Created and Called: God's Design for Life Together #3

CALLED: GOD’S VISION FOR THE FAMILY

 

Families are the source of our greatest joys and our greatest frustrations. They are the people who know us best and allow us to be ourselves. Or sometimes they put burdens and expectations on you that weigh you down. They cut you slack and are there for you. And they are the ones who drive you crazy.

            Clearly, the reviews are mixed. The word that became popular a couple of decades ago regarding family is “dysfunctional.” It means that something is not operating normally; in this case, it means that there is an unhealthy family dynamic. A lack of communication and a dollop of misunderstanding make it hard for us to love our families.

            This summer, my brother and sister and our spouses are taking a trip together. We haven’t done this in over 50 years, and I am praying fervently for peace and harmony. My brother and I like to joke about our sister: we each call her “your sister.” Most of the time we are able to laugh together. But then there are the other times. You know what I mean. 

            Every family is shaped by something. The question is “What?” Depending on who you ask we have a love-hate relationship with our families. It would be nice if it was love-love. Is this possible? Can our families be more like God intended them to be? What is God’s vision for families? 

            Deuteronomy 6 is the clearest biblical blueprint for families. God’s vision for the family is a way of life where our love for him shapes every moment and is passed on to the next generation. What does that family look like? Moses gives us four commands for building a healthy family. 

 

1. A Family that Fears the LORD (Deut. 6:1-3)

 

For forty years the people of Israel had been wandering around the desert because they had disobeyed the LORD. On the verge of entering into the Promised Land, the people waited for instructions from God. Here’s the thing: Canaan was a pagan nation with godless people – they oozed dysfunction – and they were not a model for Israel’s families. So, Moses told the Israelites what God expected of them and what he wanted them to teach their children. He was preparing these families to live in a pagan, godless culture – one that was not family-friendly. Sound familiar? Sounds like southern Manitoba.

            If we review the first three verses of Deuteronomy 6, the words that stand out to me are “that you may fear the LORD.” Families are to fear the LORD. But fear does not sound like it belongs in a love relationship. Or that’s what we are told anyways. I think that “fear” is misunderstood in terms of relationship. We may have in mind the kind of fear that a child has when they are abused. That’s not what we are talking about here. There are couple of ways to understand this fear.

            To fear the LORD is to fear what will happen if we reject him. We should fear the judgment. Jesus in Matthew is stronger than Moses on the fear aspect. Matthew, Hebrews, and Revelation warn us about rejecting Christ. Fear God. Let’s put that in perspective: If I flirt with other women and make suggestive overtures to them, I should be afraid of what that will do to my relationship with Sharon. It will destroy something beautiful. If I risk my relationship with God by dancing with the devil, I should fear God’s response. 

            Related to that, to fear God is to make him a priority in life. This is what families are called to do: Make God a priority. God comes before other things. And if other things get in the way of God, they have to go. 

            As a child, I wanted to join a baseball or hockey team. My mother resisted this strongly for two reasons: we didn’t have the money and if practices were on Sunday, church came first. I resented this at first, but when I had my first real job at a restaurant, I was told I had to work on Sunday. In my heart, this felt wrong. The conviction engrained in me by my parents was that worshiping God on Sunday was a priority.

            A family that fears the LORD makes him a priority.

2. A Family that Loves the LORD (4-5)

 

These next verses are called the “Shema” and are very important to the devout Jew. They would recite these words every morning. Late in Jesus’ ministry, a Jewish teacher asked him what the most important commandment was and Jesus responded with these words. Shema is Hebrew for “listen.” 

            “Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” 

            In a culture of many “gods” – things that demand our attention – we are reminded by the Shema that there is only one God and he is unique. He alone is God. But what does “loving God” mean? How do we do that? 

            Very simply, what you love you give yourself to. When you love God, you give yourself to him, you obey him, you trust him. Obedience is a natural expression of love. Jesus explained to his disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments,” (John 14:15). “Obey” used to be in our wedding vows, but modern sensibilities didn’t like that. To obey is like submitting and that’s what we are called to do in a love-relationship – submit or obey one another. To love God is take his commands to heart as instructions for our good. We do this willingly because he first loved us (1 John 4:10). 

We are to love him completely. This is what we get from “all” in reference to heart, soul, might. Do we do this? What does it look like? What would you do? What would you start? What would you stop? How would we know when we are really loving God? If I get up at five and read my Bible for an hour and pray for another hour; if I fast for two days? 

Moses was not asking for anything heroic, but in the “ordinary” and daily activities he said, “Don’t forget about God!” Reading the Bible is good. Praying is good. Mission trips are good. But loving God is done in the ordinary stuff of life. Jesus said, “Love God…and love your neighbour.” That’s not so far out of reach, is it? 

