man being the image of god essay

The Image of God

“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood shall be shed, for God made man in his own image” (Gen. 9:6).

Yesterday we considered a few of the competing definitions of what it means to be human in the history of Western thought. Being disciples of Jesus, however, we must first and foremost be concerned with what His Word says about us. A few weeks ago we studied Genesis 1:26–27, one of the most important texts regarding the doctrine of man in all of Scripture. In these verses, Moses tells us that God created man in His “own image,” and after His “likeness” (v. 26).

In the history of Christian theology, some have distinguished between the “image” and the “likeness” of God in human beings. Traditional Roman Catholic theology often states that “image” refers to our ability to make rational choices, while “likeness” points to an extra gift of righteousness given before the fall. After Adam sinned, this view maintains, only the likeness was lost. Protestants, on the other hand, have largely agreed that we cannot differentiate between the “image” and the “likeness” of God in humanity, because both terms refer to the same thing — our ability to reflect the Lord’s own holy character.

We will consider this important idea more next week. For now we will note that man as imago Dei (made in the image of God) tells us several important things:

Imago Dei means that man is not God. Man reflects the Lord and therefore is not the Lord. We are creatures, and, consequently, we are dependent, finite, and derived. Moreover, we are accountable to God; He is not accountable to us (Job 38–42).

Imago Dei distinguishes man from the animals. We are subordinate to the Lord, not to the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Instead, man has dominion over the other creatures God has made (Gen. 1:28). We must rule wisely and compassionately, as we will be judged for all of our transgressions, ecological and otherwise (Lev. 25:1–7; Deut. 25:4). While humans have a greater ultimate worth than animals, those who, for example, do not endorse abortion on demand while maintaining poor stewardship of God’s creation will have to answer for their sins.

Sin did not destroy the image of God in man. Today’s passage tells us that even after the fall, mankind is still made imago Dei. All people still reflect, in some way, the dignity of the Lord, no matter how we have marred His image. Thus, our treatment of others reveals what we think of our Creator. If you have been cruel to another, go apologize and remember that if you are cruel to His image, you are sinning against God (James 3:7–10).

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Implications of Being Made in the Image of God

Racial harmony.

John Piper Twitter @JohnPiper

What is healthy teaching, radically free to please god, faith sees 3-d, did my negligence kill my baby, how did the false teachers misuse the law, where does empty talk come from.

• Topic: Race & Ethnic Harmony

This is session two now on our seminar on racial harmony . Let me move into tonight’s biblical content with just a few things to show you the relevance of what we’re discussing. Again, I’ll try to do this each time because it’s very easy to do when you have the internet, and you can just have every piece of information in the universe, it seems, at your disposal — either to ruin your life and marriage or to bless your ministry, depending on whether you use it carefully or not.

One of the article’s in Time magazine last week had the headline: “ Blacks Need Not Apply .”

When a black college freshman applied to join Alpha Gamma Delta at the University of Georgia last August, most members of the all-white sorority were horrified. As they gathered inside their neoclassical mansion to discuss the new applicants, the sisters of AGD singled out the black freshman and talked about her separately. “Why does she want to go through white rush?” asked a sorority member. Another warned, “If we had a black girl in our sorority, none of the fraternities would want to do anything with us.”

That’s 2000; that’s not 1965.

But let me tell you a few stories from my background, so you know where I’m coming from and what I bring to this. I remember a Wednesday night in 1963. I don’t remember the date, but I know it was earlier in the year, because I remember what happened at Christmas. My church that I grew up in, on a Wednesday night, voted on the issue of whether they would allow any blacks to stay in the service if they showed up. I was there. I remember my mother was there. My daddy was not there. He was off doing evangelism somewhere. And the tension was absolutely incredible because they were doing sit-ins at places around the city. The thought was that these politically active folks are going to move on all the churches and make a big scene on Sunday morning in these all-white places. And should that be allowed? The argument was that no, we shouldn’t allow that on Sunday morning.

So there was this motion before the church, and it was voted on. My mother, to my recollection, was the only person who voted against this motion. So my mother is not a vintage Southerner. She grew up in Pennsylvania, went to a different sort of schooling. She didn’t bring the same Deep South notions to the table. They moved there when I was not yet born, and then I was born six months later. So I grew up there in this, but I remember getting home and my mother was so distraught about this, and couldn’t believe what had just been done. That’s the first example I can give you from my own experience.

Clear Expectations

My sister was nineteen and engaged, and was married that December in our church. We had a black maid. (I’ll come back to that in a minute and the implications of that.) Her name was Lucy, and she was like one of the family, supposedly, and was there every Saturday morning. I knew her since the time I was a little. I knew her until I left for college. My mother invited her to come to the wedding at the church with her whole family.

I’d never seen a black family invited to a white Baptist church in my life. My mom was ready to do battle to have this family at the wedding. So they showed up, and the ushers didn’t know what to do. Nobody in the history of this church had ever sat in the balcony; we never were big enough as a church. But there was a balcony. I’d never been up there. One of these ushers, in a moment of “genius,” he thought, I guess, decided to solve the problem by not kicking them out, but taking them to the balcony. My mother hit the roof. She went over there, and herself ushered them into the sanctuary and sat them down.

However, I’m very much aware that the very having of Lucy as a maid was part of a system that was also demeaning because I noticed as I got older that Lucy never ate with us. We loved Lucy. It never occurred to me that there was anything bad in her or the situation, but that, too, was part of the system. It’s still going on. I go back to situations now, and I’m so keenly aware of this now, that here’s this maid. Now this maid drives a very nice car and is paid very well, I gather, in this setting where I visit, and she prepares the meal, helps, and then we go sit down. And I’d go to her and I’d say, “Come eat with us.” She’d go, “Oh, no, I need to keep working.” Well, I know what she really means. That would not work here.

