Created in God's Image: The Dignity That Never Fades

Introduction

Ben opens a new eight-week series on our identity in God. He starts with the foundational question: what does it mean to be created in the image of God? Drawing from Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, he shows three simple things: God wanted us, he entrusted us with a mandate, and this image imprinted in us never fades, even when sin disfigures it.

Message Outline

1. Created in the Image of God

• Genesis 1:26: "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness."
• John Piper puts it this way: you create the image of someone to show something about that person. A statue, a painting highlights one facet (Napoleon Crossing the Alps → power and leadership; the statue in Kazakhstan of four men saving a dog → solidarity).
• We are more than 8 billion living images that say something about God. God did not miss the mark: his creation was good, and on the day he created humanity, he declared it "very good."
• The Hebrew word Elohim carries a plural sense. The "let us" of Genesis 1:26 points to this triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), three persons, one God. This perfect communion existed before creation. God did not need us: he created us out of an overflow of love, like children who are the product of their parents' love.
• Question to ask yourself: do you live with the assurance that God wanted you, with a part of his image in you to reflect him?

2. God Gave Us a Mandate

• Genesis 1:26 continues: "that he may rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky..." The Hebrew word radah evokes governance, an authority that takes care.
• Genesis 2:15: "The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." To cultivate is to make fruitful; to keep is to protect with the wisdom God gives.
• Genesis 2 also tells how God brings the animals to the man so he can name them. God, in curiosity, watches to see what the human will choose. It's remarkable how much authority he entrusts to us.
• This mandate applies to all of life: growing plants on your balcony, managing a team at work, raising your children, caring for your friends, carrying a responsibility in the church or in government. No matter the scale, the mandate is the same, to take care, to bring order, to make things bear fruit.
• Ben adds a word for those going through a season of job searching: don't neglect this mandate in this season. Even when it feels like everything has been taken from you, you are called to reign with Christ, in your home, your surroundings, your friendships, your family, the church. It helps you get through hard moments without losing your identity.

3. The Image of God Remains : Despite the Fall

• After the flood, Genesis 9:6 lays down a foundation: "Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed, for in the image of God has God made humankind." This is the root of the commandment not to kill.
• James 3:9 says the same thing about our speech: "With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God's likeness."
• The fall has disfigured much in us, but the image of God remains. This is grace, a patience of God. It is the biblical foundation of human dignity: no matter the disfigurement caused by sin, humanity remains in the image of its Creator.
• Ben brings up apartheid in South Africa (1948). The word means "separateness." The ideology claimed to be Christian ("each people develops at its own pace, as good neighbors"), and produced unequal laws, displaced peoples, massacres. Ben calls it by its name: a demonic doctrine. Taking part of the truth and twisting it to divide, to rank human beings, to say that some are worth less: that is false.
• Galatians 3:28: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither male nor female... you are all one in Christ Jesus." The Church can and must oppose any doctrine that claims otherwise.
• Ben shares a personal practice: on the subway, he looks at people's faces and tries to see a king or a queen in them. The kings and queens of our world aren't necessarily the most beautiful, but when they are dressed for a ceremonial day, they carry a radiance, a bearing. With a bit of imagination, we can perceive this nobility in every face. God placed something of himself in each person.

Key Takeaways

• Being created in the image of God is the privilege of humanity. It is not the case for animals, nor for the rest of creation: God wanted you to carry something of himself.
• God did not create you out of lack, nor as a mere tool. You are the product of the love that overflows from the Trinity.
• The mandate to cultivate and keep is still active. Whatever season you are in, you are called to reign with God where you are, with what he has entrusted to you.
• The image of God does not fade with the fall. It is disfigured, but it remains. This is the biblical basis for the dignity of every human being.
• No person carries the image of God any less than another. Neither Jew nor Greek, neither male nor female, neither rich nor poor: all one in Jesus Christ.

Personal Application

• Where do you stand with this simple statement: "God wanted me"? Do you believe it when you look at yourself in the mirror in the morning?
• What mandate has God entrusted to you today, a team, a family, an intern, a friendship, a home, a season of job searching? How are you cultivating it with faithfulness, even if no one sees it?
• What categories do you still use, in your mind or with your words, to say that certain people are worth less than others? What "demonic" doctrine does the Spirit want to uproot?
• This week, try Ben's exercise on public transport: look at faces and try to see a king or a queen. What does that change in the way you encounter people?
• Where do you need God to restore your view of yourself, your worth, your dignity?

Verses Cited

• Genesis 1 · The creation account through the sixth day.
• Genesis 1:26-27 · "Let us make man in our image..."
• Genesis 2:7 · God forms the man from dust and breathes into him the breath of life.
• Genesis 2:15 · God places the man in the garden to work it and take care of it.
• Genesis 9:6 · "For in the image of God has God made humankind."
• James 3:8-9 · The tongue and human beings made in the image of God.
• Galatians 3:28 · "You are all one in Christ Jesus."

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it mean to be "created in the image of God"?

It means that God made you to reflect something of himself, his love, his intelligence, his creativity, his capacity to reign with kindness. Like a statue or a painting that highlights one facet of a person, your life carries something of God. It is not only a spiritual status: it is a dignity woven into your existence, whatever your condition.

Did the image of God disappear because of sin?

No. The fall disfigured much in us, but the image of God remains. That is what Genesis 9:6 says after the flood, and what James 3:9 reminds us: human beings are "made in the image of God." It is even the biblical foundation of human dignity and of the prohibition against killing. No person carries the image of God any less than another.

How does this mandate to "cultivate and keep" apply to my life today?

It concerns everything God has entrusted to you: a family, a team at work, friends, a home, a church community, a season of job searching. No matter the scale. The mandate is to make what you've been given bear fruit, to care for it with wisdom, to protect and to bring order. Even in a season where it feels like everything has been taken from you, you are still called to reign with Christ where you are.