Video Transcript: Divine Imprint

We're looking at the transformational leader, and now we turn to the Divine  imprint. Here are some passages that refer to that you created my inmost being. The psalmist says, You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you  because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. I know  that full well. And then what Paul says in Romans 12:3 by the grace given to me, I say to every one of you, do not think more highly than you ought to think, but  rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each one of you. In talking about the divine imprint, we need to  remember the bad news. And the bad news is that there is a code of the street,  but there are clues that tell us that before the code of the street, something else  happened, and we talked about that earlier, and my own history with with  discovering, with Montessori, discovering that God is at work in people, that God has created people uniquely Jimmy and then Raquel and the discoveries that  took place from spending time with them. So we began to figure out where God  is in the motivation question in the beginning, before youth were ignored or  labeled or pressed by the code of the street God created the heavens and the  earth. So what's the secret to motivating urban youth is tapping into their divine  imprint, the image of God. So let's take a little bit of time and look at what is the  image of God. The theological center of Genesis 1-2 is the declaration of man  as the image bearer of God. He's central in that passage. God has created  everything else, but when he comes to mankind, mankind is special and unique.  And he says, You're created. He created in my image. So God created mankind  in his own image, in the image of God, He created them, male and female. He  created them. If you look at Job and you want to know what motivated Job  toward a life of righteousness and justice, look at this verse in Job 31 if I have  denied justice to any of my servants, whether male or female, when they had a  grievance against me, what will I do when God confronts me? Did not he who  made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within  our mothers. That motivated him. He knew that God had created him and them  the same. Now let's talk about what is the image of God? How do we describe  the image of God? Peter May he is involved with. I forget the name. I forget the  name of the website, but it is an outgrowth of what Francis Schaeffer did in labri, but as he studied it, he said God God's reflection. The image of God is God's  reflection as seen in sync six distinctive characteristics of humanity we express  the image of God in six unique ways. First of all, creative mankind reflects the  creative capacity of God. We do we are not God, and yet we reflect his capacity. Mankind is capable of original and creative ideas. Intelligent the mind of God  that lies behind the creation is reflected, albeit in very small measure, in  mankind's capacity for understanding and rational thought. Man is capable,  unlike the animals of pondering, the meaning of existence, the significance of  actions and the prospects of destiny, intelligence, and then there is aesthetics.  God is not only a great artist who has fashioned a beautiful creation, but he has 

given mankind. The capacity to appreciate great beauty. Have you ever listened  to a song, a popular song, and have you ever thought, Wow, that really is a  beautiful song. Say, wait a minute, it's really beautiful. And I don't think the  person who put it together is a Christian. And yet tremendous beauty that is a  reflection of the image of God. Another is moral. The human conscience is a  major aspect of humanity. Paul's description of the internal dilemma of battling  good and evil in Romans 7 is a distinctive human phenomena. Mankind wrestles with moral choices. Then relational. The dominant theme of human existence is  relationships. Life, in a word, is about love. So mankind struggles to understand  the source and meaning of love, which can only be found in God, through Christ. And then finally, as it has been throughout the ages, is how we are designed.  We are incurably religious spiritual. We are spiritual. We were created to  worship something. If we do not worship God, then we will worship something or someone else. Now the power of the image. The power of imagery is in what it  reflects. Images may be hazy or clear, distorted or accurate, but whatever their  attributes, they do not exist on their own. Beyond the image lies a reality. In this  case, the reality of God. The image of God in mankind not only helps self  perception, it also reveals God to us. Charles Feinberg did a study on the image of God, and of all the relevant passages that he looked at, Feinberg asserts the  Genesis account is the key. But he raises, he raises three questions regarding  the image of God. First of, what specifically does the image of God consist?  What is the image of God? And then secondly, what effect did sin and the fall of  mankind have on this image? And then third, what effect does the redemptive  work of Christ have on the image of God? Well, for the first question, we've  already gone over it the six distinctive characteristics of humanity, that is, what  the image of God consists of, being creative, intelligent, aesthetic, moral,  relational and spiritual. So in Genesis 1:26,, we find that mankind is the apex of  all creation. Possesses a special nature, far superior to and never duplicated in  lower animals, and is distinctive in his dominion over the rest of creation.  Secondly, what is the effect of sin on the on the image of God. Okay, nowhere  does the Bible indicate that the divine image and likeness are lost due to sin.  This is an important point. Man's nature still reflects the work and creation of  God. And you look at these, these various scriptures, all reflect that, that we, our nature, reflects the image and creation of God, even though we are not saved  again, going back to the illustration of the musician that can create great music  but not have a relationship with God. Fallen man is still man, while marred,  corrupted and in an impaired state, Feinberg says mankind has not been shorn  of its. Humanity. So the effect of sin marred. The image is marred, but it is not  destroyed. It is not gone away. Now, what about redemption and the image of  God? When the New Testament refers to the new creation. It speaks of the  restoration of the image anyone found in Christ. You're a new creation. The old  is gone, the new has come. This is the central emphasis in Pauline 

anthropology, so regeneration and sanctification renew the believer after the  image of his or her Creator. And so God has predestined the redeemed to be  conformed to the image of Christ, those who he forknew He also predestined to  be conformed to the image of His son that he might have first place. Now, how,  how does the divine imprint, imprint impact youth leadership? Transformational  youth leadership? Well, first, we must recognize something of all the potential  motivating drivers in life. Arguably, none is more powerful than to be who you  were created, to be experiencing in your own person, the fullness of God's  creation. This is important. As leaders, discipled by Jesus, we are increasingly  being transformed to reflect the image of God. For those who are not yet  disciples, the capacity to be creative, intelligent, aesthetic, moral, relational and  spiritual is still there, even though marred by sin as transformational leaders, our mission is to lead youth toward the discovery of who they are in Christ. So key  points we've created in the image of God, that image reflects is a reflection of six distinct characteristics of humanity. We reflect those uniquely, no one. There are  no two people alike. That's the beauty of God's creation. So each young person  you work with has a divine imprint, a unique divine imprint. When the New  Testament refers to the new creation, it speaks of the restoration of the image  again, of all the potential motivating drivers in life, none is more powerful than to  be who you were created, to be experiencing in your person, the fullness of  God's creation. When we help our young people discover who they are in Christ  God's incredible love for them as we work to help them see what God had in  mind when he created them. It is a powerful motivator. This is the answer to the  question that John Perkins asked me years ago. How do we build incentive in  our youth? This is how we do it, the divine imprint.