This is our ninth session, and tonight we're going to be looking at the doctrine of the image of God in man. We look forward to a wonderful study. Hope you're doing well. Hope that you're walking in the goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ and all of his blessings of salvation, and thankful that you've joined us tonight.

This has been a real joy to walk through these precious doctrines with you. I've been reminded of just how good it is to study scripture and to go deep into an understanding of God's word, and as we have been seeing, our understanding of theology is immensely practical and has implications on how we counsel and minister to others in the church.

Thanks again for joining us tonight. Please feel free to use the chat or the Q&A function if you have any questions about the material that we're covering tonight, but we hope that you're doing well, and we trust we'll have a wonderful time in the Word of God tonight. Tonight we're transitioning in our study from the doctrine of God to the doctrine of man, and we're going to be looking at tonight the important issue of the image of God in man, and then next week we'll be looking at the teaching of man made in the image of God, which means he was made male and female.

We'll be looking at the issue of gender underneath the larger umbrella of the doctrine of man. So we're transitioning in the essay topics from the doctrine of God to the doctrine of man, and as we've seen in our study, the two are really intertwined and connected together. You cannot have an accurate understanding of the doctrine of man without having a biblical understanding of the doctrine of God.

Man is made in the image of God, and therefore we begin with God, and then we move to an understanding of who man is. But for our opening devotional this evening, I want to read from Psalm 8, verses 1 to 9. This is a beautiful psalm that extols the greatness of God and also helps us to have an accurate understanding of who man is.

It's a key passage in this whole discussion of the doctrine of man, and also I think just a wonderful psalm that we can use to draw our hearts to the Word of God tonight, and I want to pull out some devotional thoughts from this psalm as well. So I'll put this on the screen, Psalm 8, verses 1 to 9.

To the choir master, according to the Gethsemane, a psalm of David. Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes to still the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

You have given him dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

So as you'll note here in the psalm, the psalm begins with the theme of the majesty of God. Verse one, Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth? And that term translated majestic could also be translated excellent or glorious. As one commentator writes, the word majestic is a royal attribute denoting God's victories and his might in judgment.

All creation reveals the power and the glory of God's name. So David begins a psalm simply standing amazed at the greatness, the majesty, the excellency of God. He just stands amazed at God, at who God is, at the power of God, the creative ability of God, the wisdom of God, the might of God as revealed in the created order.

And he says, you have set your glory above the heavens. And as a believer in Christ, I think you all can connect with that statement in verse one, that we begin our consideration of any situation in life by simply starting from the vantage point of we serve an amazing God, a glorious God.

We stand amazed at who he is. Our hearts sing of the wonder of the greatness of his name. We proclaim his glory. Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth? Before we get to any of the issues of man, before we get to any consideration of who man is, we must begin in verse one by just simply considering that God is glorious and that he is majestic.

In verse three, David says, when I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, and he's just considering the created order, the universe, the stars that God has put in place in the created universe. Astronomers tell us that the sun is estimated to be approximately one million times the size of this earth.

It's said that if the earth were the size of a golf ball, the sun would be 15 feet in diameter. One star that is named by astronomers is the star Mucifi, which lies 3000 light years away from planet earth. So traveling the speed of light, it would take over 300 lifetimes of ours to travel the distance from us to Mucifi.

And if the earth were the size of a golf ball, it is estimated that Mucifi would be the width of two golden gate bridges from end to end. Just the enormous size of this one star, 2.7 quadrillion earths could fit inside the star Mucifi. And if you don't know what quadrillion means, I didn't either.

It basically means a unit that equals 1000 trillion. So 2.7 thousand trillion earths could fit inside this one star. Astronomers tell us that our Milky Way galaxy contains approximately 400 billion stars. And while the Milky Way galaxy may seem immense, it is just one of about 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe.

And yet look at what David says in Psalm 8. He says, when I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers. It's almost as if David is saying this work of creating the universe and all the stars that are in the galaxies just displays the pinky power of this almighty God.

It is just one expression of the infinite power and the wisdom of our Lord and our God. As Job 26 verse 14 says, behold, these are the fringes of his ways. So here's the transition. David begins the Psalm standing in awe and in wonder at the greatness and the glory and the majesty of this great God.

He stands amazed at the stars and all that God has set in place, the moon, the heavens, the work of God's fingers. And it is only after God considers the truth of who God is that he moves to consider who man is. He moves from, oh, Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth to verse four.

What is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him? Note the sequence. We must begin with God. Then we can understand man. The doctrine of man and the doctrine of God are closely intertwined, but it begins with God. John Calvin has said this nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom consists of two parts.

The knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves, while joined by many bonds, which one proceeds and brings forth the other is not easy to discern. And he's simply saying there that we must understand God in order to understand man. Now, just briefly, the psalm tells us we can understand two things about man in light of who God is.

