As emotional abuse is sinful and goes against how God has created us to be, not only is it right to not give in to it, but it is right to do something about it. To live as God designed us to live means it is right to resist being treated in this way. Sometimes, well-intentioned people might (mis)quote Bible verses about being submissive to your husband or church leader, or to honor your parents, to instruct you to give in to how you are being treated. Abuse is not merely about submission and honor. It involves all of who you are and what you do as a person in the Lord. You are being obedient to the Lord by thinking, choosing, living morally, working, and relating in ways that honor the Lord. It is right for you to get help to be able to do this in a wise and godly way.

Barbara is in her 90s. She tells of how the Lord has made clear his purpose for her, and the way the Spirit has changed her and continues to show her what needs to be changed in her life. She prays for people all over the world and goes out of her way to help others. In times of suffering and loss, she has expressed her trust in the Lord. During suffering, her spirit has not become bitter. Barbara clearly understands how to live properly: she knows the answer about who she is and what life is about.

Why Are You Here?

Have you ever asked yourself some of the deepest questions about your life? Who are you? What does it mean to be human? What is the meaning of your life? In what way are you to live? These are probably the most important questions you could ever ask. You might wonder where you can find answers to such profound questions.

God’s Image Bearer

Thankfully, we can discover the answers to these questions in the very first book of the Bible. In Genesis chapter 1, we read about the origins of the universe and why God made human beings. The fundamental reason why we exist is because of God. Since God is the reason why we exist, we can look to Him for answers about our purpose in life.

We discover His original purpose in Genesis 1:26-28:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

All people are made in God’s image; both the man and the woman were (and are) equal in this regard. Both are equally blessed by God and have the same value and dignity.[1] 

What Does It Mean to Be God’s Image Bearer?

So, what does it mean to be made in the image of God? Being made in God’s image can be divided into three aspects. These are relational, functional, and substantive:

1. Relational

When we read this passage, we discover that God said, “Let us make man in our image…” In other words, God Himself is in relationship. In other places in the Bible, we discover that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These are the three persons of the Trinity. Since God is relationship, our being made in His image includes being made to be in relationship with God and with other people.

2. Functional

We read that God gives both the man and the woman the mandate to be fruitful, multiply, and rule over creation. They were both given this task to accomplish as creatures made in God’s image—they are not a description of what it means to be made in that image. Practices in the Ancient Near East (ANE), a term explaining early civilizations in roughly the same area we today call the Middle East, can help us gain insight into a possible explanation of what this means. In the ANE, statues were constructed by kings as a representation of their power and reign in the far-off places of their realm. The statue represented the rule of the king in that entire area. An example of this is in Daniel 3:1, when King Nebuchadnezzar set up a statue of himself on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. The statue represented his reign over this area. Given this practice, we can probably understand the meaning of the man and the woman being made in the image of God in Genesis 1 to include their role as representatives of God’s rulership over His creation.[2]

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