Theology for Everyone: Imago Dei
By Matt Watson
This article is the first in a new series called Theology for Everyone. We believe that theology is inherently practical, so in this series, we will be taking a deep dive into some doctrines of faith and discuss how they apply to our everyday lives.
Image and Likeness
Genesis 1:26-27--
“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.”
From the very first chapter of the first book of the Bible, we are told that God created man in his image and likeness, and they are male and female. This is called the imago Dei, the image of God. In the Genesis account, we read that God created everything by simply speaking it into existence. He makes land, water, air, light, darkness, plants, and animals. But only with mankind do we read that we were created in God’s image and likeness.
There must be a reason that this is found so early in Scripture. It is foundational to the human experience to know where we came from and why. Being made in the image of God sets us apart with value and dignity in a way that other creation does not have. We live in a time where we adopt animals but kill unwanted babies.
Likewise, we have repeatedly tried to proclaim that man is the same as apes and that since we are animals, we must then treat animals like humans. Additionally, since we have denied God as our creator, we also deny the way he created things and have tried to re-create ourselves in our own images. We have rejected his design for marriage and sexuality and revolutionized society around our designs, rather than his. We have thrown out the doctrine of imago, devaluing mankind and ourselves in the process.
Since we are created in the image and likeness of God, we are both similar to God, yet very different. We have certain characteristics in common with God, like emotions, but we do not share in his autonomy or sovereignty. God is fully independent of his creation, including space and time. Man, on the other hand, lives very much dependent on God for everything.
Anthony Hoekema, who was a professor at Calvin Theological Seminary, said, “Because we are creatures, God must preserve us or we shall fully fall. But because we are also persons, God preserves us by enabling us to persevere.” So we depend on him as creatures, but we are enabled to persevere because he created us as persons.
We are similar to God and are made to reflect God in how we subdue creation. This is called the Cultural Mandate and it implies that man goes forth into the world as representatives of God for the sake of God, influencing and changing the wilderness of culture into a garden for the glory of God.
Implications of imago Dei
When we miss that man has greater value than plants and animals, and that all mankind is made in this way, we end up killing each other. George Floyd’s death was not a tragedy because of his skin color, but because he was a person made in the image of God who was killed by someone sworn to protect that life.
Likewise, abortion is not an issue because it involves little babies, but because the unborn have been devalued as people and deemed acceptable to kill. The tragedy of the holocaust was not because people stood in the way of Hitler’s policies, but because 6 million people were deemed unworthy to live and devalued of their inherent, God-given dignity by being systematically murdered.
Additionally, the tragedy of chattel slavery is not that one person was forced to work for another person against their will, but that they were equated to little more than animals and kidnapped, transported, beaten, abused, tortured, and killed because they weren’t considered human. The tragedy with the transgender and LGBTQ+ community is not that rights are being restricted or granted, but rather that God has created mankind in his image, male and female, but we have decided we can re-create ourselves in our own image, granting children the ability to surgically change their physical bodies and denying our God-formed bodies.
It is easy to lump those things together and say to ourselves, “Well, I’m not Hitler, I’m not as bad as those guys.” But let us also remember that Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire” (Matt 5:21-22).
This means we aren’t just guilty of violating the imago Dei if we physically kill someone, but also kill them in our heart. Watch out every time you curse the driver next to you or think someone is an idiot because they align with one political party or the other because you are devaluing that person. You are saying, “I don’t care about you, or that you and I are both human beings. I don’t care that we were both made in the image and likeness of God. You mean nothing to me.”
This isn’t about disagreeing with someone. This doctrine is about not treating another person as if they don’t have value, and not treating God as if he isn’t our creator. Without this doctrine, we do not have justice in the world. Without imago Dei, we have no need to care about tragedies across the globe, terrorist attacks, or sexual slavery and exploitation.
How Then Shall We Live?
Jesus said, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matt 7:12). Do you want to be devalued, dehumanized, and robbed of your dignity and worth? Neither should we do that to others. Christians believe that they should even love their enemies.
It is good to disagree with some people sometimes. It is good to oppose some people sometimes. However, the moment you treat that person as less than human in your heart, you have forgotten that you both are made by the image of God. You also forget that you both are subject to the penalties of sin and that you both need the grace and righteousness of Jesus to be justified. Imago Dei teaches us to have compassion for each other as Jesus had compassion on us. It teaches us to demand God’s justice, rather than the lesser justice of the world. It teaches us to love our neighbor, even when that neighbor looks different than you, votes differently than you, or treats his yard differently than you do.
Today, pray that the Lord will help you see yourself and others as he sees you and them. Ask him to teach you that you are valued because he made you, and made you alive by the cross of Christ. Lastly, ask God to help you repent of where you have dishonored his design, devalued people, and lived in denial of your dependence of God.