So that’s a taste. That’s a taste of what was — is — where I come from, and it’s huge. It’s a huge, demeaning thing that is in the mindset of these sorority girls, the house where I go to visit, the background I grew up in, even in church.

From Ethnic Hatred to Christ

I’ve got to connect this with a story I read this week about another kind of ethnic issue. Let me read you the story of the conversion of W.H. Auden. This is a quote from an article in The Journal of Biblical Counseling by John Yenchko.

I just recently read about W. H. Auden, one of the wonderful poets of the 1930s, who was a fair-haired European intellectual. His poetry captured the hearts of the intelligentsia of Europe, and they loved him. He went to fight in the Spanish Civil War against Franco and the Fascists. He wanted to join the good guys to stand against the Fascists. But while he was there, he discovered that there were no good guys, that there were, in fact, horrible, evil atrocities on both sides. In 1940 he was converted. Do you know how he was converted? In one event. He went to the Yorkville section of Manhattan, and there he saw a movie produced by Hitler’s Third Reich. It followed the invasion, the Blitzkrieg through Poland. It was called Psyche in Poland , and it was the propaganda piece of their great victory. There were many Germans who had immigrated to the United States sitting in the theater. Whenever a Polish person was brought on the screen, usually being ferried about by one of the Germans, people in the audience would scream, “Kill him! Kill him!” in a frenzied commitment to the destruction of Germany’s enemies. Auden, this magnificent, wonderful, European, enlightened intellectual, was so shocked and so horrified that he walked out of the theater stunned. He later said that one question ran through his mind: “What response can my enlightened, humanistic tradition give to this evil, to those who cry out for the blood of innocent victims?” He saw the bankruptcy of humanism. He began to sense that the only answer to evil would be found in God and in the revelation of God in the Bible. He was convicted of God’s holiness and of his own sinfulness. In 1940 he became a Christian. He began to write poetry that infuriated the European intellectuals, and they grew to despise him. But he didn’t care.

Now here’s the thought: here’s a man who sees an ethnic hatred manifest against innocent Polish people, and he gropes in his own system of thought for the explanation of this evil and how it might be redeemed, and he makes his way toward Christianity.

KKK in the Church

And there are people making exactly the opposite move for exactly the same reasons. For example, in I was a freshman at Wheaton College in 1964. So I left the South behind, headed off to Wheaton, and a whole new world opens up to me, both religiously and culturally, and I begin to see things a little differently. I went back for the summer of ’65. There was a big pizza gathering in my backyard and a shirt-tail relative, and suddenly he’s talking about his membership in the KKK with pride, and how good it is for the community. Now this is a man that goes to my church. I didn’t know what to do. He’s probably ten years older than I am. I was stunned.

So here’s the point: It’s nice to hear this story about W.H. Auden, that he made his way into Christianity as a solution to ethnocentrism. Well, here is a guy who finds himself at home and supported in his vision of what that horrific group stands for at home in the church. There are people who know that, and a lot of other things that the church has tolerated and supported, and they’re making their way straight out to humanism. So what do you do when you find stories that will give you some comfort that Christianity has offered a solution to ethic pride, and other stories that show Christianity was part of the problem?

Well, you know what you do? You go to the Bible to ask, Did they get Christianity right? And you can ask, Did he get humanism right? And you should ask both. When I ask those questions, my answer is clearly: I don’t see any solution in humanism. If you just have man and no God to explain evil and to deal with the redemption that would somehow solve the problem of the human heart, I don’t see any answer there. But when I go to the Bible, I see a totally different thing than what my shirt-tail relative was giving into. So I think we just have to be honest about the history of Christianity, with the crusades, and with the pogroms, and with the cross-burning and lynching. Just from ethnic group to ethnic group, we just have to realize that the institutional church has blown it over and over again. When you’re talking to people — Jewish people or Polish people or German people, or red, yellow, black, or white people — everybody’s got a story to tell of a failure of an institutional church.

You don’t need to fight that. You can just say, “I know, and I’m sorry.” But please, can we let Jesus have his say here and realize that those who profess to be his followers may not be his followers? And those of us who are, are so yet imperfect and on the way, just like, I think, if you were honest, you would say you are. And then start there instead of any kind of defensive posture that tries to say there’s never been a problem.

In God’s Image

So that’s where I’m going to go. I’m going to go back to the Bible, and I’m going to take doctrinal pieces, and the first one will be that all humans are made in the image of God, and we’ll talk about the implications of what we are by virtue of creation, even apart from redemption in new creation in Christ.

So tonight we’ll just deal with what we are by virtue of creation, then we’ll deal with what we are by virtue of new creation, and both are massive. It’s good to take them separately, though I know what I’m going to talk about tonight could sound like, “Well, you’re leaving Christ out. You’re leaving the cross out.” Well, I’m not. I’m just going to take them in stages because on your way to the fullness of the understanding of the Bible, it’s good to know what God designed for us in creation as well as redemption, and both of them have powerful words to say on this issue of race. So I’ve got eight points and we won’t get through them all, but let’s get through some of them.

The first man and woman were created in the image of God. Some of these are so obvious and so plain that maybe we don’t need to linger on them as much as we might on some of the others. I think I read this text last week:

God created mankind in his own image,      in the image of God he created them;       male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

That’s a basic, foundational, utterly profound and significant, and full-of-implications text. Adam and Eve were created in the image of God.

