lookmight offer some temporary
happiness, some temporary fun,but that well, eventually runs
dry.
You've watched the one who youtold if I could get in a
relationship with this person,then my life is gonna be perfect
.
You've watched thatrelationship turn into deleted

(02:27):
pictures and an unfollow.
You've watched your sport turnfrom something that you love and
have fun doing.
You've watched it turn into ajob.
Or you've watched school turnfrom something that you're good
at into something you're nevergood enough at, and I could go
on and on with the examples.
But what I want to share withyou tonight is that there is
something better.
There is a better way.

(02:48):
You can find happiness andfulfillment in this life, but
you have to look in the rightspot.
But for me to show you thatright spot, we have to go back
to the beginning, like thebeginning of everything.
And so last week we talkedabout how we're going to be
walking through our Eden series.
This fall we're going to look atthe first 11 chapters in
Genesis to find answers that theBible has to give about who we

(03:08):
are and why we're here.
And so tonight we're going tostart in Genesis 1.
And as we do that, we're goingto see that God created the
world with order.
He gave it a purpose, he madeus in his image to reflect him,
and in Jesus, god made a way forus to live his way and not our
own.
And so our life actually worksthe way it was designed to.
And so what we're going to seeI'm giving you the ending at the

(03:31):
beginning is that true life isfound only in living through our
God-given purpose in Jesus.
And so, that being said, we'regoing to jump into the text.
We're going to start literallyfirst page of your Bible.
This is the easiest verseyou're ever going to have to
find.
Open up the cover, flip a fewpages Genesis 1.1.
There's going to be a big chunkof reading up front and then
we'll be done with a lot of thereadings.
So just hang with me.

(03:51):
It'll be on the screen if youdon't have your Bible.
So everybody take a deep breath, exhale Perfect.
Let's start.
Genesis 1.1.
In the beginning God createdthe heavens and the earth.
And now the earth was formlessand empty and darkness was over
the surface of the deep and thespirit of God was hovering over
the waters.
And God said let there be light.
And there was light.
And God saw that the light wasgood and he separated the light

(04:13):
from the darkness.
God called the light day andthe darkness night.
There was evening and morningthe first day, and God said let
there be a vault between thewaters to separate water from
water.
And so God made the vault andseparated water from the water
under the vault, from the waterabove it.
And it was so.
God called the vault sky.
And there was evening.
There was morning the secondday and God said let the water
under the sky be gathered intoone place and let dry ground

(04:35):
appear.
And it was so.
God called the dry ground landand gathered the waters.
He called seas, and God sawthat it was good.
Then God said let the landproduce vegetation, seed bearing
plants and trees on the landthat bear fruit, with seed in it
, according to their variouskinds.
And it was so the land producedvegetation plants bearing seed
according to their kinds andtrees bearing fruit with seed in
it according to their kinds.
God saw that it was good.

(04:55):
There was evening and morning.
The third day we're almost done.
And God said let there belights in the.
God saw that it was good.
There was evening and morning.
The fourth day, verse 20.

(05:28):
And God said let the water teamwith living creatures and let
the birds fly above the earth,across the vault of the sky.
And then skip down to verse 22.
God blessed them, yeah, godblessed them, and said be
fruitful and increase in numberand fill the water in the seas
and let the birds increase onthe earth.
There was evening and morning.
The fifth day.
Then, finally, last two verses.
And God said let the landproduce living creatures

(05:49):
according to their kinds, thelivestock, the creatures that
move along the ground and thewild animals, each according to
its kind.
And it was so God made the wildanimals according to their
kinds, the livestock accordingto their kinds and all the
creatures that move along theground according to their kinds
and God saw that it was good.
All right, let's pray real quickto get back into this.
Lord, we thank you for yourword and we thank you for the
opportunity to just live in ittonight.
I pray that you would change usand shape us, that we'd leave

