1. Periodically, reports come out listing everything from airlines to retail stores as being number one in their field.
 Weekly rankings list who’s number one in basketball, football,
 baseball and other sports.

  Yearly reports enlighten us as to who was number one in
  sales, customer satisfaction, and productivity.

We hear about books and authors being number one on the New York Times Bestseller List.

2. Sometimes we see or hear advertisements that describe a product as being the best or greatest.

 There’s the example of the man who came across an ad in a
 magazine that read, “World’s Greatest Bird Dog for Sale.” Being
 interested he called and set up an appointment to see and try the dog
 out. They met out in a field and the owner said, “Let me show you
 how good this dog is.” He set the dog loose and yelled, “Bird.” The
 dog took off running, ran around the field, then came back and
 barked three times.” The owner said, “He is telling us there are three
 birds in the field.” They started walking across the field and flushed
 out three birds.

The interested buyer said, “That’s pretty good. Let’s find another field and try him out again. They went to another field; the owner set the dog loose and yelled “Bird.”    The dog took off, ran around the field, then came back and barked six times. Sure enough, they flushed out six birds.

The buyer said, “I’ll take him.” On the way the way home he past a coliseum with a sign out front that read, “Bird Show.” The buyer thought to himself, “I wonder what he would do if I turned him loose in there.”

He stopped, turned dog loose, yelled “Bird,” and as on previous times it took off running. It walked up and down the aisles, back and forth, and finally returned an hour later with a stick in its mouth.

When he got home he called the man who he had bought the dog from and explained what happened. He said, “I’m not sure about this dog.” The former owner replied, “There’s nothing wrong with the dog. He was just telling you that there were more birds in there than you could shake a stick at.”

3.   Some people make the claim they are number one.

 I think of Mohammed Ali. He often boasted that he was number one
 and that he was the greatest. The story is told that on one occasion
 he was on an airplane. The stewardess asked him to fasten his seat
 belt. In his cocky way he replied, “Superman don’t need a seatbelt.”
 The quick witted stewardess snapped back, “Superman don’t need
 an airplane either, now fasten your seatbelt.”

4. Some people’s ambition is to be number one.

 Their goal is to be the best and greatest in what they do. There’s the
 story of the young cowboy that wanted to be the best gunfighter
 alive. One night he was sitting in a saloon and he spotted an old
 man who had the reputation of being the greatest gunfighter in his
 day. The young cowboy walked up to him and told him that it was
 his goal to be the best gunfighter alive.

The old man looked up at him and said, “I have a suggestion that’ll help you reach your goal.” “What is it,” asked the young gunfighter. “Tie the bottom of your holster lower on your leg,” said the old gunfighter.

The young cowboy did what he was told and then drew his gun and shot the bow-tie off a man playing the piano. “Wow, that really helped,” said the young gunfighter. “Do you have anymore suggestions?” The old gunfighter said, “Yeah, if you will cut a notch in the top of your holster where the hammer hits, the gun will come out smoother.” The young gunfighter did what he was told, drew his gun and shot the cufflink off the man playing the piano.

“That’s great! Anymore suggestions,” asked the young gunfighter. “Just one more,” replied the old gunfighter. “Get that can of axle grease over there and rub it over your gun, handle and all.” “Will that make me a better gunfighter,” asked the young gunfighter. The old gunfighter answered, “No, but when Wyatt Earp gets through playing the piano and he shoves that gun down your throat, it will go down easier.”

5. I want us to look at the only person who could really make the claim that he was number one. I’m talking about Adam.

 He could honestly and truthfully say that he was number one.

Of course I’m talking about the first man who ever lived.
 Adam was the first human ever created.
 As far as all people are concerned, he was indeed number one.

6. I want us to think about the creation of Adam.

We read in Genesis 5:1-2, “This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.”

 The Bible says that God created Adam and gave him his name
 which means “ruddy,” “red” or “earthly.”

The name that God gave him was indicative of his creation.

Let’s begin by looking closer at the creation of Adam.

First, let me point out that Adam was:

1. Genesis 5:1 says that “God created man.”

We read in Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

The Bible speaks of Adam as a divine creation.

 Man isn’t the result of evolution but was divinely formed and
 fashioned by God.

