A question everyone asks (and somehow answers): What am I? or What is a human?

• Some: addict, failure, damaged good, burden, lost cause.
• World: consumer, product of evolution, collection of chemicals and impulses.
• God: He has his own answer to this question.

• An important question in recovery.
  • Definition of recovery:
    • Return to an original state
    • Gradual healing after sickness or injury
    • The act of regaining or saving something lost
  • Definition of restoration:
    • Bring back into original existence, use, function, or position
    • The state of being restored to its former good condition
    • Example: When you bring something back to what it was.
  • So what is being recovered? What is being restored?
    • Whatever it is to be human.

Our Passage

26 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.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26–27, ESV)

What is a Human?

1. Humans are made by God.

• Let us make: Divine deliberation
  • Naturalism says humanity is an accident. Scripture says humanity is God’s intention.
• God’s intentionality in creating humanity extends to every person in this room.

2. Humans are valuable to God.

• God created us last of all. Only after he made male and female humans did God see that everything was ‘”very good” (Gen. 1:31).
• Pinnacle of creation: By nature of being the final element of creation, humanity is the pinnacle of the creation account.
• A Christian concept of personhood depends not on what I can do but on who I am—that I am created in the image of God, and that God has called me into existence and continues to know and love me.
• Human beings do not need to earn the right to be treated as creatures of great value. Our dignity is intrinsic, rooted in the fact that God made us, knows us, and loves us.
• Your value doesn’t rise and fall with a sobriety streak. It began when God decided to make you in his image.

3. Humans are moral.

• Unlike the animal kingdom, we have a conscience and the ability to feel shame.
  • We have an inner sense of right and wrong that sets us apart from animals.
  • This conscience can be seared and tarnished (see Romans 1:21–22), but we have a conscience, which indicates we are a unique part of God’s created order.
• Guilt is not always your enemy—it’s an echo of your design.
  • It means you are not an animal running on impulse. You bear God’s image.

4. Humans are spiritual.

• God is spirit (John 4:24).
• We do have bodies, but we have immaterial spirits as well.
  • God formed Adam from the dust, but what set humanity apart was the breath of life (Gen. 2:7).
  • We are earthy—the name Adam relates to the Hebrew word for ground—but God has put special breath into us.
  • We are not like the animals. We are natural creatures—we came from the dust—but we are also spiritual beings whom God gave the breath of life (Job 32:8, Prov. 20:27).
    • Worship and praise are something animals cannot offer. We will.
• We want the spiritual part of us to operate and thrive.
  • Interaction with God in his word and in prayer is something we desire.
• Addiction numbs and counterfeits the spiritual connection we were made for.

5. Humans are physical.

• We are not only spiritual—God made us into physical beings.
  • It is important that we recognize that it is man in his entirety who is created in the image of God, not just his spirit or his mind.
• God gave us bodies as suitable instruments to image him in a physical way.
  • Almost everything we do is done by means of the use of our physical bodies.
  • Your body isn’t just the thing that craves—it was made to reflect God.
  • Our bodies can be useful to God, redeemed for his purpose and glory.
  • We want these bodies to express love and tenderness—our mission is simple: Our bodies for His glory.

6. Humans are relational.

• Everything God made was declared good. Then, for the first time, God saw something that wasn’t good—Adam was alone (Gen. 2:18).
• God is relational.
  • Before humans or angels existed, God was in a perfect community within Himself. Father, Son, and Spirit—one.
  • God wants mankind to experience this beautiful relationship with Himself and with others.
• We are made for connection—we aren’t content to say, “I’m not a people person.”
  • We know God has made us for at least some level of relational connection with Him and others.
  • Being in this room tonight is itself an expression of God’s design for you.

7. Humans think, reason, and learn.

• God has put in mankind the ability to reason.
• One of our basic needs is to learn. We are constantly consuming information, processing. We have an ability to think, learn, and grow that is categorically above any other species.
  • We create languages, anticipate the future, develop art, science, and technology.
  • Animals don’t develop philosophy, debate ethics, or advance their skills across generations—beavers still build the same kind of dams they have built for a thousand generations—but humanity keeps building.

8. Humans are linguists.

• Human language is unique and must stem from being made in God’s image, as God also uses language to communicate.
  • Our language is not merely for satisfying needs but also for sharing emotions, creativity, and knowledge.
• We talk to God and to each other in ways no animal can.
  • Despite efforts to teach chimpanzees human language, none have fully mastered it, highlighting the uniqueness of human communication.
  • Human language enables communication beyond immediate surroundings, discussing past, future, and abstract concepts.
  • Prayer, confession, encouragement—these are all expressions of being made in the image of a God who speaks.

9. Humans are meant for dominion.

• God is the King of his creation, and he created us in his image to steward and rule over his creation on his behalf.
• Just as ancient kings would place images in distant, conquered lands as a way to convey their authority in those lands, God has placed human beings on the earth to reflect his sovereign rule.
  • This perspective highlights our call to cultivate, govern, and care for the world as an extension of God’s kingly rule.
• We are a little lower than the heavenly beings while also being above the animal kingdom.
  • And life in proper alignment with God gets this right.
  • It does not seek to advance itself above God, nor does it lower itself to a life of animalistic impulse.

What Went Wrong?

• Sin (Genesis 3)
  • Sin as Slavery (John 8:34)—Sin is a master that shackles the will and corrupts the desires. It prevents true freedom and leads to destruction.
  • Sin as Burden (Ps. 38:4)—Sin is a burden or weight that we cannot possibly carry, one we are crushed under. Like a weightlifter crushed under an impossible poundage.
  • Sin as Exile (Is. 59:2, Gen. 4:16)—Sin drives us away from God’s presence and leads to spiritual exile. It took our dominion, our relationships, our clarity—and drove us far from home.

Conclusion: Jesus Christ Restores Our Humanity.

• He answers every image of sin:
  • Slavery? “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
  • Burden? Christ invites all to cast their burdens before him so that he might offer them his rest and redemption (Matt. 11:28–30).
  • Exile? You, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled (Col. 1:21–22).
• He brought regeneration and renewal (which we must have for recovery and restoration):
  • 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4–7, ESV)
  • Regeneration: an instantaneous act of God by which he imparts new spiritual life to a person who was formerly dead in sin.
  • Renewal: an ongoing act of God by which he applies new spiritual life to a person who was formerly dead in sin.
• You: Made by God, valuable, moral, spiritual, physical, relational, thinking, linguists, and meant for dominion.