Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. . . . And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him. Genesis 1:26-27

What does it mean to be created in the image and likeness of God? Theologians have kicked this question around for centuries. Unfortunately, the Bible doesn’t explain the image of God in detail.

The two phrases “in Our image” and “in Our likeness” are parallel expressions. The Hebrew word for “image” comes from a root that speaks of carving. It suggests that man is somehow carved into the shape of God. Is this carving physical, biological, emotional, intellectually, relational, spiritual, moral, or what? How are we like God?

John Calvin said, “The image of God extends to everything in which the nature of man surpasses that of all other species of animals. . . . And though the primary seat of the divine image was in the mind and the heart, or in the soul and its powers, there was no part even of the body in which some rays of glory did not shine.”

I love Calvin’s phrase “rays of glory.” The rays of God’s glory shine upon us as human beings and clothe us in dignity. Whatever it means to be created in the image and likeness of God, it is high and lofty and sacred. No plant, animal, bird, or fish shares this carving, nor can such creatures evolve into the likeness of God. The divine image is something that God uniquely impresses on humans. It is what defines our identity. It sets us apart from every other aspect of God’s creation.

Anthropology and theology must begin with Genesis to fully understand the nature of man. The image of God explains our moral consciousness, creativity, and capacity for intimate relationships. It explains the higher dimensions of our intellect and emotions. Our language and communication skills are a reflection of our God-likeness. Even the desire for a personal relationship with our Creator says something about us possessing the divine image.

It is because we are created in the image of God that life is sacred and should be treated as such even as we consider public policy. In an article for the Washington Post, Michael Gerson made this important connection. He writes, “If religious belief about the dignity of human life were illegitimate as a basis for public policy, there would have been no abolition or civil rights movements. The idea of a divine image found in every human being is one of the main foundations for the American tradition of liberty, tolerance and pluralism. Religious duty motivates millions to love and serve their neighbors – and thus to respect their neighbor’s rights of conscience.”

Gerson is spot on. When we move away from the idea of a divine image being found in every human being, life becomes cheap and disposable. Then atrocities like abortion on demand, euthanasia and a host of other crimes against humanity become easier for society to accept. When that happens we deface the image of God. It’s like spraying graffiti on his likeness.

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth; and so it was. Genesis 1:14-15

On the first day of creation, God said, “Let there be light.” On the fourth day of creation, he added, “Let there be lights.” Light reflectors and generators in the expanse replaced the intrinsic light force that God created on day one. The stated purpose of the sun, moon and stars was to divide, direct, and dazzle.

Besides dividing the day from the night, the luminaries in the sky set the seasons and serve as signs. By day four if not before, the earth is tilting on its axis and unveiling the cycles of spring, summer, winter and fall to the new planet. The beautiful seasonal changes on earth provide variety and a spice to life.

In what way do these lights serve as signs? Of course, for centuries sailors have used the stars in the sky as navigation points. Scientists and astronomers study the stars to determine tides, eclipses, seasonal changes and so on. But is there something more to this? Some say God wrote the gospel in the stars but that the signs of the zodiac have been corrupted by pagan astrology. This theory has huge theological problems but it does make for interesting discussion.

God never intended for us to worship the sun, moon and stars. But the history of humanity demonstrates how prone we are to worship the creation rather than the Creator (Rom. 1). In Greek mythology, for instance, Apollo is the sun god and Artemis is the goddess of the moon. The Greeks also worshipped a number of lesser “sky deities.” Hindus worship Aditi who is the mother of the sun and moon gods, Mitra and Varuna. Eskimos worship Akycha, the sun spirit. The Mayans worshipped Ah Kinchil, the god of the sun. Ama-Terasu is the Japanese sun goddess. And the list goes on and on.

Sun worshippers beware! Some speculate that the reason God did not create the sun first is because he knew we would worship it. No matter what day he made the sun, we are still prone to wander from our Creator, aren’t we?

