Genesis 1: Created in God's Image to Build and to Rest in Him

Introduction

"What gives a human being value?" That is the question Eric Lehrmann asks at Église Protestante Évangélique de Paris Beaugrenelle in his message of September 20, 2026. We live, he says, in an age when human beings have never had so many ways to define themselves.

When someone asks who you are, you often answer with your job: student, teacher, nurse, retiree. Or with your family situation: married, single, father, mother, grandparent. Or with your achievements, your possessions, your neighborhood, your social standing. In Paris, as in every big city, you are surrounded by people who run, work, build, buy, sell, study and look for their place.

To answer, the preacher has Genesis 1 and the beginning of Genesis 2 read, then focuses on the sixth and seventh days of creation (Genesis 1:26 to 2:3). He moves through eleven steps that lead to three realities: you are created in the image of God, you are called to serve him in his creation, and you are invited to rest in him. "And when we live these three realities together, our life takes a different direction."

Outline of the message

1. "Let's make man in our image"

• God does not simply say, "Let's make one more creature." He says, "Let's make man in our image, after our likeness" (Genesis 1:26). Human beings therefore have a particular dignity.
• This applies to those inside the church, but also to those who do not yet know God: the neighbor you pass on the stairs, the person you meet on the metro, the colleague you struggle to work with, the shopkeeper in your neighborhood, the lonely elderly person, the young man looking for his way, the one who thinks very differently from you, and even the homeless person we avoid because he makes us uncomfortable.
• In a big city, it is easy to turn people into functions: the bus driver becomes "the driver," the cashier becomes "the cashier," the neighbor becomes "the neighbor." God never sees it that way. He sees persons, and behind each one stands this declaration: "created in my image."
• Before you ever did anything for God, he gave you his dignity. Before your conversion, your successes, your ministry, your gifts and your works, you are a creature God wanted. And for the Christian there is even more: he is called to be restored to the image of Christ.
• "The world often says, 'You have value if you succeed.' God says, 'You have value because I created you.' The world says, 'Prove your worth.' God says, 'I wanted you.' The world says, 'Compare yourself to others.' God says, 'Look to me.'"

2. Being in God's image means receiving a responsibility

• The verse goes on: "Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth." Being created in God's image is therefore not only a matter of dignity, it is a matter of calling.
• We are created to receive, cultivate, organize, protect and develop what God entrusts to us. The Christian is not called to flee the world. He is called to live fully in it as a servant of God, including in a city like Paris.
• It can feel as though spiritual life happens at church and real life begins elsewhere, as if work, family, studies, the neighborhood and responsibilities were merely ordinary things. Genesis 1 shows exactly the opposite: God places human beings in his creation and entrusts them with a mission.
• Your work, your family, your building, your neighborhood, the association you take part in, your company and your commitment to others can become places of witness. "We are not Christians only inside the church. We are called to be witnesses of Christ in the city."

3. "It was very good," but man is not God

• "God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good" (Genesis 1:31). Material creation is not bad. Work, matter, the body, food, family, beauty and culture are not bad.
• Sin then entered the world, and we live in a wounded creation: suffering, sickness, death, injustice, violence. But Genesis 1 reminds us that God's original plan was good.
• The Christian does not despise creation. He learns to receive it as a gift from God and to use it for his glory. When you eat, work, love your family, you can give thanks. When you walk through Paris and discover beautiful architecture, a garden, a work of art or a piece of music, all beauty points you back to the Creator.
• There is, however, a danger. God gives man dominion over creation, never the place of the Creator. Man is called to govern creation, he is not its absolute owner. "God remains God."
• We are stewards, managers of what God entrusts to us. Your time, your money, your body, your skills, your relationships, your home, your mind and even your life belong to the Lord. This changes your relationship to time, money, other people, work, and even rest.

4. On the seventh day God rests: do we know how to stop?

• "On the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made" (Genesis 2:2). God establishes rest: he works, then he rests.
• God was not tired, he does not wear out as we do. His rest means that his work of creation is complete. He stops, he contemplates his work, he blesses it and makes it holy.
• There is therefore a rhythm in God's plan: working and stopping, acting and receiving, building and contemplating, serving and resting. It is the second part that costs us. We know how to work, run, organize, produce, solve problems. But do we know how to stop?
• A very personal and very Parisian question. Paris is a magnificent city, but it almost never stops: statistically, the city only stops between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.; every other hour is completely packed. There is always an appointment, a metro to catch, a file to finish, a message to answer, a phone ringing, a meeting.
• Even when you sit down, your mind keeps running. You can be in your living room but mentally at the office, at church but already thinking about Monday, on vacation but checking your messages, with your family without really being present. The Word of God comes to tell you: stop.
• Biblical rest is not only the absence of work, it is an acknowledgment: "I am not God, I can stop." The world will keep turning, the church will keep existing, your company will keep running. We like to feel indispensable, but rest lets you say, "Lord, the world does not rest on my shoulders, it rests on yours."

