Only God can tell you who you really are. It is difficult to ascertain what it means to be human. But our identity and function are tied to our being created in God’s image, as male and female. God made us finite, bound by space and time to live in community and care for creation. To lose this essential truth is to lose ourselves.

What does it mean to be human? The answers to this question are many and varied. To the robot on your computer, identifying and clicking pictures of traffic lights proves that you’re human. For others, to be human is to be wise—we are homo sapiens. What it means to be human is an age-old and puzzling question. Yet traditional African cultures affirm the Genesis story that God created mankind from the ground as male and female.

This widespread belief tells us at least five things about what it means to be human. First, we are creatures made in God’s image. Second, we’re finite, having limits and bounds. Third, to be human means to be male or female. Fourth, God created humans for community. Finally, we both depend on and have a duty towards the rest of creation. This article will briefly expound on why these five points are essential for our identity as human beings.

God Created Humans in His Image

First, to be human is to be created by God (Genesis 1:26-27). We are not accidents, but creatures made and known by supreme wisdom. We all are products of divine intentionality and owe our existence and identity to God. To be truly human is to live as God’s creatures—made by him and for his purposes.

Not only are we made, but unlike other creatures, we are created in God’s image and likeness. In ancient cultures, images of wood and stone were believed to mediate the presence of the gods. Likewise, people in places like Mesopotamia and Egypt saw kings and priests as the likeness of the gods. But the Bible teaches that all human beings are made in the image of God, a concept that connotes relational (and representational) existence.

To be human is to have the potential to consciously relate with God as his children (Genesis 5:3), thereby being like Jesus, God’s image as Son (2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:2-3). And only as image bearers can we have universal ‘human’ rights.

God Made Us Male and Female

Not only are we created in God’s image, but also, we are made male and female. As the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament insists, “Only in the polarity of man and woman are human beings made in the image of God.” That is, the complementary male-female qualities properly reflect the image and likeliness of God, and as such, male-female sexuality is fundamental to personhood.

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