Made in the Image

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Roughly 8.3 billion people.

That is how many individuals are on the planet Earth, according to the United States Census Bureau’s world population clock that never stops ticking. As the world’s population is growing by the minute, this clock may be slightly more meaningful than the one hanging on our living room walls. After all, it’s not only a picture of the population, but of the Lord’s handiwork.

Recently, I have been checking off my to-do list to welcome our family’s newest addition to the population in the coming weeks. We know this little one’s life is more precious than a number, as our Heavenly Father has planned it long ago. Yet, amid washing onesies and trying to unpack countless baby items, I have been eagerly wondering what this baby boy will be like.

One day, as I thought about these things again, a verse from Genesis 1:27 came to mind. I may not know exactly what my son will look like or who he’ll become, but I do know one thing for sure. He is made in the image of our Lord.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule 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.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:26-27).

The more I reflect on this verse, the more I wonder, not just about my unborn son, but what parts of any of us are most like Him.

How does all of humanity show the Lord’s image? How can we all be made in God’s image when we’re each so unique?

The answers to these questions take us back to the first book of Genesis.

During creation, the Lord said He separated plants and animals “after their kind.” However, when it came to male and female, He said they were made in His image instead.

In an article for Ligonier Ministries, author Mark Ross explained this by writing:

Man does not, therefore, belong to their kinds, whatever similarities there may be between him and the other creatures. To put it in modern scientific language, he is not a particular species within a given genus of living creatures. Man is unlike any of the other living creatures (v. 26). Surprising as it is, man is made according to God’s “kind,” made in the image of God (imago Dei). Man, like God, is a personal being. God Himself, as the Bible later reveals, is three persons all sharing one divine essence.

He goes on to explain that because we carry this image, we are called with a sense of stewardship and responsibility to care for the earth - something the rest of creation was not tasked with.

Unfortunately, when Satan entered the garden and tempted humanity, something changed in God’s desired design for us because sin entered the world.

After the fall, new rules came into effect, but the value of human life remained just as important as ever. Scripture then had to teach us not to kill (Genesis 9:6) and later to be careful how we speak to or about other image bearers (James 3:8-9), because every life is precious to the Creator.

When we think about it in this light, how do we treat those around us each day, even those with whom we may not always agree?

We all carry God’s image, whether we realize it or not – and we all matter because we matter to Him. Because of that, how we treat one another is essential.

Decision Magazine, a division of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, explains this concept best in an article by Richard Land, saying, “This means quite literally that every human being is uniquely invaluable to God, in a uniquely important way: He creates each of us as a never-to-be-duplicated human being with a divinely pre-ordained purpose to fulfill.”

Today, as we meet others regardless of their actions or our feelings toward them, let’s use this as a reminder that they are also valued by their Creator. In our response toward them, we have the opportunity to represent the greatest image of all time – His!

Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith (Galatians 6:9-10).

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