In God’s Image The Bible says surprisingly little about what creation in God’s image might mean. We might be tempted to assume that creation in God’s image is what it means to be different from the animals – our rational capacity, our personhood, our capacity for language. But the term refers to a relationship first, and must be seen as a way of defining what we are in relation to God. We are, as Genesis 1 makes clear, creatures of God who live in a world he created. But to image God means that we are, in Blocher’s words, “to be the created representation of [the] Creator, and here on earth, as it were, the image of the divine Glory, the Glory which mankind both reflects and beholds.” What is it about us that images God? Surely not our physical bodies (God is a Spirit!); indeed, Genesis 2:7 symbolizes the transfer of God’s image as an in-breathing by God into a body previously formed “from the dust.” Imaging God is thus related to the spiritual attributes of God – not in any sense exactly, for we are only an image, but in some measure we demonstrate what God is like. We do this when we search for truth and beauty, when we are concerned about justice and other ethical issues, when we recognize the high importance of morality; these are God-like qualities. Perhaps the best way to understand this mystery is to look to Jesus Christ, whom the apostle Paul refers to as “the image of the invisible God…For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him.” (Colossians 1:15 & 19). Christ is the best representation of God, and if we would image God in our lives, then we must become like Christ. In this light, being created in God’s image means that we have the possibility of becoming like him – in a reflected way, for we are still mere creatures. But think of this possibility: Although God wants us to see his glory in the creation, he has specifically crated humankind to reflect his glory, in ways that the rest of creation simply could not. This is the clearest basis for human dignity, for the high value we place on human life. For this reason, the severely impaired, the senile, the most degenerate human beings deserve to be treated with respect. All humankind bears God’s image to some degree; and although that image has been affected by the Fall, we are never in a position to judge that a human being is so completely devoid of humanity that he or she can be treated inhumanely. James Houston (of Regent College, Canada) believes that it is our capacity for sovereignty that most closely demonstrates how we image God. He has given us capabilities that equip us for sovereignty over our environment, other creatures, and over ourselves – the characteristics that make us human. But these are the consequences of being in God’s image rather than the definition of it. We image him in how we exercise that sovereignty. And as we read on in Genesis, we begin to understand what it means to image God as sovereigns. We are given, in Genesis 1:28, the responsibility of ruling over his creation – of having dominion. And in Genesis 2, Adam (as our representative) is given the task of cultivating the Garden of Eden – of using and developing this part of God’s creation. Psalm 8:3 – 6 gives us an eloquent picture of the relationship between imaging God and ruling over his creation: When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet… The writer of Hebrews tells us that this passage also refers to Christ, in keeping with the concept that we are to be like him as we image God. (Hebrews 2:5 – 9)
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