God reveals to us a truth that should shape our entire view of humanity and his creation: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” The God who created the heavens and the earth tells us this: We are made in his image. This is a very beautiful, complex reality, so let’s unpack three important questions that arise from this truth in Genesis chapter one.
Genesis is a word that simply means beginning.
Here in chapter one, we find both the beginning of the Bible and the beginning of Creation. We learn that we have a God who can create energy, matter, waves, time, life, and us by his very words. I find this to be an awesome truth about God! Our God is the glorious Creator. And out of everything God could have created, it is incredibly humbling to think that he created you and me.
In verse 27, God reveals to us a truth that should shape our entire view of humanity and his creation: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” The God who created the heavens and the earth tells us this: We are made in his image. This is a very beautiful, complex reality, so let’s unpack three important questions that arise from this truth in Genesis chapter one.
Q1: What does it mean to be made in the image of God?
There are several ways that I think Christians can faithfully answer this question, but before we do, follow along with me in Genesis 1:26-27:
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.
First, to be created in God’s image means that we have been given a unique status, a divine dignity as human beings. It means that God has set us apart and made us a very special creation in this world. As Christians we cannot forget the significance of this special honor that God has bestowed upon all humanity.
Secondly, to be created in God’s image means that God himself has determined how we ought to live. It means that God has made us to live his way rather than our own way. J.I. Packer once described this word “image” in Genesis as “representative likeness.” In other words, God created human beings to represent himself through us on earth.
