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 God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 1:27-28
Read: Genesis 2
We are made in the image of God. At first glance, that declaration seems to be referring to our appearance but I believe that it has a much deeper meaning. I believe that being “made in the image of God” means that mankind has intrinsic value. In order to better understand this concept, let’s examine four passages regarding the nature of God, four passages dealing with His disposition towards us (His creation), and then finish with the evidence that all of mankind is valuable to Him.
- God is eternal therefore we were made for eternity
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Genesis 1:26
In the Genesis account, we read, “Let Us make man in Our image.” This is not a misprint. The pronouns are plural for a reason. There is only one God but He exists in three Persons: Father, Son, and Spirit. When He is discussing the creation of mankind, He refers to the perfect fellowship that He has in Himself, a fellowship that is passed on to us through creation. In other words, God is relational and we were made to have a relationship with Him (consider Genesis 1-2, Revelation 21-22).
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
John 1:1-3
This idea of God existing in three Persons is also found in the Gospel of John. The “Word” or “logos” is referring to Jesus. He was with God in the beginning and at the same time is God. Concepts surrounding eternity and the nature of God are often difficult to understand given the fact that we are born into time and space. This means that everything we reference in this life, movies, books, songs, events, even our lives, all have a beginning and an end. To understand God, we must understand that He is beyond the constraints of time and space. In fact, He is the Creator of those things. Therefore, He has always been, is now, and will always be. Everything that we see in creation is a result of His design and power.
He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:15-17
Paul tells us the same thing about the creation as He describes Jesus as being at the center of it all. “Jesus is the image of the invisible God.” “By Him (Jesus) all things were created.” “He (Jesus) is before all things.” “In Him (Jesus) all things hold together.” All things came into existence because of Jesus.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
Revelation 22:13
Even at the end of scripture, Jesus is describing Himself as the “Alpha and the Omega.” He is the beginning of all things and He is the end. So God is eternal and because we are made in His image, we are also made for eternity.
So what about God’s disposition towards His creation? Consider the following passages.
- God desires for us to be in fellowship with Him
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
John 3:16-17
The “world” is referencing the entire created order including mankind. God loves the world therefore God loves His creation. He sent Jesus into the created order for the purpose of saving us. He did not send Jesus for the condemnation of the world rather that the world (mankind) might be saved through Him. This beloved passage demonstrates that God loves the world and acted on that love by sending Jesus to reverse the curse that came about through mankind’s disobedience in the garden (see Genesis 3).
…and He (Jesus) Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
1 John 2:2
This passage declares the scope of Jesus’ death on the cross as being the propitiation (atoning sacrifice) for the sins of the whole world. The terms “whole” and “world” together demonstrate the scope of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice as being sufficient to save the entirety of creation.
Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Paul tells us that as Jesus was being crucified, “God was in Christ” reconciling the world to Himself. Again, the redemptive act of Jesus was in order to reconcile (set things right) between God and the world. This is consistent with a God who is just yet loving. Consider God’s own testimony about Himself as He deals with Israel:
“Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord God, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?” “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live.”
Ezekiel 18:23, 32
The call was to “repent and live.” Under the new covenant, the call is to repent and to believe in the finished work of Jesus on the cross as sufficient for our salvation. This faith in Jesus results in eternal life.
So being “made in the image of God” means that we were created for eternity, that we have intrinsic value, and that God desires to have fellowship with us. All of this is in accordance with His love, grace, and mercy, which He displayed on the cross of Jesus Christ. And it is because of this that we should not curse others. Consider the following:
- We should value all human life
With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.
James 3:9-10
Worshiping God while cursing others, as James would say, is something that “ought not to be.” And the reason for this is because others, like ourselves, have been “made in the likeness of God.”
We were made for eternity, we have intrinsic value, and God desires for us to experience His love and kindness. This is, in part, what it means for us to be “made in the image of God.”
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