(06:09):
here looking more like you, thatwe would leave here finding
hope and healing and freedom inyou, the only true place that
can be found.
We pray these things in thename of Jesus and everybody said
amen.
So that first line of the Biblethat you've probably heard
before.
God created the heavens and theearth.
And when you think about that,what do you think about?
When you hear the word heaven,let me shout it out the place

(06:32):
you go where you die, right Likeheaven, up in the clouds, right
Like that type of heaven, thishappy place that you go when you
die.
But here the word that's beingused is not actually really
talking about that idea ofheaven.
This that's being used is notactually really talking about
that idea of heaven.
This Hebrew word that's beingused really means more like
skies.
He's talking about the airright.
And then when it says the earth, it's not so much talking about
like the globe, but it'stalking about like the physical

(06:53):
ground that we walk on.
And so what's being said inthis first verse?
It's really summarizing what'sabout to happen for the rest of
the chapter it's kind of likesetting up the story.
Think about in Star Wars at thebeginning, like once upon a time
in a galaxy far, far away.
So this first line is saying,hey, god created everything.
And then the next worddescribes, or the next line
describes, what the world waslike before he created anything.

(07:16):
It was formless and empty.
And those words formless andempty could also be translated
unordered and uninhabited,meaning it was completely
chaotic, there was no structureand there was nobody living in
it.
And that's important to knowbecause the rest of this passage
is going to be dealing with howhe solves those two problems,
because he starts to bring orderover those next six days, and

(07:38):
these days aren't random,there's actually a structure to
them.
In those first three days hebrings order, he separates the
dark from the light and hecreates day and night.
And so this is God creating theorder of time right Day, night,
hours, months, years, like thisis time being created.
And day two, he separates thewaters from the sky, and there's
a whole nother sermon on howthey would have viewed this and

(08:01):
whatnot.
But this is creating the orderof sky and seas.
And then on day three, heseparates the seas with land
that comes up, he establishesdry land and then he puts plants
and vegetation on it.
So he's bringing order andcreating these spaces as he
shapes the universe.
And then, days four through six, he inhabits them.
There's a pattern here.
So in day one he creates thedarkness and the light and

(08:23):
creates time, and in day four hefills the space with the sun,
the moon and the stars, andthese reflect his light and they
track time right.
And then, day five, heseparated the seas and the sky
on day two.
And then he fills the sky andhe fills the seeds with birds
and fish.
You see the pattern here.
And then, lastly, in day six,he fills the dry land with land
creatures and we didn't readthis but as a bonus he creates

(08:46):
man and he gives man thevegetation that he brought on
day three.
So what's the big point here?
Right, you could do a wholesermon series just unpacking
that.
But what I want you to see isthat Genesis is not just some
random fairy tale about how theworld came to be and we talked
about this a little bit lastweek that Genesis is also not
trying to be a science textbooktelling you exactly what God

(09:09):
used to create the universe andhow he did it and what timeframe
.
Genesis is trying to tell youthe meaning and the purpose of
the universe.
That's what's being conveyed inthese paragraphs.
In fact, the point is that Godis the artist and creation is
his masterpiece, and he designedthe world with order, meaning

(09:29):
he designed the world and hedesigned our lives to work a
certain way.
There's truth behind everythingwe see, which is so important,
because every popular voice wehear in the world that we live
in says that there is no capitalT truth, that you can define
your own truth.
You can live however you want.
We're just a bunch of mammalson a rock floating through space
and so nothing really matters.

(09:49):
Live how you want to live andsince there's no universal truth
, you can just make up your own.
But the problem is and theBible is so clear about this and
you'll experience it that ifyou try to live in the world
that God made by your own rules,it's never going to end well.
Live in the world that God madeby your own rules is never
going to end well.
For example, let's say that Idecide my truth is that I can
live off of Bloom and Nerd'sGummy Clusters.

