Everybody remember Aaron Greenleaf?
He's preaching in Danville this morning. And tonight, I'm going
to be preaching on this subject, the preaching of John the Baptist. The preaching of John the Baptist. And I've entitled the message
for this morning, The Sixth Day, Let Us Make Man. Now in verses 24 and 25, we have
the creation of animals. You know, when I was a kid, my
favorite program, probably a lot of you young people don't even
know about this, but there was a program called Wild Kingdom,
Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. There was a fellow by the name
of Marlon Perkins that hosted it. And I can remember Jim, his
assistant, would be wrestling with a bow constrictor while
he would be speaking in real monotone terms of what was taking
place. I love that. I love planet Earth
and blue planet right now, although I don't like the evolutionary
views, obviously, that they have. But I just love God's creation,
aardvarks, antelopes, anteaters, two-toed sloths, mice, elephants,
duck-billed platypus, animals, and how beautiful is God's creation. Now, in these verses, it's pointed
out that each one of these animals he made created other animals
after his kind. So important. You cannot believe
the Bible and believe the theory of evolution. Now, I've said that to people,
and somebody says, oh, I believe in God. Well, I didn't say that.
I said you can't believe the Bible. and believe the theory of evolution
that all life comes from a common ancestor. Did you notice in reading
the latter verses of chapter one that everybody was a vegetarian?
There was no death yet, and God created the plants. Can you imagine
a tiger grazing on grass and a lion? That's the way it was.
There was no death at this time. and the fall had not yet taken
place. God saw everything that was made
and it was very good. And in verse 26, we read this
for the first time in the creation account. And God said, let us, let us, let us make man in our
image after our likeness. Now, this is the first time we
read this in the creation account, and we're going to consider why
momentarily. But in all the other days, it
begins with, and God said, and it was so. And God said, and
it was so. But here we read, let us make
man in our image. Man was the crowning work of
creation, God's creation, different from all of the other animals
because he was made in the image and likeness of God. And every man bears the image
and the likeness But what does all that mean? Well, I'll give
a stab at it. A man has a personality. He is a person. He has a consciousness,
a self-awareness that none of the animals had. It's only a
man that looks up. The animals never do that. He has an intellect. He has emotions. He has feelings. He has a will.
that the animal does not have. He's a moral being with the ability
to make moral judgments and a conscience that knows the difference between
right and wrong. Every man is born with the law
of God written on his heart. Every man knows it's wrong or
born knowing it's wrong to steal, to kill, to lie. Every man is born with the law
of God written on their heart. I think it's interesting where
people say we need to teach men how to live. Men already know
how to live. They know the difference between
right and wrong. And this is the difference between a man
and a beast. And man was made for communion
with God. Before the creation, when all
there was was God, all three persons of the Trinity. And that's
what let us make man in our own image refers to all three persons
of the Trinity had blessed fellowship and communion with one another. I love to think about that. I
can't think about it. I realize that it's so far above
my head, but I love thinking about the three persons of the
Godhead delighting in one another. Let us make man in our own image. Now, the Lord didn't create man
because he needed anything. He was utterly perfect in himself
before creation. But he did say, let us make man
in our own image. Look what verse 27 says. So God
created man in his own image. In the image of God created he
him. male and female created he them. Now, obviously, this does not
mean that man shares in God's incommunicable attributes. There
are some things with regard to God that man will never be. Only
God is sovereign. His will is always done. No man's like that. I think it's
interesting when you read about a certain nation. Well, we're
a sovereign nation. I know what they mean by that, but there's
only one sovereign. God is absolutely, utterly sovereign. Man's a creature. He's not the creator. Only God is omnipotent, all powerful. Only God is independent. He has
no needs. Only God is omnipresent. You
can't go anywhere where he's not. Only God possesses absolute
justice. Only God possesses omniscience. So when we say that, or when
the Bible says that man was created in the image of God, that does
not mean he shares in God's incommunicable attributes. Man is a creature. He is the creator. Now I don't believe that man
was created with a holy nature. He was created with an innocent
nature. a sinless nature. Ecclesiastes 7.29, this I know
that God hath made all men upright. But if he had a holy nature,
he would have never fallen. Because true holiness, that holiness,
can God sin? No. God is not capable of sin. It's against his nature. And
if, and Adam had a different, in his unfallen state, he has
a different nature than the believer has in the new birth. So I don't
believe he had a holy nature, but he had an upright nature.
