The Pilgrim’s Guide to the Bible No. 4
'God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.' (Gen 1:27)
What does it mean, to be 'made in the image of God'?
The human race is the pinnacle of God's creation – we are created to enjoy a ‘special relationship’ with God Himself.
In Genesis chapter 1, the creation of man and woman is the final act of God’s handiwork - the culmination of the creation story and they are given dominion over the earth. To humans alone is given the responsibility to be fruitful and multiply, and to have dominion over the rest of creation. Humanity is given a unique responsibility. It is superior to the rest of creation.
We must remember that God created humankind for this purpose - to take responsibility for the world, by being God’s agents in the world. He grants us the privilege of sharing in His creative plans. But we are more than just land agents, here to do God's bidding. We are granted the status of co-workers with God. It follows then that we can only realize our full potential as humans, if we recognise that we bear God’s image within us.
What then, is this image of God? Clearly, it is different from a physical resemblance. Genesis 2:7 describes how God made man from the dust of the earth. We are physical creations; we are part of the natural order of God’s created world and share this characteristic with the rest of creation. We are created beings, finite, no different in origin from any other animal. But the image of God suggests that as well as being a physical creation, we have a spiritual side to our nature. It is this spiritual nature that gives us our God-like characteristics and sets us apart from the rest of creation.
The word that helps us to understand how we are created in God’s image is the word 'person'. God is a person, or rather, three persons in one God. Man is also a person. This word describes more than just physical attributes. It describes the nature of our being. Our personality gives us our identity. Perhaps that helps to explain how we can speak of God as being Three Persons - there are three ways of understanding God: three ways in which He expresses His personality. But humanity shares with God the attribute of personhood. It is a startling thought: man is a finite, created being, yet is capable of free thought and action, able to understand truth, to create what is beautiful, and to know right from wrong; further, he possesses the awesome gift of personal freedom: free even to reject God if he so wishes, and is capable of personal companionship with the infinite and eternal God.
Humanity has been created with physical and spiritual characteristics. Not only did God create man from the dust, but He also breathed life into his nostrils (Gen 2:7). This suggests that there is more to being human than that which can be seen and touched. The Bible uses four different words to describe these aspects: soul, spirit, mind, and heart.
Soul, in Hebrew, is 'nephesh', which is generally used as a synonym for mind or life. It is derived from the word for throat, and means literally, 'that which proceeds from the throat'. It refers to the breath of life, or life itself. It speaks of the totality of a person's life.
Spirit is derived from the Hebrew word for 'wind', (pneuma) and is used to describe God's nature and activity. A human spirit is that part of our personality that is associated with God. We are urged, as Christians, to be filled with the Spirit of God, (Ephesians 5:18), which suggests that in order to be complete as people, we need to be aware of and open to God at work within us.
The Bible uses the words mind and heart interchangeably. The use of these words includes the functions of the mind - thinking, imagination, knowledge, will, intuition, emotions, and conscience. The heart is generally used to refer to our moral behaviour. For example, David is described as ‘a man after God’s own heart’ (Acts 13:22). In popular language, we talk about being ‘kind-hearted’ or ‘evil-hearted’.
If follows then, that God made mankind in His image in the sense that we have mental capacities, with which to think and to reason. We can think beyond our immediate needs of survival; we have a conscience – a moral awareness of other people and their needs; we have the breath of life within us - we are not mere objects but have an innate desire to live productive and useful lives; and most important of all, we have a spirit - that within us which is eternal. To be made in the image of God, means that we have a spirit that will live long after our mortal bodies have rotted into the ground. We are made to live with God in this life, and in the world to come.
There is one further point to note from the Genesis story. When God made the world, it was good. Humankind was good. We are not created morally neutral; our nature is positively directed towards that which is right and opposed to that which is wrong. Goodness is an essential part of the human character. But, in the story that we call ‘The Fall’, (Genesis 3) humankind lost its perfect nature. The image of God in humans was marred.
But God has not given up on us. He created people to be His co-workers. His care and concern for humans continues. Therefore, God longs to restore the image that has been marred. That process of restoration occupies the biblical story: from the call of Abraham, to the giving of the law, the sending of the prophets, and ultimately, to the incarnation of Jesus Christ. God longs for our return. His desire is for a perfect relationship with His chosen people. Christ lived on earth, suffered and died, in order that we may be made whole once more. In Christ, we see a picture of God the restorer. The image, which was marred by the Fall, is restored through faith in Christ, through whom we become a new creation, and by the gift of the Holy Spirit, who restores in us the image of God as was originally intended.
So Paul can write to the Corinthians:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Therefore, we continue to bear the image of God. We are spiritual beings, and that is why God says to us now, 'Come to me. Bring to me your cares and concerns. There is no aspect of your life that is beyond my concern.'
Whenever we pray, we can ask God to heal his wounded image, which is within us, and to enable us to grow more fully in order that we become the people who He wants us to be. We can pray that God will mould our personalities, so that we will express His love in body, mind, emotions, and intellect.
So we must never forget that as people, we are made 'in the image of God', and however damaged we may consider ourselves to be, through faith in Jesus Christ we can receive the gift of forgiveness and new life.
We are created ‘in the image of God’, and that image can be constantly renewed in us!
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