Bearing the Image of God - Genesis 1: 26-28

3:00We enter the text on the sixth day of creation. God has created the heavens and the earth. He's created the seas and the land. And he's created the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the land animals. And now we read in verse 26, 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. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. 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 everything that lives, over every living thing that moves on the earth.

3:59In our text today, we'll see that God created mankind for three purposes. First of all, to represent him on the earth. Secondly, for relationship. And thirdly, to be responsible for his creation. So there's your outline. Representation, relationship, and responsibility. You know, before we get into the aspect of God's image, let's Start in verse 26 with a very interesting piece of information God gives us as well. He says in verse 26, let us make man in our image, a plural pronoun.

4:45The original Hebrew word for God used throughout Genesis 1 is the word Elohim, which is a plural masculine noun referring to God. So from the very beginning of Scripture, our Creator chose to introduce himself to us with a plural title. The first time in the Bible that God speaks about himself, he uses plural pronouns, us and our. And this is not the only place in Scripture He does this, where he refers to himself in plural terms. We find the plural word Elohim about 2,600 times in the Bible. So throughout God's progressive revelation, he begins here by letting us know that although he is one in essence, he is expressed in more than one person. So there's more than one person in the Godhead. He hasn't told us how many now. Later, as we read on, we find out that there are how many? Three. Good. You've read ahead. Okay, super.

5:44But let's focus now on verse 27, where God carries out what he says he would do in verse 26. First of all, God says, God created man. By the way, this passage is not complicated. It's not complicated. Hard. That's why I chose to preach it because it's very straightforward. Okay, so God created man, an active sentence with a subject, verb, and an object. Man did not just spring up from nothing using our own energy or the natural energies of the universe. Okay, man did not evolve from other lower forms of life. The word for man here is in Hebrew Adam, where we get the name of the first man, Adam, and it means man, human being, or mankind. And you'll hear me use those terms interchangeably when talking to man. I'm not speaking mostly about the singular male of men. I'm talking about mankind. Mankind was created directly by God. God made the first two, and he gives us the details of that in Genesis chapter 2, which we'll look at shortly. And each of us, all those who would come after those first two created ones, are offspring of that created pair. So God created man. And the next words are in His own image. God is giving us a lot of information about how He created us and why. God intended us to be fashioned in His likeness, to resemble Him in some way, to represent God on the earth. I've heard it said many times that we are His image-bearers. On the earth. Has anybody heard that? I like that term. Man, mankind, bear his image. We are his image-bearers.

7:39But my question is: how do we bear his image? And what does that mean? I'm glad you asked. Let's take a look here. Our likeness with God is not a physical resemblance. God is a spirit. We do not represent him, we do not resemble him physically. Instead, God's likeness means our capacity to rule over creation and to be in relationship with God and other humans. In that capacity, we exercise intellect and will and emotion and reason and speech, moral consciousness, rationality, and choice, unlike anything else that God has created. Since the beginning of time, God has desired us, or God has desired to bless us and enjoy close fellowship with us. And for this reason, He made us like Himself, more so than the rest of His creatures. And, you know, when I go out in the evening sometimes with my dogs and we enjoy the sunset, I will look at the sunset, and you can identify with this too. You've seen a beautiful sunset, and you marvel at it. And when you see the sunset, it just causes your soul to rise up in praise to God.

8:52And then I look at my dogs, and they're just looking at me. They're not enjoying the sunset. I go out on a starry night and I go, the heavens proclaim the glory of God, that what I see causes me to praise Him. But my dogs don't enjoy a starry night like we do. They can't enjoy a sunset. They're not made with that capacity like we are. As His image-bearers, we also share and exhibit some of God's characteristics, which theologians refer to as His attributes. There are many of God's attributes that we do not share. God is eternal, we are finite.

