Thursday
Thursday
The Image of God
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him.
Genesis 1:27
The climax of God’s creative activity was the appearance of human beings, and the way in which Genesis expresses this high point is to describe them as having been created “in the image of God.” But scholars are not altogether agreed on what the divine image in human beings means.
Some think it means that human beings are God’s representatives, exercising dominion over the rest of creation in his place. Others conclude that God’s image alludes to the special relationship that he has established between himself and us. But if we see the expression both in its immediate context in Genesis and in the broader perspective of Scripture, it seems to refer to all those human qualities or capacities that render us unlike the animals and like God. What are these?
Firstly, we human beings are rational and self-conscious. Secondly, we are moral, having a conscience that urges us to do what we perceive to be right. Thirdly, we are creative like our Creator, able to appreciate what is beautiful to the ear and the eye. Fourthly, we are social, able to establish with one another authentic relationships of love. For God is love, and by making us in his own image, he has given us the capacity to love him and others. Fifthly, we have a spiritual faculty that makes us hunger after God. Thus we are uniquely able to think and to choose, to create, to love, and to worship.
Unfortunately, however, we have to add that the image of God in us has been defaced, so that every part of our humanness has been tainted with self-centeredness. Yet God’s image has not been destroyed. On the contrary, both the Old Testament and the New Testament affirm that human beings still bear God’s image and that this is the reason why we must respect them. The sanctity of human life arises from the value of God’s image bearers (9:6). Human beings are Godlike beings. They deserve to be loved and served.
For further reading: James 3:7–12