Did you hear about the superconducting super collider experiment happening in Geneva, Switzerland? Earlier this month, millions of high-energy protons traveling at the speed of light were smashed together in two counter rotating beams. It’s the ultimate science project and it has scientists from around the world sitting on the edge of their seat to the universe.

What’s the point of the super-sized experiment? Apparently scientists are looking for something called the Higgs boson, an undiscovered particle that is necessary for the Standard Model in physics to work. The Higgs boson has another name. Some call it the “God particle.” As one reporter said, “Scientists in Geneva hope that the super collider experiment will shed light on the origin of the universe.”

All of this and more makes the book of Genesis more relevant than tomorrow’s newspaper. As the history book of the universe, Genesis does more than shed light on the origin of life.

Genesis is also critical to our understanding of so many Christian doctrines including the nature of God, the nature of man, and the nature and consequences of sin. In Genesis we discover the origin and definition of marriage. Could anything be more relevant today? It informs an understanding of work, the weekly day of rest and our relationship to the environment. It explains how death, disease, suffering and bloodshed came into the world. It sheds light on our dark side and the origin of evil. The book of Genesis also establishes the unifying theme of the Bible which is our need for a Savior to redeem us from the penalty and power of sin.

I’m convinced that if we stumble in our understanding of the book of Genesis, we will veer off course in a thousand theological ways.

Genesis is not without controversy. The first ten words of the Bible set the framework for a worldview not everyone accepts. It says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). Do you believe you are a created being or the product of protoplasmic pond scum that evolved by random chance over millions of years into the complex creature that you are? Well, since you put it that way, right?

Some people say that science and the Bible are at odds with each other. We’ll never get the scientists and the theologians together. Is that true? The truth is that science and Scripture harmonize in the first ten words of the Bible. Let me show you how with a short lesson from high school science.

Scientists tell us that in order to understand how anything forms we need to consider five things. You might want to write these down: time, force, action, space and matter. I know, I know. That sounds about as exciting as watching paint dry. Hang with me. I promise you this gets real exciting. Now go back to Genesis 1:1 and read again how the Bible begins.

In the beginning (time) God (force) created (action) the heavens (space) and the earth (matter).

Isn’t that awesome! The next time you’re tempted to think that science and the Bible don’t mix, consider this: It might just take some time for science to catch up to what God already knows.

Your life matters to God more than you think. That’s why He created you in his image. Imago Dei is a Latin term that means “image of God.” It speaks of a worldview that is rooted in the biblical account of creation, and a life that is full of redemption, meaning, purpose and joy. Join me this Sunday at Immanuel for the start of a 10-week series of messages from the book of beginnings, Genesis 1-3.

Is the Bible full of myth or miracle? The answer you get depends on who you ask. For a long time, critics have taken aim at the Bible for the supernatural claims it makes. Miracles don’t happen, they say. Everything in the world can be explained naturally. Reduced to myth or fable is anything that looks or smells like a miracle in the Bible.

Paul instructed Timothy not to pay attention to myths (2 Tim. 4:4), and the apostle Peter made sure that his readers understood the nature of what he wrote. “For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:16).

Thomas Jefferson thought the supernatural claims of the Bible were bogus, as did most deists in his day. Jefferson took out his pen knife and edited all miracles out of the Bible and came up with something called The Jeffersonian Bible. I don’t recommend it, but you can still purchase Jefferson’s thin Bible at his Memorial in Washington D.C.

Jesus is the Son of God, the Creator of the universe, and the Savior of the world. He was also a supernaturalist by all accounts. He punctuated his Messianic claims with miracles that proved he was who he claimed to be. Of course, Jefferson’s Bible presents an emaciated Jesus who performed no miracles.

Some people want their biblical cake and eat it too. They respect the Bible and its moral teachings but deny its supernatural claims. In doing so they treat the Bible like the story of George Washington and the cherry tree. We don’t know if George actually chopped down the cherry tree, and when caught, said to his father, “I cannot tell a lie.” But it doesn’t matter because there’s a good moral to the story.