9:38God is all-knowing, we are not. He is omnipresent, omnipotent, God is sovereign, and there are many other of God's non-communicable attributes that we don't share. However, God has created us to exhibit some of His own attributes. Some of those would be love, kindness, mercy, grace, justice, wisdom. These are characteristics or attributes of God that He shares with us, and we display them to those around us and to creation. Now, obviously, we display these to a far lesser degree than our perfect God, but even in our fallen state, we are still reflecting God's image on His created world. So, when When I tend a sick animal, when I pull weeds from our garden, or when I show compassion to a fellow human being, the light of our Creator shines forth on his world. That's why he created us in His image to bear it and reflect it in the world. Now, let me pause here and emphasize that sin has corrupted our ability to bear His image to a large degree. Obviously, there are wicked people in the world who are cruel, rebellious, and dangerous. That might cause some to think that if this is what God had in mind of His image-bearers, then He must be a very wicked and cruel God indeed.

11:13But even those who profess faith in Christ sometimes stumble horribly in the task of bearing His image and bring discredit on the God whose image we're created to bear. So let's continue in verse 27. Let's see. God created man in His own image. In the image of God, He created Him. So just in case you misunderstood the first part, God says it again, this time in reverse order. It's almost like God knew that this would be debated at some point in the future. So He says it a second time. In Hebrew, to repeat something is to emphasize it and to make sure it's not overlooked. So you could look at this repetition as God underlining this point. Or an exclamation point. So let's pause again here to ask this question. Why is God emphasizing or making such a big deal out of ensuring that we understand that we are created in His image or that we bear His image? It's because He wants us to have a right understanding of the value of man.

12:23We have value because not in our own worth, we're made from dirt, we'll find later. We have value because we bear God's image. That is where we found our value. God puts a special value on human life because we are His image-bearers. When Cain commits the first murder, his brother Abel, God devotes almost all of Genesis chapter 4 to rebuke and punish Cain for the first murder of an image-bearer. God shows us that He is serious about His image and the value of those who bear it. Our value is made even more evident when we read that after the great flood, when Noah and his family came off the ark, you know, God had destroyed the world because of the violence of mankind. The violence had increased to the point that God judged mankind and started over. And then in Genesis chapter 9, verse 5, we read, And for your lifeblood, He's speaking to Noah, for your lifeblood, I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal and from everyone. Each human being, too. I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being. Whoever sheds human blood by humans shall their blood be shed. For in the image of God, God has made mankind. As for you, be fruitful and increase in number, multiply on the earth and increase upon it. God is so serious about the high value of those who bear his image that he demanded capital punishment for those who would murder one of them. As murder destroys an image-bearer, it is a direct affront to God himself. Humans are unique among God's creations. None of the animals are created in God's likeness. We are different than them, and we're created differently. So, murder is a unique crime. To deter others from committing this high crime against those who bear the image of God, God made the punishment extremely serious. Let's go back to Genesis chapter 1, verse 27. So, we have God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. Here, a third time, God repeats the fact that he created man, but this time he adds some detail about those that he created, about mankind. Just in case there would be any debate over this, in the future, he tells us how he created them. Male and female. Very clear, very straightforward. Really, no room for any confusion there. Male, the word used there in Hebrew, is zakar, which means the male of the species. And the word for female there is nekabau. I use these times to prepare for sermons to brush up on my Hebrew. Isn't that fun? It means the feminine of the species. Just these two.

15:28We see male and female in all the species that God created. We even have special names for them. So let's have a little quiz. Think about cattle. The male is called a what? Bull. The female is called a cow or heifer, if she hasn't had a calf yet. For horses, the male is called a stallion. The female is a mare. Good. Y'all are doing very well. Let's make it a little harder. Chickens. This is always confusing. Chickens. The male is a rooster, and the female is a hen. That's right. They're all chickens, but the male roosters, yeah. How about geese? The male is called a gander. What's a female?

16:07I looked it up. The word is dame or dom. So, geese. So for many species, we have special words for the male and the female. But all throughout creation, including mankind, there are only two. Only two. So write that down. There are other places where they don't get that right. So I didn't make it up. I'm just reading what God wrote in the scriptures. Well, let's turn over to Genesis chapter 2 for the details of how he created man, male and female, because the details are significant. And I'm going to start in Genesis chapter 2, verse 7.

