Made in His Image

As Christians, we believe all human beings are made in the image of God.

When we talk about being made in God’s image, we often refer to the innate worth and importance God gives us. The image of God comes up in conversations about human equality, human dignity, and the value of life.

But how should the image of God guide our thoughts about work and daily life?

We often refer to the image of God as a status which we all bear. There’s nothing you can do to remove the image of God, it’s a part of what it means to be human. But the image of God extends beyond the status which we all have; it is also our mission.

The word “image” can be used as both a noun and a verb. As people made in the image of God, we ought to be deeply concerned with how we image Him day after day. Genesis 1:26-30 is intentional in how it immediately follows being made in the image of God with an action:

Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness;

and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls 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.

God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you and to every animal of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so.

Genesis 1:26-30 (NASB)

Being made in the image of God is a call to be like God. Just as God created the heavens and the earth, we are called to use the gifts He has given us to make beautiful things. Just as God rules and cares for His creation, we are called to take responsibility and care for the world around us. Just as God loves His creation, we ought to love in return, loving the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and strength, and our neighbor as ourself.

Unfortunately, though we are made in God’s image, we do not image Him well. For we are sinners. Our sin distorts our ability to image God well, and we so often display a corrupted picture of who God is to the world around us.

Yet Jesus shows us perfectly who God is. Jesus lived out daily the qualities and values of our God. And we believe that through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we can be made into new creations.

And as new creations who are being sanctified by God’s Spirit, we can relearn how to image God.

So how are you displaying the character of God through your daily life and work? How are you showing your family, your friends, and your co-workers the person of Christ in how you live?

Take up the mission of imaging God. Show the world how He loves. This is our mission.