27th Mar 26 | 16:08
Studies by Book
02 Acts 14 08-20 THE MINISTRY AT LYSTRA 26 Acts 14 15-17 Created in the image of God
📖 Acts 14:08-20
26 – Sun, 16 Nov 2025 – *Created in the image of God*- _Acts 14:08-20_ – THE MINISTRY AT LYSTRA – _Genesis 01:26_
_Acts 14:15-17 and saying, "*Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you*, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, (16) who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. (17) Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness."_
Barnabas and Paul made an important statement as they stopped the crowd from sacrificing to them. “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you…”*
*This statement gives us a wonderful opportunity to reflect on how we are created in the image of God, yet not of the same substance as God.*
Let us begin by looking at how we are created in the image of God.
Man, (both man and woman) was created in the image of the triune God. _Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." (27) So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; *male and female He created them*._
Though marred by sin, man continues to bear the image of God. _Genesis 9:6 "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed; *For in the image of God He made man*._
We humans are created to reflect the spiritual nature of God. We have souls, morality and the capacity to worship God, which God has placed within us.
*Soul* - _Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul._ (KJV)
*Morality* - _Romans 2:15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)_
*Capacity to worship God* - _Psalms 95:6-7 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. (7) For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice:_ / _Deuteronomy 6:4-5 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! (5) You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength._
We are *relational beings*, and this is a reflection of the image of God. The triune God came together, conversed among themselves and made a decision to create man in Their image. This relational capacity has been given to us.
_John 17:21-23 that *they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us*, that the world may believe that You sent Me. (22) And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: (23) I in them, and You in Me; *that they may be made perfect in one*, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me._
*As disciples of Christ, we embody our mission by reflecting the relational nature of the triune God; through this, we present God to the world.*
We reflect the image of God by being *creational beings*. The creativity that God has given us is also built into us in building culture. We have received the Creation or Cultural mandate from God as a blessing from God. _Genesis 1:28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."_
As God is King, *we are His co-rulers in reflecting His image in the world*. _Psalms 8:3-6 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, (4) What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? (5) For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. (6) You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,_
_For You have made him a little lower than the *angels*_ The word for *_angels_* used here, in the original, is *_el-o-heem_*, which is the plural understanding of God.
Jesus came into the world as the second Adam and was the full expression of God in the world. _I Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, "THE FIRST MAN ADAM BECAME A LIVING BEING. (soul)" The last Adam became a life-giving spirit._
We will look at how Jesus, though fully man, is also the full expression of God in the world. We will also look at how *we humans are not the same substance as God*, though we are created in the image of God.