(10:10):
Like, that's all I need forlife.
I'm just going to.
Bloom is the popular one, right, like Celsius is out, and Bloom
is, yeah, she, literally that'sa Red Bull, but that's Haley is
a big Red Bull girl.
So, yeah, right, so I live on.
Pick your poison on caffeine,right, celsius, whatever,
whatever your favorite flavor ofbattery acid is, and nerds
gummy clusters right, I can dothat for a little bit and it's

(10:31):
gonna taste good.
Is anybody in here currently onthat diet plan?
Maybe not nerds gummy clusters,but candy in general?
Yeah, perfect, a lot of you andthe rest of you are liars.
No, I'm just kidding.
I can live that way for a while, but eventually it's going to
catch up to me and my body willhate me.
Like my body will try to shutdown because man cannot live on
caffeine and sugar alone, likeGod designed my body to need

(10:53):
real nutrients.
Or maybe my truth is that Idon't need to sleep.
Like, laying in bed andwatching Netflix is basically
the same thing as sleep, and soI can stay up and binge the
secret lives of Mormon wives anddoom scroll, brain rot TikToks
until 3 am for weeks on end.
And how do you think that'sgonna end for me?
It might be fun for a littlebit, but eventually my body is

(11:14):
going to shut down because Ineed sleep.
And in the same way, you cantry to live out whatever truth
or whatever rules you want toset for your own life, and it
might work for a little bit, buteventually you are going to
crash and burn into the capitalT truth the way God designed you
to live, designed your life towork, designed this world to

(11:37):
function, and eventually you'regoing to run into that.
And now I know those examplesdon't seem like huge deals, but
here's the thing we have beliefsabout all other sorts of things
in the world that are much moreimportant.
We have beliefs about money.
We have beliefs about ourrelationship, about school
sports, our parents, and God'sdesigned all of these things.
They don't have to be bad, buthe designed them to fit in their

(11:59):
proper place in life and if wetry to remove it from that, it
never goes well.
For example, god designedrelationships to be a blessing,
to be a good thing.
But if you take another broken,sinful human being and this is a
whole nother sermon series onrelationships If you take that
person and you try to make themyour source of life, that

(12:19):
relationship will be ananxiety-ridden dumpster fire
because another broken humanbeing is not made to hold the
weight of your worship.
It's not going to work.
You're going to sabotage everyrelationship before you start it
.
You've got to have a sourceoutside of that person, right?
Or if you believe that yourpersonal worth or actually let
me back up If you think thatachievement in sports and school

(12:39):
is your thing, like achievingthings is not bad, but if you
think that that determines yourself-worth, your life is just
going to be this hamster wheelof anxiety and fear and
comparison, because for you tohave value you got to be better
than her no-transcript, and it'seventually going to crash.

(13:00):
The list goes on and on and on.
And so let me ask you tonightwhat part of your life are you
trying to live outside of God'sdesign?
Is it how you handle dating?
Is it how you chase popularity,thinking that likes and follows
are gonna somehow fill thathole?
Is it how you treat yourparents?
Be honest with yourself how isthat going for you?

(13:21):
Not how are you tellingyourself it's going, but how is
it actually going, because atsome point you will crash into
that capital T truth, whetherit's happened yet or not.
And the truth that you're gonnarun into is that the only life
that really works, the only lifethat is life to the full, is
the one that's within God'sorder for things.

(13:41):
But the question remains like,what is that order for us?
It's one thing to know aboutday and night and fish and birds
and the Genesis creation story,but what about me, a human
being, in 2025 in Bernie, texas?
What is my purpose that I'msupposed to live in?
Well, god shows us that inverse 26.
We're going to hop back intothe text and so we didn't read

(14:18):
it in this verse.
We read it earlier.
But after everything God makes,he says it is good, it is good,
it is good.
But then, after God createshumanity, he says it is very
good.
In verse 31, he says it is verygood.
There was evening and morningin the sixth day.
It's almost like humanity isthis crown jewel, like this
pinnacle of creation.
It's the main event.
But why Like?

