Image of God
What it Means to Be Made in the Image of God
To be made in the image of God means to be made to mirror His essence, with the capacity to be like Him but not Him. We should carry ourselves in such a way that the world sees examples of godly traits, high-morals, unconditional love, and intentional obedience. Holiness. Each one of us has special gifts to use for edifying the Body of Christ. However, one must understand that an image is not the original; it is a model of.
Examples of How God Created Man His image
Man is creative, which shows when we look at the world in which we live. Evolving from having to travel by horse and buggy to have the option of flying in airplanes is an example of using one of God’s many gifts to create. Another illustration of God creating man in His image is a man having a multitude of individual talents. Some are good at learning to design, while others seem to excel naturally by design.
God also gave us the latitude to expand our minds, think outside the box, grow things and communicate effectively, with free will to worship Him as Creator of all things.
“Humanity as the image of God is a central teaching of Genesis 1 and thus foundational to the rest of Scripture. The divine image includes all of human life and has several dimensions.” Cooper (2011)
One gift that often goes unnoticed is “the gift of hospitality.” In the New Testament, the Greek word translated “hospitality” literally means “love of strangers.” The Shunamite Woman and her godly-exhibit of hospitality toward the Prophet Elisha was a show of “the gift of hospitality.” She had remembered his kindness toward her in the past.
When an opportunity arose to express the gratitude she went out of her way to create a hospitable space for him to rest. “She said to her husband, “Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God passing by us continually. Please, let us make a little walled upper chamber and let us set a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he can turn in there.” 2 Kings 4: 9-10
The Shunammite woman was creative in how she made seemingly insignificant spaces hospitable, a beautiful expression of God’s love. Another example of God creating man in his image is giving him the ability to talk so that he can communicate with humans as He does.
There are countless examples in the Bible of God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit communicating. “9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” Genesis 3:9
Though imperfect, every human has the potential to reflect the image of God throughout life. The more mature one becomes in their Christian walk the closer he or she becomes to God, making it more feasible to carry out the charge of mirroring His image.
“In the beginning was the Word [logos, a Greek word meaning reason, or logic] and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).
God’s Purpose for My Life
“The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. (Galatians 5:14)
Practicing personal holy concepts for carrying out the Lord’s will be a lifelong work; possible only if one knows what his or her God-given talents are. As it may be, “perhaps to recognize and understand one’s purpose in life it is necessary to first identify individual spiritual gifts.” Knowing one’s spiritual gifts keeps him or her in the center of their expertise.
God has called me to reach out to those who have not been touched by the Holy Spirit or who have found themselves in situations that feel hopeless. He has given me specific methods for this work to be done, which begins with spreading the Gospel of Christ by any means necessary.
The dispatching of His Word will not be limited to cathedral walls because I have been called to implement His Word in churches without walls. While I do not believe virtual church should or ever will replace the traditional church, it can be a powerful addition.
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