Myth has no basis in real history. The people, places and events in a fable or fairy tale are not real. But the Bible is not like Greek mythology, Aesop’s fables, or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The people and places in the Bible are real. The events actually happened, at least that’s the way Jesus viewed them.

Before the higher critics, Jefferson and others came along and denied the supernatural, Jesus spoke of many Old Testament miracles as historical fact, including creation (Matt. 19:4), Adam and Eve (Matt. 19:4-5), Noah and the flood (Matt. 24:37-39), and Sodom and Gomorrah (Matt. 12:39-41). Jesus also said (are you ready for this?) the story of Jonah and the great fish really happened.

Jesus hitched the historicity of his own resurrection to the greatest fish story ever told. He said, “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:39-41). Jonah and Jesus were both “three days in the belly.”

If Jonah is a fairy tale then so is Jesus’s resurrection. But there’s no need to go there. The greatest miracle that ever happened is no myth.

Fulfilled prophecy is one of the most powerful arguments in favor of validating the Bible’s own claim to divine inspiration. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the God of the Bible is his ability to predict the future without error one hundred percent of the time. Frankly, the integrity of Scripture rises and falls on the predictions made by the Author.

The Lord God of Israel established the credentials for a true prophet of God by saying, “You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him” (Deut. 18:21-22).

Elsewhere the Lord declares, “Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it” (Isa. 46:11).

Scholars estimate that as much as 27 percent of the Bible was predictive prophecy when it was written, and that the Bible addresses more than 730 prophetic subjects. According to John Walvoord, one of the most well respected Bible prophecy experts in the twentieth century, “Half of the prophecies of the Bible have already been fulfilled in a literal way.” He believes this gives us every reason to say that remaining Bible prophecies will also have a literal fulfillment.

Scholars have identified more than 300 Messianic prophecies in the Bible. What is the probability of all 300 of them being fulfilled in the life of one person, Jesus Christ?

Peter Stoner, Professor Emeritus at Westmont College, asked this question and involved as many as 600 university students in a mathematical exercise designed to discover the answer. He writes about his well-documented findings in a book called Science Speaks Out.

Stoner began by calculating the possibility of one person fulfilling the prophecy found in Micah 5:2 that says the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Taking into consideration the population of Bethlehem from the time of Micah’s prophecy until now, Stoner concluded there was a one in 300,000 chance of this single Bible prophecy being fulfilled.

He then calculated the possibility of only eight of the Messianic prophecies being fulfilled in a single person. After careful examination, Stoner conservatively estimated that the chance of this happening was one in 10 with 17 zeroes added to the number. To put this gigantic number in perspective, he illustrated the possibility.

Suppose we collect silver dollars numbering 10 to the 17th power and spread them out evenly over the state of Texas. They would cover the entire Lone Star state as high as two feet deep. Now mark one of the silver dollars and then stir up the whole mass of them. Then ask a blindfolded man to pick out the marked silver dollar. What are the chances of him picking out the right one? You guessed it. One in 10 with 17 zeroes after it, which is the same chance that one person could ever fulfill only eight of the Messianic prophecies found in the Bible. The chances of one person fulfilling more than 300 predictions about Messiah are truly incomprehensible.

Stoner concludes his findings by saying, “Anyone who rejects Christ as the Son of God is rejecting a fact, proved perhaps more absolutely than any other fact in the world.”

Fulfilled prophecy is God’s way of authenticating himself. A study of Bible prophecy points to the kind of evidence that indeed demands a verdict. How will you respond?

No book is more cherished and revered in the hearts of some and more damned and despised in the minds of others than the Holy Bible.

Perhaps you grew up in the church and from an early age learned a lyric that goes like this: “The B-I-B-L-E; yes, that’s the book for me; I stand alone on the word of God; the B-I-B-L-E.” Do you remember that tune? Can you still sing it today?

Maybe you’ve learned to live comfortably by the motto, “If God said it, I believe it, and that’s good enough for me!” You’ve settled the matter in your heart that the Bible is God’s word to modern people. It is God’s word to you!