16:47Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And the man became a living creature. So, note here in the details of the creation of the first man that Adam was formed from dust. God took the dust and formed it into man, and he breathed life into him. Now, that is not included in the detail of the creation of the fish or the birds and the land animals. If you read in Genesis chapter 1, you'll see that God told the seas to bring forth life, and he told the land to bring forth the land animals. But here, God himself takes the dust, forms it into a man, and breathes life into him.

17:38So, the creation of man is different than the other creatures that God has made up to this point. And most interesting, man is the only one whom God Himself breathed in the breath of life. So, this very breath of God in us links man more closely to God than the rest of his living creatures. They breathe the same air that we do. But God breathed the breath of life into us. It was a very special and intimate creation. Skipping down to verse 18 in this chapter, we read, The Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him or suitable to him. And in verse 21, we read that the Lord God said, It is not, let's see, the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and as he slept, and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord had taken from man, he made into a woman. And he brought her to the man. And Adam said, Now this is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. So the second detail we get here is about the creation of the woman, not made from the grimy, dirty dirt. God takes her actually from the man.

19:03God made woman from the man, from his rib, from his side. And there's a purpose in this and a lot of principles that we learn and that are expressed later in Scripture about this order of creation. Here's the first principle, if you want to write some down. Man was made first. Again, this isn't hard. That's the order that it was given here. Man was made first. This establishes God's order, we find out later in Scripture, for male leadership in the home and in the church. You can read in Ephesians chapter 5, verses 22 and 23, that the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. So there is a reason for this created order that the man would have some headship there in his home. In 1 Timothy chapter 2, verses 12 and 13, God prohibits women to teach a man or to have authority over a man, and he says for this reason, for Adam was made first, then Eve. So even back in Genesis chapter 1, God had a purpose for the detailed and orderly way that he created man. It was to establish a certain order in his creation. Well, another principle is that the woman was made from the man.

20:30Pretty obvious, right? The woman was made from the man. Why? God used Adam's rib, his own flesh, to form Eve. So he used existing tissue to show Adam that this woman was of the same substance of him, his very own flesh. Therefore, she was an image-bearer just like him, and made in God's likeness, just as Adam was. So a woman was made of Adam's rib and was designed to be a companion or a Helper suitable for Adam. Eve was formed from a physical part of Adam and was truly his complement, an integral part of who he was. And as such, she was the perfect companion for him. So here you have this complementary relationship established between male and female. You have a leader and a helper. And this is by God's design. And when we operate our families and our society in accordance with that design, things actually work out pretty well most of the time. Another principle is that God's image is too complex to be represented by only the man. So he made mankind male and female to express different aspects of himself or his attributes. Now there are many that we could talk about. I'm just going to mention two here for the sake of time. And they're probably the most obvious. For example, man reflects the image of God's strength. In the family, he is the provider. He is the protector. He is the head.

22:06Woman, complementary, reflects the image of God's beauty. She is the nurturer and the comforter. We actually hear the word comforter referred to another part of God's role as well. So she represents the heart of the family. So you don't get a complete image of God in the home without male and female. Here's a Another principle, the last one I'll talk about here. Male and female are necessary for reproduction. Okay? I'm the master of the obvious, I know.

22:41Now, we didn't read some of this in Genesis chapter 2, but God showed Adam that each creature had a mate. He paraded the animals in front of him and showed Adam that each of them had a mate, but there wasn't a helper suitable for him. So there's much more we could discuss here, but let's move along to verse 28, where we see that God gives his first commands to mankind. And here is the, let's see, so far we've talked about the we're God's representative, and then we talk about the relationship, male and female. And thirdly, we come to the responsibilities. And I found I've kind of boiled it down to two. God has given two responsibilities to man. Verse 28, I'll read it again. 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, birds of the air, every living thing that moves on the earth. So here in Scripture, we have recorded the very first command given to mankind by God. I'm going to sum it up and say the first thing he tells us to do is to make things grow. Okay? Be fruitful and multiply. Okay, what are we talking about making grow? Well, first of all, People.