Perpetual Likeness

That also needs to be supplemented with subsequent human beings who come not by virtue of direct creation totally, but through procreation, are in the image of God as well. I think that’s one of the points of Moses writing this sentence in Genesis 5:3: “When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth.” Those two words likeness and image are the same two words back there in Genesis 1. I think the only point here is to say the image carries on. The first pair are not the only people in the image of God; those who come from them are in the image of God. The way Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 15:48–49 is:

As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.

So that’s just another pointer to how it goes on, and there are other texts we could talk about. So it’s not just Adam and Eve who were created in the image of God but every one that flows from them as human is in the image of God.

Reflecting God’s Glory

Being in his image, we are to image forth his glory. If you were to ask me what it means to be in the image of God, we could argue until we’re blue in the face about rationality, morality, volition, things that would distinguish us from chimpanzees and whatever. It’s hard to put your finger on it, and the Bible doesn’t say. It doesn’t pause and put it in a little systematic-theology comment on, “Here’s what I mean by ‘image of God.’”

I think a better thing to do than try to pick any of those wonderfully human traits is to say that all of them, whatever they are, are designed to image forth God in a way that no other being can, no other animal or being can.

I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’      and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar      and my daughters from the ends of the earth — everyone who is called by my name,      whom I created for my glory,      whom I formed and made.” (Isaiah 43:6–7)

I think being created in the image of God means being created for the glory of God, imaging him forth as only humans can because we have those traits like God. So rather than quibble about the details, let’s take it as a mission, not just to subdue the earth, because that was the context — to subdue and have nature in submission — but to mirror him. We should live in such a way that when people see you, they see a reflection of the character and the quality of God. That’s a huge calling that we are to do.

Extraordinary Dignity

Man’s extraordinary dignity above all other creatures is for the sake of magnifying the majesty of God. I think that’s the point of Psalm 8. “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” And the psalmist is going to end that way in verse 9: “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” That’s the point of the psalm. The point of the psalm is that God is majestic. How does it relate to what else is in the psalm?

Out of the mouth of babies and infants,      you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,      the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him,      and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings      and crowned him with glory and honor. (Psalm 8:2–5)

Who’s got majesty here? “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” So what’s the connection?

You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;      you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen,      and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,      whatever passes along the paths of the seas. (Psalm 8:6–8)

There’s Genesis 1 and the cultural mandate coming out. And then he doesn’t say, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is man.” He did say that — under God. But he ends on the note of praise. So my way of constructing it is to say that the point of our majesty in the dignity of being in the image of God is to make known the majesty of God. It begins with the majesty of God. It ends with the majesty of God. Our subordinate majesty above all the creatures is in the middle, and the point of it is for God.

Which means, at least, that if you demean or belittle anybody created to that end, you demean God. You rupture his purposes for all his people to show him as majestic because of the reflection of their being created in his image and dedicating themselves to that end.

What a Life Is Worth

All humans being in the image of God implies the immense horror of unjustly harming or destroying a human being. When God establishes his covenant with Noah, he says in Genesis 9:5–6,

For your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

Now capital punishment is a big issue, but it’s not the issue we’re dealing with it. There are really two separate issues in America today: the justice system that may make it impossible to exercise justice in the way it should be done, and the exercise of capital punishment and the principle of capital punishment over here. This text says that capital punishment is the only fitting response to anybody who kills a human being. The point there is not to make the taking of a life through capital punishment an evidence of the small value of a life. It’s exactly the opposite. Human beings are so incredibly unique and significant that a high-handed crime that takes another human being’s life, the only way to settle accounts and uphold the dignity of human life is to kill that person.

So at least get the logic here. The image of God in man is huge in this ongoing covenant. So when we deal with capital punishment (which is not my aim), keep in mind that it is a very complex issue in our culture, even when you settle the principle. I feel settled about the principle that it is biblical and right to believe in capital punishment. How to implement it is another story and a complicated one. I just wanted you to see the principle they’re rooted in the image of God.

Blessing and Cursing

All human beings in the image of God implies that all this unique dignity governs our speaking about them and to them. James 3:8–9:

No human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.

See the connection there? How can you bless the Lord and curse men out of the same mouth when men have been made in the likeness of God? From the same mouth come both blessing and cursing, and these things ought not to be so. So that’s an argument, apart from redemption in Jesus Christ. That’s going to bring huge new arguments to the table for why you don’t curse other people. But this argument is simply rooted in the fact that every human being is created in the image of God. To talk of them in any other way than with a careful recognition of that extraordinary dignity ought not to be.

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Made In the Image of God: Why Human Dignity Matters

RaShan Frost

Senior Fellow

May 30, 2024

The theological doctrine of the imago Dei is grounded in the truth that every human being possesses an inherent dignity, value, and worth by virtue of being human and ought to be respected. It is the acknowledgment that human life at every stage is sacred. This sacredness of human life is not based on one’s attributes, utility, function, or their ability to contribute to society, but rather the idea that humankind, male and female, is created in the imago Dei , the image of God (Gen. 1:26–27; 2:7). Human beings, created in the image of God, possess a unique and special relationship with him as Creator that sets them apart from the rest of creation (Matt. 6:26; 10:29–31; 12:11–12).

Southern Baptists acknowledge that Scripture speaks to the uniqueness of humankind being created in the image of God. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 states, “Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation.” 1 Baptist Faith & Message 2000 – The Baptist Faith and Message , https://bfm.sbc.net/, accessed May 10, 2024, https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/. This affirmation of the image of God in all humanity informs how Southern Baptists view evangelism and missions, social engagement, religious liberty, and the family. 2 See the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 for the Southern Baptist Convention’s position on “Evangelism and Missions,” “The Christian and Social Order,” “Religious Liberty,” and “the Family.” Hence, human dignity, in the imago Dei becomes a reference point by which Southern Baptists, governed by Scripture, consider ethical and public policy positions.