A popular preacher in Houston, Texas begins each of his sermons by having everyone in the congregation raise their Bible high in the air and repeat, “This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today, I will be taught the word of God.” Tens of thousands of people who attend this church make this bold declaration each week.

But for some it’s not so easy. They have questions about the Bible. What about you?

The Bible (from the Greek word biblia, meaning “books” or “scrolls”) is the best-selling book of all time, written over 1500 years by 40 different authors using three different languages. It is really collection of sixty-six books that share an amazing, some say miraculous, continuity. Having roots in cultures found on three different continents, the Bible claims to be the complete revelation of God and His inspired word. It has lasted the test of time and changed millions of lives.

The Bible has been described as “the Magna Charta of the human spirit.” George Washington said, “It is impossible to righteously govern the world without God and the Bible.” Ronald Reagan, the thirty-ninth president of the United States, said, “Within the covers of one single book, the Bible, are all the answers to all the problems that face us today – if only we would read and believe.”

It shouldn’t surprise us that with millions of books in libraries all around the world, American presidents still place their hand on the Bible when they take the oath of office and say, “So help me God.”

The Bible is the book of all books and simply known as “The Book.” But is the Bible the word of God? Is it God’s word to modern people? Can we trust it? Should we believe it? Do we take it literally? Furthermore, does it have the authority to tell us how to live? It’s one thing to have great respect for the Bible; it’s another thing to do what it says even if that means you’re swimming up the cultural stream.

The Bible is the most attacked and maligned book ever. Like a champion heavyweight fighter, it has taken punch after punch, round after vicious round, and yet remains standing at the end of the fight.

For example, in the eighteenth century, a French philosopher and atheist named Voltaire boastfully declared the demise of the Bible. “Another century and there will not be a Bible on earth!” he predicted. How ironic that Voltaire’s house was later used as the headquarters of the International Bible Society, an organization that prints and distributes millions of Bibles around the world.

What do you say about the B-I-B-L-E? I’d like to hear from you.

The kids are back in school and parents have returned to work after summer vacations. While life gets back to normal for most families, a hurricane named Gustav slams into the Gulf Coast. Hanna and Ike are not far behind.

The presidential race is in full gear. In about 60 days it appears we will either elect the first African American president or the first female vice president of the United States. Truly, these are historic times.

This is also a great time to invite a friend, neighbor or co-worker to Immanuel, especially as I begin a 3-week series of messages on the Bible called 66: The Bible: Circa 2008.

Is the Bible God’s word to modern man? Can we trust the best-selling book of all time? Should we believe it? Do we take it literally, or must we interpret it for our times? Does God have anything to say to us in 2008 as we raise families, attend school, elect a new president, and recover from natural disasters?

These are the kind of questions that spark interesting conversations in our postmodern world – a world that rejects the certainties of modernity and suggests that we can’t know the meaning of words. How we answer these assertions is more than mere intellectual musing.

What do you say about the Bible? Stay tuned and join me in this digital dialogue.

Okay, so I finally broke down and joined the world of bloggers. Welcome to RonJonesBlog.com. Time and honest skepticism about blogging have kept me from joining the digital dialogue before now. But after much counseling I am now ready to accept my fate as a blogger. I hope you enjoy reading and occasionally viewing my musings.

If you are reading this, chances are you already know how to answer my daughter’s question. She walked into my room a few minutes ago, saw me working on my laptop and asked, “Daddy, what is a blog?” My daughter is 10 and knows her way around Webkinz, Club Penguin, and anything Disney on the web. However, she knows as much about a blogger’s world as you and I might know about her favorite place in cyberspace where she can actually care for her virtual pet named Butterscotch.

According to Wikipedia, “A blog is a web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, description of events, or other materials such as graphics or video.” The term itself is a contraction of the words “Web log.”

I’ve been reading other people’s blogs to get an idea of what to do and say. Many of them seem like self-aggrandizing personal showcases that shout, “Look at me!” Like who really cares about some of that stuff they write about themselves? And the voyeur videos? Give me a break!