24:02The term be fruitful is a Hebrew word which means to grow or to blossom or to bring forth. It's an imperative tense, be fruitful. It's a command. Paired with the word multiply, which follows it, it obviously implies reproduction, reproducing more of God's image-bearers. So he commands the man and the woman here to multiply. The first command God gives them, the first man and woman, is to have children, to have lots of them. Now, we don't extend that command to everyone today, and we'll talk about that later, but certainly for these first two, they were to have lots of children, and so were theirs, because the next thing he says is to fill the earth. God wants his creation to be filled with his image. God's image is good, and in his goodness, God wants more of his image-bearers in creation. Instead of, he could have done this many ways. He could have taken some more dirt and made some more men, breathed some life into them. He could have taken some more ribs and made some more women. But instead, God delegated that responsibility to mankind by telling them to do some math.

25:19Not addition, not subtraction, not a triple integral. He told them to multiply. So, simply put, God. Desired for Adam and Eve to have many children and for their children to have many children to fill the earth. Now, to accomplish this special task, God created another special institution that today we call marriage. And so we're going to take a detour further down into Genesis chapter 22. I'm sorry, Genesis chapter 2, verse 24. After God brings the woman to the man, Genesis chapter 2, verse 24 says, Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Very straightforward verse, really no confusion there. Not difficult to interpret or to preach about. But I'm going to do it anyway, okay? Because this gives us a picture of the marriage bond before sin entered the world. One man, one woman. Are you taking notes? This isn't confusing, right? One man, one woman, and they become one flesh. There's a picture of marriage, the marriage bond before sin.

26:39This echoes the language of the preceding verse when Adam first meets Eve and exclaims, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. So this two shall become one flesh image expresses the original purpose of marriage. Seal a permanent relationship between husband and wife. That was the design. That was the intent. Two, becoming one in marriage involves uniting two whole and separate people into a new, God-designed, and God-purposed life.

27:20God's first objective in creating marriage was to provide companionship. Certainly, reproduction comes later, but before that, there is companionship, a helper suitable to him, right? He did not make another man for Adam so that Adam could experience brotherly affection. He created a woman from the man's own body and brought her to the man. With the woman, Adam could experience a deeper kind of intimacy than he could with a man. God designed male and female bodies and souls to complement each other physically and spiritually, so that when they come together in the marriage union, they become one flesh and one in purpose. Interestingly, when a marriage produces children, you also have the tangible, physical, visible, one-flesh result of the marriage union. The child is the result of the man and the woman coming together. And neither of them could have produced the child alone. The man needed the woman, and the woman needed the man. The necessity of Marriage between one man and one woman is not just a spiritual truth, a theological truth, it's also a biological truth because God created biology as well.

28:43Now, there are some who extend the command about being fruitful and multiply and fill the earth to everyone, saying that you need to have as many children as possible. That's interesting, and that is a principle that we should fill the earth, we should want to replicate God's image. But just let me quickly point out that this doesn't follow biblically. Okay, this command was to the first man and woman specifically, but if you just consider Jesus as the fulfillment of the law, he did not fulfill this one. So, if this was a command for everyone, Jesus didn't do that one. Okay, so we can't really make the mistake of making a command where God has not. Also, there are some people who would be incapable of having children, and also Paul writes that God calls others to remain single and therefore childless. So, in the providence of God, while that is the general command to his image-bearers, that would not have to be fulfilled by every image-bearer. Let's move on.

29:49Being fruitful. Fruitfulness also denotes much more. God didn't create Adam and Eve just to have children. Being fruitful also applies to. To work, such as working the earth. And this language is continued in this verse by subduing it and having dominion over it. God wanted us to make it productive. In effect, God is telling us, He's telling them, make my creation fruitful, make things grow. Certainly, grow more people, fill the earth with them, but I want you to make my creation productive as well. Plants, animals, things.