In a “Morning Out for Mom’s” meeting in another church there was a discussion on the theme, “How early in a child’s life ought one to begin to influence him toward God?” After a lively conversation, a visiting grandmother was asked for her thoughts. She replied, “I began with my first child twenty years before she was born by giving myself to Jesus Christ!” A family that loves the LORD is most impacted when the moms and dads are committed to loving the LORD.

 

3. A Family that Follows the LORD (6-9)

 

Loving the LORD is intimately connected to following the LORD. Following is discipleship. Moses instructed the people to teach these truths to their children. “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them whenyou sit in your house, and when you walk by the way…”     

            The Hebrews had a term for making a formal proclamation – a lecture. This isn’t it. This is “just talking.” Moses is saying that talking about God should be a dialogue in the home. I have heard of some families where Sunday lunch is a review of the sermon they just heard (not shepherd’s pie where they critique the sermon), a discussion of how to live it out. It should be as easy and as passionate as talking about the Jets. 

            God’s vision for the family is that the home be a training place for faith. It is a laboratory for experimenting (trying out) the faith, where prayers are spoken for each other to see how God will answer. The home is the place where a child can comfortably explore the difficult questions of faith. 

            In these difficult times with challenging philosophies in the schools, parents begin to fear what their children are being taught. We put our children in school for 40 hours a week and get the exhausted version of them at home for a few evening hours. When do we get to shape their faith? We may send them to private Christian schools or to Bible camp to get some “faith” into them. My mother wanted to send me to a Christian school in Winnipeg to rescue me from the evils of the public-school crowd. But what I discovered was that parents had sent their delinquent children to these schools to straighten them out. There was more “bad influence” in private school than in the public. 

            We can’t outsource spiritual formation – not to schools or programs. The point that Moses makes is that the home is the training ground for faith. It is here that the children need to hear their parents talk about faith and loving God. It is in the home where they see faith lived out, modelled in how we “do life” and respond to crises. Paul emphasized this modelling or discipleship training in Colossians 3:12-17:

 12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

            These are the qualities we our children to see in us. It is no wonder that Paul follows this challenge up with a word to the family unit in Colossians. The family that follows God is a family that makes God a priority, loves God fully, and expresses faith in action in the home. 

 

4. A Family that Understands the LORD (20-25)

 

 As an adolescent, my persistent question was “Why?” It must have annoyed my parents. That question stayed with me to this day. Why do we do the things we do? Why do we love God? Why? And Moses anticipated the “why’ questions. 

            This whole passage has been about passing on the faith to our sons (read “our children”). And in v. 20 Moses encourages answering the questions your children have about the faith, “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD your God has commanded you…?” 

            It all begins with a child coming to the parent and asking about all God’s rules. Where did this rule come from? And this is not just so the children know how all this works, but it is so the parents will know too. See how the parent is to answer in v. 21-22? The answer reflects how the Ten Commandments began in 5:6, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Our love and obedience starts with God’s rescue.

            We were not slaves in Egypt, so we do not relate to this culturally. But we were slaves to sin, and death was hanging over us as a result. Our rescue is described in Hebrews 2:14-15 14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. We were enslaved to sin, but God in Christ rescued us. 

            Israel’s rescue is a historical event. The LORD led the children of Israel out of Egypt. And our rescue comes from a historical event, the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. That’s how this all started. That’s why we do what we do.

            When your child asks, “Why do we live this way? The answer is not: “Because we’ve got it figured out,” or “Because we’re a good family,” or “Because we try harder than others.”  

            No, the answer is because God rescued us from sin. That’s where it all starts. Our story is similar to the Israelites and both stories lead to Jesus. Jesus lived the life we could not live, obeyed where we fall short, and went to the cross taking our sin with him. And he rose again to deliver us from slavery. That’s our story.  

            Do your children ask these questions at home? Do you give them space to explore the “why” of our beliefs? It is in the home where these questions should be asked and answered and, dare I say it, not the church. 

            Ultimately we want to pass on a story. Not: be better. But: Let me tell you what God has done for us.

 

The concept of the home as a little church was made famous by the Puritans, a group of English Protestants in the 17^thcentury. They believed the father should be the pastor in the home. One writer called the home “the seminary of the church.” The Puritans even printed material for families to worship in the home. They were so serious about this that if a father neglected the spiritual training of his family, he could be disciplined by the church elders. 

            The Puritans may have been extreme, but they had a great idea about the home as a little church. My own spiritual formation in the home was largely due to my mother’s influence. She taught me to pray. She modelled regular Bible reading. She led me to the Lord. She prayed that the Lord would one day use one of her children in his service.

