Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image,in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
Q: How and why did God create us?
A: God created us male and female in his own image to know him, love him, live with him, and glorify him. And it is right that we who were created by God should live to his glory[1].
In the beginning, God created; he is the creator and sustainer of everyone and everything. But in the midst of all the rest of his creation, God also created something very particular, very unlike everything else: he created us, mankind. It is God who has made us, and he has made us in a very
particular way for a very particular purpose. God has fashioned every one of us in his own image. This doctrine has many amazing implications—here are but a few of them. Briefly, I will discuss what it means to be God's image, how we are to act in light of God's image, and finally, why God created us in his image in the first place.
What does it mean to be in the image of God? First, in means that the common humanity we bear as mankind is born by nature of our common image. The
image of God is not so much something that man has
as something that man is. God's image is essential to our nature, and is not something that can ever be taken away from us. Our common humanity by nature of being in the image of God is the most fundamental aspect of our being and is therefore the one thing that is certain to give common ground. We are able to relate to other human beings as human beings by virtue of our common image.
Being in the image of God is also what bestows the freedoms and moral obligations all of us share. The image of God is foundational to the belief that all men are created equal, and it is our unique position as beings created in God’s image that obligates us to
behave morally towards one another. A wrong action taken against the image of
God is ultimately a wrong action taken against God Himself (Genesis 9:5-6). The image of God is also what bestows what is commonly understood as "human dignity," that is, the recognition that human beings possess a special value intrinsic to their humanity and as such are worthy of respect simply because they are human beings. Crimes that violate the personhood of an individual, such as slavery, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, etc. are felt to be particularly heinous for this reason: they violate the intrinsic worth each of us share as image bearers.
So then, being created in the image of God defines our very nature, and informs how we are to relate to one another as fellow image bearers.
Being the image of God, therefore, informs how we are to relate to, and rule over, the rest of creation. But why did God create us this way in the first place? John Piper writes that “he [God] makes humans in his image to image something, namely, himself. So our existence is about showing God’s existence or, specifically, it’s about showing God’s glory. . . . We want to think and live and act and speak in such a way that we draw attention to the manifold perfections of God.” We were made in the image of God so that we might draw attention to God. This is what it means to give God glory. When we acknowledge God’s good providence in our lives, we give him glory. When we sing hymns of praise to God, we give him glory. When we reflect on God’s awesome power in creation, we give him glory. When we live our lives in humble reliance on God, we give him glory. When we live in such a way as to display God’s character attributes, his goodness, kindness, mercy, justice, creativity, we give him glory.
And it is good and right that we should do so. J. C. Ryle
writes:
Anything whereby we may glorify God is a talent, our gifts, our influence, our money, our knowledge, our health, our strength, our time, our senses, our reason, our intellect, our memory, our affections, our privileges as members of Christ’s Church, our advantages as possessors of the Bible—all, all are talents. Whence came these things? What hand bestowed them? Why are we what we are? Why are we not the worms that crawl on the earth? There is only one answer to these questions. All that we have is a loan from God. We are God’s stewards. We are God’s debtors. Let this thought sink deeply into our hearts.
We owe God everything; God needs us for nothing. In him we live and move and have our being. We need him for all, for without his sustaining hand, all things would cease to exist. God did not have to reveal himself to us, but in his wisdom he has, and has given us the ability to know him, to God be the glory. It is because God first loved us that we love him and are enabled to love others, to God be the glory. God has no need for our fellowship, but in his infinite goodness he has chosen to share himself with us so that we might live with him, to God be the Glory.
This, then, is a small picture of what it means to be made in the image of God. It means to live our entire lives pointing to God. The image of God is what defines our very nature. It is what defines our relationships with each other and the rest of creation. And, ultimately, it defines our purpose. God is our ultimate end. And because God created us for this purpose, we find the most fulfilment accomplishing this purpose. To enjoy God is to find fulfilment in doing that which God created us for: knowing, loving, living with, and glorifying Him.
“To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen!” – 1 Timothy 1:17