Number one, we can understand how lowly man really is. What is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him? You remember King Nebuchadnezzar, who was so inflated with his own pride, he looked at his kingdom, he looked at the kingdom of Babylon and and he said, is not this the great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?

And God essentially says to King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter four, that you are going to eat grass like an ox. Just to be reminded of who you really are before me until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of man and gives it to whom he will.

Number two, the lowliness of man, Isaiah 40 verse six, all flesh is grass and all its beauty is like the flower of the field, the grass wither, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it. Surely the people are grass. We understand the lowliness of man when we consider the greatness of who God is.

Number two, from the psalm, we also understand how unique man is. Right after David says, what is man? You are mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him. And he's just saying, look, don't overestimate the importance of man. Man is here today and gone tomorrow.

But this eternal God, he rules forever. Then he addresses the other extreme that you can underestimate as well, the unique place of where God has placed man to be in his redemptive plan. He goes on to say, yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

You have given him, here's a key word, dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

From saying, what is man that you would even think about him? He then moves to consider the fact that God has given man a unique place in creation. God has given man dominion over the animal realm, sheep and oxen, beasts of the field, birds of the heavens, fish of the sea.

Man is distinct from the other animals in creation. And he has a unique place on planet earth. David concludes his psalm the way he began it in verse nine, O Lord, O Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. And we learn from this psalm that man is unique.

And this harkens back to Genesis chapter one, where man and only man was made in the image and likeness of God. That unique designation is not true of sheep, it's not true of oxen, it's not true of birds, it's not true of fish, it's not true of any sea creature.

I know that many of you will tell me that your dog is really smart, and I would agree with you that your dog seems to be smart, but that designation of being made in the image and likeness of God is not true of a dog or of any pet, of any animal in the animal realm.

Man and man alone is made in the image and likeness of God. And so while we don't want to ever over exalt the importance of man in the place of God's plan, neither do we want to make the opposite mistake of underestimating the unique place that man plays in creation.

The implications of this truth that man is unique and uniquely made in the image and likeness of God is truly staggering, and it has tremendous implications for counseling ministry. Wayne Grunem writes this, it isn't on your handout, but I'll put this on the slide. He says, "This realization that man is made in the image of God will give us a profound sense of dignity and significance as we reflect on the excellence of all the rest of creation.

The starry universe, the abundant earth, the world of plants and animals, and the angelic kingdoms are remarkable, even magnificent. But listen, we are more like our creator than any of these things. We are the culmination of God's infinitely wise and skillful work of creation. Even though sin has greatly marred that likeness, we nonetheless now reflect much of it and shall even more as we grow in likeness to Christ." That is amazing.

We are more like God than any other part of God's creation, and Grunem continues that this has profound implications for our conduct toward others. Here's the counseling implication. It means that people of every race deserve equal dignity and rights. It means that elderly people, those seriously ill, the mentally retarded, the children unborn, deserve full protection and honor as human beings.

Does that have any application to the issues our society is facing today? He continues, "If we ever deny our unique status in creation as God's only image bearers, we will soon begin to depreciate the value of human life. We will tend to see humans as merely a higher form of animal and will begin to treat others as such.

We will also lose much of our sense of meaning in life." Whenever you counsel anyone else in ministry, you need to remind yourself that you are ministering to someone who is made in the image and likeness of God. That image has most likely and is almost always the case.

That image has been marred. That image has been perverted, if you will. That image has been distorted, but that image is still there. You need to treat that person with respect, even if that person is an unbeliever, even if that counselee ends up showing themselves to never have truly given their life to Jesus Christ.

They are still worthy of a basic respect as being image bearers. They are made in the image and the likeness of God. That is the starting point of basic respect in counseling ministry, regardless of ethnicity, regardless of age or stage in life, regardless of socioeconomic background, or all of these things that tend to divide us as a nation and as a society.

We relate to one another simply on the basis of respect that you are made in the image and the likeness of God, and therefore, you deserve my basic respect and consideration. What Psalm 8 is teaching us is that we cannot understand man apart from understanding God. In a biblical sense, it is an amazing thing to be a human being.

It is an amazing thing to be created and to be part of God's creation that is uniquely made in the image and likeness of God. We are going to talk about some more implications of that truth, but begin with God and you will understand who man is. Let me pray for us.

Let's devote our time to the Lord. Father, thank you for this psalm. We just resonate with these truths. How majestic is your name in all the earth. How glorious and how wise and how powerful you are that you would have set the stars into place. And yet, you know us, you love us, you have made us to be your creation and your possession.