            God’s vision for your family is that your home be a place of spiritual formation for your children. We are in the fight of our lives for our families in this generation. The battle is for the hearts and minds to be shaped by the love of God and our love for God. If we want our children to know the truth, it must begin at home. Parents, you are spiritual influencers more than anyone else.

            Some of you parents may think, “We’re doing okay, then.” That’s good. Others of you may feel, “That’s it. We’ve failed.” But the good news of Jesus meets you in both places. God is not looking for perfect families. He wants to redeem them. By his grace, we can shape the future for our children. 

            A family that learns to love God in the everyday moments will become a family that tells his story for generations.

 

                                                AMEN

Created and Called: God's Design for Life Together #2

CALLED: THE COVENANT OF MARRIAGE

 

Marriage is God’s idea. The very first wedding was orchestrated by him when he introduced the first man to the first woman. I think God has a romantic side to him. 

            The Bible begins with a marriage in Genesis, and it ends with a marriage in Revelation, the wedding supper of the Lamb. You can’t understand the storyline of scripture, or even the gospel itself, without understanding something about marriage.  

            And yet, many couples enter into marriage with exaggerated expectations. When they share their vows, they land heavy on “For better…for richer…and in health,” while quietly overlooking “…for worse…for poorer…and in sickness.” And when those harder realities come, many people don’t just lose their happiness – they become disoriented and disappointed, unsure of what marriage was supposed to be.

            I remember feeling that myself. As a young man, I looked forward to being married. My mother would often ask in a somewhat cynical tone, “Why do you want to get married?” insinuating that singleness was easier. I never knew how to read her tone except to say that marriage had not always been easy for her. Thankfully, when Sharon entered the picture, she didn’t ask that question anymore.

Before marriage was ever about romance or personal happiness, it was God’s answer to something he said was not good – that a human being should be alone. 

Genesis 2:18-25 shows us God’s design for life together: relationship. What was God’s design for marriage? The testimony of God’s creation story teaches us that God’s vision for marriage calls husbands and wives to reflect his self-giving love. 

            With this vision of marriage, couples can find a reset for their relationships, young people can be reoriented, and all of us – including those are single – can better understand the gospel itself. 

1. We Were Not Meant to be Alone (Genesis 2:18-20)

 

Everything in creation up until this point has been good. God created the day, the waters, the land, the birds…and each time “saw that it was good.” But there’s trouble in paradise. “Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone…’” 

            This is a very surprising statement. Even before sin came into the world, something was not good. And really, it is inexplicable that a man could be unhappy in paradise. How could the man be lonely? There’s only one answer. God created the man not only for relationship with himself, but also for relationship with others. We need God; there is no doubt.

            But consider that God made humans to need others. This is the most un-self-centred act we can imagine. God made human beings to need not just him, but other human beings. This is profoundly humble since God could have kept our attention on him alone. Yet he created humans to be in relationship with one another. This is not about being or getting married – it’s not about that. Singleness is a gift. But as humans, we were created for relationship.

            The LORD responded to this need. He said, “I will make a helper fit for him.” The man needs a helper in life. I think we can misunderstand words like “helper” and think of someone inferior or weaker – someone to do the stuff we would rather not do. But the Hebrew word for “helper” is often used in the OT as military reinforcements. It’s like the old westerns when the wagon train is being attacked and the cavalry comes to lend assistance. 

            God even uses the term “help” of himself in many cases. He is the “help” that Israel needs. “Helper” is a strong word; it is a divine word. And God uses it to refer to the woman. What the woman brings into the man’s life is strength. To help someone does not imply that the helper is stronger than the helped. It simply means that the one helped is not strong enough on his own. 

            Note that this helper is one who is suitable for the man. This is a strange word. Tiim Keller said it is made up of two Hebrew words. Translated literally, it means “I will make a helper like opposite him.” It sounds like a mistake – “like opposite.” How can you be like AND opposite? You can’t. Yes, you can, if we think in complements. It’s like two pieces of a puzzle – they can’t fit together if they are identical. But they can’t be different in general; they have to be right differently. They are opposite but complementary. 

            Karl Barth, a theologian, said that if God gave Adam someone exactly like himself, he would still be lonely, because he would have only seen himself. Now when God brings the animals to the man to consider them, even dogs – man’s best friend – could not fill that void. The man would still be alone. Instead, the LORD will bring the man someone who is equal but different; someone who corresponds.

 

2. We Were Made for Each Other (2:21-23)

 

Following the object lesson where God has the man discover that among the animals “there was not a helper fit for him,” God causes man to fall into a deep sleep. This term for sleep is sometimes used in the Bible for visionary sleep. 

