In the beginning, God - making me

Who are you? No really, who are you? Who are you?

A few weeks ago I asked Stephen Hawking’s question, “We yearn to know why we are here and where we came from.” I went on to show that Genesis provides us with a brilliant way of understanding the creation of the universe. We talked about the transcendence and immanence of God.

This time I want to move from the general to the specific, from all of creation to you and me.


There is a TV series, “Who do you think you are” which traces the family trees of celebrities - so that they can find out who they are.  Is that how you think of who you are? Your father’s daughter, your grand-mother’s grand-son? Notso much how you introduce yourself but how you think of yourself:
1.       Relational – son, brother, husband, father
2.       Physical characteristics – tall, short, ugly, pretty, fat, thin, strong, weak
3.       Circumstance – invalid, victim, asylum seeker, wealthy, poor, pregnant
4.       Allegiance – Yorkshire, Irish, LUFC, Mumford & Sons fan
5.       Activity or job – rugby player, geo-cache hunter, film-watcher, book-reader, accountant, joiner, nurse, artist, IT programmer, in business
6.       Political, racial or ethnic – white, black (especially in opposite territory), liberal, conservative, socialist, foreign
7.       A recent identity that some have taken on is that of gender orientation – I am gay or I am straight
8.       Recently popular psychometric tests - personality – soul of the party, shy and retiring – psychometric tests (ENTJ or ISFP)
9.       Action – what we have done – pride, shame
10.   Biological – evolved ape

I think that all these, whilst some may be a reflection on us, sell us short of the amazing truth.

Let’s read Genesis and discover who you are, fundamentally.

Genesis 1:26-28

v26	Then God said, “Let us make man	Us-  implies relationship Man - Mankind, not male or female but including both. Gender not attached until later (2:22)
v26	in our image, in our likeness,	Most religions had images – idols – Judaism forbade this, God can have no image of that kind but he chose to make mankind to represent him (not a horse) Regent, ambassador – representative of what he is like Creator – creativity Ethical – moral responsibility Spiritual – spiritual nature Relational – being relational
v26	and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all creatures that move along the ground.”	Different from the rest of creation
v27	So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him male and female he created them.	Chiastic poetry Mankind is created male and female – in some way representing the likeness of God – as having many parts to his existence We think of God creating Adam and then Eve as though the first creation was a masculine human. But this says quite clearly that man is created with both male and female. Not until chapter 2 do we see them separated out into man and woman, male and female separately
v28	God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.	A special moment because, unlike elsewhere in Genesis 1, God specifically blesses them and gives them the instruction – right from the beginning there is that personal relationship between God and man whom he has created. The instruction by God is for them to procreate – re-create themselves. This is part of the creative likeness of God – that we create other humans who are in turn, of his likeness and image.
v28	Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”	Again, different from the rest of creation

 
Two core truths:
1.       Humanity is made male and female.
2.       You are very special (because you have been created in the likeness and image of God – your creator).

HUMANITY IS MADE MALE AND FEMALE

John Donne's poem starts with, “No man is an island”.

When God "made them male and female" creation was expressing one of the characteristics of God which is replicated in us – relationship. We are made for relationship because we are made in God’s likeness and he exists in relationship too.




So we exist best in relationship with others – and this takes many forms – family, friendships, mentors, work, teams and can be in a combination of sexes. The bible is full of profound relationships – Jesus and his 12 disciples, Jesus and Martha and Mary, David and Jonathan (two male friends), Ruth and Naomi (mother and daughter in law), Paul & Timothy (leader and follower), Mary and Jesus (mother and son).

But the most fundamental of chosen relationships is marriage.

This is a hot topic at the moment because of the legislation going through parliament in relation to same-sex marriage. I don’t often step into the political arena except to encourage you to do so – my job is to teach you the good news about Jesus and how to follow him. I won’t tell you how to vote but I do want you to make full use of your democratic rights. However, I have strayed further than usual into the political debate this time by publishing a letter I have written to local MPs. You can find that on our website.

I believe that here, in Genesis 1 and 2, we have the blue-print for marriage and I don’t think anyone has the right to redefine it just to make it fit with our current cultural preferences. Let me explain what I mean.

These verses describe God as creating man-kind male and female - without hierarchy or chronological order. Humanity with both genders, equally. Male and female built into the original nature of mankind.

The next chapter explains how man is separated into male and female (eventually, sometime later, they are given names, Adam and Eve).

Genesis 2: 21-23
While the man was sleeping, God took one of the man’s ribs and made a woman from the rib. The man said,” This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh she shall be called woman for she was taken out of man”.

Part of man (ish) was taken to form another “man” (ishah), i.e. another human. Man and woman.
The very next verse describes the reverse process.

Genesis 2:24
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and they will become one flesh.

A man re-uniting with a woman to form one flesh. This is different from other relationships. The man “leaves”, or rather “forsakes” his parents, which is a high relationship responsibility, in order to establish a new relationship. It is different from other relationships in that it becomes the central, defining, intimate relationship – which we call marriage.

