Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." – Genesis 1:26

Today's Scripture Reading (August 2, 2024): Genesis 1

We are created in the image of God. You bear the image or the stamp of God. By the way, people who often argue for the primacy of the male in church business frequently claim that man was created in the image of God, and that woman was created in the image of man. But that argument is ridiculous. Not only does this passage explicitly state that God made man male and female [literally, he made 'adam' male and female] (Genesis 1:27), but (and I don't want to put too much of an emphasis on this) this passage is written in the typical language of Hebrew Poetry – and that means there is a dualism here. The basic twoness of the human race is reflected in our life and how we see the world. And so, Adam and Eve were created in the image and likeness of God. The Hebrew Word used here for image is 'tselem,' which means 'to resemble.' The Hebrew Word translated as likeness is 'dĕmuwth,' which surprisingly also means 'to resemble.' And I really do not want to make more of this than it probably deserves (and can I say that I love that the Bible says that 'adam' was created male and female), but 'tselem' (image) is a male noun and 'dĕmuwth' (likeness) is a female noun.

So, Genesis clearly states that we are created in the image of God. But what does that exactly mean? I have said in other discussions that one of the most ridiculous arguments against the Theory of Evolution is that God doesn't look like a monkey. The statement fails on several levels, but maybe the most fundamental failure is that God somehow looks like us. He has two legs, arms, and hands; he looks like me and you. And to be honest, anthropomorphic passages found in the poetry of the Bible that talk about the world as being 'held in God's hands' don't help.

But I don't believe that we are created in the image of God quite in that way. There are two primary reasons for that belief. The first is that Jesus says something that clearly indicates this is untrue. The comment comes from Jesus's discussion with the woman at the well in John 4. Jesus says in that discussion that "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). Jesus himself did not see God as being physical; he saw him as being a Spirit, which brings us to the second reason. Every year at Christmas, we celebrate the God of the incarnation. Incarnation is almost the reverse of Genesis 1. In Genesis 1, God creates man in his image and likeness. But in the incarnation, God becomes like us, taking on our image and likeness. Again, John writes this in the introduction to his Gospel.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1-5, 14).

If God were already flesh and blood existing in some sort of a heavenly palace, sitting on a gold throne, he would not have to become like us. However, following other biblical teachings, John describes God as decidedly 'other.'

If God is other, how are we created in his image, more than any other animals on the earth? I believe that we are created in the image of God in that we are designed with the ability to make moral choices. Other than us, that is an ability that belongs only to God. And it is given to us in the idea of free will. God has given us a gift that he has given to no one else. And it is up to us to use that gift wisely.

The idea of fate is an affront to the gift that God has given to us. Simply believing that things happen and are the will of God is an insult to God. The will of God is that we use the gift that he has given us, the image and stamp that God has placed inside of us, in a way that honors him. We are the only ones who can make decisions on a moral basis, on the idea of right and wrong.

Knowing the difference between right and wrong allows you to display God's image and stamp. And as you begin to make the right moral decisions, you start to display God's image and Christ's likeness.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Genesis 2