What does the Bible mean when it says that human beings were created in God's image and likeness?
Answer
The New Testament describes Jesus as being the image of the invisible God, the exact representation of his likeness. Jesus, both as the Son of God in the divine sense and as a human being, Jesus perfectly lives out what it means to be the Son of God, what it means to be the image of God, to represent and show God, that God is the Father and to carry out the Father's work. And the beauty of our redemption is that in Christ we are being restored in the image; in Christ, as Colossians and Ephesians tell us, that we are being restored in righteousness and holiness and full knowledge of who God is and who God has created us to be. And so, one of the great beauties of redemption is that that wonderful status and privilege that humanity was created for and is forfeited by the Fall, is fully restored in the redemption that we have in Jesus Christ, the perfect image of God.
Rev. Bill Burns formerly taught systematic theology at Redeemer Seminary in Dallas, TX.
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