            When Adam wakes up, he sees the woman and it’s a revelation – a visionary experience! See what he says when God brings him the woman? “This is at last bone of my bones...” Adam sees Eve and he breaks out in poetry; he explodes into art – the first poem in world history. 

            The expression “at last” should be understood as “finally!” Adam was saying, “This is what I’ve been looking for all my life!” There is a sense of completion in this exaltation, like the missing piece has been found.

            We have all been taught that the woman came from Adam’s rib, and there is good reason for that. Matthew Henry famously said, “Not made out of his head to top him, not of out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near to his heart to be beloved.” That’s good. However, scholars say that the term “rib” in other texts means “side.” God forms the woman from the side of the man, so she is his other half. They correspond to one another. God made humans in two categories: male and female. Like two halves of humanity. Marriage is the joining of two distinct male and female individuals who correspond to one another. 

            Now does that mean that those who never marry are incomplete? Certainly not. Jesus never married and was not incomplete. Even though Jesus was the perfect man, he still needed relationships with women. Martha and Mary were among his closest friends. So, what it does mean is that women and men need each other? There is a certain balance that is realized when men and women partner together in work, in marriage, and especially in the church. The two halves of humanity come together as one in order to rule together as image-bearers in this world. 

            But remember, men and women are “like opposite.” Though we are sharing life together, working together, raising families together, we are different in our thinking. There’s going to be head-butting as result. This is both the frustration and the joy of being two genders. It is frustrating because a spouse can often feel like they are wrong all the time. Both feel this at times. The wonderful part is that you have this person in your life who God uses to shape you and add a second thought to your processes. As a single person, you can do what you want; but in marriage, you have to think of the other. And in a very tangible way, you become more of who you were meant to be because of your spouse. I’m better than I was because of how women have added to my personal formation. 

            Again, this is true of married and unmarried. We are all shaped by our relationship to the opposite gender. We were made for each other, to help each other to be human. It is the way God created us; his design for men and women was to empower one another to do what God has called us to do.

 

3. We are Called to be Covenant Witnesses (2:24-25)

 

Neither God nor the man speaks next, but the narrator tells us something powerful about marriage. The narrator says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” 

            First, we see the nature of the union of marriage. When a man and a woman marry, they become a unity. Not just a sexual union; it is spiritual, emotional, and relational. As the narrator affirms, the husband and wife are as connected as if they were related by flesh and bone. The ideal of marriage is that it is a relationship characterized by harmony and intimacy between the partners. 

            We talked about how the woman was the “help” the man was looking for. She was the cavalry coming in to save him. If we look at Ephesians 5, we see Genesis 2 reversed. “Husbands love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,” (25). Now the husband comes to help the wife, to give himself for her, to help her to be the person God meant her to be. He is to be like Christ to her. How did Christ serve the church? By putting aside his claims to be God and dying a slave’s death for her (Phil. 2:6-8). 

            We begin to see God’s design for marriage has a larger purpose. Marriage is a microcosm, a miniature representation of the enormity of God’s love. In the OT, God says repeatedly, “I am the bridegroom, and you, my people, are the bride.” God pictures his relationship with humanity as a man and a woman in relationship. And in the NT, Christ continues that imagery saying that he is the bridegroom and the church is the bride.

            What does that teach us about marriage and God? That like a man needs a woman, you need to have Christ in your life. He is not someone you just believe in and obey - you need belong to him the way a husband and wife belong to each other, you are united to him, you receive his love and are shaped by it. He is the “help” that you have always needed. He is like you, but not you. He is like you in that you share his image, being created human. But he is not like you in that he is holy. You need him to work with you, comfort you, and challenge you like a spouse does. In fact, you will never be the person you are supposed to be unless he comes into your life. He is the lover of your whole being. And how can you not respond to that kind of love but by submitting to him? 

            Paul says, “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church,” (5:32). The two are linked: How a man loves his wife and how a wife loves her husband represents the love of God in Christ for the church. Marriage is a testimony of how God loves us: unconditionally and to the giving of self even if it means death. In other words, when your marriage reflects the love of Christ, it is another way in which to bear witness to the world of God’s covenant love. 

 

Tim Keller says this is the Christian vision for marriage and falling in love. He wrote, “It is to look at another person and get a glimpse of the person God is creating, and to say, ‘I see who God is making you, and it excites me! I want to be part of that. I want to partner with you and God in the journey you are taking to his throne. And when we get there, I will look at your magnificence and say, 'I always knew you could be like this!" Each spouse should see the great thing that Jesus is doing in the life of their mate through the Word, the gospel.”

            What does this mean for us today? It means that marriage is more than a personal relationship to enjoy. It is a covenant (promises to be faithful) to live out.     

            When a husband and wife choose to be faithful “for better or for worse,” they are not just enduring the challenges of life– they are bearing witness to the faithfulness of God. 

