Reflecting God’s Image—Part 2: An Infinitely-Faceted Diamond
Introduction
How can we be made in the image of an imageless God? Ironically in the Ten Commandments, God forbids us to make images of Him, but he makes man in his own image. Why? What is God up to and why is mankind so important? Why does God want us to portray his image? What exactly are we to portray? How are we supposed to portray it? And for what purpose?
Driving Question
Oftentimes looking for an answer to a question leads to more questions. In this series of posts we are exploring the driving question:
Who did God intend for us to be?
This question came from a series of three questions in my Bereshit—Part 3 post that I stated were vital for understanding the Gospel.
- Who is God?
- Who did God intend for us to be?
- And why was eating the forbidden fruit was so significant?
This topic is also addressed on my Genesis 2 Image Study on my Genesis Bible Studies page.
In this post we are focusing on what does it mean to be made in the image of God? In order to answer the question, we need to understand who God is or at least what He’s communicating to us about Himself in the text.
Like Father, Like Son
Genesis 5: 3 states “When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. (NIV)” A son reflects his father (and mother) in some capacity. In my previous post Reflecting God’s Image—Part 1: Insights from Scripture and Reflection Questions, we discussed how we are more like a shadow or dim reflection of the actual object. I stated that in order to know and properly reflect God, we need to know who He is (see my first question). Remember thus far in Genesis, God revealed Himself to His creation as Elohim, so I challenged you in my last post Reflecting God’s Image—Part 1: Insights from Scripture and Reflection Questions to reread Genesis 1:1-2:3 and write down everything you knew about Elohim. If you read my post Understanding Elohim: The Kingly Attributes of God, I did some of the work for you.
Who is Elohim?
In my post Understanding Elohim: The Kingly Attributes of God, we discussed how Elohim is a creator, definer, powerful (omnipotent), judge, singular & plural simultaneously, delegating king, resting king, eternal king, and father king. Additionally, in Genesis 1 God states that both males and females are created in God’s image.
Now remember, we are made in the image of God, but a reflection is limited. It is not exactly like the object it’s reflecting. Likewise, although we have some (but not all) of the traits as Elohim, we are limited in what we can do. We are not God! We are his image bearers.
Who Did God Intend for Us to Be?
Creators
Elohim created by—
- speaking (verses 3, 6, 9,11, 14, 20).
- fashioning or making (verses 7, 16, 25, 26).
- commanding something else (the Earth) to fashion or make or bring forth (verses 11-12, 24)
- dividing/separating (verses 4, 6, 7, 14)
- gathering/collecting (verse 9)
God has given mankind the ability to create. However, our ability to create differs from God’s. He is able to create something out of nothing. We can just rearrange and organize the somethings that God has already created. He also has the ability to create by just speaking, whereas we have to use our hands. (Although, with the advent of Alexa and machine learning, we may be able to create by speaking in the future if we can’t already. I can imagine people giving oral commands to a 3D printer. But even so, it’s not in the same manner as God speaking the world into existence.)
We also have a limitation that’s not stated here, but that we learn about in Exodus 20: 4-6:
“You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. [NIV]”
We are not to create images of God. He has already done that by creating us.
Definers
In the creation story, there are certain things that God chose to name: Day and Night, Sky/Heaven, Earth, Seas (verses 5, 8,10). However, he left the naming and defining of some things up to us. In Genesis 2:19, God allowed man to name and thereby define the categories of living creatures.
Rulers
The name Elohim means strong or mighty one; it is a kingly title, and kings are powerful because they rule. God commanded mankind to rule over all the living creatures, and we are to subdue creation. More accurately, He made us kind of like middle-managers. Unlike God our power is limited, and we are not omnipotent.