30:26Express your creativity because I am the creator, and so you can create things too. You must. God's first job that He gave to Adam was to tend the garden, to manage it within the system that God had made. So we're to actively participate in the management of God's creation by our own work and our own ingenuity. God did not create the world to be a hammock for us to lie in passively while God brings us everything we need on a silver tray. He could have done that. Instead, he expects us, he commands us, to be active, fruitful workers of his creation, not lazy, fruitless vagrants. So being fruitful also is fulfilled in subduing the earth and having dominion over it. Work it. Take what I've given you and make it productive for your own benefit and for God's glory.

31:20But not only did God want mankind to be active participants in His creation, He gave man another responsibility. He delegated man the man. Control over it. God is sovereign and controls everything, but he delegated the control, the dominion of creation, to mankind. So while the first responsibility he gave man was to make things grow, the second one is to rule over it, to rule over creation and to have dominion, which implies stewardship and the creation of technology and other wonderful things to use our ingenuity and the intellect that God gave us.

32:01So in verse 28, we're told to subdue it and to have dominion over the fish of the sea, birds of the air, over every living thing that moves on the earth. Man is to be the steward of the earth. He is to bring the material world and all of its varied elements into the service of God and the good of mankind. The command to subdue the earth is actually part of God's blessing on mankind. Created in the image of God, Adam and Eve were to use the earth's vast resources in the service of both God and themselves. And since only humans were created in God's image, we are the only ones in the created order who perform this function of managing God's creation on such a scale. Certainly, you've seen birds take twigs and make a nest, but that is nowhere on the scale of what we do with trees making lumber and taking other elements and making concrete, taking other elements and making steel and building. All sorts of buildings and machines. And in this way, God is allowing us, He's commanding us to use our God-given intellect to take the things that He's given us and make it grow and make life better. Improve your lot. In the Marines, when we are in the attack and we have a break and we stop, we're not told to just stop and be static. You immediately start improving your position. So you start digging a defensive position. If you're just there for ten minutes, you may only dig three or four inches. If you're going to be there for a day, you're expected to dig a fighting position. But you're always improving your position. I'm going to get some trees and put some cover over here. So you're always improving it. And that's an image, I think, of what God expects us to do. Wherever we go, we should be improving what God has given us to manage.

33:53Let's speak about dominion. That was subduing the earth and ruling over it. Dominion. We are to have dominion over it. We're to rule over it. It is our dominion that He has delegated to us. So when we have dominion over the animals, for example, it's to care for and tend to those animals to their fullest potential in a just and kind manner, in keeping with God's image. Having dominion over the animals means wise and compassionate management of them. As a resource, God has ordained them to be. We should consider that mankind was given the task and the blessing of representing. God in this world, and we are its caretakers. We hold sway over all the earth, and we, bearing God's image, bear a responsibility to act as God would toward his creation.

34:44On my farm, we have many animals. Dogs, cats, chickens, horses, cows, bees, and they all know who I am. Well, maybe not the bees, but they all know me. Every morning when I go outside, I hear the cows. They see me. They hear the door open, and they start telling me that they're hungry. My cats meow. My dogs are waiting expectantly for me to come outside. It's like all of my little domain there is looking at my door, waiting for me to come express my dominion. And certainly, I like to think they're happy to see me because they love me, but I really know that they're just hungry, right?

35:30And they're depending on me to feed them. But every morning when I go outside, my dogs are the first to greet me. They're so excited to see me. They're jumping around. They know it's time to go out and to be freed from this cage of my yard that I keep them in. And we're going to go out for our rounds. Now, one of my dogs, our golden retriever, is especially happy to see me. She treats me adoringly. She leans against me when I pet her. And she won't let me walk very far without. Until I give her her affection. She's got to have her affection. And while I pet her, the expression on her face is one of sheer joy just to be in my presence. It's like she's saying, I'm so glad to see you. It's been so long since I've seen you. It was such a long night. I was waiting for you to come out. I'm so glad you're here. That's all she cares about.

36:20So there's no animal on my farm happier to see me than her. You've heard me say sometimes that God gives us dogs to show us how we should adore and worship Him, right? As dogs adore and worship us, so we should worship Him. But He also gave us cats. He gave us cats to show us how we really are, right? How we really think of God. My cats look at me not adoringly, they look at me impatiently. Where have you been? Don't you know we're hungry? What's taking you so long? Get a move on, Buster, you know.