5. Rest is an act of faith, and Jesus teaches it to us

• When you work non-stop, you give the impression that everything depends on you. When you stop before God, you acknowledge that he sustains your life. Rest becomes a declaration of trust.
• "Lord, I entrust to you what I have not finished." Your problems, your future, your family, your work, your church, your worries. "I can stop because you never cease to be God."
• In the Gospels, Jesus works enormously: he preaches, he heals, he teaches, he walks, he meets the crowds, he walks alongside his disciples. But he also knows how to withdraw. He takes time to pray, he steps away from the crowd, he sleeps, he stops.
• Ministry does not mean wearing yourself out for God, it means living with God. The trap for committed Christians is doing so many things for God that they have no time left to be with him. You can organize, serve, teach, sing, preach, welcome, visit, help, and gradually lose your joy.
• Rest reminds you that your relationship with God comes before your activity for God. "We are not loved because we are useful. We serve because we are loved."

6. A blessed day that announces a greater rest

• "God blessed the seventh day" and made it holy (Genesis 2:3). God does not bless only work, he also blesses rest.
• Our society measures value by productivity. How much have you produced? How much have you earned? How many people have you helped? How many projects have you completed? God teaches that there is a value that does not come from production.
• You can simply be before God: pray, read his Word, worship, listen to him, wait. Be with your family and friends, share a meal, welcome someone, walk, contemplate, give thanks. You do not need to be constantly productive to have value. Your value comes from God.
• The rest of Genesis 2 points to the great biblical promise of rest in God, which the letter to the Hebrews speaks about, and to the words of Jesus: "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).
• Christian rest is not just having a quiet Sunday. "True rest is ultimately a person, Jesus Christ."
• Our greatest weariness is not only physical. You can sleep eight hours and still be exhausted inside, take a vacation and remain anxious, have money and lack peace, succeed professionally and be deeply dissatisfied. Because your heart needs God.
• Rest begins when you stop trying to save yourself, to prove your worth, to carry your guilt alone, to control your future, and you come to Christ.

7. Created in God's image, saved by Christ, sent into the world

• The text sums up in three truths. You have an identity: you are created in the image of God and your value comes from him. You have a mission: God entrusts his creation to you to work, serve, care, build and bear witness. You need rest: you are not God, you must learn to stop, to receive and to trust.
• These three truths go together: "A Christian who only works risks burning out. A Christian who only rests risks never fulfilling his calling. And a Christian who works and rests without God can miss what matters most."
• Our calling: to receive our identity from God, to fulfill our mission with God and to find our rest in Jesus Christ.
• In conclusion, the pastor asks what place God holds in your week, and poses three questions. Who am I? A creature wanted by God. Why am I here? To live in God's creation, to serve him and to exercise a responsibility under his authority. Why must I learn to stop? Because I am not God and my life does not depend entirely on my efforts.
• To some he says, including himself: you do not need to earn your value, to compare yourself or to constantly prove that you are somebody. To others: do not despise your work, your witness does not begin when you walk into the church. God has placed you in a neighborhood, a family, a profession, relationships. You are sent into this city.
• To still others: "Stop. You have been running for too long, you are carrying too much." You want to control everything, you believe everything depends on you. God tells you: "Trust me."
• And for the one who needs to hear Jesus' call: rest is not in a day off, nor in vacation, nor in retirement, nor in success. "It is in Jesus Christ."

Key takeaways

• Your value does not come from what you do: you are created in the image of God, wanted by him before any success. Every person you meet carries this same dignity.
• Being in God's image is also a calling: your work, your family and your neighborhood are places of witness.
• Creation is good, but you do not own it: you are a steward of what God entrusts to you.
• Rest is an act of faith. To stop is to acknowledge that you are not God and that the world rests on his shoulders, not yours.
• The deepest rest is not a day off, it is a person: Jesus Christ.

Personal application

1. When someone asks who you are, what do you answer first: your job, your situation, your achievements, or the fact that God wanted you?
2. Who, in your building, on your metro line or at work, have you reduced to their function? How can you look at them as someone created in the image of God?
3. In which part of your week (work, family, neighborhood, association) is God calling you to be a witness of Christ?
4. Do you know how to stop? Where does your mind keep running when your body is at rest?
5. What do you need to entrust to the Lord this week, among the things you have not finished?

Verses cited

• Genesis 1:26 to 2:3
• Genesis 1:26
• Genesis 1:31
• Genesis 2:1-3
• Hebrews 4:1-11
• Matthew 11:28

Frequently asked questions

What does it mean to be created in the image of God according to Genesis 1:26?

For Eric Lehrmann, it means first of all that every human being has a particular dignity, whether or not they know God. This dignity is given before any success, ministry or work. It is also a calling: God entrusts man with the responsibility to cultivate, protect and develop his creation.

Why does God rest on the seventh day if he is not tired?

God does not wear out as we do. His rest means that his work of creation is complete: he stops, contemplates his work, blesses it and makes it holy. In this way he sets a rhythm for human beings: working and stopping, acting and receiving, building and contemplating, serving and resting.

Where can you find the rest Jesus speaks of in Matthew 11:28?

The preacher reminds us that our greatest weariness is not only physical. Rest is found neither in a day off, nor in vacation, nor in retirement, nor in success. It is in Jesus Christ, and it begins when you stop trying to save yourself, prove your worth and control your future.