And Father, we just marvel at this truth that we would be made uniquely to reflect your glory and to live in a relationship with you that would endure forever. We thank you for Christ and his redeeming work. We thank you that through Christ and his finished work that we can be restored, that the image of God that has been so marred in us can now be progressively transformed and brought more into conformity to the image of Christ and therefore glorify you in a unique way.

We just pray that Father, you would bless us tonight. Help us to understand the importance of these doctrines and the implications for counseling ministry. Thank you for each student joining us tonight and pray that you would bless us through your word in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Okay, so I spent some time on that, but I hope that was helpful in just framing our understanding of the doctrine of man.

Now, if you look at your handout, we're looking at the subject man made in the image of God, and that is the subject of theology exam number nine. And the question is very simple. Question number nine, we'll read it together. Explain using biblical categories, your understanding of the image of God in man.

So this question is asking you to reflect on your understanding of the image of God in man. And again, you're taking this material and you're writing this essay as if you're explaining this topic to a counselee. So that's the basic idea to put it in your own words. And how would you explain this doctrine to someone in a counseling session?

The idea is put it in your own words and communicate it in the way that is unique to your own language. So I have some helpful reading here that will prime the pump for your understanding of this topic. As I mentioned, Wayne Grudem has an excellent section on the doctrine of man.

What does it mean that man is made in the image of God? Charles Ryrie has an excellent chapter there as well in basic theology, pages 216 to 222. And then Heath Lambert has a good chapter on the doctrine of man, which is a key doctrine for biblical counseling. He spent some time there talking through the counseling implications and applications of this doctrine.

As I mentioned in my year one class, secular psychology and biblical counseling really diverge over the doctrine of man. Secular psychology presents a different understanding of who man is than the biblical doctrine of man revealed in scripture. And you see why this would diverge if Genesis 1 verse 27 says that man is made in the image of God.

And if secular psychology seeks to understand who man is apart from an understanding of who God is, then secular psychology will come up with an aberrant understanding of who man is. And if you get man wrong, you get counseling wrong. If you don't understand the basic truth of who man is, then you will not know how to help man with his problems.

So secular psychology and biblical counseling diverge over the doctrine of man. A real key doctrine when it comes to biblical counseling, theology exam number nine is a very important exam question. So I would commend to you two works that you would do well to have on your shelf and to read for further study.

Anthony Hokema's "Created in the Image of God" is an excellent resource dealing with this topic. I think that book really has the clearest, most thorough discussion on the image of God and man that I have come across. So I would very much recommend you have that as a theological resource.

And then Dr. Owen Strand, who's a friend of the ministry here at Kindred, has just written a book entitled "Re-Enchanting Humanity." He takes the doctrine of man and applies it to all of the modern day discussions that are in society today. I think you'll find a very strong connection between the doctrine of man and all of the things that our society is trying to deal with today.

So that's an excellent resource. I would commend that to you as well. But the top three resources should really be sufficient for the writing of this essay. Now, on the next page of your handout, you'll have that statement by Anthony Hokema. And he says on your handout, "It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of the doctrine of man." I would agree with that statement.

By the way, I don't think you can overemphasize this doctrine. It says various thinkers have given various answers to the question, "What is man?" Each one with far-reaching implications for thought and life. And then note the practical implications of the study of this doctrine. Hokema says, "New developments in biology, psychology, and sociology increase the possibility of the manipulation of the masses by the few.

Practices such as artificial insemination, test-tube babies, abortion, chemical control of behavior, euthanasia, genetic engineering, and the like raise questions about the dignity of human life. Add to this such burning issues as racism, the problem of alienation, old versus young, conservative versus progressive, majority versus minority groups, the problem of equality between women and men, and the problem of decreasing respect for authority.

And one can see why the question, "What is man?" has acquired new urgency today. The problem of man has therefore become one of the most crucial problems of our day. Hokema wrote that back in 1986. That was back under the Reagan administration. Do you think that any of those issues have gone away since 1986?

Test-tube babies, abortion, chemical control of behavior, euthanasia, racism, old versus young, majority versus minority. I mean, all of the issues on that list have only become intensified in 2019 and 2020. And so if he said back then that the problem of man has become one of the most crucial problems in our day, then all the more in our day this doctrine needs to be studied and understood.

So as I mentioned in my devotional, there are two tendencies. One is to overvalue the importance of man. I love the story of Theodore Roosevelt, who looked at the Milky Way and then said to his friend, "I think we are small enough. Let's call it a night." And that's a good statement.

When you consider the stars and all that God has made, who is man that you should think of him? But the opposite side is to underestimate man's significance as God's creation. Genesis 1 verse 26 says, "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.'" I mean, that statement is just echoed in Psalm 8 verses 1 to 9.

