What is the image of God and how does it relate to salvation? Genesis 1:26-28 is the first
instance where this phrase is found. It
is the clearest passage in all of Scripture regarding the identity of humanity,
yet many who spend their lives studying God’s Word will pass from this life
without digging further into its meaning. I hear more speculations these days than I do
Biblical truth. How exactly are you and I created in the image of
the eternal Godhead? Some say it is
because we have a will and have been given the ability to reason and think
logically. Others see it as our sense of
discovery and constant pursuit to improve the way we do things. Still, many in the Church simply view it as
having specific personality traits and the ability to show love to one another. While all these are all true in part, I would like to go deeper into what it means that we have been made in God's image.
Here is what the Bible says:
26Then God said,
“Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. And let them have dominion
over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the
livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on
the earth.” 27So God created man in His own
image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28And God
blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the
earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the
birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”[1]
Notice the characteristics of mankind which God
stated in the above passage. Within
these few verses you will find three ways in which man is made in the image of
God and, as such, is separated from everything else in all of creation (i.e.
animals, insects, angels, etc.).
1.
Genesis 1:26 –
Rulership.
God,
in His ultimate Sovereignty, established and ordained man with authority over
all the earth. Everything, from fish to
birds and livestock to bugs, was placed under the dominion of man. The Sovereign God decreed a level of
sovereign rule to be given to man.
2.
Genesis 1:27 –
Plurality.
God
created mankind. He did not just make a
singular man. On the contrary, He
designed both male and female. Adam by
himself was not made in the image of God.
This image, as seen in the Genesis passage, is a collective reflection —
a corporate identity. All of us together
make up the image of God. When God
looked over all of creation and saw that everything He had made was very good[2],
He was not saying that everything was just okay until woman was made. What He saw when He looked over creation was
His image (male and female) manifested.
3.
Genesis 1:28 –
The ability to give life.
When
God acted, life began. Not only did it
begin, but He specifically designed the human body to bring forth life through
the form of an action. Like God, life
begins when we intentionally act in a certain way.
So how does this separate us from the rest of
creation?
We are different because nothing
else in all of creation functions in all three of these aspects. For example: the angels have authority to
rule[3]
and they exist in great numbers[4],
but they cannot give life. They are not
capable of having children or creating living organisms out of nothing. On the flip side, animals and creeping things
exist in very great numbers and are continually breeding, but they are all
under human dominion and have been given a fear and dread of man by God[5]. Mankind, at this point, rules over all the
animal kingdom and will, at some point in the future, rule with Christ over
God’s kingdom[6].
Have you ever stood on the shore of a pond or lake
and gazed at your reflection in the water?
It is basically a mirror. The
problem, however, is that there is no freedom involved. The image does exactly what you do. It goes where you go and jumps when you jump. It has no will, mind or emotion of its
own. It cannot choose to do something
different, nor can it run away and hide like Peter Pan’s shadow. The Spirit of God, in Genesis chapter one,
hovered above the surface of the waters and saw His reflection. It moved where He moved and did as He
did. If God just wanted a mirrored
image, then He could have stopped there in His creative work, but instead He
determined that was not good enough. He
desired His image to be able to decide for itself whether or not to seek
Him. He decreed to give His image life
and free choice with the conscious ability to make decisions. God brought His shadow, reflection and image to life in
order to pursue Him.
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