Image of God

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them. – Gen. 1:27

What does it mean when the Bible tells us we are created in the image of God (Latin: Imago Dei)? Are we gods? Exact replicas, duplicates and in full expectation of all the power He possesses?

Essentially it is our mental, moral and social framework. The substance of what we live by and more importantly, how we relate to others. This image (reflection) also deals in dignity, destiny and freedom.

It provides a support for living effectively now and later. It is a foundation of value and freedom that arranges hope in living. It is real and not accidental. It is God in us.

Humanity was created with the ability to reason and choose (mental capacity). This is a reflection of God’s intellect and freedom. It is the realization of our worth and that we have purpose for living and the dignity (value) that comes along with it.

Our thoughts, accomplishments and adventures are all sourced from our ability to relate to our Creator and the awareness that a relationship from Him is needed for the correct functioning of what He has given to all. It is God for us.

Humanity was also designed with a moral compass (righteousness: justice, decency, honesty) and perfect innocence, an image of God’s holiness. Our conscience or “moral compass” is evidence of that original state.

Whenever someone writes a law, recoils from evil, praises good behavior, or feels guilty, they are confirming the fact that we are made in God’s own image. It is our natural capacity to know what is right or wrong. God for all of us.

We are also meant to be social. This is the need to interact with our Creator and his creation. It is receiving proper instructions for living from the One who knows us in order to properly function over the earth and with others.

It is the ability to love, reason and embrace those who you do not agree with, but do not dehumanize, ridicule or cancel. It is God with us.

God’s image is a reflection or representation of all who He is in humanity. It is the sum of the mental, moral, social substance we all are born with. These are individually incorporated into the avenue we call life and reveal the amount of dignity, destiny and freedom we will experience.

The connection is not to be selfishly hoarded; it is to be exercised for all to see. Light bearer, image reflector, life giver. The Image of God.

Conscience (integrity, morality, scruples, principles, sense of right and wrong) is the most sacred of all property. – James Madison