a nature that did not sin. But what a life Adam must have
had created in the image and likeness of God. Placed in a
perfect environment and given dominion over everything. A perfect
man, a perfect woman. I suppose they were the most
physically beautiful people to ever live. without a sinful nature
to bring problems into their lives. Now you think of the problems
your spouse brings on you with their sinful nature. I had to
get that in. It wasn't in my notes. But they didn't have a sinful
nature to bring these problems into their lives, living in the
Garden of Eden, the garden that the Lord himself planted, living
in paradise, no trouble, no conflict, no lack, What a life made in
the image and likeness of God. Let us make man in our image. Now this is the language of the
three persons of the one true and living God. In verse 1 of
chapter 1, in the beginning, God created the heaven and the
earth. Now, God, Elohim, however you
pronounce it, is in the plural. Right off the bat, we have a
reference to the three persons of the Trinity. And the three
persons of the Trinity are identified in these first three verses.
God, we read of the spirit of God in verse 2. God said, let
there be light, and that's the uncreated light. The sun and
the moon and the stars didn't come until the fourth day, so
we have the three persons of the Trinity in the very opening
verses of the Bible. Let us make man in our own image. The Trinity, God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. One God, three distinct persons. Mystery. Believe. Worship. That's the only way
we can respond to who He is. Now, I think that the opening
verses of John gives us some idea when it says, in the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God as a distinct person. The Word was with God, and the
Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. Now this doesn't explain the
relationships of the three persons of the Trinity, but it states
it. The word was with God, the word was God. When the Lord gives instructions
concerning baptism, he says, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Now, we'd never
figure this out. The only way we know this is
because God has revealed this concerning himself. You see,
God cannot be known apart from revelation. Now, please understand
that. God cannot be known apart from
him revealing himself to us. He can't be put under a microscope
or studied in a lab. We only know him as he reveals
himself. This thing of God being one God
in three distinct persons is not something you can figure
out. It's something that is only known by revelation, by the scriptures
of truth. Now creation tells us, and you
can know this without the Bible, Creation tells us God is all-powerful. He made all this, and He's eternal. Nobody made Him. We can see that
from the light of creation. But we can't really know, for
instance, that He's one God and three distinct persons apart
from the revelation of Scripture. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God. Now, once again, I can't prove
that, but I know it's so. And if God can create the universe,
it's no problem for him to inspire men to write a book with no error
in it and keep it preserved through the centuries. That's not hard
at all. Somebody says it's hard to believe.
No, it's not. It's not hard to believe because it's not hard
to believe that God created the universe. You know he did. And
God, what would we have if we don't have the Bible? We'd have
my opinion, we'd have your opinion, which if we're in trouble, that's
the case. Thank God for the scriptures. Now, God reveals himself as the
one God. Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy
God is one God. It was one God who said, let
us make man in our own image. It's one God in three distinct
persons. Now, in this book we call the
Bible, this is given to tell us the character of God, who
he is. We find out the origin of men,
God. We find out about the fall of
man. And we find out how God has purposed to save a people
for his glory through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're
told about the salvation of the sinner for God's glory. Now in
this salvation of the sinner, they're each person of the Godhead. And once again, I'm speaking
mysteries that I believe with all my heart, but I'm giving
what the Bible says. Not my opinions, what the Bible
says. All three persons of the Godhead have a role, and I don't
know what other word to use. They have a role in salvation.