When they give themselves to one another in love, they are reflecting the self-giving love of Christ. 

And as they walk together through the shaping, stretching, and sanctifying work of life together, they are not just growing as individuals – they are participating in what God is doing to make them into who they were created to be. 

If you are single or widowed, this vision is for you too. It points you to who Christ is for you, the one who meets your deepest need, who never leaves you nor forsakes you, who loves you with perfect love. 

Genesis begins with a wedding where a man and a woman are united and unashamed. The story of the Bible ends with a wedding where Christ is united with his people, and they no longer bear any shame because of his shed blood. 

The call for all of us is the same: Live and love in such a way that our relationships bear witness to the covenant love of God in Christ.

Marriage is a window through which the world catches a glimpse of the covenant love of God. Marriage is a living parable of God’s self-less love.

 

                                                AMEN

 

Created and Called: God's Design for Life Together Series #1

CREATED: MALE AND FEMALE IN GOD’S IMAGE

 

Who am I? 

Why am I here?

What is the purpose of my life? 

If you are asking these questions, you are having what is called an “identity crisis.” It happens to many people. There comes a time when everything feels meaningless and you grope and search for a foundation on which to live. Until you rediscover your identity, enjoying life is elusive. Your questions about identity are not isolated. They are echoes of a larger cultural earthquake. 

            Humanity, especially here in the west, has been suffering an identity crisis on a large scale for decades. In Canada and the US, understanding our humanity and our gender has become one of the most important issues of our times. The questions being asked have to do with what it means to be human, about being male and female. This is where the crisis finds its root: What does it mean to be human? 

            The answer should be straightforward; the truth is right in front of us, we muse. Yet the concept of truth has been divided into two categories. Francis Schaeffer illustrated this with the picture of a two-storey house. In the lower storey is that which is objectively true and testable – this is the stuff “everybody knows.” In the upper storey we find morality, private, subjective beliefs and feelings and preferences. You could say it’s a division of facts and values. 

            What we face today is a society that leans towards living in the second storey and ignoring the facts. It’s common to hear, “that’s true for you but not true for me.” What a person “feels” trumps what is empirically true. 

            But the gospel doesn’t invite us to choose a storey – it restores the whole house. Genesis 1:26-28 lays the groundwork for our identity: who we are and what our purpose is. So, we want to look at three major affirmations in Genesis that emphasize our identity as humans created by God, male and female.

 

1. We are Created by God (Genesis 1:26a)

 

The first affirmation is that humans are created by God.

            In a culture that ignores God or says, “God is dead,” this is not a universal belief. But in the ancient world everyone believed that humans were created by some divine being or beings. Whether the gods made humans out of mud to be their slaves to do work they didn’t want to do or some god created humans as his toys, humans were made by someone. 

            Genesis 1:26 states that the One true God who created the heavens and the earth, finished his week of Creation Work by making humanity. This is a theological statement as well as a biological one. In a world that believed in many gods, the Hebrews declared that there is only one God and he is the Creator. He created humans and he blessed them. Three times in verse 27 it says God created us. 

            Mark Twain would joke that God made humans at the end of his work week when he was tired. Imagine the work of God throughout that week and then concludes with man. Was humankind an afterthought? Adam Ramsey said, “Everything that God had made up to this point – the unique glory of each galaxy; the countless stars, whose names and number are known only by him; the beauty of this world in its original state of pre-curse purity; the creative diversity of every living creature in the sky, on land and in the sea – all of it was a warm-up for the creation of the first two human bodies.” We are the climax of God’s creation, not the last-gasp effort of God to include gardeners in his world. 

            In our modern world, the common understanding is that nobody created us. We are the product of evolution. But if our origins are ultimately impersonal, then meaning becomes something we must invent, not receive. Humanity thus is the product of a random universe that is slowly dying away. 

            Do you know what that means? Impersonal origins (no Creator) leads to an invented meaning (we have to make it up) and thus, an unstable identity. Then nothing matters. If nothing matters, you can do whatever you want to do. There is no accountability and there is no meaning to life, so stop trying to find it. So, those of you who want to be free of consequences and desire autonomy, this is the philosophy for you. And yet it’s a bleak reality if you choose it.

            That’s where Genesis 1:26-28 offers us hope. It is good news! This text teaches us that there is a Creator God who is all powerful and can create out of nothing! He created us. And he created us to be loved. We have a reason for being: it is to know God; it is to grow in relationship with God. He made us for a purpose… That we are created by God belongs in the lower storey; it is a reality and not a preference. 