I realise that to some this is delicate and I need to articulate it carefully. There are many ways for us to have relationships – both with the same sex and the opposite sex – but the relationship of marriage is established as a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman which provides the safe environment for sex and the having and raising of children.

There are many ways of expressing relationships between people – declarations of love, commitment, acts of service, sacrifice – but the expression of relationship by means of sex is allocated to this relationship alone – the central, defining, intimate relationship of marriage.

When a man marries a woman they re-unite what was separated at creation. It is also about the formation of a new family, about having and raising children, about forging deep emotional and spiritual ties. It is mysterious and sacramental.

Because this is the way God created the world I believe that sex is only meant to take place within marriage and that marriage needs two members of the opposite sex.

Our struggles as human beings, male and female, manifest in many ways. We are all broken and this can lead to pain in marriage relationships and indeed to marriage breakdown. Some of us remain single whether we like it or not. Others are bereaved. Others find that they experience same-sex attraction. Few of us live life in a rose-tinted relationship in perfect sexual fulfilment.

The very fact that we may be frustrated or unhappy with our situation is evidence that there should be a better way – and our desire for relationship and for sex comes from something deep-rooted within us and placed there by God. But we live in a broken world in which relationship is often hard to express well.

YOU ARE VERY SPECIAL

Because you have been created in the likeness and image of God – your creator.

When someone thinks they are special and makes the mistake of going public our retort might be, “And who do you think you are?” The football crowds jeer “Who are you?” - at a player who thinks he is special.

How can I say that we are special when I have just said that we all make mistakes and don’t behave very much like we are made in God’s image? Paul explains it well:



Romans 7:15, 19:
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do … what I do Is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing!

I think many of us identify with that.
But the struggle reveals the truth of how special you are:
·         That part of you that loves another person, that has friendships – that is a likeness of God
·         That part of you that reaches for the inexpressible in worship – that is a likeness of God
·         That part of you that makes stuff, paints, cooks, writes, plans, builds, releases – that is a likeness of God
·         That part of you that recoils when you see a wrong done – that is a likeness of God
 
God knows how he made you and what you are like and he still has plans for you:

Psalm 139:13-16
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

This is an incredibly personal and powerful truth. God, the creator of the universe, specifically created you. He has a purpose and an intention for you. It is a radically different way of thinking about yourself.

You are not incidental, you are not accidental. You are not just the product of evolution nor of your environment – not even the sum of your parents’ genes. You are very special, a specifically planned and created person – nurtured in the heart of the creator until your time came to pass. He knows you individually, personally. He knows your brokenness but he reaches out to you passionately, wanting relationship with this person he created - in his own image, in his likeness.

Paul describes it as being a son or daughter of God,

Romans 8:15,16:
“You received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
What does it feel like to know that you are so special, so deeply loved? May be that is a revelation to you. May be that is hard for you to get your mind around.

And if I look at you I need to see a very special person, created and loved by God, of huge value and importance. And you, when you look at those around you, you must remember that they too are children of God, beloved and special to him, just like you are.
That may be difficult – some of you can’t believe that you are special; others are looking at their neighbours and finding it hard to believe that they are special!

We need transformation not just how we see ourselves but in how we see others. The labels we use to describe who we are no longer matter – we are called to love everyone just as we are loved.

We don’t have to agree with them, we may struggle to like them; some of them may need a wash. But they are special and valuable and loved by God and so the least we can do is love them too.

When I am struggling with a difficult individual, a prayer I often use is,
“Lord give me eyes to see this person the way you see them.”
And often he transforms the way I see them and in so doing transforms my attitude.

Our awareness of our identity and our attitude towards others changes:
No longer are you - no longer is that other person just ....
·         A mother – but a daughter of God
·         A businessman – but a son of god
·         A white man – but beloved of God
·         Gay – but precious to God
·         Guilty – but accepted by God
·         A self-harmer – but a friend of God
·         An idiot – but created by God
·         Married – but touched by God
 
This is why Jesus came:
·         In his broken body he carried the brokenness of the world
·         In his resurrected body is the power to transform brokenness and
·         In his coming again will be the restoration of all that God intended when he made man in his likeness.

Conclusion
We have been looking at the implications of Genesis 1:26-28 which helps us understand who we are and how we are meant to live. We are made male and female which leads us to understand that there is equality of value and role between the sexes and that marriage is made up of the re-uniting of male and female. We are made in God’s image and likeness which leads us to wonder at how special we are to him and shows us how we are to be creative, to love God, love people and put love into action.

The book starts with the way God meant us to be and it finishes with God restoring everything and living amongst us again.

Revelation 21:1-4
Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling-place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death” or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’

Although made perfect and whole at the beginning, the world was broken and is corrupted. That is why we struggle. But the good news is that the story doesn’t end here – the time will come when God will restore things to the way they were meant to be. Although you and I are broken we are not meant to be and one day we will all be mended.

You may not think very highly of yourself but within you is the imprint of the divine, the mark of a holy God and that is why you know something is wrong and why you know there is something more and something better, why you wonder and hope.

Through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection he is reaching out for you – why don’t you reach out for him?