Although, we haven’t gotten there yet, God gives us a limitation on our power to rule as well. Genesis 2:15 states the following:
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. [ESV]”
The Hebrew word for work, is “abad,” and it can mean work or serve (to serve as subjects or to make one a servant of.) The word for keep is “shamar,” and it means to keep, guard, observe, or give heed to. At times it is also translated obey. It’s a shepherding word. The word for watchmen or keepers is actually the word “shamar.” It actually means sheepfold. The shepherd will gather up thorns and make a hedge about the sheep to keep the sheep in and keep evil out. Our power is limited in the fact that the goal of our dominion on Earth is to serve and guard God’s creation as a whole, not to be tyrannical overseers using creation solely for our own benefit.
Judges
Originally, God did not give mankind the ability to judge, because he forbid us to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. (Whether he meant to keep us from that knowledge forever or until we were ready for it is a matter of debate.)
But now that we have eaten it, we need to judge the world according to God’s standards. He has given us some tools to do so. He has given us our conscience where he has written His law on our hearts (Romans 2:14-16), and He has given us the Old Testament and New Testament.
Notice that we are to judge things according to God’s laws. We are not to step aside from that and determine what is “right in our own eyes” as the judges did (Judges 17:16).
Vital Parts of a Community
Being in a Trinitarian relationship with himself, God is both singular and plural. Similarly God made us individuals (male and female), but we are to live in community with one another and with Him, for God declares it is not good for man to live alone. Although in a sense we are individuals, we are also a part of a community (or several communities). We affect the communities we live in for good or for ill, and the communities we live in affect us as well. It’s a two-way relationship. The corporate body of believers is a community called the Church (with a capital C). We are one body with many parts (1 Corinthians 12:12) created to live in fellowship with one another.
Delegators
God delegated some of his ruling responsibility to us, so we may delegate some of our responsibilities to one another. Moses learned this lesson from his father-in-law Jethro (Judges 18:13-26). God did not need to delegate, for He can in fact do it all. But He modeled this for us, because he knew that we as finite creatures cannot. This goes back to us being one of many parts in a larger body.
Resting Beings Created for Enjoyment
God rested and enjoyed his work. So he also blessed us with a Sabbath rest—a time to rest and enjoy our work. Currently we experience this periodically (hopefully at least once a week), but one day we will experience this rest fully with God in eternity.
Oftentimes we forget to receive God’s blessing and neglect resting. And other times our resting and enjoyment is misplaced. God calls us to rejoice in Him and the works that He has made!
Eternal Beings
God created us to live forever as He originally created us in a world without death and gave us access to the Tree of Life. Unfortunately, we brought death into the world by eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and so we are to return to the dust we are made. However, we all still have a soul (that breath of life that God gives us), so even when our body perishes, our soul will live forever.
Father and Mothers
God made us male and female, and He commanded us to be fruitful and multiply. We are called to reproduce and care for our young. As fathers and mothers, we need to raise our children in what is good and functional according to God’s law, just as God taught us. This may require discipline at times. We need to be compassionate and merciful towards our children just as God is towards us.
In Jesus this command is no longer limited to physical descendants, but our new and greater focus as Christians is on creating and raising spiritual descendants as he commanded: “Go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28: 18-29). We need to be spiritual fathers and mothers to those who are young in the faith, building them up in knowledge of God’s Word while showing them compassion and mercy. For our physical descendants may or may not live with us in eternity, (although we hope and pray that they do), but our spiritual descendants definitely will.
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Why is Mankind Important?
Mankind is important because God intended us to be His image bearers. Our lives are so important that God states in Genesis 9:6 that we are to preserve life at all cost:
“Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind [NIV].”
We are a creators, definers, rulers, judges, individuals within community, delegators, resting beings created for enjoyment, eternal beings, and spiritual fathers (and mothers). Regardless of whether we are male or female, we are created in God’s image and likeness. God created us to be these amazing creatures. Creatures that were the pinnacle of his creation—greater than the sun, moon, stars, and seas. He declared us to be “very good.” If you belong to Him, He declared you to be “very good” when He thought up your existence before the creation of the world. That includes what you perceive as your flaws. What an awesome thing to think about! When you sit outside and are marveled by nature, take a step back and look inward at the complexity and awesomeness of each individual person. We are so complex and alike, but yet so different and unique. Even the mechanics of how our eyes work is amazing.