 

2. We are Created in the Image of God (Genesis 1:26b-27b) 

 

The second affirmation is that we are created in the image of God. “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So, God created man in his own image…”

            What does it mean to be created in God’s image? This is very important because it is in this affirmation that we find meaning in life. Many scholars have wrestled with explaining what it means to be created in the image of God. Does it rest in our abilities to think, to reason, to judge and discern? Is it our ability to communicate or have relationships? 

            If we say that being created in the image of God is about any kind of ability and if our worth is based on something we can do, what if we can’t do it? This is not just a theoretical issue – it has real implications for how we treat the most vulnerable. If, for instance, image-bearing is about cognitive thinking, we as Christians should have no problem aborting fetuses, because they cannot think. 

            This is where the two-storey house comes into play. The question of when life begins becomes subjective. Pro-choice advocates tell us that life begins at birth. A Princeton bioethics professor goes further to say that true personhood cannot be assigned to a newborn until it has passed certain tests regarding its humanity. And if it does not pass the test, he says, the child forfeits the right to life. The lower storey – the biological, objective facts are deemed irrelevant to personhood, while the upper storey values determine who we are. If you don’t have those, you aren’t really human. 

            Being created in the image of God is not about our ability – it speaks to our identity. Who are we?

            In the Hebrew, “image” means “statue.” It could be wooden or stone. The word is “icon” and is used for idols. An image of a god in the ancient world was a statue that represented the god. It may not look exactly like the god it represents, but it was recognized by everyone as a reminder of that god’s presence. When a person passed the statue, they believed that the presence of that god was somehow in it. 

            It was often believed that kings were specifically viewed as the image of a god. Caesar Augustus was believed to be a son of the gods, a representation of their divine presence. 

            But now in Genesis 1 we see a radical shift in thought, a revolutionary idea. It’s not just the king who is the image of a god, but every human being whom God has created. Every person represents the Living God. To each of us is given this responsibility to rule over the earth and have dominion over God’s creation. Each child in the womb possesses dignity and honor because God has declared it so. Even the person who is in a coma or has severe disabilities possesses this dignity because it is not dependent on what they can do, but on who they are as God’s icon. 

            If the common understanding of most Canadians resides in the second storey value system – you don’t stand a chance. Genesis 1:26, however, places a high value on every human being. This is what the psalmist recognized in Psalm 8:5-8. Being created in the image of God is a gift of identity and purpose that the world does not offer you. Which storey of the house do you want to live in? 

 

3. We are Created Male and Female…in the image of God 

 

The third affirmation is that God has created us in his image male and female. “So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” 

            We have observed that it is not only the king who represents God on the earth, but every person. Now the radical revelation of humanity continues as the writer of Genesis says that male AND female are created in God’s image. That men and women are equal is taken for granted somewhat in our present day, but for the ancient world this was mind-blowing.

            But what makes us male and female? Is it the activities we engage in or the work we do? Men hunt and women cook. But Esau was the man’s man who with his hairy biceps took down a deer with his bare hands. Jacob liked to stay at home with mom and cook. Lydia in the NT was a merchant, a seller of purple cloth – was she less feminine? 

In the 1960s boys were not supposed to play with dolls, those are for girls, so the toy companies invented action figures. What are action figures? Dolls! When we impose expectations of play or work on gender, we are adding to the confusion of our times. Cultural stereotypes set aside, maleness and femaleness have nothing to do with an internal sense that disagrees with their biology. For some, this is a simple reality plug – you have no problem with what I’m saying. But for others, they feel like there is a battle with in themselves and they wish they could agree. Many of us have no idea how deep the pain is for those struggling with sexual identity. 

            But we can see how fractured the truth is today The lower storey – the biological reality is irrelevant. The upper storey where feelings are valued reveals your “true self.” Some years ago, the City of New York released a list of 31 separate gender identities and the number could rise. We live in a culture that wants to blur the boundaries so that we don’t have to accept them.

            If God has created us male and female as part of his design for being human, it is no wonder that Satan enjoys throwing humanity into confusion. God gave women dignity in being women and men in being men. We may not all fit the mold of the Viking or the princess, but our identity is found in God’s design. 

            Herman Bavinck explained it like this: “God is the Creator of the human being, and simultaneously also the Inaugurator of sex and of sexual difference. This difference did not result from sin; it existed from the very beginning, it has its basis in creation, it is a revelation of God’s will and sovereignty and is therefore wise and holy and good. Therefore, no one may misconstrue or despise this sexual difference, either within one’s own identity or in that of another person…” 

            

Who am I and why am I here? Your identity is established in this well-known passage of Creation. We know it so well we may have overlooked its essential truths that we are created by God, in God’s image, male and female. 