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Why are humans so special.
Well, god explains that inverse 27.
So God created mankind in hisown image and the image of God
he created the male and female.
He created them, and so we hearthat term a lot.
But how many of you let's behonest, just raise of hands how
many of you have been confusedby the term made in the image of
God?
Before I know, I was like,probably up until a couple of
years ago, I don't think I fullyunderstood what that phrase
meant.
And to understand it, remember,the Bible was not written in

(15:05):
English, and so a lot of timesit's very helpful to go back to
the original language it waswritten in, because it will give
us a lot more of the intendedmeaning.
And that word in Hebrew forimage is Salem, and it's often
used to refer to physicalrepresentations.
A lot of times in the OldTestament or other writings
during that time, it's talkingabout a statue.
Okay, so God's saying we'restatues.
What does that mean?

(15:25):
Well, you have to understandwhat statue meant that time.
A lot of times in that culture,statues were a part of a temple
that they would build to arandom God.
There were lots of differentgods that they would worship
back then that weren'tnecessarily the true biblical
God, but this statue was seen tobe a representation of that God
, not that literal God, but itwas supposed to show people who

(15:50):
went to that temple what thatGod looked like.
That to represent that God'spresence and authority and
character.
It was a visible representationof an invisible God to show the
whole world what it was like.
So let's tie that back in.
To be made in the image of Godmeans that we are supposed to
represent him within the world.
We're supposed to be a visiblerepresentation of an invisible

(16:12):
God.
We're to reflect who he is tothe world around us and to show
us, to show it, what he is like.
And so fast forward a little bit.
I know I talked about playingfootball at Red Oak.
One thing that they similar toBernie is we would get to wear
like our jerseys on game day,right, and it was really nice
because we got to feel cooluntil about seven thirty, and
then we get like fifty hung onus and then we come back to

(16:34):
reality.
But for a little bit we feltlike kings, right.
But one thing that I rememberfrom when coach would let us
wear our jerseys, we were toldvery clearly do not act like
idiots.
Don't do anything stupid, andif we did, it would not go well
for us.
I'm talking like barrel crawls,barrel rolls, snakes, bleachers

(16:54):
that we were ever forced to do.
Is our lineman coach, who wascertifiably insane like, ended
up getting fired Like he was apsychopath.
Uh, he made all the linemenstand in the weight room and
when he would call out a flavorof ice cream we had to do up
down.
So imagine, like this big, likepudgy lineman coach, like
cookies and cream, and we're alllike down on the ground trying
to stand up like for literally25 minutes.

(17:17):
But why was it such a big dealthat we acted like fools while
we're wearing this jersey?
I never really realized ituntil I realized that those
jerseys had the words red oakright here across the front.
And so when we wore thosejerseys, whether we thought
about it or not, we were wearinga name, we represented a school

(17:37):
, and how we talked and behavedtold people something about the
team in the school that we wererepresenting.
And, in the same way, we werecreated to carry the image and
name of God in the world that hemade to show everyone what he's
like.
That's our purpose.
That's what we were made for.
That's why we're here to bearthe image of God.
And so you aren't justpracticing your sport, you're

(17:57):
bearing his image.
You aren't just studying you'rebearing his image.
You aren't just hanging outwith your friends you're bearing
his image.
You aren't just dating, you'renot just texting in a group chat
you're bearing his image,whether you realize it or not,
every moment of your life school, sports, home, online you are
showing people something aboutGod, and the only question is

(18:19):
are you showing them what he'sreally like?
And the only question is areyou showing them what he's
really like?
Is the image you bear accuratethat God is compassionate, he's
patient, he's not quick to getangry, he's full of love, he's
merciful, he stands up forwhat's right and against what's
wrong?
Or is the image you put forwardtwisted, quick-tempered, flaky,
distant, selfish?
And now here's the thing no oneon this side of the fall

(18:43):
represents God perfectly, andwe're going to talk more about
this next week.
The image of God has beentwisted, but we're still.
If we claim to follow Jesus, weshould want to bear his image
well, and so you have to askyourself what might need to
change in my life to do that,and the question is how?
How do I?
Is it just like praying outloud?
Is it going to church?
Is it wearing a cross necklace?

