Imago Dei

The Image of God in Man

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man 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 cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
28 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.”
(Genesis 1:26-28)

What does it mean to be an “image-bearer” of God?

The primary point of this section of Genesis 1 is that mankind has been created in the image of God and therefore has been made to image him. It can be said that man was created an analogue of God. What this means is that man’s thinking, willing and doing is analogous to God’s thinking, willing and doing. Those things pertaining to our natures as men are derivative from the nature of God, and our creation as image-bearers of God – “God’s offspring” (Acts 17:28) - is peculiar to man.

It should be noted here that, in fact, all of creation bears some analogy to God. It is evident from the pages of the Bible that there are analogies to God from virtually every area of creation. We see analogies used where God is compared to inanimate objects (God the “rock of Israel”, Christ the “door of the sheep”, the Spirit as “wind”, “breath”, and “fire”, etc); plants or the produce of them (God’s strength like the “cedars of Lebanon”, Christ the “bread of life”); animals (Christ the “Lion of Judah”, the “Lamb of God”); abstract ideas (God as spirit, love and light; Christ as way, word, truth, life, wisdom, righteousness); etc. This point is a study unto itself.

But the emphasis of the verses in view here is that man, created as a bearer of the image of God, was created as the captain or crown of creation. No other creature possesses man’s exalted position in God’s created order. The psalmist sings:
3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
4 What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?
5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty!
6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,
7 All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field,
8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
(Psalm 8:3-8)

Because man alone is created in the image of God, God has commissioned man alone to reproduce in creation God’s own activity. The bearing of God’s image means that we “image-forth” him. How is it that this imaging-forth occurs in the cosmos? It is by our doing the very things which God himself does! It is of note when considering this, that no other creature has been endowed with this ability. If we closely examine the pattern of God’s creative work in Genesis 1 we see that God takes primal components from days 1 and 2, reforming and restructuring it all into a more glorious pattern, evaluating the work of his hands and resting and enjoying his creation. Adam is to follow God’s example, taking the creation, being thankful for it, using his God-given creative power to reform it into a more glorious pattern, evaluating the work of his hands and enjoying their fruit with God and others. That is exactly what it means to bear the image of God.

So when God created Adam in his own image, part of what that means is that he empowered (enabled) him and his posterity to live in active obedience to the divine commission to which he called him – to fill and to subdue (Genesis 1:28). How do we see Adam fulfilling this command in Genesis 2? We see Adam “subduing” through his word through the work of his hands (Genesis 2:15, 19). And with the introduction of Eve we see Adam empowered to “fill” the creation with other image-bearers.

If we think about all of this in the context of the Garden of Eden, we see that God’s mandate to exercise dominion is very specific. The Garden may be seen as a model of heaven itself – the temple of God. Adam and Eve’s reproduction of other image-bearers would progressively fill Eden and even all the earth. As the image-bearers moved forth, they would in effect expand the very throne-room of God as they went. It is interesting to note the mention of gold and precious gemstones in Genesis 2:11-12. It is not a far-fetched notion to think that these materials were just mediums for the beautification and expansion of the Garden. We see the eschatological end of this notion in Revelation 21. Eventually, this notion will be fulfilled in the new heavens and new earth, where the entire world is a replica of the throne room of God, and just like in the Garden of Eden, God will dwell with his people.

At this point it might be profitable to ask: Is the notion presented here of man imaging-forth God indeed biblical? Here are two biblical examples, briefly introduced, to support the notion which has been proposed:
1)In Exodus 25-31, God lays out a blueprint for the construction of the tabernacle in the wilderness. God’s plan for the tabernacle is divided into seven speeches, each one beginning with the phrase “Yahweh spoke to Moses saying”. If we look at each of these seven proclamations closely we see that they correspond in striking ways to the seven days of creation. There is much symbolism in the carvings, furniture and implements in the tabernacle to the Garden and world model of Genesis 1 and 2.
2)Another clear correspondence is found in God’s promises to Israel regarding Canaan as the promised land – a land much like the Garden of Eden. Israel is promised Sabbath rest if they obey Yahweh by subduing and filling the land.

At this point we should see that Adam and Eve had a tremendous responsibility and calling as image-bearers. They and all their posterity were to expand the throne room of God, the kingdom reign of God, to the farthest reaches of creation.

The Problem

The problem is that Adam disobeyed God. Through Adam’s disobedience in Genesis 3, the image of God in him is marred. This marring of the image of God in man by man’s sin is what we refer to as “The Fall”. And this is the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! If we miss the meaning of man bearing God’s image then we cannot see the fullness of beauty in the Gospel and the Great Commission.

The Solution

Wonder of wonders, after the disobedience of the first Adam, God did not repeal his commission to man to image him forth rightly in creation. We might wonder why God did not wipe mankind out and start all over again. In our wisdom, that may seem right, but it is not so according to the wisdom of the Creator. God repeatedly confirms with each restatement of his covenants that his original mandate stands, and with each covenant he progressively designates more specifically and clearly the Man who truly would subdue and fill the earth.

Jesus Christ, the most real and true man, the divine image of whom Adam was the prototype, fulfills the divine commission. He, the man who is God, completely fills the mandate of the Father – to subdue and fill the earth – and he empowers His people to do likewise. Image-bearing finds its perfect expression in Jesus Christ who is both God and man.