36:58Especially in the winter, all my animals, including the chickens, cows, horses, depend on me for food and water. They depend on me for protection. When there's something getting the eggs or the chickens, I am their protector. I'm their provider, their protector, just as God is ours. And so in that way, I reflect God's image in my little domain that God has given me to rule over. Well, let me conclude just by saying, just by kind of wrapping all this up. We've seen here this morning that God has made us imagine. In His image for some specific reasons. And the first is to be His representative to His creation. The secondly is to have relationship and to express His image through those relationships. And thirdly, to be responsible for creation. He's delegated responsibility to us.

37:50Let me talk about each of these lessons in a little bit more detail. First of all, when we understand our value as His image-bearers, we understand the value of human life and the reason why God's punishment for murder is so severe. We understand the value of tiny image-bearers in the womb, and we understand the value of aged image-bearers who are infirm and confined to bed or something like that. And every image-bearer, every person in between, they all have value because they are made in God's image. The rich, the poor, the Jew, the Gentile, the free or the slave, redeemed or not, every person bears the image of God and has great value in God's eyes and should have great value in our eyes as well. So, a right understanding of God created us in His image is so that we would assign the proper value to human life. It's not the same as the rest of the created order. Certainly, I love my dogs and my cats, but if my house was burning down and I had to pick someone to rescue, and I could only pick one, it would be one of the image-bearers who lives there, not me. One of them. And that would be the right decision in keeping with God's design. Secondly, when we understand that man was created male and female, we understand God's design for relationships among his image-bearers. Even though sin has interfered with the carrying out of that design, God's design was good. And the closer we can get to that, the better. God made male and female not only to reproduce and to fill the earth with his image, but because he reflects his image through the special attributes and roles that he has ordained in men and women. And when we stray from that, when we get that out of whack in our marriage, in other places in our society, problems arise. Chaos arises. So we should pay special attention to God's created order there as well. Thirdly, when we understand that as His representatives, God gave us responsibilities to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it, to have dominion, we have a right understanding of the purpose and design of marriage between one woman, one man, one woman, becoming one flesh. We understand the right relationship that we have with the rest of God's creation, that we are placed on the earth in His image to rule over it, to be stewards of it through wise management, creative development, innovative tools and technology that reflects. A wise, intelligent, caring, and shepherding God.

40:38But of course, we are not very good image-bearers, are we? Because our image is marred by sin. Like a mirror covered with filth and grime, the image in that mirror is blurry and hard to see. It's tarnished by the effects of sin. But there was one who bore God's image perfectly, the Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians, that we read this morning in chapter 1, says that he is the image of the invisible God. He is the perfect representative of God Himself. In contrast to the rest of mankind, Jesus does not have a tarnished image of God. Rather, He is an exact representation of His being. So much so that those who have seen Jesus have seen the Father. And in His perfect image-bearer, we can find forgiveness for our sins and reconciliation to our Creator. Let me conclude by reading some more from Colossians chapter 1, beginning at verse 19. For it pleased the Father that in him all the fullness should dwell, and by him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of his cross. And you, who were once able to be a man, Alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight. If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven.

42:27To know Christ is to know God. The Lord Jesus Christ shows us what God meant when he said, Let us make man in our image. We are all dirty mirrors, but you can have the dirt removed and through the forgiveness purchased by Christ on the cross when you place your faith in the one who is the perfect image of God. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the blessing that you have given us to be a special part of your creation and to represent you here upon the earth. Lord, that you have created us in relationship, male and female, to express your attributes more clearly. And that you have given us the opportunity and the privilege and the blessing of ruling over your creation. Oh, Lord, I pray that you would help us to do that better, knowing that we can only do it when we are redeemed to better express your image to those around us. I pray that you would make us aware every day. Day of our sin that we need to confess and repent of. Help us to have faith in you as the author and finisher of our faith. And it's for your name and your glory we pray. Amen.