(19:05):
Well, thankfully, and we'regoing to land the plane here.
God tells us.
In verse 28 says God blessedthem and said to them, talking
about Adam and Eve humanity, befruitful and increase in number,
fill the earth and subdue it,rule over the fish in the sea
and the birds in the sky andover every living creature that
moves on the ground.
And then God said I give youevery seed bearing plant on the
face of the whole earth andevery tree that has fruit with
seed in it.
They will be yours for food.
And to all the beasts of theearth and all the birds in the

(19:27):
sky and all the creatures thatmove along the ground,
everything that has the breathof life in it, I give every
green plant for food.
And it was so.
God said all that he made andit was very good.
And there was mourning thesixth day.
And so in this passage you seeGod give Adam and Eve the first
command be fruitful, increase innumber, fill the earth and
subdue it.
Rule over the creatures.
He's telling them how to bearhis image Be fruitful and

(19:51):
increase, have children, growfamilies, fill the earth, go,
spread out.
Like the garden of Eden wasn'tsupposed to just stay in one
spot, it was supposed to expand.
And that word for ruling overthe earth doesn't mean like how
we think about ruling, likeharsh and mean, but it's this
idea of subduing and creatingfrom raw materials to not just
destroy and use the word theworld for our own advantage, but

(20:15):
to turn soil into farms, turntrees into homes, sound into
music, words, into poetry andinto work.
It's an invitation to work anda lot of times when we hear
about God calling us to work, wekind of get like I don't like
work.
But you have to remember workhas changed on this side of the
fall and we'll talk more aboutthat next week.
But work is a good thing, it'swhat we were made for and,

(20:37):
despite what the world says, godworks and he's kind enough to
let us work with him.
I think one of the best picturesI got of this a little bit back
.
Leighton, my daughter, isadorable.
She's three and a while backshe got like one of those
playhouses for her birthday.
I think it was her birthday andso my dad was in town and so we
built it for her and you know,you put all the things together

(20:57):
and you try to decipher theinstructions and none of it
makes sense.
But she wanted to help, right?
And so I get the drill and I'mputting a screw in and she's
like, daddy, can I help?
I'm like, of course, likeyou're the cutest thing ever.
And so I hand her the drill andI let her pull the trigger,
which you think no big deal,right, it's not, you know, it's
just pulling a trigger on adrill, but to her that was the
biggest thing ever and she still, to this day, like, loves her

(21:20):
house because she helped buildit.
And it might seem like kind of afar-fetched example, but that's
how I believe God wants us toview work.
It's how we bear his image.
And so how does this apply toyou as student at Bernie or
Champion or Voss or North orSouth, or homeschool or wherever
?
Well, a lot of you are decidingwhat you want to do one day,
apparently, because they makeyou pick in like third grade

(21:41):
these days.
It's ridiculous, right.
But what I want you to do is Iwant you to ask yourself, as
you're deciding, whatever you'rethinking about, is it something
that you can view as apartnership with God.
And now I'm not saying that youneed to be a pastor, I'm not
saying that you necessarily haveto go be a missionary.
In fact, if you're not calledto, don't.
But is whatever, it issomething that you can partner

(22:02):
with God.
I mean, think about it.
Songwriters they take sounds andthey create music to bring joy
and happiness to the world.
Athletes discipline theirbodies for glory.
Teachers take curiosity andbring understanding.
Doctors and nurses they learnthe body to take sickness and
bring healing.
Engineers take mathematics andideas and they create roads and
buildings.
Designers they take thesecolors and these images,