And the verse 27 says, "So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them." H.C. Leupold writes, taking the verse Genesis 1 verse 26 as a whole, "We cannot but notice that it sets forth a picture of a being that stands on a very high level of singular nobility and endowed with phenomenal powers and attributes, not a type of being that by its brute imperfections is seen to be on the same level with the animal world, but a being that towers high above all other creatures, their king and their crown." Now we'll get into that in just a moment, but just observe here that only man is made in the image of God.

We see that on the next page that man is created directly by God under the origin of man, what Charles Ryrie calls direct, special, immediate creation. Very important here. Ryrie says that it did not involve any evolutionary processes that relate man to some sub, non, or pre-human brute forms.

Indeed, it reinforces the fact of special creation from materials that were inorganic. It does not lend support to the idea of a derived creation from some previously living form. Why is that important? Because as you know, evolutionary theory holds that man evolved from other living creatures. Darwin's theory of natural selection teaches the idea that organisms change over time in order to adapt to their environment.

Therefore, evolutionary theory eliminates the radical distinction between the creation of man and the creation of every other living being that is found on the planet. If man is simply the next adaptation of living beings that have existed on this planet, then the sharp distinction between man and the animal kingdom is removed under evolutionary theory.

So you see the implications of that kind of thought in how people will pass laws to protect an animal's life and at the same time pass laws that destroy human life. A couple of examples of this. I know this is somewhat extreme, but I think you'll get the point.

David Brown, the former head of the Sierra Club, sees the destruction of human life as being no more tragic than the destruction of the wilderness. That's a product of this type of evolutionary thought. He says, "While the death of young men in war is unfortunate, it is no more serious than the touching of mountains and wilderness areas by humankind." So if you remove the Genesis account and the doctrine of man, then why not?

Why not have that type of view? The Finnish Green Party activist, Pentri Linkona, argues that human beings are an evolutionary mistake. He goes so far as to say that he has more sympathy for a threatened insect species than for children dying of hunger in Africa. He calls the idea that somehow one species is somehow superior to another species is called speciesism and is morally equivalent to racism.

You see, that's just the product of this kind of evolutionary idea that man is just the next adaptation of other living beings. But that flies directly in the face of Genesis 1 and 2, which holds the radical distinction between the creation of man and the creation of every other animal on this planet.

Every man was made in the image of God. So man is created directly by God. Number two, man is created male and female. The term man comes from the Hebrew word adam, which is sometimes used as a proper name, Adam. But in other usages, refers to mankind or a human being.

Genesis 1, verse 26, God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness. And we see the Hebrew term adam referring to humanity used in reference to both male and female. Genesis 5, verse 1, when God created man, he made him in the likeness of God, male and female.

He created them and he blessed them and named them man when they were created. As Larry Pettigrew writes, mankind was created male and female with no distinction being drawn between the degree to which each sex shares in the excellencies, privileges, and duties involved. Now I'm just going to share my heart.

I'm just going to go for it tonight. This is true equality. This is true gender equality found in the Bible. Both male and female are made equally in the image and likeness of God. And therefore, in the words of Dr. Pettigrew, they share equally in the excellencies, privileges, and duties that are given to those who are created in God's image.

Both male and female are made in God's likeness and therefore should be equally respected as image bearers of the creator. Now we're going to get to complementarianism next week and the idea that there are unique roles assigned to male and female, but we must begin with this statement of gender equality in asserting that both male and female are made equally in the likeness of God.

This is where our understanding of gender equality must begin with the creation account in Genesis 1 and 2, not with sociological studies, not with political slogans or statements. It must begin with the text of scripture, man was created male and female. And I just think this needs to be understood in a real clear way.

I think complementarianism needs to be articulated in a very precise manner so that it is not misunderstood and so that it is not abused. I see in counseling ministry very frequently at a very concerning and alarming rate this misunderstanding of complementarianism that does not fully affirm gender equality in the sense of male and female being equally made in God's likeness.

We have equality of personhood, equality of value, equality of dignity, equality of full capacity to reflect God's image. I have a wonderful wife and I have two wonderful daughters and I have a passion that they be all that God would have them to be, that they reach their full capacity in everything that God would want them to be.

My understanding of complementarianism does not diminish their full potential as being image bearers in God's likeness. And I'm thankful to belong to a church where this is the heartbeat of our senior pastor and our elders that we hold to a complementarian understanding of gender roles, but that in no way diminishes our understanding of full equality between men and women in terms of personhood, value, dignity, and ability to reflect God's likeness.

So you'll have to come back next week to hear my treatment on that, but just note for the purposes tonight that man was created male and female and then God created in six literal 24 hour days. The term yom in Hebrew refers to literal day. There's no exegetical reason to take this as a figurative term for ages.

Let me move to the next page. We have four biblical texts that you would do well to become acquainted with under the topic of man made in the image of God. You would do well to use these texts in reference to your understanding of this doctrine as you explain it in your essay, essay number nine, Genesis 1 verses 26 to 31.

