Praise to the Lord Almighty. My name is Robert Mulanzi, and I'm glad to be here to share God's word with you. When God creates you, that's how we say it in Luganda. And in Kiswahili, we say, And in Chichewa we say, mulungu akukulenga. And in Lunyankole we say, lohanga kwakuheza kukuhanga. Katonda buakutonda, when God creates you. The world spends a lot of time debating on the following questions. None of them is about the origin of human beings. They want to know the truth about evolution. They want to know how man was created. There's a lot of debate on where did humans come from. Others go ahead and say, how could humans have evolved and still be in the image of God? And others ask, how did we get here? They ask all these questions. The world spends a lot of time asking such questions. And if my Genesis professor then, Professor Bentley Mohango was here, would just tell them, go and read the Book of Origins, and the debate will be concluded. However, from the above questions about creation of man, studies in evolutionary biology have led to a conclusion that human beings arose from ancestral primates. And this was hotly debated by science during Darwinist day, and today there are people who still hold to such views, and I think we call them the evolutionists. And if you look at the question they ask, yeah, they could be good question to ask, yes, and to debate on. However, with the time we have today, let us extensively and intensively consider the following question that I believe we should put all our focus. in the day-to-day life debates we involve ourselves in. This is the question. Why did God create man in his own image? Oh, let me put it this way. What did God give man when he created him? Genesis is an account of creation of the world, the early history of humanity, and talks about the origin of the Jewish people and, of course, even you who are seated here. And in Genesis chapter 1, we are going to read from today, the important message in that chapter is that God the creator, God is the creator of the earth, or of heaven and the earth. He is sovereign and almighty, and that he has the right to receive our worship. So I want you to open your Bible in Genesis chapter 1, verse 27 to 28, and we'll read together God's word. I don't think we can have someone who will be lost where we're going to read from. Just open your Bible in Genesis chapter 1 and look for verse 27 and 28. Let me just go a little bit in verse 26. Let's start from verse 26. Let's begin from verse 26. James chapter 1, verse 26 to 28. Then God said, let us make man in our own image and 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." Verse 27. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. the last verse, and God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. From this text, I would love to share with you three reasons why Three reasons about when God creates you. And before I do that, I want to share with you something. When you come here at African Bible University and spend time with us, you'll notice many things. But the following are being emphasized almost every day. It may not be spoken out, but you will be able to see it from here. And one of them is the Bible. It just came in here just 10 minutes ago. We are reading from the word of God. And the second thing is the relationship. You will notice a relationship between the faculty, the staff, and the students. You will notice that when you come here at African Bible University and spend time with us. Having said that, reason number one, when God creates you, he gives you a relationship with him. He gives you a relationship. He gives you a relationship. And of course, my friends from Malawi, we say, He gives you a relationship with him. In Luhanga, in Luhanga we say, Luhanga, kwa kuheza, kukuhanga, a kutera ho uryo, bo ku kwa nisa naye. Bo ku kwa tanisa naye. Okay? Nawe. He gives you a relationship with him. So if you turn your attention again to Genesis chapter 1 and verse 26, you'll see that, and God said, Let us make man in our own image. In the image of God, in verse 27, you see that Let's begin with verse 26. Then God said, let us make man in our own image after our own likeness. And we see in verse 27, so God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created them. We see God creating man. We see God created man. And the way how God created man, you can read Genesis chapter chapter 2, you will see that. We don't have time to go there, but you can read James chapter 2 and see that. But let's consider this word, create, because we see God created man. So let me pick out a word study here, create. What is to create? In Hebrew, the word create is pronounced as bara, meaning to manufacture, to generate, to make, to form, and many other words you can think of. In Greek, the word create is pronounced as dimyogor, meaning to bring into being. And of course, in Latin, they pronounce it as creo, meaning to as well to make, to bring forth, to produce, to cause, and many other words they use. But the idea being portrayed here is the activity in which God brings man into being who didn't exist. That's the idea, that's the general idea that we can pick from there. And verse 26 and 27, in verse 26 we see what we call a divine announcement. If you read the book of Origins, it talks about the divine announcement. What is this divine announcement? The divine announcement goes like this. Let us make man. in our own image. God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are saying, let us make man. And what they announced is being fulfilled in verse 27. So God created man, brought man into being. And this man who was brought into being is in the image of God. And that means we need to consider as well the image of God. What does it mean to be created in the image of God? If in Latin they pronounce image of God as imago de, or in Hebrew as Elohim, which was romanized some time back, but you could say that is to carve, to cut, to carve or to cut. And what they mean, if you go in the dictionary you will see that they define image as the general impression that a person, organization, or a product presents to the public. I talked earlier on about African Bible University. I happen to be in the Office of Public Relations. And this idea of image comes out very well. And ever since I came here, these three things have been emphasized when we go out. And we believe that the image that ABU has outside there is compiled in these three things. One, the image we put out there is, as a BU, we are a liberal chartered as Christian institution. When someone, you know, when you talk about African bi-university, that has to come to their mind. Secondly, why? Because we teach the whole person. And when you go out, that's what we believe that people are going to see. Did this person who went out of FBU, was he or she trained wholly or partially or in pieces? Was this person trained to serve everywhere God puts him or her? For us, we