God the Father elected before time began who would be saved. God hath from the beginning chosen
you unto salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. God the Son has his role in salvation. It's all for his glory. He redeemed
those the Father gave him before time began. He willingly took
my sin, voluntarily took my sin, and made it his own, gave me
his righteousness. Oh, what a... All roles are 100%. It's not
like there's 1 3rd, 1 3rd, 1 3rd. It's 100, 100, 100. Salvation is holy of the Father
in election, holy of the Son in redemption, holy of the God,
the Spirit in regeneration when He gives a new life, when He
gives a new heart. Now I'd like you to turn with
me for a moment to 1 Corinthians chapter 4. 1 Corinthians chapter 4. Now, I don't have any doubt that
Paul was thinking of Exodus chapter 11, verse seven, when he made
this statement, when he said that you may know how that the
Lord, against any of the children of Israel, shall not a dog move
his tongue, against man or beast, so that you may know how that
the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. I have no doubt that Paul was
thinking of this verse when he makes this statement in verse
seven. He says to the Corinthians, for who maketh thee to differ
from another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? Now, if you are a believer, you
do differ greatly from an unbeliever. You have received things given
freely to you by God that was never given to them. You have
a relationship with God that they will never have. Who? Not what is the difference, although
there is an infinite difference. Who maketh thee to differ from
another. Now Charles Spurgeon called this,
listen to these words, discriminating grace. And that's a good word because
it gets our attention, doesn't it? Discriminating grace. Because we know what discrimination
means in the world. It means showing favoritism to
a certain race or certain sex or certain age group or whatever.
That gets our ire up. We know it's wrong when we think
of discrimination in a worldly sense. But I like this word with
regard to God's grace. God's grace is discriminating. Everybody knows what that means.
He made a difference with you that he didn't make with somebody
else. Discriminating grace. Now, God's no respecter of persons. And I think the cross is such
a strong statement with regard to that when sin was found on
his son. He killed him, didn't he? God's
no respecter of persons. But God's grace is discriminating. If God doesn't show some special
favor to some over others, they will not be saved. Now, if he
didn't, listen to this, if there were no discriminating grace,
no one would be saved. If there were no discriminating
grace, me and you would be in hell. All men would be in hell. There would be no hope for anybody. But thank God he does discriminate
in his grace. Now, before I speak of that,
God's discriminating grace, Adam and Eve, created upright, fell. You can read of that. We're going
to be considering a few weeks out of Genesis chapter three.
They fell and after their fall, they became God's enemies. They became haters of God. Look in Romans chapter eight.
You're there a few pages back in Romans chapter eight, verse seven. Because the carnal mind is, what's
the next word? Enmity against God. It's hostile toward God. That's the natural, that's the
way you and I were born into this world. And if God doesn't
discriminate with us and do something for us, we'll die this way. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. The carnal mind hates the God
of the Bible. Now, a lot of times, folks, you
say, do you love God? Well, of course I do. But you tell them
who God really is according to the scripture, you'll find that
different. They're going to get upset about that. Not that God. No, I don't love that God. Yeah,
I know you don't. The natural man, if it was in
his power, would put God completely out of business and reign over
him. Now that is the thought of every natural man. The carnal
mind is enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of
God. Neither indeed can be. It lacks the ability. So then
they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Total depravity. Enmity against
God. Total inability. Nothing they
can do to earn God's favor or pleased God, and looking back
in Genesis chapter two, this is before the fall took
place, but look at these words, verse 15, and the Lord God took
the man, Genesis chapter two, verse 15, and the Lord God took
the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and
to keep it. Just on the side, work was before
the fall. Work's good. Work's a good thing. He was put in the garden to dress
it and to keep it. Verse 16, and the Lord God commanded
the man, saying, of every tree of the garden, thou mayest freely
eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now once again, this was before
the fall. But of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day
that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Now we know he didn't die physically,
but he died spiritually. Question, could God have prevented
the fall? Of course he could have. Did he? No, because it was all
a part of his decree. He decreed the fall of Adam. He didn't say if you eat thereof.
