Many Christians are familiar with the phrase the image of God. Theologians use the Latin designation: Imago Dei. Humans were created in the image of God. Even though that image was marred by the fall of Adam and Eve, it was not destroyed. Humans today still bear the image of God. Paul was alluding to Gen 1:26-28 (“Let us make man in Our image…”) when he wrote, “For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image (eikōn, from which we get the word icon) and glory of God…” (1 Cor 11:7). He did not say that man formerly was the image of God. Men and women still bear God’s image.
Theologians debate what man’s being made in the image of God means.
A major clue is found in the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is also called the image of God. Paul said, “Christ…is the image of God” (2 Cor 4:4). He also wrote, “He is the image of the invisible God…” (Col 1:15). However, unlike the children of Adam, He is the exact manifestation of the Father. The author of Hebrews wrote, “[Jesus is] the express image [charaktēr] of His person…” (Heb 1:3). BDAG says that charaktēr there means “an exact representation of God’s real being.”
Since God the Father has no body, neither Jesus’ body nor our bodies can be the sense in which we manifest His image.
Jesus is the exact representation of God’s real being in that He manifests His attributes. Jesus is unchanging, holy, just, good, true, eternal, merciful, sovereign, wise, gracious, loving, and glorious. While we are not eternal, we manifest God’s image when we are consistent, holy (separate from the world), just, good, true, merciful, manifesting wise dominion over the earth, gracious, loving, and glorious.
Did you know that God the Father has never appeared to anyone in the history of mankind? “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18). That means that every OT appearance of God (theophany) was an appearance of the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ (Christophany).
That is why Paul calls Him the invisible God (Col 1:15). Jesus makes the invisible One visible.
But did you know that when we manifest godly character, people glimpse God’s image in us? John wrote, “No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us” (1 John 4:12). Hodges comments: “When real Christian love, modeled on God’s love, is truly exercised by the Christian community, God is ‘at home’ in those who exercise it: If we love one another, God abides in us. That is to say, the invisible God whom no one has seen is actively living in such a body of believers” (The Epistles of John, p. 189).
The author of Hebrews said the same thing: “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14). God is seen in our Christian assemblies when we love one another and manifest His holiness.
We are not exact representations of His image—Jesus is. But we who believe in the Lord Jesus for everlasting life are His representatives on earth. Though imperfectly, we do indeed manifest God’s image.
Keep grace in focus, and you will manifest His likeness more accurately.