            Dan Darling invites us to join a movement with these words, “Imagine, for a moment, if God’s people began to lead a new, quiet revolution whose foundation was a simple premise: every human being – no matter who they are, no matter where they are, no matter what they have done or have had done to them – possesses dignity, because every human being is created in the image of God. By God’s grace, our churches would change, and our communities would change.” 

            Anchored in God’s original design for humanity, our perspective – how we see ourselves and each other – is renewed. Your identity – my identity – as a male human or a female human – is grounded in Christ above all. Paul wrestled with his identity as a Jew in a Gentile world and the challenges that presented. He concluded, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me,” (Gal. 2:20). 

             Some of you hear this and it feels clear and steady.
Others hear this and it feels complicated, maybe even heavy.

But wherever you are this morning, this is where the gospel meets you.

You are not an accident.
You are not a mistake.
You are not left alone to figure yourself out.

You were created by God, in his image, with intention and care. And even where sin has fractured our world—and our own sense of self—Jesus Christ steps in, not to erase you, but to redeem you.

He does not say, “Figure out who you are and come back to me.”
He says, “Come to me, and I will show you who you are.”

So come—not with everything sorted out, not with perfect clarity—but come.

Because your truest identity is not something you achieve - it is something you receive.

 

                                                AMEN

    Sources consulted:

Craig Thiessen, "World Reframed: In the Image of God"

Darryl Dash, "God's Original Design for Men and Women" 

Nancy Pearcy's book "Love Thy Body"

Genesis 1-15, By Gordon J. Wenham

Easter Sunday 2026 - 1 Corinthians 15:12-20

THE “IFS” AND “BUTS” OF 

THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS

 

Very early on Sunday morning, a group of women made their way to a tomb, carrying spices in their arms and grief in their hearts. The sun had just begun to rise. The world was waking up to the morning light – but for them, everything had gone dark.

            They came to care for a body.

            They came to finish what death had started. 

            But when they arrived, nothing had changed. 

            The stone was still sealed with Pilate’s stamp.

            The Roman guard remained at their post.

            The grave still held its prisoner.

            No angel.

            No empty tomb.

            No message.

            No hope. 

Jesus of Nazareth was dead… 

And he stayed dead.

That’s the story – if the resurrection never happened. And it’s not just a different ending; it’s a different Christianity. It’s a different gospel – if it could be called a gospel at all. It’s a different world. 

What if Jesus was not raised from the dead? That may sound like a question of doubt. It isn’t. It’s a question the Bible dares to ask. And when the Apostle Paul asks it in 1 Corinthians 15, he doesn’t soften the answer – he follows it all the way down to its frightening end. Because everything hangs on this:

If Christ has not been raised…what’s left? 

 

The Problem: What if there is no resurrection?

 

The Corinthians had a peculiar issue with the resurrection of Jesus. They believed that Jesus had risen from the dead, but they did not believe that they would be resurrected at the Second Coming. They believed Jesus rose – but not that they would. Paul says you can’t have it both ways.  

            Was it because of false teaching? Did they misunderstand the Second Coming of Christ? How did they get here? 

            Paul doesn’t tell us. His concern is to correct their error. He asks them to consider the consequences. “But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised” (13). 

            Here the problem is revealed. If you are going to say that humans can’t be raised from the dead, then Jesus was not raised from the dead. Jesus was fully human. Did God not raise him from the dead? 

            It may be that some beliefs from their old religion had muddied their thinking. Greek philosophy taught that all things physical were evil or corrupt. The Corinthians could not see any use for these bodies after we die. All things physical were but a shadow of the spiritual reality in heaven. Some of this thinking still exists in the church today. But think of the consequences of thinking that God would not raise this body…

 

The Consequences

 

There are six consequences of such a scenario.

As Paul dives into these consequences, we begin to see what the world would be like if Christ had not been raised.

            

1. Intellectual Collapse – preaching is empty (14a) – If Christ has not been raised, what are we talking about? All the messages you have heard over the years, all the worship services you have been a part of, all the Christian books you have read – all of it – is empty, pointless. Jesus’ teaching to love one another is just good ethics without the resurrection. Jesus is just a teacher with some good ideas. His death is the tragic outcome of a misunderstood life. There is nothing about him to base a whole movement upon if he is not resurrected from the dead. 

2. Personal Collapse – faith is useless (14b) – If we say that Christ died for our sins, but there is no resurrection, our faith has no foundation. What are we believing in? If Christ died for our sins, how do we know that his sacrifice accomplished anything? If Jesus is still in some forgotten tomb, there would be a lot of questions about God. Was God’s wrath satisfied? We have no idea. The atonement would be without validation.

            Everything that Christians practice based on faith in a crucified teacher is irrational. Our faith is pretty flimsy.