We have Genesis 5 verses 1 to 2, Genesis 9 verses 6 to 7. And then the New Testament application of this truth is found in James chapter 3 verses 8 to 10. So let me just read James 3 because I think it's so important. Verse 8, James says, no human being can tame the tongue.

It is a restless evil full of deadly poison. With it, we bless our Lord and Father, and with it, we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. So there's the key idea there. Again, going back to Genesis 1 verse 26. Then he says, from the same mouth come blessing and cursing my brothers.

These things ought not to be so. So James says that the doctrine of the image of God in man should affect how we speak about other people. Now, this is very convicting and I'm not going to belabor the point, but I believe in the context here is speaking of both believers and unbelievers.

What James is saying here is watch out how you speak about another image bearer of God. Now friends, that ought to affect how we speak about one another in the church. That ought to affect how we speak of others in social media. That ought to affect how we tweet or what we post on our Instagram or whatever social media outlet that you use.

Be careful how you speak about another fellow image bearer. These things, James says, ought not to be so. We ought not to curse another person who is made in the likeness of God. Watch out how you talk about others. And then the practical implication for us in counseling ministry is we encourage our counselors to respect your counselee.

I know it's easy to become self-righteous and to listen to your counselee and to think, "Well, I would never do that," or "I would never get into such a problem." Instead of approaching your counselee with humility and saying, "There go I, but for the grace of God, and it is only God's grace that in any measure I've been preserved from walking through such difficulties as my counselee is walking through." You want to respect your counselee and just come alongside them.

Give basic respect to anyone you minister to. Look for areas of common grace, even if you can't find unity under saving grace that you don't know if your counselee is saved. Look for areas where you can find common grace, areas to affirm your counselee may not be bearing the fruit of the Spirit, but maybe your counselee is faithful at his job and works to support his family.

Affirm that, respect that, take the opportunity to just say, "I respect you on just the basis of you're a fellow image bearer, and I'm here to be your servant and to minister to you." Some observations here from the biblical texts. As I mentioned, number one, the image of God distinguishes man from the rest of creation.

I won't beat this truth to death. I have noticed that there are some counselees who are more impressed with their dogs than they are with their spouse. And I wish that was a joke, but it really is not. You know, my dog is so smart. And then you ask, "Well, what do you think of your husband?" Oh, him, you know, he's okay.

I mean, dear friends, those things ought not to be so. The image of God distinguishes man from the rest of creation. We see number two, that the image of God is closely related to man's dominion over all the earth. You'll remember that from Psalm 8, verse 6, "You have given him dominion over the works of your hands." And then number three, the image of God has not been destroyed by the fall of man into sin.

Now, in the words of John Calvin, the image of God has been deformed. It's been vitiated. It has been mutilated. It has been maimed, disease-ridden, disfigured, but not destroyed. And I think those things are true. It's not destroyed. Otherwise, James would have removed that as a reason to speak well of your fellow man and fellow image bearers.

But we do not see the image of God destroyed. So, the next page, and I'll move through this fairly quickly, but a definition is the fact that man is made in the image of God means that man is like God and represents God. Man is like God and represents God.

In some sense, man is created to be like God. There are two words on your handout, the term "selem" in the Hebrew, translated "image." It could be used to describe a carved likeness of a person. Charles Ryrie writes that "selem" means a fashioned image, a shaped and representative figure, an image in some concrete sense.

In some way, the word indicates that man images God. And then you have the Hebrew term "demuth," translated "likeness," which is the idea of similarity, an image which is like us. The word emphasizes similarity rather than the idea of representative or substitute. And you might ask the question, "Well, how is man like God?" And some categories here, we find that morally, man bears the image of God.

Have you ever noticed that in our national discourse today, everyone is speaking in terms of right and wrong? This is right, and this is wrong. Now, they're going to use those terms in reference to different ideas and have disagreements over what is right and what is wrong. But everyone's using those categories of right and wrong, just and unjust, lawful and unlawful.

Where did that come from? This whole idea, the concept of morality, even if we don't agree on exactly how that expresses itself, where did this basic, innate understanding that there are right things and wrong things in life come from? Well, it comes from the fact that man is made in the image and the likeness of God.

Spiritually, man bears the image of God. Man is body and man is soul. Man is physical, but not merely physical. The medical model has this understanding of man that he is merely physical. Therefore, all problems must have a physical source. And if they have a physical source, there must be a physical treatment.

And we're not going to get into the whole debate over whether medication, psychotropic drugs, is helpful or unhelpful. I'm just pointing out that there is a presupposition there that many make, that there must be a chemical source of this aberrant behavior that demands a chemical treatment. Now, even if that's true, our understanding of the doctrine of man says that man is physical.