(22:24):
mathematics and ideas and theycreate roads and buildings.
Designers they take thesecolors and these images and
these patterns and they makesomething beautiful.
Chefs they take raw materialfor food and make something
delicious that people can enjoytogether.
Mechanics they take thesebroken parts and they put them
together to form a machine thathelps us to get places and do
things.
And photographers they takethese moments and they turn them
into memories.
And, like I know, like thoseall sound like mundane jobs,

(22:46):
like oh, I'm just a chef or oh,I just serve food.
But when you think about how itcan be a partnership with God.
It changes everything, and thatis so helpful for those of you
who are stressed about thefuture, trying to choose the
right thing, because so often Ihave students come up to me and
ask like, hey, how do I knowGod's will?
How do I make sure I don'tchoose the wrong thing?

(23:06):
Well, here's the thing.
If you want to know God's veryclear will in your life, I will
tell you right now right, it'sthis.
God's will is that you knowJesus, become like Jesus and
show Jesus to the world.
Like that's it.
That's clearly stated inscripture and I personally
believe that you have a wholelot of freedom within that space

(23:27):
.
A lot of time we think aboutGod's will is the straight line
that I'm just walking down, stepafter step, and if I
accidentally make a wrong move,like I'm off it and I've ruined
my life.
But more often, I think wecould think about it like a hula
hoop, like here's theboundaries for God's will.
This is what he wants for us.
It's clear things not to doDon't get drunk, don't murder
people, don't do these thingsand love people.

(23:48):
Love God, love your neighborlike yourself, like those are
the big things that are veryclear in scripture, and you can
do a lot of things while doingthose and be in God's will.
And so whatever gifts God hasgiven you, and however he's
wired you, whatever you like todo, do it.
If you're good at it, run inthat area, go to school for it,
or don't go to trade school,join the military.

(24:10):
Wherever God has gifted you andwired you, whatever passion
he's put in your heart, if itcan be a partnership with God,
then do that and do a good job,because as you do, you will show
people things about the God whomade you.
You will bear his image.
And so we've walked through thiswhole narrative and I hope you
now see just how crucial evenjust the first chapter of
Genesis is for how youunderstand everything in life.

(24:32):
And so there's this last thingthat we want to close on, and
it's how the verse closes.
There's this interesting thingthat happens Genesis 2, 1
through 2.
Thus the heavens and the earthwere completed in all their vast
array, and by the seventh dayGod had finished the work he'd
been doing.
So on the seventh day he restedfrom all his work.
God blessed the seventh day andmade it holy because on it he

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rested from all the work ofcreating that he'd done.
So this verse 1 of chapter 2 isa callback to verse 1 from
chapter 1.
The interesting thing is, likeafter every single day days 1
through 6, god says there wasevening and morning and it was
over, but there's no end to day7.
There's no evening or morning.
It's like day 7 has kept goingon and on and on for eternity.

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And what it is is.
This is showing that God hascreated, he's finished creation
and this is his ideal world.
We go back to that picture of atemple.
Like God created the world ashis temple for him to dwell in
with us, his people, forever,and that we get to live in
relationship with him and walkwith him in peace.
No death, no sickness, nosadness Like.

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This is ideal creation, this isutopia, this is paradise.
But if you turn on the newstoday, it doesn't look like that
right.
You spend any amount of time onCNN or Fox or TikTok or
Instagram.
There's war, there's death,there's cancer, there's all
these sorts of terrible things.
So what happens?
Well, we're gonna learn in thisnext chapter, chapter three,

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that there's something calledsin that comes in and wrecks the
whole thing.
But even then God still has aplan for redemption.
And so we see that in Jesus.
Colossians 1.15 actually hasthis interesting line about
Jesus.
It says that Jesus was theimage of the invisible God, the
firstborn of all creation.
Do you notice that word image?

