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Maintaining Our Image (of God)

Additional resources on this topic are listed below.¹

The Image of God Looks Like That?

Have you ever looked in the mirror and wondered, How can that be made in the image of God? If you have, you shouldn't. While it may be true that the reflection may cause blindness, the idea that this is what being created in the image of God is referring to is a gross misunderstanding of what the author of Genesis was getting at.

Consider this text:

Then God said, "Let us² make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So 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" (Genesis 1:26-28, NIV).

Amazingly enough, this text contains some of the most profound insights into who we are as human beings. In fact, it addresses every significant relationship that we have, whether it be between humanity and God, men and women, parents and children, humans and animals, or humans and their environment.

What I'd like to do is initiate a series, springboarding from these verses, which will hopefully help to clarify God's purposes for all these relationships. We will begin by exploring just what in the world being created in the image of God means.

Ancient Near East vs. Modern Near West

In college, I was taught that being created in the image of God meant that we had the ability to reason, as well as having the spiritual attributes of God; in other words, our spiritual side corresponds to God's image. On the other end are those who teach that it is our physical being that reflects the image of God; that is, we look like God.

This, however, is a significant anachronism, because in contrast to contemporary Western thinking, the ancient Hebrew mindset did not include the dividing of people into different parts. Rather, a person was seen as a whole, not as part physical and part spiritual. So, if this isn't what it means to be created in His image, then what does it mean?

One of the most important things we must keep in mind when approaching the Scriptures is that they were written by people who lived in a specific time and culture to people in a specific time and culture using language rooted in a specific time and culture. In other words, the biblical authors did not have 21st century Christians in mind when they wrote.³ So then we must ask, How would both the author and the audience of Genesis have understood these words?

Upgraded to Royalty

In the Ancient Near East (ANE), kings were the only ones who were said to have the image of God. Why? Because they were the mediators between their god and the rest of the world. They "were responsible for the equilibrium between nature and society through securing the favor of the gods; also justice and the well-being of society were dependent upon the administration of the king's rule."⁴

This image had nothing to do with form (what these kings looked like, whether spiritually, physically or both), but had to do with function (what these kings were supposed to do or be in relation to the rest of the world). For example, in Egypt the Pharaoh was worshipped because he was the earthly manifestation of the deity, rather than because he looked like the deity in either his spirit or body. (This can also be seen in idol worship, where an "image" is venerated as a god.) Indeed, it was the responsibility of the king (whether he was considered a deity or a representative of the deity) to subdue and have dominion over his kingdom.⁵

Now, how does this understanding of the ANE culture make sense within the context of God's creation of mankind? In creating man in His image, He accomplishes at least three things. First, He demonstrates just how special humans are compared to the rest of creation. He does this by using language that was exclusive to kings and applying it to everyone; that is, kings aren't the only ones who are privileged, every single human being is privileged.

In fact, if Israel picked this idea up from ancient Egyptian theology, we must wonder when they would have come in contact with it. The most likely (and obvious) candidate here would be during their 400 year bondage in Egypt. If this is the case, put yourself in the place of an Israelite slave who has just been freed from Pharaoh's oppression. This king of Egypt has enslaved your ancestors for centuries and Yahweh has just delivered your people from him. Now your Deliverer says that as magnificent and impressive as he may have been, this Pharaoh is not the only one who possesses the image of God.⁶ Each Israelite, indeed, every human being bears His image because He is no respecter of persons, elevating one person above another; rather, each human being is magnificent, each human being is impressive, and each human is royalty, without exception.

Royal Ambassadors

The second aspect of being created in the image of God has to do with responsibility. As God's representative to the rest of creation, we are duty-bound to be good stewards of it. For example, when we treat animals inhumanely or scatter pollutants over the earth, we are violating our obligations as God's mediators to His creation. (We'll look at these responsibilities in future articles.)

A Level Playing Field

A third implication of being created in God's image comes in the form of a reminder. One of the greatest errors that we humans are prone to is thinking that we are inherently better than other people, whether it comes in the form of individuals (e.g. I'm better than you) or cultures (e.g. Americans are better than Nigerians) or anything else.

Even on the verge of entering Canaan to take possession of it, God reminds His people that He chose them, not because there was anything inherently great about them, but "because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers" (Deuteronomy 7:8).

He is reminding Israel that they are no better than the Gentiles that they are about to destroy. They were chosen because Yahweh loved them, not because they earned it. Anyway, the point here is that, if every human being possesses God's image, then there is nothing inherently better about one person than another.

The Rest of the Story

As I alluded to before, these verses are packed with incredible implications regarding our purpose as human beings, so here are a few questions that I will explore in future articles:

• If both males and females are created in the image of God, how does this affect our gender roles?
• What does it mean to rule over the fish and the birds and every living creature? Does the inhumane treatment of animals fall under this "rule"?
• Because of concerns regarding overpopulation, can we still take the commands to be fruitful, increase in number, and fill the earth seriously?
• If the first command humans are given is to be fruitful and increase in number, how should that shape our attitude toward having children, or simply toward children?
• If it is part of the purpose of humanity to be fruitful and increase in number, what implications are to be drawn regarding those who cannot (or refuse to) keep this command?
• What does it mean to fill and subdue the earth? Does pollution in its various forms fall under this "subduing"?

As you can see, I believe that these verses must be the starting point to understanding our very purpose for existence and this existence must include relationships. I hope that you will join me as we explore this building block for a biblical worldview of our God, our world, and our selves.