Do you remember reading stories as a child or watching television and seeing the story of Pinocchio? Pinocchio was a little wooden puppet, carved by a carpenter, who longed for nothing more than to be a ‘real boy’. The fictional character could walk and talk, and his nose would even grow when he lied. On the surface of things, he seemed to be a little boy just like everyone else, except that he was made of wood. What exactly would make him a ‘real boy’?
I can’t answer for Pinocchio, but I can observe our cultural trends and see that we live in a world where people long to know their identity. We speak about students going off on gap years to ‘discover themselves’ and people going through an ‘identity crisis’. People have a deep-seated desire to belong, to know who they are and how they fit into this world.
Furthermore, humanity is the only species on the planet that fights for the rights of other people. We fight for human rights and argue for the dignity and worth of all people. We care about the sanctity of human life. Why? Because I would argue we are made in the image of God, as the Bible states. We are not like Pinocchio. Humanity is not a group of puppets whose strings are being pulled by some far-off deity in the sky. We are creatures made to reflect the image of our Creator.
We are made in the image of God
Genesis 1:26-27 says:
Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 9:6 reiterates the idea that humanity is made in the image of God when God commands Noah not to eat meat with blood in it because, ‘Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.’ The New Testament also picks up on this theme in James 3, when speaking about the need for us to tame our tongues. ‘With it [our tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.’ (Jas. 3:9). Each of these verses highlight that all of humanity is made in the image of God; not a select group, not a minority, but all of mankind.
We are made to reflect God’s glory
In Genesis 1:26-27 God, speaking as Trinity (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit), creates mankind as the pinnacle of creation, in the image of God:
Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (Gen. 1:26-27).
John Calvin, the French reformer, explains that ‘man resembles him [God] and that in him God’s glory is contemplated, as in a mirror.’ At its most basic level, being created in the image of God means that we are, in some respects, like him.
Humanity, made in the image of God, reflects God’s glory, God’s attributes and who God is to the world; yet mankind is not divine. Therefore, to understand who mankind is, we first need to understand what it means to be made in the image of God and how humanity reflects God. There are a number of attributes that we could look at which point to the truth that we are made in the image of God, but let me highlight just four briefly.
Firstly, humanity has a sense of morality. Humans have a basic understanding of right and wrong, good and bad. That understanding isn’t always universal or acted upon in the way that we would want but the foundation truth is that humans are born with a sense of morality. Ultimately our sense of morality comes from God, the very definition of goodness and justice.
Secondly, humanity was created for, and has a desire for, community. Humans are intrinsically relational beings. We thrive on relationships with loved ones, we build friendships with new people. We do our best when we’re surrounded by people who encourage and spur us on. That’s because humanity, and all of creation, was born out of the perfect harmony and communion of love that has always existed in the Trinity.
Thirdly, humans are not merely flesh and blood; we have a soul. We are spiritual beings as well as physical beings. We can relate to God. We were created to be in perfect communion with God but that relationship has been tarred by sin.
Fourthly, human beings are creative beings. Humanity has invented some fantastic things. Huge feats have been made in terms of medical advances because people have created new machines, new tests and ways to know what is going on inside the human body. The creature reflects the image of the Creator when we create.
All four of these things happen every day in most people’s lives. We make moral decisions daily, we interact with other people, as Christians we engage with God in prayer, and we create things. Yet it all sounds a bit too ideal, doesn’t it?
We are restored by the Holy Spirit
It all sounds a bit too good to be true because, whilst we are made in the image of God, that image has been tarnished. Looking at our world and, if we’re honest, at our own lives, we seem far removed from the picturesque ideal of Genesis 1:26-27. We are made in the image of God, but it’s as if the mirror has been cracked. Not shattered, but cracked. Our image of God needs to be restored, refreshed and made new.
The restoration that humanity needs does not come about by our own efforts. The renewal of our image of God, the re-creation of God’s likeness in us, comes by the work of God the Holy Spirit who is transforming us more into the likeness of our Creator (Col. 3:10) as he makes us more like Christ each day. It is a process that will continue until we meet God face to face. Like a beautiful painting that’s been neglected for years under a sheet in the attic, it needs the expertise of a painter to restore its former beauty. Such a process is ongoing and will only be complete when we are united with God in the New Creation (Rev. 21:1-4).