The fact that humankind is created in the imago Dei means that God is the one who endows humans with this fundamental dignity, and it is humanity’s responsibility to affirm that dignity in all people. Therefore, human dignity and human life is not independent from God’s own character, attributes, activity, and will. The way in which people interact with others speaks not only to human relationships, but with God as well. Because humankind is made in God’s image, all people model attributes and capacities that reflect God in particular ways, thereby communicating an inherent interconnectedness between creation and Creator that ought to be evidenced in how humanity engages with the created world according to God’s will. 3 John F. Kilner, “Dignity and Destiny: Humanity in the Image of God” (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2015), 134. Unfortunately, when people do not affirm the inherent dignity of others and go further by denying that dignity, people are capable of doing atrocious things to one another. History has testified to that reality.

Human dignity is the claim that because God created people in his image, all people possess dignity, value. and worth. It is dictated by God, and is not granted by philosophical systems, international agreements, court cases, or governing documents. This claim has theological, sociological, and political implications because it requires Christians to advocate for all people, affirming their dignity and seeking to maximize their flourishing based on God’s will for creation and his image bearers. Therefore, human dignity impacts all aspects of human life and provides a foundation as to how Christians should engage in the various issues of personal and public importance.

Human dignity and the cultural mandate

Human dignity does not just speak to one’s inherent value as a human being. It also speaks to how God gave humankind a unique role within creation. The cultural mandate (Gen. 1:28) reveals that part of being created in the image of God is to reflect God’s attributes in the created order for the glory of God and the flourishing of creation. Humanity is called to serve God as his vice regents, ruling, shaping, stewarding, and caring for the world God created. The creation mandate and human dignity are interconnected in that when God created humanity in his image, he gave this responsibility to them alone. In other words, because humans are unique compared to the rest of creation, then all human activity should reflect that uniqueness as his vice regents and representatives in the world. Since all human beings are created in the image of God, then every person has a part in shaping the world around them. Although the means and scope of that work may differ among individuals based on cognitive and physical abilities as well as stage of life, every human being, based on their intrinsic value, ought to have every opportunity to exercise their agency to take responsibility for the world around them.

A biblical view of human dignity, established in the imago Dei , affirms that every person can and naturally participates in the creation mandate as part of their God-ordained purpose as human beings. Southern Baptists affirm that a biblical view of human dignity facilitates a wholistic view of human flourishing from conception to natural death as every person has inherent dignity and ought to find the abundant life that Christ provides (John 10:10), fully participating in the life of the world for the glory of God (Col. 3:17; 23), human flourishing, and the common good (Jer. 29:7) as they are able to do so. Just as one’s utility, abilities, or attributes do not determine one’s intrinsic dignity, they do not determine one’s ability to fulfill their God-given purpose as human beings. While contributions to the cultural mandate may differ in degree and outcomes, every person has the opportunity to participate in it.

Human dignity and the “three greats”

When God created humankind in his image, he created humanity too as social beings living in community (Gen. 2:18). Humanity best fulfills its role in the imago Dei when people live a life of worship toward God and in right relationship with one another. The relationship between human dignity and this shared life with others is reflected in “three greats:” The Great Commandment, the Great Commission, and the Great Requirement.

The first “great,” the Great Commandment (Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:37–40; Mark 12:29–31; Luke 10:27) outlines the qualities of properly ordered loves that affect humankind’s relationship with God and others. The command to love God, the first part of the Great Commandment, is the acknowledgment that because God created humanity in his image, he is due our worship. Worship is aligning one’s deepest and fundamental loves and affections toward God and living a life that pursues his glory in all endeavors. Human dignity informs the first relational priority—humanity’s relationship with God—by acknowledging that humanity’s dignity comes from God himself, and, in return, humankind best embodies the truth that they are made in the imago Dei in their worship of God. The creature (who is an image bearer) gives to their Creator the honor and glory that he is due.

The second command in the Great Commandment is the command to love one’s neighbor as oneself. The command to neighbor love is grounded in the reality that every person is created in the image of God and as such is due the love and respect that comes from being a fellow image bearer. Luke 10:25–37 further outlines what neighbor love looks like by clarifying who is one’s neighbor. Because of our human sin and the brokenness of the fall, it is common for us to decide that our neighbors must be like us in some unjust manner. Societal vices such as racism, ethnocentrism, and sexism, among other manifestations of partiality, (James 2:1–9) are all fundamentally attacks on human dignity where groups not only determine who one’s neighbor is, but also who is worthy of life. In the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10, Jesus makes clear that human groups do not have the authority to dictate who one’s neighbor is. Instead, the triune God who created every person in his image does. Therefore, neighbor love is the affirmation of the human dignity of every person.

The second “great” is a byproduct of obeying the Great Commandment. Sin distorted the image of God within humankind by creating a “moral vertigo” where the “effects of sin so upended our perspective on the shape and nature of both reality and morality … ” 4 Mark Liederbach and Evan Lenow, “Ethics as Worship: The Pursuit of Moral Discipleship ” (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2021), 59. This moral vertigo, created by the fall (Gen. 3:1–10), alters how people relate to God and subsequently, how people view and treat one another. Because sin has estranged humanity from a right relationship with God and one another, Jesus gave his followers the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18–20) as the mission for his people. This matters in the area of human dignity because if every human is created in the imago Dei , and sin has distorted this image through this moral vertigo, then the Great Commission is the mission by which every person can experience the fullness of human purpose in the imago Dei as established by God through Christ.

