问题4：神怎样造人？目的是什么？
答：神按照自己的形象造了男人和女人，为了让我们认识祂、爱祂、与祂同住，并且荣耀祂。 我们这些神所创造的人理当为祂的荣耀而活。
儿童版：神按照自己的形像造了男人和女人，为的是荣耀祂。

Question 4: How and Why Did God Create Us?
Answer: God created us male and female in his own image to know him, love him, live with him, and glorify him. And it is right that we who were created by God should live to his glory.
For Kids: God created us male and female in his own image to glorify him.


歌谱 Lead Sheet

经文

《创世记》1 章27 节：

　　神就照着自己的形像造人，乃是照着祂的形像造男造女。

注解

莱尔

　　神的孩子首要当求的是神的荣耀。这是我们的主曾亲自祷告的一个目的：「父啊，愿祢荣耀祢的名。」（约12:28）。世界正是为此而造的。圣徒蒙召归主也是为此。我们应当寻求的第一要务是「叫神在凡事上得荣耀」（彼前4:11）……

　　任何我们可以借着荣耀神的东西都是恩赐。比如我们的天赋、影响力、金钱、知识、健康、力量、时间、感官、理性、智慧、记忆、情感等，我们有幸成为基督教会的一员，我们能够拥有圣经，所有的这一切，都是恩赐。这些都是从哪里来的？是谁赐予的？我们为什么会成为这样？我们为什么不是地上的爬虫？这些问题只有一个答案：我们所有的一切都是从神而来的。我们是神的管家，我们欠他的债。让这个观念深深地扎根于我们的内心。

默想

约翰·派博

　　人为什么要立像？人立像是为了反映某种形象，他们希望通过像来传达信息。人们立拿破仑的雕像，不是为了让人把雕像当做拿破仑。以某种方式来雕刻这像，为的是突出拿破仑的性格特点。

　　所以神按照祂的形像造了我们。我们或许会争论，「按照神的形像」，是指我们的理性，还是道德，还是意志部分。但重点在于，神造人是为了彰显祂自己的形像。所以我们的存在就是为了彰显神的存在。或更明确的来讲，是为了彰显神的荣耀。我认为，那是指神的尽善尽美，就是祂的光辉、祂彰显荣耀的方式、从祂极丰盛多样的完美中流露出的美。愿我们的所思所想，所言所行，都把人的注意力指向神的至善至美。我认为，我们实践的最好方式，就是让我们自己在这至善中得着最大的满足。对我们而言，这比金钱、名誉、性爱更重要，也比任何其他赢得我们喜爱的事物更重要。当人们看见我们如此珍视神的价值，看到我们在神那里得到的满足，人们就会意识到，神是一个宝贝。让我们告诉他们更多！这就是用神的形像来荣耀祂的意思。

　　神荣耀最明显的彰显就是基督死了，神的儿子为罪人死。我这样讲是因为《哥林多后书》4章4节说，「这世界的神，」就是撒但，「弄瞎了不信之人的心眼，不叫基督荣耀福音的光照着他们，基督本是神的像。」神的荣光在哪里最明亮？答案就是：神的荣光在基督里，在福音里最明亮。所以我们若想效法祂的形像，向他人彰显出祂的荣耀，这经文的上一句（《哥林多后书》3章18节）为我们提供了答案，「看见主的荣光……就变成主的形状，荣上加荣，如同从主的灵变成的。」

　　所以我们仰望祂，视祂为至宝，我们爱祂，这样我们就被塑造成为祂的样式。

　　当神说，祂造男造女是为了使这件事成就，这不只是和生育有关，要我们世世代代的传承，更是在说，神的荣耀在社群中被最大程度地彰显出来。所以，那位男人独居不好，那还有谁也要一同来荣耀神？所以这起初受造的小共同体，被称为「有男有女」的小社会，代表了一切拥有神荣耀的共同体，在两人世界中被激发出来，更遍照世界。

　　我想说，让我们同心同行，彼此扶持来荣耀神。

祷告

　　万有的创造主，让我们不要忘记，我们每一个人都是照祢的形像造的。永远不要让我们怀疑自己，也永远不要让我们怀疑任何其他人，因为这样做是在否认祢名所当得的荣耀。我们里面有祢的样式，证明我们的身体和灵魂都是属祢的。阿们。

Scripture

GENESIS 1:27

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Commentary

J. C. RYLE

The glory of God is the first thing that God’s children should desire. It is the object of one of our Lord’s own prayers: “Father, glorify thy name” (John 12:28). It is the purpose for which the world was created. It is the end for which the saints are called and converted. It is the chief thing we should seek, that “God in all things may be glorified” (1 Pet. 4:11). . . .

Anything whereby we may glorify God is a talent, our gifts, our influence, our money, our knowledge, our health, our strength, our time, our senses, our reason, our intellect, our memory, our affections, our privileges as members of Christ’s Church, our advantages as possessors of the Bible—all, all are talents. Whence came these things? What hand bestowed them? Why are we what we are? Why are we not the worms that crawl on the earth? There is only one answer to these questions. All that we have is a loan from God. We are God’s stewards. We are God’s debtors. Let this thought sink deeply into our hearts.

Devotional

JOHN PIPER

Why do people make images? People make images to image. They want to image forth something. If you make a statue of Napoleon, you want people to think not so much about the statue as Napoleon. And you make the statue in a way that shows something specific about the character of Napoleon.

So God makes us in his image. We could argue about whether it is our rationality, or our morality, or our volition that makes us in his image. The point is, he makes humans in his image to image something, namely, himself. So our existence is about showing God’s existence or, specifically, it’s about showing God’s glory. Which I think means God’s manifold perfections—the radiance, the display, the streaming out of his many-colored, beautiful perfections. We want to think and live and act and speak in such a way that we draw attention to the manifold perfections of God. And I think the way we do that best is by being totally satisfied in those perfections ourselves. They mean more to us than money and more to us than fame and more to us than sex or anything else that might compete for our affections. And when people see us valuing God that much and his glory being that satisfying, they see that he is our treasure. Show me more! I think that’s what it means to glorify God by being in his image.

And the place where the glory is shown most clearly is the gospel where Christ dies; the Son of God dies for sinners. I say that because in 2 Corinthians 4:4 it says, “The god of this world,” that’s Satan, “has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Do you want to know where the glory of God is shining most brightly? It is shining in Christ in the gospel most brightly. So if we want to be conformed fully into his image and display to others his glory, there’s a verse just before that that says “beholding the glory of the Lord, [we] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor. 3:18). And that comes from the Spirit.

So we look at Jesus, we treasure him, we love him, and in that we are being shaped into his image.

When God says he made us male and female to do this, not only does that mean we want generations to go on doing this, so there’s going to be procreation here, but it means this happens best in community. It’s not good for the man to be alone. Who’s he going to glorify God to? So this little community that’s created in the beginning called male and female is representative of the community where the glory of God radiates back and forth to each other and then out to the world.

Let’s do this together. Let’s help each other glorify God.

Prayer

Maker of All, let us not lose sight that we, and every human being you have made, are created in your image. Never let us doubt this about ourselves. Never let us doubt this about any other man or woman, for to do so denies you the glory that is due to your name. Your likeness glimpsed in us testifies that we belong to you, body and soul. Amen.