Let’s look closer at the creation of Adam.
First, we see that he was:
A) Miraculously Created
1.   We read in Genesis 2:7, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

 The word “formed” is used of a potter shaping clay.

 God took the dust of the earth into His hands and He formed and
 fashioned Adam.

2. Once God had made the body of Adam, He breathed into his nostrils and gave him life. Adam wasn’t the result of some process that occurred over millions and billions of years.
     He was a miracle of creation!

3.  Sir Fred Hoyle, one of Britain’s foremost scientists conducted a computerized study of the chance that the first living cell could have developed by a random process. He calculated that the chances of random chemical shuffling in some primordial soup that could produce the complex basic enzymes of just one cell of life, is only one in ten to the fortieth power (10 followed by 40 zeroes) that life just happened.

 There’s about as much chance of evolution being true as a hurricane
 going through a junk yard and building a Boeing 747

4. Adam wasn’t the result of a process, but a person.

  He was a miracle of creation.

Furthermore, the Bible tells us he was:
B) Marvelously Created
1. The Psalmist declared, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well”   (Psa. 139:14).

2. Adam, as well as all men, are marvelous creations.

  So marvelous is man that we’re still learning about man
  after thousands of years.

3. I was once reading that there are 50 to 70 trillion cells in the human body. The activity within one cell is equivalent to that of a large city like Chicago or New York. The genetic information contained in just one cell of the human body is roughly equivalent to a library of 4,000 volumes. There are 2 trillion chemical reactions taking place in every one our 50-75 million cells every second of our life.3

These cells are so small that the letter “O” on the page of a book could contain up to 40,000 cells. Yet each individual cell is a world in itself with a specialized function and intricate timetable that tells the cells when to grow, divide, make hormones, and even when to die. In a human body some 3 billion cells die and are replaced every minute.

The more we learn about the human body the more amazing it is.

 The idea that man happened by chance is ridiculous.
Adam and all men are a marvelous creation of God.

Secondly, let me point out that Adam was:

1. It was on the sixth day that God created Adam (Gen. 1:31).

 He was the conclusion and culmination of God’s creation.

Of all God created Adam was unique.

2. In Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

We read in Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him…”

Genesis 5:2 says, “In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him.”

2.   This same feature of man’s creation is once again mentioned in Genesis 9:6 where we read, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made He man.”
 

In the New Testament Paul mentions this feature of man’s creation.
We read in 1 Cor. 11:7, “For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God…”

The distinctiveness of Adam is that he was created in the image and likeness of God.

In this feature we see:
A) The Separation of His Creation
1.  On the first day of creation God created the heaven and earth and brought forth light.
The second day divided the waters giving us the heaven above us.
On the third day dry land appear and brought forth grass and trees.
On the fourth day God put the stars, moon, and Sun in the sky.
The fifth day filled the earth and seas with living creatures.

During those five days God created earth and everything on it.

During those five days, and in all that God created, not one part of His creation was made in His image or likeness.

2.   It was only when He created Adam that a part of His creation bore His image or likeness.

 It’s this feature of Adam that separated him from all that God
 created.

This feature separated him from every form of life that was and is on the earth.

Of all that God created, Adam was unique.

The separation of his creation magnifies:
B) The Significance of His Creation
1.   The word “image” literally means “a shade” and used figuratively of an illusion.

The idea is that of resembling.

2. The word “likeness” also speaks of resembling and means “a model or a shape.”

 When the Bible says that Adam or man was made in the image and
 likeness of God, it isn’t saying that he bore a physical resemblance
 to God.

.This distinction gave Adam a two-fold role.

First, Adam was to be a model or reflection of his Creator on the earth.

 Of all creation, Adam (and all men) certain attributes of the Creator
 were to be seen.

Of all God created, man possesses certain attributes unlike the rest of creation, such as, personality, truth, wisdom, love, holiness, and justice.

 These are communicable attributes inherited from our Creator.

The life of Adam was to be a walking billboard for God.
 In man there’s seen, although imperfectly, certain features that’s
 reflective of God.

3. The ability of man to love is but a reflection of the loving God who created him.

The wisdom of man that greatly exceeds all other life is but a reflection of a God who is omniscient.