The third “great” recognizes that the Great Commission is more than a verbal proclamation of the gospel. It is the practical declaration of the gospel through action (individually and collectively) by addressing the lived barriers of evangelism, typically those that are affronts to human dignity. The Great Requirement (Micah 6:8) informs the posture of how the people of God should live out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. God’s will for his people is to affirm the fullness of human dignity by “acting justly,” “loving faithfulness,” and “walking humbly with our God.” In other words, the Great Requirement says that the call to love God and others ought to inform how one engages the world around them because their dignity is endowed by God, and his people have a responsibility to make sure that dignity is affirmed in all people.

Human dignity and public witness

Core to many of the issues Southern Baptists address in the public square is the affirmation that all persons are created in the image of God. Thus, human dignity is just as much a political issue as it is an anthropological and theological one. It is political in the sense that politics entails how people organize social life in a manner that articulates a vision of the common good. Public policy and governance, therefore, is the means by which this social organization is implemented. The importance of the Christian worldview, ethics, and anthropology cannot be understated because worldview, ethics, and anthropology impact policy and legislation. As such, a Christian view of human dignity ought to be verbalized in the larger public discourse.

The BFM2000 ’s article on “The Christian and the Social Order” connects our obligation to God and his moral order to our public witness and social activism. Central to understanding why we would repudiate the evils of “greed, selfishness, and vice” as well as why we would care for “the orphaned, the need, the abused … ” is our understanding of human dignity. As the BFM20000 states:

“All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth.”

One recent example where Southern Baptists have made public statements is on the topic of immigration. In the 2023 resolution “On Wisely Engaging Immigration,” the Southern Baptist Convention affirmed the inherent dignity of the refugee and immigrant while recognizing the need for order and security of the nation. 5 “On Wisely Engaging Immigration – SBC.Net,” https://www.sbc.net/, accessed May 16, 2024, https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-wisely-engaging-immigration/. A wise view of immigration argues that the two should not be in opposition to one another, but policies should work in cooperation for the good of the immigrant/refugee and the citizen/resident because all parties involved are created in the image of God. By acknowledging the inherent dignity of all people regardless of ethnicity, national origin, background, language, or circumstances, engaging immigration becomes an issue of how to affirm that dignity and maximizing the agency of all parties involved.

When it comes to creating and implementing policy, there will be differences of opinion. However, for Christians, the inherent dignity of each individual is nonnegotiable. A key role of Christian public witness is to remind the larger society of this reality. Additionally, Christian public witness must hold the larger society and its governing bodies accountable when the concepts of human dignity are violated in policies and practices. This responsibility derives from the Christian call to live out the “three greats” mentioned earlier.

Human dignity is the idea that all human life is sacred. That sacredness is not something that humans endow upon others, but which flows from each person’s status as an image bearer of the triune God. Therefore, all human beings, regardless of utility or attributes have an inherent dignity that must be affirmed. This affirmation ought to facilitate human agency as every person is called to the task to make something of the world around them as outlined in the cultural mandate. The Great Commandment, Commission, and Requirement not only affirm human dignity but inform how Christians are to live in light of how God views human life. Christians are given the mission to proclaim God’s will for humankind to all people groups through the gospel. Lastly, the Christian public witness, as part of that mission, must look for ways to advocate for policies and practices that affirm God’s standard of human dignity and prophetically confront those that violate it.

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The Image Of God And The Value Of Human Life

Some Christian defenders of the value of human life will argue that since human beings were created in the image of God human life has special value. Others will argue that this is improper since the image of God was lost when Adam and Eve sinned.

Certainly the “image of God” argument regarding the value of human life cannot be used in a way that ignores the depravity of humanity brought about by sin. Nevertheless, it is not improper to equate the value of human life with being created in the image of God. To better understand this, let’s review some of the basic Scriptural facts about the image of God. 

The Image Given God created the first man-Adam-and woman-Eve-in his image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). Biblical scholars have written much about exactly what that means. A simple yet very inclusive definition is offered by Rev. Dr. Nathan R. Jastram of Concordia University in Mequon, WI. He defines the image of God as being “like God” in a variety of ways. There is the righteousness and holiness associated with being like God. Adam and Eve had a perfect knowledge of God and his kindness. Adam and Eve were holy and righteous and, consequently, immortal. But being like God also includes having reason and intellect that makes us different than the animals. It includes being able to make moral choices and ruling over God’s creation.

The Image Lost Genesis 5:3 tells us that Adam had a son in his own image. After their fall into sin, Adam and Eve were no longer like God in terms of righteousness and purity of the knowledge of God. They still had knowledge of God, but it was no longer the pure knowledge of his kindness. It was only a knowledge seen in his creation (Romans 1:20), a knowledge that brought fear of God (Genesis 3:10). There was no longer joyful conformity but hostility that did not submit to God (Romans 8:7). Humans are now by nature God’s enemy-unholy, unrighteous, and mortal.

The Image Reversal In order to rescue his creation that was no longer like him in holiness, God took on the likeness of man (Romans 8:3; Philippians 2:6-7). Although he remained sinless, Jesus took upon himself humanity’s unholiness, unrighteousness, and mortality. He bore the wrath of God that all humans deserved as he was forsaken by his heavenly Father on the cross. Jesus rose from the dead to validate all that he had done through his holy life and unholy death. Complete payment for sin was made once and for all.

The Image Renewed By God’s favor and through faith in Christ’s victory, the likeness of God’s holiness is being renewed in believers. There is renewal of the knowledge of God. “You have become a new person. This new person is continually renewed in knowledge to be like its Creator”  (Colossians 3:10). Unlike the original knowledge of God, however, this knowledge is not natural and is only revealed  “from Christ’s face” (2 Corinthians 4:6). There is renewal in righteousness and holiness. “You were also taught to become a new person created to be like God, truly righteous and holy”  (Ephesians 4:24). Unlike the original righteousness and holiness, however, this is not perfect or complete. Paul spoke of the sinner that still remains in all of God’s saints. “I don’t do what I want to do. Instead, I do what I hate”  (Romans 7:15). The image is being renewed—we  “are being changed into his image with ever-increasing glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit”  (2 Corinthians 3:18)—but it is not yet complete. One pastor captured this succinctly with the sermon title Now-Not Yet . What believers have now is good, but the best is yet to come!

