Genesis 1:26. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”
As we saw on day 2, all of creation begins with God and with his love. But were we made by God simply to be loved by God, like a pet? The answer the Bible gives is actually way better. Better than being loved? Yes. To be created and loved is to image God.
The image of God has been stamped into every human being. Every person alive bears God’s image and likeness. Nothing else in creation can make this wonderful claim. Not plants, birds, mammals, or even the angels. Only us. The purpose and meaning of every human life transcends the purpose of the rest of creation. Mankind alone makes the invisible God visible. But what exactly does that mean?
Our image. Why the plural our? Because God is a plural. A trinity. A loving community of three that exists as the one God. And that community of love is what we were made to make visible to the world.
What is better than being loved? Being able to love in the likeness of God? Being able to love in his image. To not only receive the love of God, but to reflect and represent the love of God to the rest of creation. This is what makes life worth living. Not our earthly accomplishments or worldly successes. Not our GPA, or earnings, our batting percentage, or rank, or our likes on social media. Imaging God and his love is the meaning of life, nothing else.
The word image can bring to mind many ancient concepts. An idol imaged a deity. A servant imaged their master. And a son imaged their father (see Genesis 5:3). And that last one is the one that we want to grab hold of today – image bearing as son-ship.
In a very real sense to say we bear God’s image is sort of like saying we have God’s DNA. Just as your DNA determines everything about you, who you are physically, the image of God in you determines who you are spiritually. Just as a child has the DNA of their parents, we are the children of God. Sons of God if you will. Sharing the spiritual DNA of THE Son of God – Jesus Christ.
In Colossians 1, Paul says that Jesus is the eternal and uncreated Son of God and therefore he is THE eternal image of God. God the Father’s image is God the Son.
Colossians 1:15. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
You and I were created in THE Image, Jesus. Jesus, however, IS THE image of God. We were never meant to be THE Image, but we were meant to be IN THE Image. And that is exactly how we were created – IN THE Image, Jesus, God the Son. However, our sin and rebellion have caused us to naturally fall short of this glorious purpose for our lives. No human child of God has ever fully imaged God as he intended, except Jesus of Nazareth.
The good news is that now, by our union with Christ, the divine image is restored in us by the Spirit. Now our created destiny has been regained. The goodness of being like Jesus has been restored in us by his own indwelling life and love. We are once again sons and daughters of God, living in full communion with him and with one another as was intended. We are not just loved by God; we are like God. We participate in his life. We share in his story. We manifest his mind, heart, soul, and strength in the word.
Questions: How do you see your life? Do you see yourself as valuable based on what you accomplish or based on being made in God’s image? How can you make the life of Christ visible today?
To Live is Christ 