And yes, there may be a physical source, but man is not merely physical. Man is also spiritual. Man has an immaterial nature as well as a physical nature. And that is derived from the fact that man is made in the image of God. Intellectually, man bears the image of God.

I've never seen a dog write a novel. I've never seen a dog write a historical book. But man uses words, paragraphs, sentences, and chapters to communicate ideas, thoughts, to argue points. No other animal communicates in this way. Relationally, man bears the image of God. Man is a relational being, just as God lives in community within the unity of the Trinity, Father, Son, Holy Spirit living in perfect relationship forever and ever.

So man is made to be a relational being. And then physically, man bears the image of God. Now God is spirit, God is immaterial, and yet you'll read in Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology, he makes the argument that there is a sense in which even physically man bears the image of God because the only way that we see is that we have physical eyes.

The only way that we hear is we have physical ears. The only way that we think is we have a physical brain. And so there is a sense in which even physically we do bear the image and likeness of God. And so man is like God, and then in some sense, man represents God.

Man was called to have authority over the earth. You remember in Psalm 8 and Genesis 1, we have the terms "dominion" being used in those passages to describe man's authority over all the earth. Man is God's representative on this earth. He was created to rule. Larry Pettigrew writes, "Functionally, man is to image or mirror or represent God.

God is to become visible on earth through man. Mankind has a special position and status as king under God, that idea of dominion." And I mean, I think this will just knock your socks off. You're going to get your money's worth tonight, and if not, I'll give you a money-back guarantee, which is obviously a joke because this is a free class.

But this is just amazing that man is given dominion over the earth. Genesis 1, verse 28, "God blessed them. God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'" The word "subdue" to bring under bondage, the word "work" to serve, to till, the word "keep" meaning to guard, watch over, preserve, care for.

Anthony Hocum writes that man is to explore the resources of the earth, to cultivate its land, to mine its buried treasures. Man is called by God to develop all the potentialities found in nature as a whole. He must seek to develop not only agriculture, horticulture, and animal husbandry, but also science, technology, and art.

Though these words occur as part of God's blessing upon man, the blessing implies a mandate. And so let me move to--I'll let you read the language of the concept of an image for yourself, but let me move to what happened to the image of God. Just a summary here.

The image of God was reflected in the original creation when Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden. They reflected the image of God in creation. It was perverted in the fall of man into sin, though it remained. It was, in the words of Calvin, it was perverted.

It was vitiated, but it was not destroyed. And then in salvation, the image of God is restored. Progressively, we are becoming more like Jesus Christ. Christ is the perfect man. And therefore, in that sense, through Christ, the image of God is being restored as we become more like Jesus Christ.

And then one day, the image of God will be perfected when we are made to be perfectly like Christ. Now, what does this all have to do with counseling ministry? I think what I want to tell you tonight as you write this essay, and please think about this and the implications of this for your own counseling ministry.

I mean, obviously, this is a doctrine that we want our counselors to understand and to be able to explain and defend. For one reason is we want you to be able to identify the aberrant understandings of who man is as taught in secular psychology and integrationist literature. We just want you to see how many of those methods being utilized today in counseling ministry come from an aberrant view of man and just to be discerning in that way.

But on a practical level, as a churchman, as a pastor, as one who works with people each and every day in pastoral ministry, I think what I would encourage you to think about is that what we do in counseling really matters. Now, I know you believe that. I know you wouldn't be part of this class if you didn't believe that.

But I want you to really emphasize that, and I want to sell this to the choir or sing this to the choir, if it were. But just to emphasize the fact what we do in counseling really matters because what we do is we minister to people. And people live forever.

People are the most important part of this creation because only people are made in the image of God. I mean, I don't want to disrespect any other profession, but would I rather build a building or would I rather minister to a person? Would I rather tend to a flock of animals or would I rather minister to a person?

Would I rather design technology systems or would I rather minister to a person? Now, you've heard me tonight. All of those other elements of vocation are important because they're part of living in dominion over this creation. So please don't hear me wrong. But I'm not trying to de-emphasize the importance of any other vocation.

I'm trying to emphasize the fact that in the end, buildings do not last forever. In the end, financial systems do not last forever. In the end, chairs and cars and anything else in creation do not last forever. But in the end, people will live forever. The person that you are meeting with in a counseling session will live forever because that person is made in the image and likeness of God.

And if that person is not saved, they are headed towards a Christless eternity. And what an opportunity that we have in counseling ministry to make an eternal impact because only people live forever. This quote by C.H.S. Lewis strikes me, and I just give this in encouragement to you, in reflection on the doctrine of man.

It says, "It is a serious thing to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare." All day long, we are in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations.

But in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. And if I were to add just one more thing to that list, I would say all counseling ministry.

