Image Restoration

Daniel Goodin

Midland SDA Church

December 5, 2020

INTRODUCTION

Illustration - Spain has a history of botched art restorations that were performed by non-professionals in the restoration business. One failed restoration was internationally reported last month. It occurred in the city of Palencia to a statue adorning the exterior of a bank that looks out onto the street. The century-old statue, prior to the restoration, depicted a smiling, attractive female farmer with her livestock. The face now shows a deformed figure straight out of your nightmares. Following the failed restoration, the woman has been compared to a "potato head." Besides looking like a potato, the altered work has drawn comparisons to President Donald Trump.

THE PROBLEM

Genesis 1:26, 27 - The Hebrew word adam is better translated mankind. There are clear examples in scripture where this word is used for more than the male gender. In Exodus 13:2, for example, adam is used when describing whatsoever opens the womb among the children of Israel of man (adam) and beast is to be sanctified unto God. Clearly, this is not referring whatever opens the wombs of males but instead of mankind and beasts alike. Mankind was made in the image of God. Does this refer to physical qualities or more? Although men and women share physical similarities, there are also clear differences so that sharing God's imagine must

amount to more than physical qualities.

Colossians 1:15 - Christ is said to be the image of the invisible God. We can clearly gain more understanding about the image of God by looking at Christ. How was he like God?

Hebrews 1:3 - He is the exact imprint of God's nature. He is a reflection of who God is. He is the nature and character of God personified in humanity to humanity.

1 John 4:8 - The nature of God can be summarized in one word - love. Although we see the nature of God demonstrated in the life of Christ, we can also gain knowledge regarding that divine character by looking deeper into the qualities that define true Godly love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 - In Paul's expanded description of love, we get a better understanding regarding the divine nature that is possessed by God and that was also posessed by humanity at its creation.

Genesis 1:31 - Following the six days of creation, God pronounced all that he created, including man and woman, as being "very good." But the story doesn't end there. Because of God's self-sacrificing love, He bestowed upon humanity the gift of free choice. Love doesn't "seek its own" (or "insist on its own way" as translated in the ESV), and because of that fact, God did not force humanity into obeying the divine Law. Because God is love, he desires service out of love which is why he allowed humanity (and the angels) the choice whether to serve Him or themselves.

Genesis 3:6 - They eat the fruit of the tree from which they were forbidden to eat.

Romans 6:16 - By rejecting God, humanity had chosen another ruler. Mankind was given dominion over all the earth, but in choosing to became the servant of sin and the devil, they handed their dominion over to him (Luke 4:6).

Genesis 3:8-10 - Their sin immediately resulted in shame and fear, leading them both to hide from God as he appeared in the garden looking for them. This is in distinct contrast to their original character as noted in Genesis 2:25 which reports that they were both naked and not ashamed.

Genesis 3:12 - Adam's immediate reaction when asked to account for his sin is to pass the blame on to his wife and to God Himself. True love "bears all things" (or "always protects" -NIV, or "is always supportive" -CSB). Adam and later Eve demonstrate that they have both lost this character trait present in those who truly posess the love and image of God.

Genesis 3:13 - Eve's response is no better than Adam's. She immediately passes the blame for her sin on to the snake. They do not hold themselves accountable, but in a self seeking manner they attempt to pass on the blame to another party. Their Godly image has clearly been corrupted. Their hearts of selfless love have been replaced by a spirit of self seeking. Their character now resembles the father of self seeking characters.

Genesis 6:5, 6 - Wickness and ungodliess spreads like a plague until it infects the whole world to such a degree that God destroys it with a flood and restarts humanity with Noah and his family, the only people in the world who received God's message of truth and salvation.

Revelation 13:3, 4 - Prior to the second coming of Christ, the world will follow after the beast power and reject the truth found in Christ. The image of humanity will reflect their ruler. They will demonstrate the same spirit of self-exaltation and self-seeking that originated with their chosen ruler, Satan.

THE SOLUTION

Philippians 2:5-8 - Paul is exhorting the Corinthians to have this attitude that is found in Christ. What we see in Christ is an attitude or demonstration of self-sacrificing love. He gave up more than we ever could in order to provide a means for our salvation. He humbled himself out of His supreme love for us, his fallen and ungrateful creation. Paul is promoting not just the outward appearance of love, but he is advocating for that love to be present within our heart. He is calling for the Corinthians to have that attiude in themselves. But with a fallen human nature, how is that possible? I may desire for that change, but in the nature of fallen humanity how can that possibly take place?

Romans 7:21-25 - Paul has the desire to follow Christ and fulfill the requirements of the Law of God, but he finds that his body is still subject to the law of sin. He still posesses the image of fallen humanity, the image of Satan, within his body/members. He even calls out for One to save him from the body of this death which is warring against his mind, which wants to follow Christ. He desires restoration of God's image, but he finds it cannot be accomplished without a change to the law of sin within his body.

Romans 8:1-11 - Paul exclaims that he has found that freedom from the law of sin in the body can be achieved through Christ, who took the likeness of man so that the likeness of God can be restored in fallen man. Christ lived righteously as man on earth so that He could give us the power to live righteously on earth. He provided a means to restore His image within us. How does this restoration take place? Through the power of the Spirit of God dwelling in the surrendered life, by faith the body is dead because of sin and again by faith is given newness of life. The image of sin is destroyed and the new life now reflects the image of God.

Ephesians 4:20-24 - Regaining the former image requires letting go of the image of fallen humanity. It requires submitting all to Christ and allowing Him to renew our minds. In doing so, we will live a new life in Christ. We will live righteously through the overcoming power of Christ within us, and we will have the divine image restored within us. We will reflect God by posessing the nature of self sacrificing love within our hearts.

2 Corinthians 3:18 - How do we restore the image of God. We lay aside the old self. And then what? Do we grit our teeth and expend every ounce of determination within ourselves to live righteously? If we do that, then we will end up looking like Mr Potato Head. We're amateurs in the restoration business. We need to leave that work to the Professional. Our job is to behold Christ, and in doing so He will transform our hearts. This doesn't mean that the work of restoration is easy for us, because one of the hardest things for selfish humanity to do is to submit all to Christ.

Revelation 14:1-5 - Does this sound like a group of people who still posess the image of fallen humanity and Satan? Or is this a group of people at the end of time who have experieced the new birth and have been restored to the divine image? They bear the divine image in all that they do. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes.

CONCLUSION

Humanity lost its divine image long ago, but even before that God had a plan by which that image could be restored. Because of what Christ has already done for us, through cooperation with Him by yielding all to Him and by beholding Him and by allowing Him to make the change within our hearts, we can be restored to the divine image, and we can learn the song of the 144,000.