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It's that same word for statue,just in the Greek.
And so Jesus is the perfect,visible image of the invisible
God.
Like we were created just toreflect God, jesus was God with
flesh on right, and so when Adamfailed to faithfully reflect
God, which led to death, jesusreflected it flawlessly and it
led to our life.

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Scripture said he died for oursins, that Jesus lived a perfect
life, never did anything wrong,did everything he was supposed
to do, but on the cross hebecame our sin and the
punishment that we deserved forall of our lives.
For those nights you wish thatyou could forget the ways you've
treated people, that you sit inbed and cringe at night and
just wish you could take it back.
All of that was poured onto him, so that we could receive life

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and forgiveness in Jesus.
Second Corinthians 18 says butwe all, with unveiled face
beholding in a mirror the gloryof the Lord, are being
transformed into the same imagefrom glory to glory, just as the
Lord, the spirit.
So notice the word image again.
So you see this beautifulpicture of all of this being set
up.
We were created to bear theimage of God, and we failed, we

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screwed up, we decided to do itour own way.
But God didn't want us to beseparated from him, because we
deserve death for that, wedeserve separation.
And so he sent his son, jesus,who bore the image perfectly
because he was God, lived aperfect life, died on the death,
died a death on the cross forour sins, and if we believe in

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him with our hearts and confesswith our mouth that he's Lord,
we will be saved.
And then, on the other side ofthat, we're slowly transformed
back into the image of God,looking more and more like Jesus
.
And so let me land us heretonight.
A lot of you guys are here fordifferent reasons.
Maybe you want to know Jesus,maybe you're excited, you're
ready to dive into the series.
Maybe you're here for a girl,maybe you're here because your

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parents drug you here.
But I know that, deep down, alot of you came in here tonight
on the same search that I wasyears ago looking for something
to give your life meaninglooking for some reason to get
up in the morning, to go throughthe grind of school, something
to feel like you're doingsomething in this world that
matters.
And, just like me, you've runto all of those wrong wells.

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You've run to a relationship,you've run to grades, you've run
to sports, you've run to even,maybe, your family, and every
single one has run dry.
And let me tell you there issomething better in Jesus that
there is life, and life to thefull, and a relationship with
the God who made you and I couldtestify to it, all of our
leaders around the room couldtestify to it that it is what

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you were made for.
And so I just want to encourageyou here tonight that if that's
you and you're in that struggle, you're in that wrestling, I'm
glad you're here and maybe youneed to for the first time.
Hey, I get this whole thing,this whole Jesus thing.
I'm just kind of checking itout, but I've never made that
decision.
I'm not following him.
Well, maybe that's the firststep.
Maybe tonight you say God, Iwanna surrender for the first

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time.
I wanna you say, god, I want tosurrender for the first time.
I want to believe in my heartand confess with my mouth that
you're Lord and be saved, and Iwant to start to bear the image
I was made to bear, to live lifeto the full in you, jesus.
Or maybe you gave your life toJesus long ago and some way
along the way you got distracted, stuff came up, you got into a
relationship that took you away,you got busy with school,

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something happened in yourfamily and you just realize I'm
not where I need to be.
Scripture says that God isfaithful and just If we confess
our sins to him we'll beforgiven.
That you have the opportunitytonight to step into the light
and be free.
You know what we all reallywant at the bottom of it.
We all want to be fully knownand fully loved.
We want somebody to know all ofour junk, all of our mess ups,

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all of our screw ups, and loveus anyways.
But that's why we hide, becausewe're afraid that if people
ever find out the real me,they're gonna run.
They're not gonna like whatthey see, if they see my search
history, if they see how myfamily was growing up.
But here's the offer the God,who knows you better than you
know you, sees all of that andloves you enough that he sent

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his son to die on a cross foryou.
So if you place your faith inhim, you can be fully known and
fully loved for the first timein your life.
No more hiding, no more shame,no more guilt, and that's the
offer that's on the tabletonight.