The Image Restored The end of time will mark the full restoration of the image of God. In the new “heaven and earth” God creates there will once again be the direct knowledge of the goodness of God. The intimate relationship with God that Adam and Eve experienced will be restored. Sin’s consequences will cease to exist: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There won’t be any more death. There won’t be any grief, crying, or pain, because the first things have disappeared”  (Revelation 21:4).

The Image of God and the Value of Human Life With all the above in mind, we are now ready to discuss the place the image of God has in the innate value of human life. 

Passages like Genesis 9:6 and James 3:9 indicate that even after Adam and Eve’s fall into sin, value is attached to human life because of the image of God. Murder is prohibited on this basis as is the cursing of human beings. After the fall into sin, human beings are no longer like God in terms of holiness, but there still remains a likeness to God that engenders inherent value and respect for human life. Human beings are still like God in terms of reason, intellect, and the ability to choose. Despite the fact that these all have been marred by sin, such things do elevate human life above animal life.

It seems proper, therefore, to argue that the child in the womb has value to God not only because God is intimately involved in the creation of that child (Psalm 139:13-14) and declares that the child is a gift (Psalm 127:3), but also because in the beginning human life was elevated above all other aspects of the creation and was created in the image of God. It would not be proper to argue that the child in the womb has value because that child is like God in the way Adam and Eve were like God before the fall. This would contradict God’s word that clearly reveals that we are sinful from the moment of conception (Psalm 51:5). The child in the womb is no longer like God in holiness, but is still like God as outlined above and, therefore, has inherent value as a human being.

We can also argue that all human life is given special value because God sent his Son to make complete payment for the sins of the world. The gift of God’s Son is the ultimate proof of the value God places even on unbelievers, be they born or unborn. Jesus came to die for the “ungodly” (Romans 5:6) and those who were his “enemies” (Romans 5:10). Every human life is a life for whom Jesus died.

It is also proper to argue that people of faith have special value because God is at work in them. Indeed, their bodies are temples of God’s Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). Through the Word and Sacraments, the Holy Spirit is at work renewing in believers the true knowledge of God “from the face of Christ” and applying to them the “righteousness and holiness” of Christ. Christians do not have value because they bear the image of God as did Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Christians have value because God’s Spirit is at work in them renewing that image through Christ. It cannot be fully restored until the sinful flesh is finally laid aside.

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The Image Of God

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Contributed by Derrick Tuper on May 23, 2016 (message contributor)

Scripture: Genesis 1:26-27

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Summary: Genesis 1:26 says that man is made in the image of God but what is that exactly? Let’s take a look at what the image of God is about and what that means for us.

THE IMAGE OF GOD

Genesis 1:26 says that man is made in the image of God but what is that exactly? Let’s take a look at what the image of God is about and what that means for us.

1) Mankind is unique. Gen 1:26-27.

When you look up the word image you will find words like reflection, likeness, representation. The American Tract Society dictionary defines image as, “An exact and complete copy or counterpart of any thing. The image of God in which man was created was in his spiritual, intellectual, and moral nature, in righteousness and true holiness.”

Man is the climax of God’s creative activity and was put in charge over all the earth. Why was Adam put as the overseer and caretaker of the world? Why was he given that authority and responsibility? Because man is the only one of God’s creation that was made in his image. Since man was made in the image of the divine King, he received authority (kingship) over the King’s creation. Nothing else is made in the image of God. Man was different; unique-special.

Notice that in the creation story you see God speaking things into existence. “Let there be light”, and so on. That is, until he gets to man. He doesn’t say, “Let there be man”, he says, “Let us make man in our image”. “Our image”. This represents the trinity-Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Nothing else is made in the image of the triune God. We are triune people. We are body, soul and Spirit. The beasts of the ground, the fish of the sea and the birds of the air do not have this privilege. We were created, knit together in the womb as David put it in Psalm 139:13 .

One of the problems with evolution is that it removes all the glory of who we are. In Evolution we start out as a glob of primordial goo and somewhere along the line we evolve into monkeys and then into humans. As one person poetically put it, “From goo to you by way of the zoo.” But God sees us differently than just a few steps above goo. Being made in the image of God means I am not just another element of the world. Nothing else in all creation is made in the image of God.

Everything God created is good but only man is made in the likeness of God himself. Only man has a soul. Only man has the level of intelligence we do, the animal kingdom doesn’t have as high a capability to problem solve with as much logic and reason as we do. We are superior in many ways. We’re God’s crowning achievement; he saved the best for last.

2) A tarnished image. Gen. 5:1-3.

Does this mean we are no longer made in God’s image but rather in the image of Adam? Adam was created perfect; without sin. He was created to be immortal. Perfect-without sin-immortal; all of what God is. Then the fall happened. Now, all born would be imperfect, sinners, mortal. As God created Adam and Eve in his perfect image so now, after Adam and Eve sinned, they have a son born in their imperfect image.

That doesn’t mean we are totally removed from being made in God’s image. We are still the crowning achievement of creation, we are still body, soul and spirit but now, because we are born with a sinful nature, we are tarnished images of God. And unfortunately, because we are tarnished images we no longer get to look upon God.