3. Moral Collapse – we are liars (15) – As one writer put it, if the resurrection never happened, the apostles are the world’s greatest liars. And what we bear witness to, the power of Jesus’ name, telling people that Jesus rose from the dead? We are not just mistaken. We are misrepresenting God by telling these stories of Jesus and telling people to believe in a dead prophet. Jesus told us that God loves us, but how do we know? We simply don’t have proof of God’s love without the resurrection. We only have proof that God’s justice demands satisfaction. 

4. Spiritual Collapse – we are still in our sins (17) – Now it’s getting personal. Take in this whole verse and absorb it: “…if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins,” (17). If we are lying to people and misrepresenting God by telling them their sins are forgiven, we are deceivers. They’re not forgiven! We seriously cannot tell people their sins are forgiven if Christ has not been raised. On the last day, we will have to stand before God and be judged for every little sin and suffer the consequences. Paul makes this argument in Romans concerning Jesus, “It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead our Lord Jesus, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification,” (4:25). You see, without the resurrection there is no justification – our sins have not been dealt with. As a result, there is no mercy for you and me. And without the living Christ, there is no advocate to answer Satan’s accusations, saying, “I’ve paid the penalty.” We are still in our sins… 

5. Relational Collapse – our loved ones are lost (18) – The NT talks about those who have died as having “fallen asleep in Christ.” Now if Christ has not been raised, “Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.” When you go to sleep, you expect to wake up. Christians have this hope that dying is like falling asleep and that one day we will awake to the Day of the Lord, the day of resurrection. I like to say to people that waking up in the morning is like practicing the resurrection. But if Christ has not been raised, everyone who dies perishes. Our loved ones who we have buried in the grave will not be raised to life. We will not have a joyous reunion in the new world – there is no new world. 

6. Existential Collapse – we are pathetic (19) – Finally, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (19). If Christ has not been raised from the dead, why are we following a man who lied to us? Let me ask you this: Would you still be a Christian if there is no resurrection? 

            What are we left with if there is no resurrection?

            No good news

            No Salvation

            No reason to be holy

            No forgiveness of sins

            No hope after death

            No reason to believe any of it!

 

“BUT” – The Great Reversal

 

Just when everything collapses in a heap of disappointment…Paul thunders one word: But! “BUT in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (20). 

            Jesus Christ, the first fruits of the resurrection. Are you familiar with that term? The concept of first fruits is rooted in OT times when people lived in a farm-centered society. Harvest time was important because that was when the hard work the farmers had poured into their crops all year began to pay off. God called the people to bring in the first yield of the harvest as an offering at the Temple. This was to demonstrate their obedience and awe for God. It also demonstrated that they trusted God to provide enough crops for their families.  

            Farmers would bring their first fruits to the priest who then “lifted it up” and “waved” it before the LORD (Lev. 23:11). The imagery is worth noting. When seeds are planted in the soil, they must die in the ground. At harvest time the fruit that rises from the ground in new life is then presented before the LORD. This OT ritual foreshadowed the resurrection of Christ. 

            In the NT, first fruits take on this new meaning. Jesus was God’s first fruits – his one and only Son, the best that humanity had to offer. God gave up Jesus to die on a cross, was laid in a tomb, and raised him up on the third day. Jesus represents the first and best of what is to come; his resurrection is a demonstration of the promise that God will provide the remainder of the harvest, the resurrection of the dead in Christ. 

            The resurrection of Jesus gives our faith living power. The first thing Paul wrote to the Roman Christians was an explanation of this truth. He said, “…concerning this Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,” (Rom. 1:3-4). 

            

            Jesus is alive! The resurrection of Jesus is the exclamation point of God’s joy and celebration of what Christ did in dying for humankind. Christ is alive – he lives for us, to deliver us powerfully from sin and death. 

            So, because of this great reversal, all the “ifs” of death are turned over by the joyful “Buts” of life. Therefore:

 

Our preaching isn’t empty or vain – it proclaims hope!

 

Our faith isn’t fragile – it is based on a risen Savior!

 

What we testify is not deception or lies – we are witnesses to the Truth! 

 

We are not condemned by our sins – we are forgiven!

 

Our loved ones are not lost – they are with the Lord of life.

 

We are not to be pitied – we are to be envied for the hope we have in Christ!

 

For there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved in such an awesome way.

 

Timothy Keller said of the resurrection: “If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said. If he did not rise from the dead then why worry about any of what he said. The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching, but whether or not he rose from the dead.”

 

If the grave could not hold him…it will not hold us! 

 

            “Up from the grave He arose

            With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,

            He arose a victor o’er the dark domain,

            And He lives forever with His saints to reign!

            He arose! He arose!

            Hallelujah! Christ arose!

 

                                                AMEN