You are ministering to a soul who will live forever. And your task and my task is just that, to help your counselee to an eternity that is filled with glory, the overwhelming possibilities of this ministry. Number two, I would encourage you with this. This is a statement by Heath Lambert in "A Theology of Biblical Counseling." I encourage you to read that chapter.

He says, "Every counseling need traces back to a failure to fully image God." Every counseling need traces back to a failure to fully image God. And he goes on to say in "A Theology of Biblical Counseling" that the image of God has been shattered in every human being who seeks counseling.

The goal of counseling should be to facilitate the restoration of the image of God to its proper functioning in all of the practical ways that it has been shattered in the lives of those who come to see a counseling. Only the biblical counseling model offers this theological understanding of why people do what they do.

We are after the restoration of the image of God in our counselee. He says, "When you understand the truth of the image of God, you can understand that counseling exists because we live in a world where the image of God has been distorted in all those created to bear it.

Unfortunately, most counseling approaches do not see it as the job in counseling to have anything at all to do with God and his image in man. This is tragic. As image bearers, we refer to the God whose image we bear. It is wrong, corrupt, and ineffective to treat image bearers as though the one whose image they carry does not exist or is irrelevant to the problems they are facing." We encourage you to think through the truth that every counseling need traces back to failure to fully image God.

A third implication is simply this. In counseling, we represent God. To be made in the image and likeness of God is to represent God. That truth is found even more prominent in counseling where Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 20 that we are ambassadors for Christ. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Your job and my job in counseling ministry is not just to give correct answers. It's not just to dispense correct information. It's not just to tell people what they're doing is wrong and what to do is right. Our responsibility and privilege is to represent God in that counseling opportunity to be an ambassador for Christ.

That's a challenge. That's a hard check for me as I counsel and as I teach. Am I representing God well? Am I reflecting his likeness in how I treat others? If God is merciful, then am I displaying his mercy? If God is kind, then am I showing his kindness?

If God is gracious, then am I displaying his graciousness in how I minister to others? You get the point. You can go through all of those attributes of God and ask yourself, "Am I representing God faithfully?" We want to represent God as his ambassador and be the one who represents the one who is not physically present.

So how to write this essay, just real briefly. The essay is "Explain Using Biblical Categories Your Understanding of the Image of God in Man." I would make sure in this essay you hit the four key passages. As we mentioned, the Genesis 1, Genesis 5, Genesis 9, and James 3 passages.

Just give some understanding of these are the texts which teach the doctrine of the image of God in man. I'd encourage you to hit on the point of the uniqueness of man, how man is distinct from all of the rest of the animal realm, and contrast that with the thought of evolutionary theory.

I would encourage you to articulate some understanding of the concept of dominion, that man is given an authority over the rest of the creation, and some understanding of how this applies to counseling, that counseling is an image bearer of God ministering to others, and how every counseling need does at some point trace back to a failure to image God.

I think that'll get you to a page and a half or more. Again, the struggle will probably be in fitting all of this into a concise form, but the Lord will help you in that. I am out of time tonight, and I've gone over time. So what I'm going to do is pray for us and close and bring an official close to our study, and then I'll hang around for 5-10 minutes.

If you have any questions, I can answer that. Please use the chat and the other Q&A function, and I'll answer any questions that you might have. But let me close our time together. Father, thank you for this rich study in your word, and just thank you for the truth that we are called to represent you, to reflect your likeness and your character.

Help us to do that. None of us do that perfectly, but we thank you that in Christ, that the image of God is restored in us. Help us to minister to people in counseling as if it matters for eternity, because we know indeed it does matter for eternity. Help us to understand that we're handling the most precious things that are on this planet, the eternal word of God, the eternal gospel, and then eternal souls who will live forever.

Lord, who is sufficient for these things, give us grace that we may be faithful before you, and bless my fellow students and bless my fellow counselors, bless those in training for this ministry, help them to do well and to study hard, and to be encouraged when they get discouraged in their study, and to go deep and to articulate these truths in a wise and a clear manner.

We give our time to you, pray for a great week, and we pray you bring us back together next Sunday. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Well, I'll hang on for 5-10 minutes, and if you have any questions, please feel free to use the chat function. For the rest of you, God bless you, and we'll see you next Sunday at 5 PM.

We'll look at the doctrine of man in relation to gender roles. A question came in, a quick question about course logistics. If we are covering one essay each week, will we be continuing the next year until we finish? That is a great question. I'm taking this a week at a time.

Yes, I believe that we will be covering one essay each week, but once we get to the counseling essays, there are some weeks where we might be able to cover more than one essay per week. We might be able to get some acceleration at that point in the schedule, but at least for the theology essays, I think we're going to have to cover one essay a week until we get through the 24 theology essays.