Because Adam and Eve were made perfectly in the image of God they had the privilege of seeing God as he is. They had the privilege of literally walking with God. All that changed when sin entered in. The dynamic of their relationship instantly changed. They went from walking with God to hiding from God. They went from being in God’s presence to being banished from his garden. They went from being connected with God to being separated from God.

From then on, since all would be born in the image of man and thus an imperfect image of God there would no longer be the ability to see God in the fullness of his holiness. We are still made in God’s image but because of sin it’s a tarnished image.

3) We see God through Jesus.

Colossians 1:15 says that Jesus is the image of the invisible God. When Jesus came people were allowed to see God. Although it was still not in the fullness of his glory, since Jesus was a man as well as being God, there would be the ability to have a piece of what Adam and Eve experienced. As Adam and Eve walked and had a relationship with God so now people could have a relationship with Jesus-the visible aspect of the invisible God.

Related Media

Scriptures: Colossians 1:15 , Genesis 1:26 , Genesis 1:26-27 , Genesis 9:6 , John 1:18 , John 3:16 , Malachi 3:3 , Matthew 5:43-48 , Psalm 139:13

Sermon Topics: Image Of God

Biju Varghese

commented on Sep 22, 2018

The image of God is I suppose which surpasses spirit soul and body. It is something unique that God has given to Adam and Eve. Rather His image to the earthly dweller. I like especially the tarnished image being replaced by heavenly image i.e Jesus who is the image of the invisible God. Now we have God visible to relate to , to talk to, one who does not condemn yet with His forgiving spirit moves us to be like Him, What an awesome God we serve. Halel uiah

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Genesis 1:26 says that man is made in the image of God but what is that exactly? Let’s take a look at what the image of God is about and what that means for us.

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Humankind as Being Created in the "Image of God" in the Old Testament: Possible Implications for the Theological Debate on Human Dignity

2012, Scriptura

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The Image of God: Understanding its Meaning and Importance in Scripture

What does Scripture mean when it addresses the image of God and what does it mean for us to be made in its likeness? 

It would be difficult to overstate the centrality of the image of God as a crucial theme in Biblical theology. From the beginning of the end in Genesis (protology) to the end of the beginning in Revelation (eschatology),  the image of God is crucial for understanding the flow of redemptive history.  God creates humans in his image, justly punishes them for rebellion, yet graciously provides redemption from that rebellion, and then finally consummates redemptive history by transforming the whole creation into new heavens and a new earth.

Genesis 1:26-27 indicates that God created humankind as male and female in his image ( tselem  [,l,x]) and likeness ( demut [tWm.D]). It is doubtful that distinctions between the meanings of these two words are to be pressed. Rather, the pair of words convey one idea through a literary device known as hendiadys. Later, in Genesis 5:1-3 , after God's image-bearers had sinned against him, the language of Genesis 1:26-27 is repeated as a prelude to a list of Adam's posterity. Significantly, this passage links God's original creation of humans in his likeness with the subsequent human procreation of children in Adam's image and likeness. Following the Genesis narrative further, after the flood of Noah, Genesis 9:6 indicates that due to the image of God, capital punishment is required in cases of murder. To murder a creature who images God is tantamount to an attempt to murder the God who created the image-bearer, and the heinous nature of this offense warrants the forfeiture of the murderer's life as well.

What Does Image or Likeness of God Mean?

Three approaches to this question are commonly found, and no doubt all three have some merit. 

• Many have concluded that humans are image-bearers due to their superior intellectual structure. 
• Others have stressed that God mandates that humans function as rulers and managers of the creation as they image him ( Gen 1:26-28 ; Psalm 8:5-8 ). 
• Yet another approach stresses the created relationships of humans; they image God as they related to him, to each other, and to nature. Just as the Creator is a being in a relationship, so are his creatures. 

Putting these views together, humans are like God in that they are uniquely gifted intellectually (and in many other ways) so that they may relate to God and each other as they live as stewards of the world God has given them to manage. While an image is a physical representation of a person or thing ( Exodus 20:4 ; Matt 22:20 ), the human body does not mechanically image God as if God had a body. Rather, the whole human being, including the body, images God's attributes through ethical living in concrete settings.

Sadly, the pristine beauty and harmony of this original created order were shattered by the rebellion of Adam and Eve, and the record in Genesis 3 , as well as the history of human cultures, show how alienation between humans and God, humans and other humans, and humans and nature quickly became the normal state of affairs. Yet even in this sorry state of alienation and disharmony, humans can still image God, although in an inconsistent and perverted fashion ( Gen 5:1-3 ; 9:6; Psalm 8 ; 1 Cor 11:7 ; James 3:9 ). God calls his redeemed covenant people to the highest ethical standard. They are to be like him; their ethical obedience images God.

We Are Image-Bearers of God

In the New Testament, the teaching of Jesus indicates the value of human beings implicit in their being God's image-bearers ( Matt 6:26 ; 12:12). More important, Jesus himself perfectly images God in his life and ministry as he relates to God, people, and nature. As the first Adam failed the satanic test, the second Adam passed with flying colors ( Matt 4:1-11 ). Jesus did not forsake God as did Adam, but as the sin-bearer Jesus was forsaken by God ( Matt 27:46 ) so that He might restore his people to harmonious relationships with God, neighbor, and nature.

