Truth Month - July 2024
Day 4 - Men and Women are made in the Image of God, but marred by sin
The great mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal pondered the seeming paradox that human beings exhibit qualities of both greatness and wretchedness. What worldview best explains this enigma? Are humans basically good, but sometimes do bad things? Or is there a more fundamental problem at the root of it? Are we just products of untold ages of unguided evolution, molded by the struggle to survive? Is there more to life? Is there purpose in life beyond something we give ourselves?
I believe that Christianity has the best explanation for this dilemma. From the beginning, God created mankind in His own image, as complementarian male and female beings. While we are not God (or gods), we bear a likeness to Him. But now the rest of the story… that image has been marred and distorted by our disobedience and rebellion against the Creator's design (i.e. "sin"). That is the tension that we all war with our whole lives. Even the apostle Paul struggled to do what he knew to be right, when he wanted to do otherwise.
What is the image of God (or the Imago Dei in Latin)? The Bible never explicitly says what this is, but reading the whole thing gives us some insights. Here are three (nonexclusive) ways to understand the image of God.
Resemblance - We look like God in some ways. We bear a likeness by sharing some of His communicable characteristics, such as love, intelligence, moral awareness, and creativity.
Representative Ruler - We are meant to be God's representatives on Earth, with the power to rule over the earth and subdue it. We also are tasked with sharing the revelation and knowledge of God to others.
Relational - We have a relational nature between ourselves and others, just as the triune God has loving relationships between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Because of this, we are also capable of having a relationship with our Creator.
God chose not to leave us to wallow in our sin, but rather provided a way to be reconciled to Himself. Jesus became a man, lived among us, was brutally executed, and then rose again. His sacrifice paid the price of our debt and took the punishment in our place, so that we can have a new start and be conformed to His image once again.
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