First Principles
The Image of God

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Previously, I discussed some "first principles" I’d recognized as I was developing a model of ministry. The first of the "first principles" is that man was created in the image of God.

Imagine what was in God’s mind when He said, "Let us make man in our image." (Genesis 1:26) Why should He do such a thing? Why would He even contemplate such a magnificent thought?

Mind you, God was not thinking of creating a minor god, as it were. He had had enough trouble with Satan over this issue already. No, what God had in mind was to create a being so unique, so incredibly different, that it would neither be an angel nor an animal. So, God created an incomparable creation and called it man!

One of the great principles of creation is that God creates a being with a nature unique to its purpose. So it is with man. And, what is his purpose? To bear the image of God! No other created being has this great privilege – nor awesome responsibility. Small wonder that David wrote:

Thus, man was to bear the image of god, to know God and enjoy Him forever, as the "shorter catechism" states. This being so – and it is, because the Bible says it is – it behooves us to know something of the "Image."

First, you cannot separate God from the image of God. They are one and the same. God doesn’t create images of Himself and set them up here and there for people to worship. God doesn’t have us worship an image of Himself. He has us worship Him!

Consequently, it would be more correct to say that man doesn’t bear the image of God. Rather, he contains the image of God. Let me explain. Since you cannot separate God from His image, the thing that God so uniquely created had to have a nature that could contain the image. In other words, a place where God could take up residency and still be God. Jesus explains that quite well in John 14:23.

Now then, we must contemplate something else. That is the glory of God. The image of God, being God, radiates the glory of God. We certainly do not have the time nor space here to adequately describe the glory of God. But we can say this – the glory of God is represented by all that God is and does. It is a self-sustaining, self-exalting, self-manifesting glory. It denotes the Person and presence of God Himself. It is the activity and behavior of God.

Thus man, as the only bearer of God’s image, was created with a nature unique for housing the Person of God, so that the glory of God could be reflected in and through him. God, in His amazing, inexplicable manner, decided that His glory should be reflected through man. Incredible!

You see, once the image is within man, man begins to take on the likeness of the image. As Jesus is the visible expression of the invisible God, so likeness is the visible expression of the image within. Image produces likeness.

So we have Adam, the model of all mankind, uniquely created so God could dwell in him, and through him produce the likeness of God. God had reproduced Himself within Adam and because Adam bore the image of God, his character took on the likeness of God. But more than this, man was created not only to bear the image and express the likeness, but he was to mirror the glory of God! (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Too good to be true? Not at all. What God intended for man defies description. Only God being God could create a being in which and through which He could reproduce Himself by establishing His image within and expressing His likeness without.

In viewing man from the perspective of creation, we see that God intended for man to live forever, enjoying unbroken fellowship with Him. For man was all that man could be, as God intended man to be, with God enthroned in the citadel of his heart.

So fine, well and good, but what happened? Things went wrong. Let’s look at some of the ramifications of the fall. As I have said, man was created as the image-bearer. But to be the image-bearer, man had to have the "Image" (God) enthroned within his heart. This then became the point of Satan’s attack. If he could "dethrone" the "Image," then the likeness and glory would be gone.

You know the story. Adam and Eve chose to doubt and disobey God. The consequences were incalculable. Man no longer had the "Image" within; the likeness and glory were gone. But worse, far worse, was that man now bore the image of his new master. Man was no longer man as God intended man to be, for God never, ever created man with any intention that man would ever be without God within.

So man fell, and with the fall he inherited a new image, producing a new likeness with a totally different glory. The image was that of the master deceiver, the likeness of which was evil and the glory darkness.

The image of God cannot be seen in fallen man because it is not there. The image of God can come only by God through the Lord Jesus Christ. (John 14:6)

But it doesn’t end there. God, in His love and mercy, decided to make it possible for man once again to be the image-bearer. It meant that God had to become man and, as man, undergo things too horrible to contemplate. This was done in the person of Christ. And now, when a person turns to Christ, he or she once again possesses within the "Image" and begins once again to express the likeness and demonstrate the glory of God. But it’s not exactly like it was before.

Now man must become reacquainted with the "Image." This is the single most important facet in Christian living – knowing God. Our perception of the "Image" is of the utmost importance. (See 1 John 3:2.) If Satan can by any means distort our perception of the "Image," this will in turn distort the likeness, resulting in distorted glory.

The clearer, the more transparent, the sharper, the more intense the perception is of the "Image," the greater and clearer will be the likeness. The greater the likeness, the greater the glory. The more we know of God, the more we become like Him.

As Christians, we are to "mirror" the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 6:18) Our behavior is that glory. The more consistent our behavior is with God’s person and character, the more God is honored – in and through us.

Image produces likeness. Likeness is known by three great qualities: godliness which is that part of us that most reflects God’s character; holiness, which is that part of us that most honors God’s being; and righteousness, which is the behavior that most pleases God.

What, then, is our response? First, know the "Image." Do everything you can to experience God. Second, submit to the governing hand of the Spirit of God, for He is the one who will polish the "mirror." Third, live by faith, which is the "polish" needed to make the mirror shine.

So, the image of God within is honored by the likeness produced without, and the glory of God is demonstrated by the life that is lived. This is what God intended for us all along.

For more information about what it means to be created in the image of God and becoming intimately acquainted with Him, see "Lesson 3: Seeing Ourselves as God Sees Us" and "Lesson 4: Getting to Know Our Heavenly Father" in Scope’s Discovering Group Study Series, "Be Transformed." Also see Session 3, "The Nature of Man," and Session 9, "Father/God Concept," in Scope’s Biblical counseling training manual and audio tapes, Pneumanetics. Another resource is Jim Craddock’s booklet and Bible study on the character of God and perceiving God as He truly is, "FatherCare."