  The fact that man is endowed with a conscience that makes
  him aware of right and wrong is but a reflection that God is
  holy.

4.  As believers, the Bible speaks of how we’re to be a reflection of Christ.

We read in Romans 8:29, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son…”

The word “image” used by Paul literally speaks of a statue.

  A statue is a resemblance of someone or something in wood,
  stone or marble.

5.     Is there anything about me that isn’t like Jesus?”
 Is there anything about you that reminds others of Jesus?
   Is there anything about you that is unlike Jesus?

6. Furthermore, Adam was to be a representative of His creator on earth.

 When Adam was made in the image and likeness of God he was
 created to be God representative on earth.

In Genesis 1:26 we read, “And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

The word “dominion” means that all of creation was under man’s authority.

7. Keep in mind that all that had been created belonged to God. He had made it and it was His.

However, God gave man dominion over His creation.
 He was making man His representative on the earth.

You could call him a landlord.
        Man was to take care of God’s property.

7. This truth reminds us that even though we’ve been authority we’re under authority.

 Any authority we have has been given to us by God.

We’re simply His representatives on earth.

Our responsibility is to carry out His purposes and will while on earth.

8. The Genesis account of creation not only tells us where we came from, but it also tells us why we’re here.

  We’re here to fulfill God’s purpose and do His will.

9. This becomes even more personal if you know Christ as your Saviour. 10. As Paul said in 1 Cor. 6:20, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”

 Our chief objective is to glorify God in all we do.

 We’re to make the priority of life the matter of pleasing God.

11. We shouldn’t only ask ourselves if we’re being a reflection of our Lord, but also ask if we’re submitted to His will and carrying out His purposes for our life. We have been made in the image and likeness of God. We bear His divine stamp on our heart and soul.

 We’re to be His reflection and representative on this earth.

Lastly, notice with me that Adam was:

1. I draw your attention to our text once again and a particular statement that’s made about the creation of Adam.

We read in Genesis 5:2, “Male and female created He them; and He blessed them…”

 Notice that the Bible says God “blessed” Adam.

The word “blessed” means to “praise” or “salute.”

2. In Genesis 1:10 we read that God looked at what He created and “saw that it was good.”

 The same is said for the other parts of His creation.

The word “good” implies that it brought cheer and pleasure to God’s heart.

3. But when it came to the creation of Adam, God praised His creation.
  Of all God created, Adam was the crown of creation.
4.  All God had created brought pleasure to His heart, but nothing like the creation of Adam.
    It was the part of His creation He blessed,
    praised, and saluted.

Why did the creation of Adam bring such delight to the heart of God?

Let me suggest two reasons.

First, there was:
A) The Personal Relationship They Would Experience

1.  Of all His creation, man was the one part that He would be able to have a relationship with.

 All creation would bow to His authority and submit to His will.

2. Yet, it was with man that He would walk and talk.

  They would share a personal relationship with one another.

I love Genesis 3:8 where we read, “And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day…”

3. It was with man that God stepped down from the heavens to fellowship with.

 It was man that received the honor of the Creator’s visit.

  They shared a wonderful relationship with one another.

Genesis 3:8 seems to suggest that God came to spend the afternoon with them and to spend time with them.

4. We’re unique in that all God created we’re the only part that can have a personal relationship with God.

He made us to have a relationship with Him.

 We have the privilege to walk and talk with God.  What an honor!
      What a privilege!

Are you experiencing a relationship with God?   You can!

5. God wants to have such a relationship with you.

 Everyday you can experience His presence and power in your life.

Furthermore, there was:
B) The Progressive Relationship They Would Enjoy

1.  God not only wanted someone that He could have a relationship with, but also a part of His creation that He could make Himself known to and reveal Himself.

Have you ever wondered what Adam and God talked about?

2. I can image Adam asking Him question after question.
    Everyday he learned more about Him.

3. One of the privileges we have is to enjoy a growing relationship with God.
 Each day we can learn more about Him.

4. Oh, He wants to make Himself real to us.
  He wants us to know all we can about Him.

He delights in answering our questions.
   He longs to show us who He is and what He can do.

Adam was the only one that could honestly say that he was number one.

Yet, the same privileges that he experienced and enjoyed are ours as well.