“God created man in the image of Himself, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.”
— Genesis 1:27

Created In The Image Of God

In the Genesis creation story, God created man in His image.  You must be thinking, what is that image of God that Adam and Eve were fashioned upon?  God did not mention anything about His physical appearance. All we gather from the creation story is how His Word created, how He commanded and gave life, how He rested, and how He banished Adam and Even when they were tricked by the serpent, eating from the tree and becoming “one of Us, with his knowledge of good and evil.” (Genesis 3:22).

To know what it means to be made in the image of God, we must first know who God is.  And God, being the gracious Father, made Himself known to us through Jesus Christ.

And in John 1:14, “The Word was made flesh, He lived among us, and we saw His glory, the glory that is His as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

“No one has ever seen God; it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” (John 1:18). “He is the image of the unseen God and the first-born of all creation, for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth: everything visible and invisible, Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powers – all things were created through Him and for Him.”

– Colossians 1:15-16

In the beginning, the Holy Trinity created man in their image – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  We are all made in their likeness.  Can you imagine yourself as having the qualities of God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit? That is quite something to absorb! 

Yet Jesus never hid this fact when He told us, “Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) 

Let us dissect this and relate it to the other scripture.  We have read and we know that Jesus is the image of the unseen God.  For us to understand this image, we look to Jesus and see how He has walked and lived with us, the gospels He has preached to us.  Still, knowing all these is not enough for us to bear the image of God and to show others the image of God.  Then Jesus said, “…cut off from me, you can do nothing.”  Jesus, through the Gospel of John, has been telling us plainly who God is and how to bear His image and bear fruit.  We are to remain in Him, with Him in us.  Only then can we show the world who God is.  

Living As The Image Of God: A Christian’s Mission

Here are some ways we can remain in Jesus and be the image of God in this age and time: 

• Being the salt of the earth and the light of the world by standing up for the Gospel, by our good works, and service done for the glory of God. 

In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.

-Matthew 5:13-16

• Loving our enemies, forgiving and praying for those who persecute us. 

But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in thie way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike.

-Matthew 5:44

• To love and to be love.

Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence and is not resentful.  Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes.

-1 Corinthians 13:4-7

• Being holy and perfect, in obedience to the gospel.

You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect. -Matthew 5:48

Do not behave in the way that you liked to before you learnt the truth; make a habit of obedience: be holy in all you do, since it is the Holy One who has called you, and scripture says: Be holy, for I am holy.

-1 Peter 1:14-16

Whew! What a difficult feat, we must be muttering under our breath.   To forgive the person who hurt you.  To be holy and serve the person who gets on your nerves.  To be salt and light and stand up for the atrocities happening around us, despite the backlash and attacks that await us. To go the extra mile and preach the gospel of love, peace, and forgiveness.   Yet this is precisely our nature – being made in God’s image.  This is what we are made of, called, and chosen to become: to be God’s representative in a world deceived by the evil one.  

God knows the struggles we will face.  He knows precisely the challenges which await us, the temptations lurking around us, the lies and fear which threaten us.  That is why God revealed His image through Jesus, an image of patience, of love, of mercy, and gave us the Holy Spirit as our Advocate to sustain us. 

“I have told you all this so that you may find peace in me.  In the world you will have trouble, but be brave: I have conquered the world.”

– John 16:33

Unsplash: Photo by Jordan Hile on Unsplash