After creating everything else, on the sixth day, God creates human beings. We are the capstone of his creation. The creation is made for us. “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” Genesis says in chapter 1 verse 26. The two words “image” and “likeness” have similar meanings, but the idea is that we are like God, but we don’t look like him. The image of God is about a relationship with God. It is mentioned again in the New Testament, Colossians 1:15. Saying that Jesus is the “image of the invisible God.” I like to look at it this way: In the Ten Commandments, God describes how relationships work best. The first three (or four depending on your denominational background, mine is Lutheran):
You shall have no other gods; You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God in vain; Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
These are about our relationship with God. The rest of the commandments are about our relationship with other people. They cover: honoring others’ authority, marriage, life, property, reputation and relationships. (for a brief explanation of the Ten Commandments see catechism.cph.org/en/10-commandments.html)
The Commandments are a description of a perfect world, where people are in perfect relationship with God first, then everyone else. They are all, in fact, covered in the first commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. If we could just do that, all the others would fall into place. That is what the image of God is all about.
When God created the first human beings, they had that. The first man had a perfect relationship with the first woman. But first, they both had a perfect relationship with God. They didn’t do what God didn’t want them to do. They did everything God wanted them to do. They trusted God completely for all that they needed. Adam took out the trash when Eve asked, the first time. She never had to complain that he left the toilet seat up. Eve didn’t interrupt Adam when he was watching football. Adam had all Eve’s best interests at heart, and Eve had the same for Adam. All of this came to a screeching halt when they took what wasn’t theirs to take, dishonoring their relationship with God. The image was broken; life in the world became difficult and dangerous. Death was the result.
You don’t need me to point out how this brokenness has affected the world. The news is full of it. The world is indeed a sad, broken and dangerous place.
The bible tells us that Jesus is the image of God. He had a perfect relationship with God. He had a perfect relationship with everyone he met (it was, however, not mutual!). Even to the point that he was willing to sacrifice his life to save us.
For one will scarcely die for a righteous person— though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:7–8, ESV
Jesus was born, lived in that perfect relationship with God and everyone else, suffered on the cross, died, and was raised again to new life. It is that new life that he shares with you when you come to believe that all that Jesus did, he did for you. In that new life, you can begin to have better relationships. First, with God himself, and then with everyone else. Jesus restores the image of God to you, although it is a work in progress. As you draw closer to God, through Jesus, you will draw closer to your friends and even your enemies.
Questions or comments, please email Pastor@WattsWhat.net.
He is the answer to all the broken relationships in the world.
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This month our contributor is Pastor Jonathan Watt of Life in Christ Lutheran Church in Grand Marais. Please feel free to contact him with comments or questions. Pastor@ WattsWhat.net
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