God created you in His image
Genesis 1:26–31
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
What does being created in God’s image mean? Well to be honest, the Bible doesn’t give much detail about it. But I will try to explain what being created in God’s image means, from my studies.
Since we are created in God’s image, we can reason and speak, and we have a will to choose, like God. We also have the power to act out our reasoning, our speech, and our choices, like God does. (Granted we are limited in these things compared to God.) Our ability to do these things is clearly seen in Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God for the first time.
Do we have the same form that God has? His Word Jesus took on the appearance of man, in Philippians 2:8a, He was, “found in appearance as a man…” So, do we look like God? I don’t know. However, Jesus did take the form of man. So we created in the very form that Jesus, chose for Himself. That’s pretty amazing to me! How about to you? However there is a huge difference, Jesus has God’s essence and nature because He is God, we don’t! Jesus says in John 14:7,
“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
God has two types of attributes, they are incommunicable and communicable. The communicable attributes of God are the ones that we have such as a personality marked with emotions, moral character, the desire for relationship, the want to be loved and to love, the capacity to have understanding and wisdom, as well as the desire for mercy, justice, truth and faithfulness. We also have an eternal existence that began when God created us. The incommunicable attributes of God are the ones only God can have because God is God. These include being self-existent, self-sufficient, sovereign, all-powerful, all-knowing and always present.
Think about why God would make us in His image. I love my dog, but I can’t have a truly intimate relationship with her because she isn’t in my image. We can relate to each other because we are in each other’s image, but even more importantly we can relate to God because He created us in His image. Since God created us in His image we are linked to heaven and to God Himself unlike any other creature God made. He made us in His image to be able to have a truly intimate eternal relationship with us. All of His workings throughout eternity prove it.
- Human history is being played out, in order that God can have a people who are His and who want to be His. Read Exodus 19:2-6, 1 Peter 2:4-10, and Jeremiah 31:3, 31-34. (The word “covenant” simply put means an agreement with a person or group of people to whom you are deeply committed.) How does the fact that God wants you to be His, show you He loves you?
- Think about this: What if God didn’t create us in His image, and we were all on the same level as animals? What would that tell us about God and His desire for a relationship with us? What value would humans have to Him then? (Those of you who are animal lovers, just to encourage you, God cares for animals too; but not in the same way He cares for us. (Matthew 10:29-31))
- Prayerfully answer the question since God created you in His image: What value does He give to you? Did you know, you are so valuable to God that He died for you when you were His enemy? We can all struggle at times with thinking we don’t have high value in anyone’s eyes, especially God’s, but we do!
- I am sure some of you are thinking, God did create us in His image, but didn’t sin do something to His image in us? It did! We still possess God’s image within us, but it has been corrupted by sin and needs renewing. Read Genesis 9:6 and James 3:9. The only way to truly have God’s image again, is through Jesus Christ and by allowing the Holy Spirit to progressively renew His image within us. Read Ephesians 4:20-24 and Colossians 3:9-11.