1. In the image of God: Life as it was meant to be. Kingston Open Bible Church, August 2010

2. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” And God said, "Let there be light,"

3. God saw that the light was good… …and there was light.

4. … Gen 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

5. Gen 1:27-28 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

6. “O Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! At the thought of this creation mandate the Psalmist David broke into a song of praise:

8. When I consider the heavens, the work of your hands, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, What is Man, that you are mindful of him, the son of man, that you care for him?

9. You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour. You made him ruler over the works of thy hands, You put everything under his feet, all flocks and herds and the beasts of the fields The birds of the air and the fish of the sea and all that swim the paths of the seas

10. O Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

11.  Made in the image and likeness of God!  A little lower than the Heavenly beings, and crowned with glory and honour  Ruler over the works of God’s hands

12. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made… Ps 139:14 - NIV

14. The gospel places those with faith in Jesus Christ back on course toward God’s intended goal for us – to be fully human, glorifying God as the imago Dei. However,

15. Each human being (including the person in the mirror) is created in the image of God, awaiting full restoration.

16. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18 - KJV

17. We can now experience life as it was meant to be That is our destiny, finally arriving at what God intended all along.

18. We will be God’s representatives on earth, in harmonious relationship with the Trinity and with our fellow human beings, continuing to carry out that original Cultural Mandate.

19. We are not transformed merely as individuals; we need to be interconnected with a faith community that walks with us toward this shared destiny,

20. God Bless you!