He said in the day you eat thereof. When it takes place, and it's
all going to take place according to my decree, In the day you
eat thereof, thou shalt surely die. Now, I know people, I've
even heard preachers say, well, God didn't decree the fall, he
allowed it. Everything that takes place,
God decrees. Are you making God the author of evil? I wish people
would quit saying that. You know, God's God. Whatever
takes place is his will being done. And he brings good out
of evil. And indeed, so much good was
brought out of the fall, the glory of Christ, the complete
salvation of sinners in a way much more secure than Adam ever
was before the fall. Now his purpose, He purposed
the fall and his purpose was also to save a great number of
men for the glory of his name and he made them to differ. He gave them blessing that all
men were not given. If you're saved, if you're saved, God God made
you to differ. I hope you're saying, why me? Why would he look in such mercy
on me? God made you to differ when he
chose you before the foundation of the world, before creation,
before there was a sun, moon, and stars, God chose you. He made a difference with you. He chose you before the foundation
of the world, according Ephesians 1, 4, according as he has chosen
us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him. If you're saved, The Son
made you to differ when He represented you on Golgotha's hill and He
voluntarily took your sins and made them His own. Why did He die? There's only
one reason for death, sin. And He took my sin voluntarily. He took my sin and it became
his sin. No, he never committed a sin.
He never committed a sin, but he was guilty of the commission
of the sins of everybody he died for. I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which
are not of this fold. Christ loved the church and gave
himself for it. He said, I pray for them. I pray
not for the world, but for them which you have given me, for
they are thine. Universal atonement, that teaching
that says that Jesus Christ shed his blood for everybody, and
some of those people will end up in hell, is a denial of the
gospel, and it's a denial of every attribute of God. You can't preach the gospel or
believe the gospel and believe such foolishness. Can't do it,
it can't be done. Oh, I'm so thankful that he made
me a different. I'm amazed to think that he took
my sin and my sorrow and made it his very own. He bore the
burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone. And he did it
voluntarily. He did it in obedience to his
father. He did it because he loved me. If you're one of his,
he loved you. and He gave Himself for you. I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how He could love me, a sinner,
condemned, unclean. He made you to differ. God the
Holy Spirit made you to differ in the new birth when He gave
you a heart. You know, there was a time when
you were fine with things the way they are. You thought somehow
you'd end up being saved, so one of these days you'd do whatever
it took to make you saved. You're okay with that. And then
God gave you the new birth and you saw that there was nothing
you could do to save yourself. And you were totally dependent
on an independent God to do something for you. And why do you see that? Because God gave you life. You
saw the excellency and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and
the complete salvation that's in Him. Why do you see that?
because God made you to differ. Who made you to differ? Oh, the
Lord did. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. God made man upright. Man fell
from that lofty position. It's all his fault. But I think
of what Joseph said to his brethren. You meant it for evil. But God
meant it for good. My sin's all my fault. I'm not
a victim. My sin's all my fault in everything
I do. I meant it for evil. But God
takes the fall. and he makes something more glorious
than could ever have been had there not been the fall of our
first parents. The first creation failed, but
through that fall, there is a new creation that is infinitely better
than the first creation. And we get a hint of this when
Paul says in Romans 8.29, for whom he did foreknow. Now don't miss this, not what
he foreknew, whom he did foreknow. He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son. Now here we have true conformity
to his image. The one who is the image of the
invisible God, the brightness of God's glory, and the express
image of his person. Every believer is conformed to
his image. Now in the first creation, let
me give this in closing. In the first creation, God made
something from nothing. And in the second creation, he
makes something from nothing. He doesn't use the old nature.
He doesn't improve the old nature. He doesn't change the old nature.
