Imago Dei



Imago Dei = "The Image of God"

In my current Bible study class we've spent a lot of time discussing this concept.

Genesis 1 singles out the creation of humanity as being distinct from the rest of God's creation.  

In each aspect preceding God's formation of Adam, we see a sort of repetition.  Phrases like "God said" and "let there be" and "according to their kinds" are used over and over.  However, in verse 26 we see a break in the flow of the passage...and I believe that break is supposed to make us stop and think.

"Then God said, 'Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals and over all the creatures that move along the ground." - Genesis 1:26

This verse sets humankind apart as God's representatives within the world.  Our initial purpose was to reflect His creation up to Him, and Him back out to His creation.

But what happens when the world is broken - as our is?

Then the reflection He sees is not the beautiful one He created.  Instead, He sees something "less than,"  a dirty, distorted, UGLY version of the original.

So how can we fix this?

We can't.  Only our faith in Jesus Can.  

His death on the cross has restored our beauty and made us adoptive sons and daughters of God.  His death has given us the opportunity to have a true and personal relationship with God.  And His sacrifice was the only way we could know and truly reflect God out to those we encounter here on Earth.

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