We'll see how it goes once we get to the fall, but my plan right now is to cover one essay a week. A question came in, can you relate image-bearing to the issues of gender and homosexuality, or discuss a good resource that discusses this further? Yeah, next week we'll look at gender, and I think we'll do a little more work on that.

I'm trying to think of a good, I think Heath Lambert's Theology of Biblical Counseling will give you a start on that. In relation to homosexuality, the best resource I've come across is Andrew T. Walker's, I believe it's called God and Homosexuality. I'm not sure of the title, but Andrew T.

Walker, if you look at Amazon, he has an excellent book on biblically handling the topic of homosexuality, and then also relating that to ministry in the church. I think if you read that, you'll find it to be compassionate and hopeful and practical, and I think he has a pastoral concern that we're able to handle that well in the church.

Andrew T. Walker, he's a professor at Southern Seminary, and I think he's hit a good tone there in that book. Pick that up, and let me look at some other resources this week, and see if I can help with some more resources on that subject. Question is, what does biblical categories mean in the question?

I think the categories that they're specifically addressing are the issues of morally, intellectually, spiritually, physically, relationally. You will want to hit those categories in the essay. These are the categories which explain how man is made in God's likeness. Thank you for that question. It's a good reminder of what I probably should have emphasized in the class.

Question is, do we need to footnote our hymns in our essays? Good question. I probably would. I don't know if that's a hard and fast rule, but if you use a hymn lyric, I would probably just footnote the author and the hymn, and I think that would be sufficient.

I don't think you need any type of publishing thing. Most hymns are a public domain, and so you can footnote that. When in doubt, I always say footnote. That's a great question. Question is, can you go over the last point that we should hit in the essay? I think the last point on the essay is talking through how the image of God is restored in salvation.

I think you would want to have some understanding of how the image of God was perverted and how the image of God was marred in the fall of man into sin. But now in Christ, the image of God is being restored because we are being progressively transformed to be more like the perfect man who is Christ.

In that sense, in God's redemptive plan, the image of God is being restored in those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. That is a very beautiful thing to contemplate as you look at redemptive history, how the image of God was lost in the fall but is now being restored in our sanctification.

One day we will be perfected and be made to be perfectly like Christ, and the image of God will be fully restored on that day. God's original intention that man would live in dominion over the earth will be fulfilled in the new heavens and the new earth as Christ, the perfect man, rules over the new heavens and the new earth as we join in reigning with him.

So just a beautiful concept as you think through this topic in relation to the unfolding drama of redemptive history. I'd encourage you to take a look at Wayne Grudem's treatment of this subject, and he gives some further light on that. But I would just bring some understanding of how was the image of God restored and what implication does that have for counseling ministry.

That I'm ministering to someone who is failing to image God correctly, but in Christ we can expect to see that the image of God will be restored in that counseling. Okay, excellent. Well, great questions. Thank you for that interaction. I hope that was some helpful material. Well, if there aren't any other questions, I just want to thank you for being here.

There's one more question that came in. Please expand on your counseling example earlier of how we relate to others on the issue of racism. Boy, that's a -- I don't know if -- it's one of those questions that -- it's an excellent question. Thank you for that. I don't know if there's an easy response to that.

I think the basic idea here is that racism or, you know, biblically speaking, this would be enmity. This would be hostility in the heart toward others on the basis of ethnicity or race. And that would be a failure to recognize the full likeness of -- the equal likeness of God in each person.

I think that would be a very simple response theologically to that issue, that if I'm having some kind of partial treatment of someone else based on ethnicity or race, then that is a failure to recognize the -- a full image bearer on equal standing as any other image bearer.

And so this is one way that you could address that sin. I think there's probably more commentary that could be offered in the relationship to the unique place we are in history and in the context that we live in, but I probably want to refrain from talking on that subject.

I think it's sufficient at this point to look at -- once you open a can -- once you open a -- I don't know if a can of worms is the best illustration, but once you open the topic, you have to address every side of it, because otherwise it's imbalanced.

And I think that's probably beyond my brain capacity for tonight. But it's an excellent question. Think through that. I think the study of ethics and Christian ethics is closely related to the doctrine of man theologically. And under ethics, we have a whole host of applications that are very relevant to modern day and how we deal with tensions between tribes and nations and ethnicities is very much rooted in our biblical understanding of the doctrine of man.

So thank you for asking that question and for thinking through that. That's a challenging thing for me, and I think I want to think that through before I open my mouth on it. So thank you all for your faithfulness, and thank you for those great questions. I hope that my responses were somewhat helpful.

I hope you have a wonderful night and a wonderful week. We'll see you back next Sunday. We'll look at theology exam number 10 and man made as male and female, and trust that the Lord will bless you and keep you this week.