The Image of God: Distorted and Restored

There is something unique about mankind.

The question is, what makes us so unique?

Why does mankind have the grace of perceiving beauty? Why do we get to enjoy art, music, and other forms of delicacy?

Why are the relationships between people so profound, and lack the carnality we see in the rest of creation?

The answer to these questions can be found in the opening chapter of the Bible.

Gen 1:26-28

The answer to the question of what makes humanity unique is that we are created in the image of the creator. We bear the image of God, thus we are distinct from all other creation as we are His only image bearers.

So what does it mean to image God?

V. 26

“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness,”

There are a few noteworthy things to draw out here.

First, we see what most agree to be the first picture and reference to the Trinity. God was not speaking to a myriad of angels, but the Trinitarian Sovereign of the universe declared to make mankind in their image.

This does not make us divine as some new age teachings may seek to push.

This also does not support the Mormon notion that we may be Gods of our own world one day.

It also does not mean that we are “little gods” like we see taught in many mainstream charismatic circles such as Bethel.

The image of God is also not something dependent on any human faculty. Many times in history past, people have sought to link the image of God to things such as our proclivity to rational thinking, or the fact that we are able to have in-depth relationships.

These things are certainly consequences of being made in the image of God, but they are not exactly what it means.

The Image of God is an Ontological reality, it is who we are.

Mankind is the image of God, and all that we have that separates us, whether we are talking about capacity or function, is a part of this image.

We are imagers of God, by nature, and there is no time that we are lacking in this capacity.

We serve as God’s imagers to HIs creation, thus the key function of the image of God is to exercise dominion over His creation.

so that they will have dominion 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.”

The purpose of us being image bearers is to have dominion.

We are God’s representatives and vice-regents to this domain of existence.

This is the plan of God and in our next verse we have God putting this plan to action.

V. 27

And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Directly after the discussion of the dominion work of God’s image bearers, God makes sure to establish that it is Male and Female that He created them.

This carries significance in many ways for our current day, but one of the key points to be drawn out for our current discussion, is that it is through marital covenant that we actually carry out our dominion duties.

V. 28

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that creeps on the earth.”

Marriage and raising families are a part of the dominion command.

Subdue the land- work and make it more productive.

Creation is more productive now because of the mandate for dominion.

Have dominion over everything else in creation.

So mankind being in the image of God was created to represent God to His creation, exercising dominion, and filling the earth.

We were to worship God with our actions.

However, this exercising of dominion and serving as God’s imagers was distorted at the fall of man.

The Fall

Gen 3:1-7

Let us notice the temptation that the Serpent offered to Eve.

They would be like God.

It would make them wise.

Sin is in a sense, God’s image bearers trying to usurp and elevate themselves to the one they were created to serve as representatives for.

We were tempted by the promise of power and autonomy, both of which we were not meant to have.

We were created as representatives, and in violating our created purpose, the Image of God we were meant to display became distorted.

This distortion is clear as many of the normal functions of mankind, the things that are natural to us, are so often twisted and abused.

Creating and subduing the earth is often for impure motivations and self-glorification.

Relationships are abused.

Sex is misdefined and maligned by our culture.

Gender is disregarded.

Man is the center of all things.

So what is God’s response to the distortion of His image bearers?

Christ came.

Two Passages for thought.

We know that Christ came, but what does this have to do with the image of God?

Hebrews 1:3 LSB

who is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power; who, having accomplished cleansing for sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Christ is the exact representation of the nature of God.

He is the eternal and equal Son of God, thus in Christ we have the greatest revelation of who God is.

He is the fuller revelation of God, He is the perfect image of God.

This has great implications on our own salvation and our own imaging of God.

Listen to the following passage on why Christ came.

Titus 2:11-14

Christ came to redeem mankind from their abdication of the divine mandate to represent God.

He has brought forgiveness for the sin of mankind, and He has come to purify a people for Himself that are zealous for good works.

In Christ the image of God is restored, for Christ coming and fulfilling the divine mandate to represent God to the world, died a death He did not deserve, and raised to life conquering death.

We as the people of God are seen by God as perfect, and as Rom. 8:29 says we are to become conformed to the image of the Son of God.

For if we wish to see what perfect representation of God looks like on this earth, we have no where else to turn than to our Lord.

And though we now get just a taste of fulfilling this divine mandate to image God to His creation, we know that we will be fully returned to this perfect image bearing state when we are with Christ, and our faith is turned to sight.

So where does thus leave us?

As a Christian we have to ask ourselves, am I representing God to His creation.

Do I work at my job, school, relationships to the glory of God.

Work is a blessing and it is what we were made to do, so am I actually carrying out this plan.

If I am married, or engaged to be married, am I seeking to raise my family and glorify God with it.

Marriage is a good thing, and the natural direction of mankind so do I desire a spouse that I can glorify God with and raise Christ followers with.

After probing your heart, take action to ensure that whatever you do, do to the glory of God.

If you work on computers, do so to God’s glory, if you desire to be a mother, do it to God’s glory.

For as we image God under the grace of God bought in Christ, there is nothing in our life that remains truly neutral, but I can bring glory to God in all things.

So honor your creator, submitting to Christ, seeking to be more like Him all of your days.