In the Image of God

Genesis 1 tells us that during the creation week, God formed and ordered the entire world. And on the sixth and last working day of the week, as his final act of creation, he made humanity.

The first thing Scripture says about humanity is that we’re the image and likeness of God. This is one of the primary ways God thinks about the human race. Listen to Genesis 1:27-28:

God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Right after Scripture introduces us as images of God, it says that we govern creation. So, at least one important aspect of being God’s image is that we hold the office of delegated ruler.

Our reign over the earth is always subservient to the will of our great God and king. So, in our office as his images, we should never try to impose our own will. Instead, we should work to see God’s will done on earth as it is in heaven. And we should do that in a way that gives him all the glory.

The tasks Adam was assigned in the Garden also point to the work of the priests in the tabernacle.

Adam and Eve are created in God's image not only to rule and subdue, but also to represent. They are supposed to, just like the priestly role in Israel — the priests were representations or go-betweens, mediums, between God and mankind — so Adam and Eve are made to do the exact same thing; they are to rule, to serve, to obey, and thus represent God on earth. [Prof. Jeffrey A. Volkmer]

From very early in church history, Christians have understood that the image of God in human beings includes our capacity to think rationally and process complex emotions. Some of this rational ability was lost in our fall into sin, but it didn’t destroy it completely. We still have rational and emotional capacities, even if they don’t work as well as they once did.

Look at our moral qualities. When God placed humanity in the Garden of Eden, they understood that they were supposed to work it and take care of it, just as God said in Genesis 2:15. And they recognized those obligations as morally good. In Genesis 3:2-3, Eve was able to tell the serpent what she was allowed to do and what she was forbidden to do.

In some theological traditions, the loss of our moral ability — along with our original righteousness and holiness — is thought to have been so great that we completely lost the image and likeness of God. But Scripture still refers to sinful humanity as God’s images and likenesses. So, most theological traditions have concluded that God’s image and likeness in humanity were damaged but not destroyed.

Genesis 1:27-28 and 5:1-3 teach that every human being bears God’s image. This is true regardless of our gender, age, ethnicity, wealth, social status, health, abilities, appearance, or anything else that distinguishes us from each other. Every person represents God in some way.

Being God’s images has many implications for the way we relate to God, to other people, and to the world around us. As God’s representatives on earth, our thoughts, behavior and emotions reflect on him. And he holds us personally responsible for carrying out our role in ways that accomplish his purposes, benefit his creation and creatures, and bring him glory.