He puts something there that was not there before. If any man be in Christ, 2 Corinthians
5.17, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. Now, what's passed away? Well,
I'm given a new heart that was not there before. Now, the old
man's still there. Somebody says, well, since God
saved me, I don't have sinful desires anymore. Nobody believes
that. You're just a liar. Nobody believes
that even for a second. You still have an old nature,
but if you are a believer, you have a new nature. A holy nature. And that old position with the
law has passed away. You're no longer guilty before
God's law. You are without sin. You are
perfect. You stand before God's law. Just
old things have passed away. They are no more. Ephesians chapter two, verses
eight through 10. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. That faith, it's not of yourselves. It's not the product of your
will. It's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should
boast. For we are his workmanship, listen
to this word, created. This is this new creation. Created in Christ Jesus unto
good works. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 24
says you have put on the new man, which is created in righteousness
and true holiness Adam was created upright, but he wasn't created
in righteousness and true holiness every single believer is Would you turn with me for a
moment to Galatians chapter 6 I Galatians chapter 6 verse 15 For in Jesus Christ in Christ
Jesus Neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision But
a new creation And as many as walk according
to this rule, peace be on them and mercy and upon the Israel
of God. Now, what rule is he talking about? Well, look in
verse 14. Here's the rule he's speaking
of. And by this, you can know if you are a new creation. I'm interested in that. What
is the evidence of being a new creature in Christ Jesus? How
can I know if I'm a new creature? Verse 14, but God forbid that
I should glory, that I should have confidence in, that I should
rely on anything save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now let me ask you, are you glorying
only in the cross? Right now is your only hope that
all God requires of you is found right here in what the Lord Jesus
Christ did. Nothing else is needed, and that's
all you have confidence in. You don't have confidence in
anything else. Paul said, we are the circumcision, which worship
God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence
in the flesh. If you glory only in the cross,
and you can know right now I'm not looking to my preaching,
I'm not looking to my works, my evidences, anything in me.
I look only to what Christ did on Calvary's tree as all that
God requires of me. Turn with me to Colossians chapter
three. Verse 10. You put on the new man, and that
word new means something that was not there before. You put
on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image
of him that created him. Now there we go. And what is
that knowledge that this new man has that's been created in
the image of him that made him? What is that new knowledge? Verse
11, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all in all. Now that is the knowledge of
the new man. Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth,
the man Christ Jesus, the God-man Christ Jesus, He's all. He's
all to God. He's all to God. He's all that
God is. He's all in the Scriptures. No
Scripture is understood apart from Christ is all. This is the
gate we must go through. If we don't go through this gate,
we've missed the meaning. Christ is all. He's all in salvation. Everything that God requires
of me, He looks to His Son for. Everything. He's all in my salvation. He's all to me. I don't want
to be found anywhere else but in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ
is all. Now in your heart, can you say
amen to that? Jesus Christ is all. Christ, God's prophet. Oh, he's
like no other prophet. I love saying this, Christ never
said, thus saith the Lord. I know I say this a lot, and
I'm gonna say it a lot more, too. Christ never said, thus
saith the Lord. Christ said, I say unto you.
Oh, what a priest, Christ bringing his own blood before the Father.
What a king, who is in absolute control of everything and everybody. Christ is all. Now, someone who has been made
new, someone who's a new creature in Christ Jesus. Every single
one of them, without exception, believe Christ is all. Now, here's what we're waiting
on, you know, created in the image and likeness of God. Here's what we're waiting on.
David put it this way in Psalm 1715, as for me, as for me. I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake
in thy likeness. The gospel. Yes, men were created
in the likeness and image of God, but in the gospel were created
in the likeness and image of the Lord Jesus Christ. You say,
what's the difference? I don't know that there is any
difference, but I know there's a lot of difference between unfallen
Adam, fallen Adam, and the new creature in Christ Jesus. May God make everybody in this
room right now to glory only in the cross and to believe that
Christ Jesus is all. Let's pray.