It is primarily Paul who develops the New Testament teaching on the image of God. Paul sees Jesus as the one who preexisted in God's form ( morphe Php 2:6 ) and whose incarnation supremely imaged God ( 2 Cor 4:4 ; Col 1:15 ; John 1:1 John 1:14 John 1:18 ; 14:9; Heb 1:3 ). Jesus' work of redemption is both compared and contrasted to Adam's work of rebellion (Rom 5:12-21; 1 Cor 15:22 ). Those who believe in Jesus are renewed in the image ( eikon [eijkwvn]) of God and are expected to live as renewed people ( 2 Cor 3:18 ; Eph 4:22-24 ; Col 3:9-10 ). Their destiny is to ultimately be made like Jesus, to image him perfectly as he perfectly images God ( 1 Cor 15:49 ; Eph 4:13 ; Php 3:21 ). In this respect, Christians are like children who look up to their big brother and want to be like him (Rom 8:29). For the Christian, then, godliness in a world is Christ-likeness.

For Apostle Paul, salvation from start to finish, encompassing regeneration, sanctification, and glorification, is nothing less than new creation (Rom 8:18-30; 2 Cor 4:6 ; 5:17; Gal 2:20 ; 6:15; Eph 2:10 ; cf. John 3:5 ; 5:24). This new creation is not merely individual but corporate and cosmic as well. The salvation of individual believers places them into the community with other believers whose destiny augurs that of the physical universe itself (Rom 8:19-21; 1 Cor 15:24-28 ; Col 1:16 ; Matt 19:28 ; Heb 2:5-8 ). The community of believers in Jesus has already experienced image renewal, and with perseverance, they hope for the consummation of that renewal. In the meantime, their ethical obedience is not merely to be like God but to be like Christ, who has provided not only an incarnate model for godliness but also a dynamic for attaining godliness through the Spirit ( John 13:14 ; 1 Cor 11:1 ; Eph 4:32-5 :2; Php 2:5 ; Col 3:13 ; 1 Thess 1:6; 1 John 3:3 ).

Glorious Future Image of God

Any discussion of the image of God would be incomplete without some elucidation of the glorious future that awaits those who have been renewed in the image of God. This is the prospect of new heavens and new earth where righteousness dwells. God's plan of redemption in Christ would be severely truncated if it involved only the "spiritual" salvation of individuals who believe in Jesus. The originally created order encompassed not only a "spiritual" relationship with God but also a social relationship with other humans and a material relationship with the world. Thus biblical eschatology envisions the restoration of all three of these relationships in a world where God's people may experience unhindered fellowship with him ( Rev 21:3-5 )because the Edenic curse has been removed ( Rev 22:3 ). Ever since Abraham, the prototypical person of God, God's people have longed for this time when life in all its facets may be lived fully to God's glory. This glorious biblical vision of a time when creatures will fully reflect the Creator's splendor ought to encourage Christians who presently reflect God's likeness in an imperfect yet improving manner.

Bibliography . W. J. Dumbrell, The End of the Beginning ; D. J. Hall, Imaging God: Dominion as Stewardship ; A. A. Hoekema, Created in God's Image ; P. E.Hughes, The True Image: The Origin and Destiny of Man in Christ ; M. G. Kline, Images of the Spirit ; A. M. Wolters, Creation Regained: Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview .

Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology . Edited by Walter A. Elwell, Copyright © 1996 by Walter A. Elwell. Published by Baker Books, a division of Baker Book House Company, PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49516-6287. All rights reserved. Used by permission. For usage information, please read the Baker Book House Copyright Statement

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The Image of God: A Primer

More by justin.

Gen 1:26: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man  in our image , after our likeness . . . .’ So God created man in his own image , in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Cf. Gen 5:3: “When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness , after his image , and named him Seth.”

Man represents , reflects , and resembles God in some ways—which includes as a result the ruling (subduing, having dominion) over creation, and having the capacity for relationship with God and with fellow human beings.

Even after the Fall, we all remain in the image of God, distorted though the image may be.

Gen 9:6: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image .”

James 3:9: “With [the tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God .”

When we were united to Adam, our original covenant representative, we bore his image.

1 Cor 15:49a: “We have borne the image of the man of dust. . . .”

Though we are in the image of God, Jesus is the image of God.

Col 1:15: “[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God. . . .”

2 Cor 4:4: “Christ . . . is the image of God.”

When we become united to Christ, our covenant head, our goal is to be conformed and transformed into his image.

2 Cor 3:18: “Beholding the glory of the Lord, [we] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”

Rom 8:29: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son . . . . .”

Col 3:10: “[We] have put on the new self [Greek: man], which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator .”

When Christ returns we will fully and completely reflect the image of Christ.

1 Cor 15:49: “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven .”

1 John 3:2: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears  we shall be like him , because we shall see him as he is.”

Justin Taylor is executive vice president for book publishing and publisher for books at Crossway. He blogs at Between Two Worlds and Evangelical History . You can follow him on Twitter .

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Theological Perspectives on Imago Dei in Religions

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• Topical Bible: Image of God - Bible Hub
• The Image of God in Humanity - American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly
• Enlightenment - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Theological Perspectives on Imago Dei in Religions. (2016, Mar 10). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/the-image-of-god-essay

"Theological Perspectives on Imago Dei in Religions." StudyMoose , 10 Mar 2016, https://studymoose.com/the-image-of-god-essay

StudyMoose. (2016). Theological Perspectives on Imago Dei in Religions . [Online]. Available at: https://studymoose.com/the-image-of-god-essay [Accessed: 10 Sep. 2024]

"Theological Perspectives on Imago Dei in Religions." StudyMoose, Mar 10, 2016. Accessed September 10, 2024. https://studymoose.com/the-image-of-god-essay

"Theological Perspectives on Imago Dei in Religions," StudyMoose , 10-Mar-2016. [Online]. Available: https://studymoose.com/the-image-of-god-essay. [Accessed: 10-Sep-2024]

StudyMoose. (2016). Theological Perspectives on Imago Dei in Religions . [Online]. Available at: https://studymoose.com/the-image-of-god-essay [Accessed: 10-Sep-2024]

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