Others read more like a diary and are full of trivial pursuits. Still others give TMI (too much information). One blog entry I read began this way, “After 12 days, 39 cups of tea and 11 changes of underwear (yes, I had to double up one day due to bad packing) . . . I’m home!” Did he really have to share the underwear part?

Some of what makes blogging a unique communication platform is the opportunity to respond and provide comments. This is where you come in. A blog invites an interactive dialogue in cyberspace between the blogger and the reader. It’s an opportunity to experience digital community, if there is such a thing.

I encourage, ask, implore and beg you to make comments on RonJonesBlog.com; otherwise I’m just blogging to myself. Of course, the world as it is today makes it necessary for me to filter all comments in case you decide to share TMI.

For my part in the world of blogging, I hope to share insights from God’s amazing Word, the Bible, and relate them to our ever-changing culture. There’s no reason for me to clutter the World Wide Web with my puny thoughts and opinions. Besides, who really cares if I changed my underwear today or not?

So, what you can expect to find on my blog, more often than not, is an excerpt from a recent sermon I preached from the pulpit of Immanuel Bible Church, where I have the privilege of serving as senior pastor to some of the kindest and most fascinating people on the planet. Disclaimer: the thoughts, musings, links and associations contained in this web site do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.

For what it’s worth, I blog from our Nation’s Capitol in Washington D.C., which sometimes gives me a back stage pass to POIs (persons of interest) and world events, like the time I was invited to attend a breakfast at the National Press Club to hear the Rev. Jeremiah Wright spew his controversial worldviews colored by Black Liberation Theology. Following the event I joined a vigorous roundtable discussion in the Truman Library with other religious, media and cultural leaders, including Frederick Douglas IV.

And so, would you like to subscribe to my blog? Like God’s gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, it’s free! I’ll do my best to make it worth your time to occasionally stop by and chat. And in case you’re wondering, I promise not to talk about my underwear if you don’t talk about yours.

Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that.” James 4:15

This week Robert Novak was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Novak is a Washington insider and a syndicated columnist with the Chicago Sun-Times. According to one news source, Novak said he was suspending his journalistic work for an indefinite, “but God willing, not too lengthy period.” 

We don’t often hear the words “God willing” on the lips of journalists today. I don’t know if Mr. Novak is a God-fearing person or not, but a brain tumor certainly has a way of making all of us recognize how dependant we are on the Almighty.

The Latin words Deo Volente meaning “God willing” were common among the Puritans who came to America in search of religious freedom. Later, the Methodists also peppered their speech and correspondence with the phrase, signaling their dependence on the Lord by often signing their letters with the initials D.V. It was a simple reminder that all plans were subject to the Lord’s sovereign permission. Is it any wonder that the Puritan era and the Wesleyan revivals were golden times when God advanced his kingdom agenda?

Deo Volente is a good philosophy by which to live our lives. However, having the right heart attitude is more important than saying the right words. The last thing we need is another Christian cliché or more religious jargon to print on a t-shirt. We don’t need another bumper sticker to live out our faith. All of that is well and good, but I believe James is getting at something deeper.

“If the Lord wills” speaks to the reality of a transcendent God and to the relevance of God in our daily lives. The absence of it from our lips perhaps suggests we are not as dependent on the Lord as we think we are. We charge ahead with our own puny plans and expect God to bless them. Worse yet, we live like practical atheists, making plans and boasting about the future without acknowledging the sovereign hand of God in the daily affairs of life.

We are also a presumptuous nation, having pushed God to the periphery of our culture, kicked him out of the public schools, and said that he is not welcome in the public square or in our current political debate. If that isn’t enough to provoke the Lord, we have threaten to remove “in God we trust” from our currency and “under God” from the pledge we make to the American flag. No wonder the phrase “God willing” sounds strange to our modern ears.

Try something new this week. Start ending your email correspondence with the initials D.V. and see if it starts at least a conversation if not a revival.