We were created to be “like” God and to represent God to this world and to reflect God’s glory back to Himself.
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…”
— Genesis 1:26 NLT
Out of all creation — out of every organism, life form, animal, reptile and creature that God has made — only men and women are said to be made “in the image of God” and “in His “likeness.”
Imago Dei — Image of God
The phrase “Imago Dei” is a Latin phrase meaning “image of God.” It refers to the theological concept that all men and women, regardless of race, ethnicity or social status are created in the image of God.
There are two practical implications of the “Imago Dei” or the image of God. We’ll go over the first one in today’s post.
PRACTICAL IMPLICATION OF THE IMAGO DEI – #1
Every human being ever conceived has immeasurable WORTH and VALUE.
Treat them like it!
At A2 Church, we have a Core Value that speaks to this:
People matter to God and they’ve got to matter to you and me. You’ve never locked eyes with a person that doesn’t matter to God.
C.S. Lewis describes the staggering implications of this reality in his book, The Weight of Glory. He writes:
“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as now you meet, if at all, only in a nightmare… There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit…” —C.S. Lewis [1]
“There are no ordinary people.
You have never talked to a mere mortal.“
How would your relationship with your spouse change if you started treating him or her as if they were someone made in the image of God? If you looked at them as they were “no ordinary person”?
How would this change the way you relate to your boss or your employees?
How would it transform the way you relate to people with whom you disagree? Politically? Culturally?
There are no “ordinary people”! Every person you interact with, regardless of race, ethnicity, social status, religious affiliation, political beliefs, personal beliefs — we could go on and on — every person was created in the image of God and should be treated as a person of immeasurable worth and value.
This is why James challenged us to guard our conversations when it comes to the way we talk about people created “in the image of God.” Check out James 3:9-10.
“With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! 10 My friends, this can’t go on…”
— James 3:9-10 MSG
“My friends, this can’t go on…“
Here are four “Rubber Meets the Road” Image of God issues:
1) Because people are made in the image of God, we VALUE the “SANCTITY OF LIFE.”
Every person ever conceived was created in the image of God. Because of that, Christians have a high view when it comes to the sanctity of human life from the conception thru old age. Every life is valuable. Every life matters. Every life should be protected.
Nancy Pearcey, in her excellent book, Love Thy Body, describes it like this:
“A Christian concept of personhood depends not on what I can do but on who I am—that I am created in the image of God, and that God has called me into existence and continues to know and love me. Human beings do not need to earn the right to be treated as creatures of great value. Our dignity is intrinsic, rooted in the fact that God made us, knows us, and loves us.” —Nancy Pearcey[2]
“Human beings do not need to earn the right
to be treated as creatures of great value.“
That line of thinking elevates humanity. Unfortunately, some leading scientists and thinkers are advocating ideas that completely devalue human life. For instance…
“James Watson, co-discoverer of the DNA double helix, advocates waiting three days after a baby is born before deciding whether it should be allowed to live. The rationale is that some genetic defects are not detectable until after birth. His colleague Francis Crick agrees: ‘No newborn infant should be declared human until it has passed certain tests regarding its genetic endowment and if it fails these tests, it forfeits the right to life.’ Peter Singer says even ‘a three-year-old is a gray case.’ After all, how much cognitive functioning does a toddler have?” —Nancy Pearcey [3]
Christians, on the other hand, believe that because people are made in the image of God, we should value the sanctity of all human life.
2) Because people are made in the image of God, we PROTECT the VULNERABLE.
This includes issues like pornography, sex-trafficking and prostitution.
Because we believe people are made in the image of God, Christians understand that when it comes to porn, sex-trafficking and prostitution, there’s no such thing as a “victimless crime.”
Recently 19-year-old Grammy Award winning music superstar, Billie Eilish shared her thoughts on the dangers of pornography during an interview on The Howard Stern Show.
During the interview, Eilish opened up and said, “As a woman, I think porn is a disgrace… I used to watch a lot of porn, to be honest. I started watching it when I was like 11. I think it really destroyed my brain and I feel incredibly devastated that I was exposed to so much porn.”
She went on to indicate that she had suffered nightmares because some of the content she watched was so violent and abusive. She also said that she believed that it had warped her views on sex and relationships.
She continued, “I’m so angry that porn is so loved, and I’m so angry at myself for thinking that it was OK…” [4]
As those made in the image of God, we work to protect, love and serve those who’ve been victimized by these issues.
We repent for viewing porn,
receive grace and forgiveness from our Father,
refuse to allow shame to overwhelm us,
get help if we struggle with an addiction,
reject any influence porn attempts to continue to exert over our life, and,
work to extend grace and hope to anyone struggling with these same issues.