believe, from our alumni, from the staff and everyone who is with us, that is being taught, is being molded wholly as a person. And secondly, we are a community, or a family. If you listen to RADFBCOC, you hear we are a Christian family station. It's not just in saying. We believe that that is part of us, and that's the image that when someone comes in or when you go out, oh, those is from ABU, ABU there, a family. And thirdly, international. So when someone comes in here, yeah, those three, that's the image that we try to build as African Bible University when we go outside there. But there's another definition I want you to bring to your attention too, which is, In media, we define image as a visual presentation of something. For example, likeness of an object produced on a photographic material. See? There's an image here. This was produced on a photographic material. Or a picture produced on an electronic display, such as television or computer screen. I think you can do that. But the concept here is is the understanding of human nature on how they relate with God. That's how the Hebrews thought then. And early theologians argue that the image of God is talking about the ability to reason and personality of human nature in relating with God. So you could see that there's that relating with God, relationship with God. In Genesis chapter 5 and verse 3, we read these words. When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image, and he named him Seth. Okay? I personally, like many of you, you have children. I as well have children, and still bringing many. They are and they will be in my own likeness and image, but they are not me. And they will never be me. Because I am who I am. I am me, Molanzi. Even if they bear my name, that doesn't make them Molanzi now who is speaking to you. Okay? Yes? they are my children, the same to you, they are your children, but still there is a distinction between you and your children, but they are in your image. So the mere fact that they are in your own image, they have got something, they have got something, they have something from you, and one of it is a relationship. If they are my children, yes, they are not me, but they have something from me, and that is our relationship. Therefore, I understand this very well that humans are not identical to God, but we humans are a reflection of God Him. We are not God, but we are a reflection of God himself. So when the Bible says that you are creating his own image, it means that we are sufficient like God that we can have an intimate relationship with him. So when God creates you, he gives you a relationship. And this relationship that God gives you starts with Him, of course. He gives you a relationship and it starts with Him. And you are required to share that relation that you have with your neighbor. A survey on those who have relationships with God was conducted in America. It was an online survey and questioned about 1,000 Americans about the topics they have addressed with the New Year's resolution. And I believe it's so popular here in Uganda, every year, you know, when they're going into another year, they come up with resolutions, okay, what they want God to do for them in a year. And it's the same that happened in this survey. They conducted this survey and they were asking There are two or three, but I'll only pick one question, one fundamental question that I believe we should think about today. They asked these Americans, 1,000 of them, and they asked them, what do Christians want most in life? What do Christians want most in life? And these were among evangelicals and non-evangelicals. Among the evangelicals, who take the Bible seriously, believe in Jesus Christ as their saviour and lord, they said, we want to be in church. We want to be active in church, we want to know more about God, and we want to make a difference when we go out. Among the evangelicals who take the Bible seriously and who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, the other group said, we just want to have a comfortable lifestyle. and this group stood at a higher percentage. Those who wanted to be in church, the percentage is low, but those who want a comfortable lifestyle, their percentage was high. If this research is to be conducted here, among us who are seated in chapel today, which side will you be? What do you want most in this life? Let's advance it. If this research is conducted in Uganda, where do you think the highest percentage would be? Okay, just take a minute, take a minute or 30 seconds and think about this. What do you want most in life? What do you want most in life? The question I hear is how can I be, how can I have that relationship? Okay, God just gave me the relationship, probably things are falling away. Okay, how can I have that relationship with God? God gave it to you. Just for a moment, let me go through that in just two minutes and I'll be done. How to renew, because there are those who want comfortable lifestyle, they don't think about having a relationship with God, okay? But there's a chance, there's a chance to really understand that yes, God created me, and he gave me this relationship with him, and you must live in that relationship with God. It starts with him. How can you renew that just in case your relationship with God has fallen away? James chapter 4 verse 8 says, come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you dumb-minded. Because relationship with God is personal, okay? So you need to understand that. If you want to renew your relationship with God that he gave to you and probably things are falling away, it is personal. It starts with him and is personal. So go to him. James encourages us to go to God. Let us draw near to him. Let us come near to him. Students, Staff and faculty, let's take this with us. Let us draw near to God because there are many. We have to understand why he gave us, why when he created us, the thing he gave us is, one of them is our relationship with him. He wanted us to be together. Okay. Secondly, talk with God. Talk with God. First Peter chapter five and verse six to eight says, humble yourselves therefore under God's might hand that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Okay, so that's a verse for you that encourages you to talk with God and finally talking with God Psalms 145 verse 18 says, the Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. The Lord is near. He's not far away. That's why He created you. He made that divine announcement and a fulfillment, and He created you. You may be asking, how can I? And I think we have an example from the word of God, from Jesus himself, a very good example on how we can approach, on how we can talk to God. And I'm going to request you that we recite this together, Our Lord is Prayer. In Matthew chapter 6, verse 9 to 13, he told them, pray then in this way. Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. Amen? We'll begin from there next time.