Aspects of the Image of God

 

I have a young niece who has just entered the wild world of kindergarten. Watching her grow and mature over the years has been a joy. It is fascinating to see how she is like her parents in many ways.

These sorts of comparisons are usually superficial at first, “She has her mother's nose."  "She has her father's eyes."  As she gets older and her personality develops more, we might notice that she enjoys reading like her mother and is really ambitious and hard working like her father.

Sometimes we can even identify negative character traits children have in common with their parents. "She has her father's temper."  "She is melancholy like her mother."

We can observe children and see the similarities they have with their parents. We can often tell a child belongs to a parent simply by his appearance and mannerisms.

In the last post we started looking at this idea that humans are created in the image and likeness of God. This is one of the most important concepts taught in the Bible and is foundational to a Christian worldview.

When we look at a person, no matter the person, there are certain characteristics that we can identify as being given to us by God and are reflections of his character. We can study God's character as well and recognize these traits in ourselves. We can see God in ourselves, and we can see ourselves in God.

There are many aspects that can be described here, but I will just highlight three: we are rational, moral, and relational.

The scientific name for humans is homo sapiens, in Latin this means "thinking man". From the earliest ages man has realized that he has the unique ability to reason that animals lack. This is because animals are not created in the image of God.

Our God is a thinking God, a rational God, and he made us in his image as thinking creatures. We have the capacity to think about what we think about. Philippians 4:8 says this, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

The philosopher and mathematician Rene Descartes is famous for saying, "I think, therefore I am."  As Christians we might declare, "I am created in God's image, therefore, I think."

Along with this ability to think and reason, another way we replicate God is in our ability to tell right from wrong, good from evil. We possess a moral sense.

In Romans 2, Paul tells us that even those who have never been exposed to God's Word and God's laws still obey God's laws. This shows that God's laws are written in our hearts, embedded in our conscience.

There are certain things that we know are right and wrong without being told or taught and we feel guilt and shame if we do wrong because we know, even if only subconsciously, those behaviors are contrary to the image of God.

If a child is told to not eat the cookies, he does not have to be taught to steal those cookies, or to look out for that parent, and feel guilty when he is caught. He knows what he is doing is wrong and knows to avoid being caught if possible.

This intuitive sense of right and wrong is a piece of God's own nature that he has inscribed on us.

Along with being rational and moral beings, we are also relational. This is one of the most important aspects of the image of God. There are few things we want and need more than to have relationships with other people, and our truest, deepest need is to have a relationship with God.

From the very first pages of Scripture and on we see God trying to initiate or restore a relationship with mankind. This is why he created us, so that he could love us, and we could love him. But we fall short of that love time and again through our sin and rebellion. But God never stops loving us and pursuing us. Even in the Old Testament we see God's heart to renew a relationship with us:

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." - Jeremiah 29:11-13

The deepest longings of our heart are for relationships. First and foremost, with God and then with others. This is all by design. God himself has always existed as a communion of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Three unique persons dwelling in one unity of being. He created us to share in that communion and duplicate that loving connection in our relationships with each other.

The passage in Jeremiah highlights all three of the areas of God's character that we have been discussing. He is rational: he is thinking about us and his expectations for us.  He is moral: he uses the language of peace and evil and is calling us to repentance and restoration. Through it all we see his longing for a restored relationship with us.

We see all those same characteristics in our own heart because God shaped us to be like him.

The reason that we are moral, rational, and relational is because we are created in the image of God, and we bear his likeness. We look and act like God in these regards. Our very nature declares the goodness of God.

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