Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27 NIV)
What does it mean to be human?
Every human being was formed by the hand of God and patterned after His likeness.
Humanity was made unlike any other member of creation. While the rest of creation was made according to their own kind, humanity was fashioned after a different image.
The imago Dei.
Meaning “image of God,” the phrase imago Dei is the foundation of what it means to be human.
God specifically created mankind to represent Him, or to image Him in an unique and holy way. Humanity was made to be His ambassadors on the earth and advance His Kingdom to the ends of the earth.
Being made in God’s image means that every human has inherent worth and value. Every person reflects God’s glory, majesty, and beauty.
The imago Dei is the starting place for the human story.
Unfortunately, due to disobedience, death entered creation, corruption and depravity began. Yet, “the Bible never teaches that the image is lost or damaged.”1 Dr. Carmen Imes further elaborates:
We can no more lose our identity as God’s image than a child can lose his or her identity as a son or a daughter. If one of my children decides to rebel, rejecting my counsel and defying the boundaries I have set, that child is still my child. Nothing can change that. We can become estranged from one another, but weremain mother and child. Our identity as God’s image is like this. We can fail to live well as God’s image, but we never stop being God’s image. Because the essence of being God’s image is a claim about our identity rather than a capability or function, we cannot lose it.
The death cycle, however, started by the first parents of humanity, continued as disobedience and depravity spiraled humanity further into the depths of death. While humanity’s sins does not destroy our identity as the image Dei, they have hindered humanity from fully reflecting God’s glory.1 But the chasm that sin created between God and humanity was too great.
Thankfully that’s not where the story ends.
The Image Restored
Dr. Michael Bird writes in his book Evangelical Theology, on why the incarnation of God the Son as Jesus the Christ is crucial to our understanding of the imago Dei.:
Jesus is both primal archetype and eschatological prototype of the divine image in humans. Jesus is the true bearer and true restorer of the divine image. We participate in the divine image as we correspond to Jesus, and our humanity is consummated in him.
Through Jesus, we discover that He is the par excellence of what the divine image is. His followers are destined to be conformed into His image, sharing the inheritance as God’s children with Him, and reigning alongside Him!
Through Jesus, the spiral of disobedience and death has been halted. The relationship between God and Humanity has been restored.
This truth impacts every area of our lives, but understanding how that affects our lives is another story.
The knowledge of being made in God’s image is not the same as the experience of being made in God’s image.
God’s desires us to live this truth in our practical day to day lives.
Living as God’s Image-Bearers
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40 NIV)
For Jesus, love is the defining mark for His followers.
Love for God.
Love is the defining mark because we were made in God’s image. And as John writes in 1 John 4:8 NIV:
God is love.
Whenever we love Him and other people, we image Him. We represent Him. We reveal who He is to the world around us.
To be made in the image of God isn’t just a theory.
It’s a lifestyle.
It is a vocation…a calling.
To be made in the image of God isn’t just a theory.
For followers of Jesus, we are called to live as His image bearers.
On being created in the image of God, Pastor Mike McGarry writes in his article “What Does it Mean to Be Created in God’s Image?” for Living Theologically:
In this sense, what we do flows from our identity as God’s image-bearers. Being created in the Image of God also means that humanity was created to serve as God’s ambassadors and representatives. In this sense, our actions are an expression of our being. The calling to reflect God’s image (above) cannot be separated from this second aspect, acting as his representative among all creation.
In being God’s image bearers, God has chosen to reveal Himself through us.
He calls us to be His ambassadors on the earth. To represent Him in all that we say and do.
A crucial way we live as God’s image bearers is through honoring His image in others.
We honor the image of God in ourselves when we honor the image of God in other people.
When we live with an awareness that every person has been formed and fashioned in God’s image, we position ourselves to love and serve the person in front of us.
And it’s this type of life that Jesus modeled for us, as God’s perfect image-bearer.
And if this is the story of humanity, then our study of humanity transforms into wonder and awe.
Learn More About Being Made in the Image of God
Charles Spurgeon stated:
Man was made in the image of God, and nothing will satisfy man but God, in whose image he was made.
The concept of the imago Dei is foundational to the Christian faith. It’s central to our lives as followers of Jesus, and it’s vital for our understanding of what it means to be human.
If you’d like to take a deep dive into being made in the image of God, check out our course: Theological Anthropology.
Dr. Joshua R. Farris takes you on a journey through Scripture, exploring the imago Dei and what it means to be a human made in the image of God.
If you’d like to explore this course, or any of our online courses, you can check them out here.