The Image of God

"So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them."
-Genesis 1:27
     I actually meant to write this post about the image of God in 2015, but somehow three years have passed without me writing on this topic. When the 2018 New Year started, I started a Bible reading plan that starts in the book in Genesis. As I read Genesis 1, I found myself thinking about what the "image of God" is once again. Now that I've had some time to gather my thoughts, I figured I would finally write this blog post.
     In Genesis 1, God creates the world in six days. He creates light, the earth, the sky, land and sea, vegetation, night and day, animals of water and sky, animals of the land, and finally man. Out of everything that He created, only man is created in God's image. What significance does this bear? What does it mean to be created "in the image" of God?
     When I think of what an "image" is, I immediately think of a picture (i.e. Google images). What would you find if you searched for an image of the President? You would probably find pictures of the President. The image of the President bears many resemblances to him, such as his facial features. In other words, the image captures the likeness of the President. In the same way, when God created us in His image, we have the likeness of God. What are some of these likenesses? We have a spirit, we have emotions and we have an intellect. All of these things are a result of being created in the image of God.
     If you think again about the picture of the President, you quickly realize that although the image can capture the likeness of the President, it is not of the same nature as the President. The picture may bear a resemblance to the President, but it does not breathe, think, or feel. There are aspects of the President that are not shared by the image. Similarly, there are aspects of God that we do not share, such as His omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence.
     What implications does the image of God have on our lives? The purpose of an image is to capture the likeness of the subject of the image. Our purpose is to capture the likeness of God. However, an image can be distorted by imperfections such as dirt or tears. Since we do not share in the omnipotence, omniscience and omnipotence of God, we cannot always understand Him. When He is trying to perfect His image onto our lives, we can't always see what He is doing. Thus, we doubt Him and turn to our own desires and plans. This creates dirt and tears (sin) in our image, which separates us from the image that God is trying to create in us.
     No one is immune from sin. Everyone falls short of being a perfect reflection of God's image. We always fall short because although we share in the likeness of God, we do not share completely in His nature. Anything that is created will never fully share in the nature of the creator. Only something that is begotten is of the same nature as the one who begot it. This is why the Bible says that Jesus is the only begotten one of God. Jesus was the only to have walked on this earth that completely shared in the nature of God. Furthermore, Jesus was the only one who could rescue us from our sin and imperfections because only He could live a perfect life.
     Knowing we can never be a perfect reflection of the image of God, what are we supposed to do? In the gospel, there is a story of the Pharisees and Herodians trying to trick Jesus into upsetting the people. They ask Jesus whether it is okay to pay the tax to Caesar or not. They knew that no matter how Jesus answered this question, He would inevitably upset either the Roman government or the taxpayers.
     Instead of answering the question straightaway, He asks His questioners a question. "Bring me a denarius and let me look at it. Whose image is this? And whose inscription? (Mark 12:15-16)" They respond correctly by saying that it is Caesar's image on the denarius. Jesus then says "give back to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." What is Jesus implying here? He is saying that because the denarius bears the image of Caesar on it, it belongs to Caesar. As such, it is the duty of those who own the denarius to give it back to Caesar. The natural follow up question we should ask is "what belongs to God?" Instead of answering the question, let me ask this- whose image in on you?
-Smart