Bearing God’s Image: Why the Image of God Is Not Abstract Art

You’re staring at the painting, pretending to appreciate it like those around you in the museum. Maybe they are pretending too? You’re not sure. What is this picture? Why do so many people like it? What’s the big deal? Maybe this is how you feel about the image of God. How does knowing you are an image bearer help you? What are the practical implications of bearing God’s image?

1. Ownership: You Belong to God

“Whose image and inscription is this?” Jesus asked, pointing to the coin his adversaries had brought Him. They had tried to trick him into either supporting taxation by Rome which would alienate the crowds or opposing taxation which would put Him publicly in opposition to the empire. Like earlier in the week, Jesus turned the tables on them.

“Caesar’s image,” they answered.

“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s,” Jesus replied.

The image on the coin reflected Caesar’s ownership. Similarly, the image of God in us reflects God’s ownership of us.¹ Furthermore, as believers, God’s ownership is doubly seen in both bearing God’s image and being a redeemed temple of the Holy Spirit:²

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Corinthians 6:19–20)

You belong to God. That’s no abstract truth. Can you see the picture God is painting by making you in His image? Who you are (bearing God’s image) is related to what you do. What you do is not just for you but for the One who made you and owns you. Because He cares for you and you answer to Him, you should care how you live before Him.

2. Equality: You Have Equal Value and Dignity

Since God made every human being in His image, each one is equal in value and dignity. This includes:

1. Male and female: God made both men and women in His image (Genesis 1:27; 5:1-3). “God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
2. Nationalities: God “made from one blood every nation” (Acts 17:24–26). Since there is only one race (the human race), racism has no place among God’s people and deserves no place in this world. Each person regardless of heritage, culture, skin color, or background equally bears God’s image.
3. Age: The image of God in every individual is the original basis for human government. Genesis 9:6 states, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.” Because everyone bears God’s image, each individual–regardless of age–deserves protection against violence, including abuse, abortion, and euthanasia.
4. Social Status: Since every person has equal value bearing the image of God, oppression of different social classes and slavery should have no place among God’s people (James 5:1–6). The institution of slavery goes back millennia in nearly every culture. The Bible describes it in ancient times and tells believers how to have a good testimony in societies plagued by this fallen practice (Ephesians 6:5–8). However, in God’s eyes, we are equal: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:27–28). We belong to God, not human owners usurping God’s place.

You have value and dignity. That’s no abstract idea. Can you see the picture God is painting by making you in His image? Who you are (bearing God’s image) is related to how you fit in society. We are equal but different. We must value and protect all–weak or strong, old or young, like us or not like us–because all bear the image of God.

3. Role: You Have Purpose

God made us to be what we are, so we can do what He placed us here to do. Because we bear God’s image, we are uniquely equipped to fulfill the roles He has given us. When we fulfill those roles well, we glorify Him.

Roles from Creation: Glorify God Through Obeying Him

1. Exercise Dominion over Creation: At first, dominion consisted of tending and keeping the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15). After man sinned, the task became more difficult, and every generation failed. Yet, God has not rescinded this command. He repeats it in Psalm 8 and Hebrews 2. We are imperfect stewards of this world. One day, we will reign with Christ and exercise the dominion God intended (Revelation 20:6). In the meantime, we should be known as clean, caring people who maintain and improve whatever living space or property that God has entrusted to us. Thus, we glorify God.
2. Fill the Earth through Reproduction (Genesis 1:28): God tasked those in His image to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. He has repeated but never rescinded this command (Genesis 9:6). Obviously, men and women though equal have different roles in this process. But in God’s eyes, children are a gift to be wanted and cherished (Psalm 127:3; 128:3). We should be known for our love for little ones (Luke 18:16). Thus, we glorify God.
3. Fellowship with God (Genesis 3:8): God walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening. The Scriptures note when people like Enoch and Noah walked with God. In the New Testament, God promises, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8). We should be known as people transformed by a close walk with God. Thus, we glorify God.

Roles in Society: Glorify God Through Reflecting Him

1. Live for God and Please Him Above All (Colossians 1:16; 2 Corinthians 5:9): We should be known as servants of God whose highest priority is obeying Him. Thus, we glorify God.
2. Bear Much Fruit (John 15:8, 16): God desires that each believer increase in godly character toward the image of Christ and multiply disciples who follow Jesus. We should be known by the fruit God produces in us and through us. Thus, we glorify God.
3. Worship and Praise God (Revelation 4:11): We should be known as people who talk about God and His goodness to us. Thus, we glorify God.

Your life has meaning and purpose. That’s no abstract concept. Can you see the picture God is painting by making you in His image? Who you are (bearing God’s image) is related to how you live your life in your home, your family, your worship, and your interactions in society.

The Image of God and You

The doctrine of the image of God is no abstract painting.³ It’s not even impressionistic. The Bible’s teaching about the image of God in man has direct relationship to us. Because we are in the image of God, God owns us, each of us has value and dignity, and everyone’s life has meaning and purpose. How we are made points back to our Maker. When what we do also points back to Him, He gets the glory, and we find satisfaction in doing what He made us to do.

Notes

Photo by Steve Johnson.

1 This illustration of the image of God from Mark 12 originally came from Millard Erickson’s Christian Theology, 472.

2 This post assumes the reader has trusted Jesus Christ alone for salvation. If you have not yet done this, you are still made in the image of God, but you have no ability to please Him or find fulfillment in Him (Romans 8:8). Your sin separates you from God and will result in eternal punishment (Romans 6:23). But God offers the free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). If you stop trusting yourself or anything else (church, good works, morality, tradition, etc.) and trust in Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection for you, God promises that you will be saved (1 Corinthians 15:3-4; John 3:16).

3 I explained more details of how the image of God is seen in man in the first post in this series–Image Bearers: Ways You Are Made Like God. In the second post, Image Bearers: Have We Lost the Image of God, I showed the full circle of how the Fall distorted the God’s image in man and how in Jesus Christ that image is being renewed in believers and will one day be restored to perfection.