Q: What Does Made in God’s Image Mean?

A: 

This important question is based on a brief statement in Gen. 1:26–27: “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness’ . . . So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.” A similar but non-biblical way to ask the question would be—and frequently is—“What does it mean to be human? What is life all about?”

Some scholars believe that the use of “likeness” and “image” to describe the humanity that God created speaks to two aspects of people—physical and spiritual. Others see the two expressions as synonymous; they are used to emphasize the enormity of the creation of mankind and its vast ramifications. But the question remains: What does it mean to be created in the divine image?

1.  God took the initiative.

We start by noting that God took a monumental initiative when He freely decided to “make” mankind—a decision that He implemented by “creating” the human race. This informs us that mankind is not divine but creaturely, not infinite but finite, not independent but desperately dependent. A human being who recognizes such realities reflects something of the Divine in their dependence on God’s sufficiency. They also willingly recognize and joyfully embrace the fact that, as part of the created order, they come from Him, survive through Him, exist for Him, and echo with the creation: “to him be the glory forever” (Rom. 11:36).

2.  God intended to relate to us. 

Secondly, the author of Genesis was not making elementary grammatical mistakes when he wrote, “God said ‘let us make mankind.’” He used the plurals “us” and “our” intentionally to describe the Deity. This served as a reminder that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—eternally relational—were collectively involved in the creative project. In creating mankind, God made a powerful statement about His intention to have a unique segment of the created order to whom He could relate and who could relate to Him. Angels and humans, undoubtedly limited by their creatureliness (see Ps. 8), were nevertheless enabled to live in such oneness with the Creator that He delighted in their love, trust, and obedience as they made it their goal to bring Him pleasure. The relational triune God had His relational counterparts in whom He delighted.

3.  God revealed Himself to us.

The use of the word “image,” which usually means a “reproduction of” or “replica of,” has brought some confusion, as God is spirit and invisible. What does a replica of an invisible entity look like? This reality influences interpretations of the text in the direction of inner rather than outward characteristics of the “original.” Rationality, morality, and spirituality are commonly regarded as characteristics of the Lord’s self-revelation to His creation. This is illustrated in the incident recorded in Gen. 3:8 when, in the cool of the evening, God came “walking” in the gorgeous garden looking for “man, male and female,” seeking fellowship and communion and loving, trusting, obedient oneness—all the things mankind was created for and equipped to produce.

4.  God desired for us to rule over the created order.

“God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over [the animals]’” (Gen. 1:26). This is perhaps the clearest indication of the role that image bearers are to fulfill. They are to rule over the created order, they are to be fruitful, to fill the earth, and to subdue it!

Without going into details, this list of practical active words opens up vast horizons for image bearers’ involvement in the maintenance of order, meaningful engagement with the creation, development, exploration, and preservation of all that God has made. This brief account of the second day of creation comes to an end with God inspecting what He has made, presumably along with the image bearers’ efforts at fulfilling their mandate. His verdict: “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Gen. 1:31).

Tragically the image bearers failed, the likeness was defiled, order succumbed to chaos, the Fall invaded pristine creation, and mankind resorted to fig leaves and blame games. God embarked on the work of redemption that sent Jesus into the world.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews described the coming of Jesus in memorable words: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Heb. 1:3). In other words, the ultimate image bearer—the exact representation of the Triune God—arrived to rescue wounded, broken image bearers hiding behind trees, clad in fig leaves.

Down through the centuries, the work of salvation has proceeded quietly and relentlessly. Now, God has been raising up a new class of image bearers who with “unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory . . . being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18).