By the way, A2 Church supports Trafficking Hope, an organization that rescues and provides hope to those being trafficked. We support them financially every month. On top of that, two of our A2 family members are actively involved in their mission. If you or someone you know needs help or hope, let me know and we will connect you with them.
3) Because people are made in the image of God, we PURSUE DIVERSITY.
One of A2’s “FOR” VALUES reads as follows:
Diversity. it is our pursuit — We believe ethnic and generational diversity reveals the beauty and creativity of God. It is an earthly picture of what heaven is like. We pursue diversity and racial reconciliation. (Rom 2:11; Gal 3:26-29; Col 3:11; Acts 1:8; 10:34; 17:26-27; Rev 5:9; 7:9-17)
In 1965, in a famous sermon preached at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA, Martin Luther King, Jr. described it like this:
“You see, the founding fathers were really influenced by the Bible. The whole concept of the Imago Dei…the ‘image of God,’ is the idea that all men have something within them that God injected … and this gives him a uniqueness, worth and dignity. And we must never forget this as a nation: there are no gradations in the image of God, Every man from a treble white to a bass black is significant on God’s keyboard precisely because every man is made in the
image of God.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr., July 4, 1965, The American Dream [5]
Because people are made in the image of God, any form of racism, elitism, discrimination, prejudice or oppression is not simply a social issue, it’s a sin issue.
4) Because people are made in the image of God, we HONOR UP, DOWN and ALL AROUND. (Rom 12:10; 13:7; 1 Tim 5:17; 1 Pet 2:17; 1 Thess 5:12-13)
“Honor means deciding to place high value, worth and importance on another person by viewing him or her as a priceless gift… It’s a way of accurately seeing the immense value of a person made in the image of God. It means to value another person highly as extremely important and of great worth. Honor is not earned. It is a gift and a decision we make daily…” — Gary Smalley [6]
Creating a culture of honor is so important to us that it’s one of our values at A2 Church. We call it one of our “FOR” Values.
We believe that every person should be treated with honor. By the way, every person means EVERY person — people who believe like us, and people who don’t. People who behave like us, and people who don’t.
To DISHONOR a person made in the image of God with hurtful words, hatred or violence is to DISHONOR the very GOD who CREATED them.
This includes your husband or wife.
It includes your son or daughter, your employer or employee.
It includes the homeless person on the street.
It includes a person whose ethnicity is different than yours.
It includes the person whose values and beliefs are different than yours.
Have you ever thought about this?
If we DIS-honor God’s creation, we “DIS” God?
When you DIS-honor your spouse, you DIS God.
When you DIS-honor your children, you DIS God.
When you DIS-honor those with whom you disagree with ideologically or politically, you DIS God.
It’s high time Christians reclaim HONOR as our distinctive!
Because people are made in the image of God, we HONOR UP. That means we honor those God has placed over us — including God, parents, bosses, pastors, overseers, mayors, governors, senators, congressmen and congress women, public servants, police officers, firemen, presidents and the girl processing your new license plate or driver’s license at the DMV.
We HONOR DOWN. We honor our children and employees. It includes the girl working the check out counter at Wal-Mart or the teenager in the drive-thru line at Chick-Fil-A. We HONOR DOWN.
We HONOR ALL AROUND. This includes your spouse, family, friends, co-workers and neighbors. We just live with this awareness that the people we’re rubbing shoulders with are created in the image of God and because of that they should be treated with HONOR.
What would happen if we got intentional and started dropping the “H” Bomb on the people we rub shoulders with? What would happen if we created an explosion of honor in our relational worlds?
- What would happen if you started honoring your in-laws?
- What would happen if you started honoring your ex-spouse?
- What would happen if you began to honor your boss or supervisor?
- What would happen if you made a decision to start honoring your employees?
- What would happen if you began honoring your child’s teacher?
- What would happen if you began honoring the people in uniform?
What would happen if you made a decision to honor both the people you agree with and the people you disagree with?
[1] Lewis, C. S.. Weight of Glory (Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis) (pp. 46-47). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
[2] Pearcey, Nancy. Love Thy Body (p. 55). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
[3] Pearcey, Nancy. Love Thy Body (p. 54). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
[4] https://nypost.com/2021/12/14/billie-eilish-says-porn-has-destroyed-her-brain/
[5] https://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/2019/04/every-man-from-a-treble-white-to-a-bass-black-is-significant-on-gods-keyboard-precisely-because-every-man-is-made-in-the-image-of-god/
[6] Gary Smalley, I Promise, pgs. 28-29, Kindle Edition and Gary Smalley, Making Love Last Forever, pgs 114-115, Kindle Edition