What does it mean to be made in the image of God? Does it mean we are gods and have powers? Does it mean that we rule the world? A fascinating subject, many theologians throughout the ages have tried to define what it means to be made in the image of God. Here is a list of 7 facts regarding our being made in the image of the almighty God.
Truth 1:
According to the Bible, we humans are special because we are the only creatures created in God's image. Animals do not share that privilege with us—even the most cognitively and emotionally evolved ones. (Genesis 1:26-27)
Truth 2:
The image of God in us was not erased or destroyed by the Fall of Adam and Eve, but it was defaced (James 3:8-9 shows we still have it). In other words, the image of God is still a part of us, but it is corrupted by Adam's sin and ours (2 Corinthians 3:18 and Romans 8:29 show we undergo a transformation into the image of Jesus, implying we have lost the original, pure image of God).
Truth 3:
Being made in the image of God does not mean we are like little gods! The Lord is One (Deuteronomy 6:4). Some try to use the argument that since animals and trees produce "after their kind," and since God made us in His image, then we must be made "after His kind," i.e., little gods. But clearly, one can see that this interpretation is a far stretch from any plausible explanation of the passage found in Genesis—it's downright ridiculous! And, no, Jesus' statement in John 10:34, "you are gods" does not mean this either. He took it from Psalm 82:6, and it refers to earthly rulers, called gods because of the power they held over the people.
Truth 4:
The image of God in humans does not imply that God has a physical body. John 4:24 says "God is Spirit." Some may say that Jesus is God and that He had a body, therefore God has a body, but that is also incorrect. God the Father (the first person of the Trinity) does not have a physical body, but God the Son (the second person of the Trinity) does; there is a distinction in that sense.
Truth 5:
Our physical bodies reflect some of God's communicable attributes (those He shares with us). Some of the material attributes include: seeing, hearing and speaking. God is a God who sees, hears, and speaks, and He allows us to do the same, albeit in a limited sense, through the use of our physical bodies. Some of the immaterial attributes that God shares with us are: Wisdom, knowledge, justice, mercy, faithfulness, grace, patience, will, reason, rationale, holiness, peace or order, jealousy in the good sense, love, beauty, perfection (we will be made perfect or complete), and power or sovereignty (we were made to have dominion and do have some power over creation and our choices). God’s nature includes all of these to an infinite level, but we do see their limited counterparts in humans.
Truth 6:
Bearing the image of God is not: 1) experiencing a relationship with God (this would make the amount or intensity of the image of God dependent on our relationship with Him); nor 2) a matter of our functionality or something we do (this would put handicapped people or babies in trouble, for they cannot do much). We do not possess more or less of the image of God in us by our relationship to God, nor by what we do. We all, by virtue of simply being humans, are made in God's image already.
Truth 7:
Being made in the image of God means that we represent God and, as such, we belong to Him–because He made us. The greek word for "image" is eikon, from which we get our English word "icon." The image of God in us is best represented when we look more like His Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible says that Jesus is the image of God (Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3), and it is though our sanctification and transformation into Jesus' likeness that we best represent our God. Ephesians 5:1-2 says to "be imitators of Christ." Why? Because Jesus glorified His Father in heaven and is the most human anyone ever was and will be—He beat Adam because He never sinned, and His image was not corrupted as Adam's was and as, consequently, ours is too.
Now go and tell someone that they are special because they are made in God's image—and because He loves them so much that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die in their place on the Cross!
Now you know the truth, the Truth Informed.
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