Multi-Faceted Diamonds & The Infinite Nature of God
Many years ago I heard an analogy of the infiniteness of God. (I think it was from Peter Kreeft’s What Would Socrates Do? CD collection, but I’m not 100% positive.) The idea was to imagine God as a diamond with an infinite number of facets.
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What is a Diamond Facet?
Facets act as mirrors. They are flat surfaces cut into a gemstone to optimize the desired brilliance, fire, and sparkle. There are several types of facets. Some facets such as the crown facets enable light to enter the gemstone. Whereas the pavilion facets reflect light back up to the viewer. All the facets are strategically cut to optimize the stone’s interaction with the light and are in harmony with one another.
“Good facet arrangement ensures that light entering the diamond is reflected internally and dispersed back through the top, enhancing the stone’s brilliance (white light reflections), fire (color dispersion), and sparkle (flashes of light).”
Quoted from What Are Diamond Facets: Role in Sparkle and Brilliance (diamondrensu.com)
The Church as a Diamond
Now imagine that the Church is a diamond with an infinite number of facets (or at least according to Genesis 16:10 an uncountable number of facets)? Each individual is a facet on the diamond whose sole purpose is to reflect God’s light in a way that is unique to the way that God created them. After all He is the master stone cutter. As in individual we can only reflect one aspect of God, but together as mankind (the Church) we can reflect an immeasurable amount of God’s glory. In order to achieve maximum brilliance, each facet must do its part to reflect the light according to its role. Just as the sands on the seashore cannot be counted, so great is the number of people who reflect His glory.
This aligns to Saint John’s vision about the Church in Revelation 21: 9-11:
“’Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. [NIV]”
Note: People aren’t sure which names refer to which ancient gemstones.
Think about how amazing it is to reflect Elohim! Individually we can reflect his glory somewhat, but corporately we dazzle! How beautiful is the Church! How beautiful are the feet that spread the good news!
Imago Dei
Imago Dei is Latin for the phrase “Image of God.” It is a doctrine of the church. Although there are variations among denominations about its exact applications, it is vital for every Christian to understand that they and every other person on Earth are created in the image of God. That means each person has intrinsic value and needs to be treated with divine dignity and respect as image bearers. It is why God commands us to preserve life (Genesis 9:6). God set mankind above all creation to be guardians of His creation. It’s quite an enormous task. We were created to mirror Him and reflect his glory!
How Does our Understanding of the Image of God Affect How We View Ourselves?
It’s hard for us to understand the grandness of being made in the image of God if we don’t have a proper view of God. Misunderstanding the nature of God can hinder us from viewing ourselves correctly and damage our sense of self. We can either overemphasize or underemphasize our importance in the world. Overemphasizing our sense of self can lead us to become lovers of ourselves or narcissists (2 Timothy 3: 2-4). Or we can become despondent focusing too much on our failings or wallowing in our sins. Understanding that we were uniquely and purposefully created in the image of God with the purpose of glorifying Him balances us and gives us the right perspective.
Thus far we have only explored God as he revealed Himself as Elohim, but as we continue to read and study Scripture, we will discover new facets of his character. As our understanding of God increases, so will our understanding of whom God created us to be.
Conclusion
After reading Genesis 1 and studying the attributes of Elohim, you see that mankind is different than the rest of God’s creation. Although currently we may be a dim or shadow-like refection, his intent for us is to fully reflect Him. Just as we only see heavenly things as through a mirror obscurely or darkly (1 Corinthians 13:12), so we can only reflect God obscurely. But when God originally created us, we were blameless and pure, and He intended us to shine like the stars in the sky (Philippians 2:15). Currently you are a diamond in the rough, but he’s polishing you and one day you will dazzle!
Check out My Bible Studies
This blog post supports my Genesis 2 Image Study and Homework found on my Genesis Bible study page. Check it out and try teaching it to a friend.
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Tell me about the facet that is you! How do you uniquely reflect God’s glory?
