This is a lightly edited transcript of what I actually said when I taught this session at Spring Creek Bible Church on October 18, 2015, as Part 4 of The Doctrines of Man and Sin class. It differs from what I planned to say; for the prepared text, see the manuscript.
This week we begin the doctrine of the image of God. I’ve decided to split it into two parts: today we’ll work through the Scripture and lay the biblical foundation, and next week we’ll think about what the doctrine means for how we live. This is one of the most important doctrines for understanding who we are as humans—it gets at the heart of why we exist, and it has application for how we view ourselves, our spouses, our children, other believers and unbelievers, our work, and much more. I’m excited to dig into that application next week.
Let me review quickly where we’ve been. The first week we introduced the doctrines of man and sin and why we should study them. In week two we looked at the origin of man—where we came from and why we were created. Last week we covered the nature of man, and we learned several things: that we must interpret general revelation in light of special revelation, and reckon with the effects of the fall on our minds and hearts (and on the minds of those who reject God’s authority); that the most foundational thing about us is that we are God’s creatures—created by him, owned by him, owing him obedience and allegiance, entrusted with all we have, living in constant dependence on his provision; that we are made of two parts, body and soul, and while the body can’t live without the soul, the soul lives on without the body until the resurrection; that the Bible uses a variety of Hebrew and Greek terms for our material and immaterial parts that don’t map neatly onto our English words (“heart” being one example), so we must be careful; that Scripture doesn’t tell us directly where our souls come from, though it seems most likely God creates them at the moment of conception; and that God made Adam and Eve with complementary roles before the fall, so that by his original design men and women function differently in the home and in the church.
Today’s outline is simple. First we’ll look at the meaning of the words for the image of God—we’ll dig into a little Greek and Hebrew, all transliterated and accessible. Then we’ll walk through the key passages one by one and draw out what Scripture teaches about the image of God.
Last week I said the most fundamental thing about us is that we are creatures—that God created us. A close second is that we are God’s image. Those two truths together get to the heart of what it means to be human. Being creatures highlights how we differ from God: he is the Creator, we are creatures; he is owner, we are owned; he is giver, we are receivers; he is ruler, we are his subjects; he is infinite, we are finite. But being in his image highlights how we are like God. We need to affirm both fully—we are at once very different from God and truly like him. To minimize either does a disservice to ourselves and to God’s glory.
The Terms for the Image of God
There are essentially two groups of words in the Bible for the image of God, which come into English as “image” and “likeness.” Two Hebrew terms correspond nicely to those: tselem (image) and demut (likeness). And in Greek there are eikōn (image) and homoiōma/homoiōsis (likeness). Unlike last week—where I warned against equating a Greek, Hebrew, and English word—these terms largely do correspond to one another. “Image” almost always renders that first Hebrew and Greek word, and “likeness” the second. The two, image and likeness, have slightly different shades of meaning but are synonyms used interchangeably; it’s best to think of them as two sides of the same coin—you can’t have one without the other—while noting some subtle differences.
The Hebrew terms occur about forty times in the Old Testament. Tselem occurs fifteen times and basically means an image or visual representation—something visible that stands for something else. Its verb form doesn’t appear in the Old Testament, but from related languages we know it means to chop, hew, carve, or sculpt—literally, to make an image. It’s used four times of the image of God, and also of the image of Adam (in Genesis 5:3, where Adam is made in God’s image and then fathers a son in his own image and likeness—a key passage we’ll return to). Very commonly it refers to an idol—something carved and worshiped in place of God. (As an aside, a recent volume in the New Studies in Biblical Theology series ties together the concepts of God’s image and idolatry, since they share this underlying word; I haven’t read it yet, but it sounds interesting.) It can also refer to a plain statue, or even a picture, such as the figures painted on a wall in Ezekiel 23. A few examples: “God created man in his own image…male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27); Adam “fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth” (5:3); Israel’s command to “destroy all their figured stones and…all their metal images” when entering Canaan (Numbers 33:52); and the people tearing down the house of Baal and breaking “his altars and his images” (2 Chronicles 23:17). In each case we’re dealing with something visible that represents something else.
The second Hebrew word, demut (likeness), occurs twenty-five times and conveys the idea of one thing being like or similar to another; its verb form means to be like or resemble. It’s used of the likeness of God—often right alongside the image of God—and of the likeness of Adam. But interestingly, whereas the first word always refers to something visible, this one can refer to a nonphysical characteristic. Examples: “When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God” (Genesis 5:1); King Ahaz sending Uriah “a model” of the altar he saw in Damascus, built to exact pattern on a smaller scale (2 Kings 16:10); “the wicked…have venom like the venom of a serpent”—a likeness that’s not a visible image but a shared characteristic (Psalm 58:4); and Ezekiel describing his vision, “as for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face…the face of a lion…of an ox…of an eagle” (Ezekiel 1:10), drawing a correspondence between what he saw and what he knew. The emphasis of this word falls a bit more on the similarity itself and less on the visual form.
Now the Greek terms. Eikōn occurs twenty-three times in the New Testament and is the most common translation of the Hebrew tselem; both mean “image.” You can hear our English word “icon” in it—an icon is something that stands for something else. Click an icon on your phone and it opens a program; that little image represents the program. In the New Testament eikōn is used of an engraving, often of idols, of Jesus as God’s image, of man as God’s image and as Adam’s image, and of man in Jesus’ image. Examples: “Whose image and inscription” is on the denarius? Caesar’s (Luke 20:24)—a visible representation of Caesar on the coin; those who “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” (Romans 1:23); Christ, “who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4); and the new self “being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:10). As with the Hebrew, this word refers to a visible representation of something else.
The likeness words, homoiōma and homoiōsis, occur seven times (six and one) and mean similarity or likeness, corresponding to the Hebrew demut. Examples: the locusts that “had the likeness of horses prepared for battle” (Revelation 9:7); “death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam” (Romans 5:14)—a shared characteristic, not a visible image; Jesus “born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7); and cursing “people who are made in the likeness of God” (James 3:9). One caution: this word can signal a likeness that is not identical, but sometimes the likeness is so strong it’s virtually identity. We mustn’t say Jesus became merely a little like men—he took on true, full humanity (though not sinful humanity). So we have to weigh in each context how strong the likeness is.
To summarize: the terms fall into two groups with a nice correspondence across English, Hebrew, and Greek. “Image” = tselem = eikōn, with the core idea of a visible representation that stands for something else. “Likeness” = demut = homoiōma/homoiōsis, with the core idea of a similarity in appearance or attribute, with less emphasis on the visual. (A good study principle: when a passage says we’re made in God’s image, it helps to trace that word “image” throughout the Bible to see the range of ways it’s used.) There is a subtle difference between the two: the first usually refers to the image itself, the second to the relationship of similarity between the things compared. You can see both in Romans 1:23, where they stand back to back—literally “the likeness of an image of perishable man”—the first word for the images themselves, the second for their likeness to men, birds, and animals. Again, two sides of the same coin: where one is present, the other is true as well, even if unmentioned.
Illustrations of the Image
A few illustrations help us grasp what the Bible means. The best, I think, is a child—and Scripture itself makes the comparison in Genesis 5:3, where Adam fathers Seth in his own likeness and image. When parents have children, they pass on their likeness; a child is both like and unlike his parents in body and soul, often represents them, carries the family name, and is given responsibility by them. There are many parallels there to God creating us in his image. A picture—photograph, painting, or drawing—is also a good analogy. A picture of a person is like that person and represents him. You carry photos in your wallet or on your phone and say, “That’s my son, that’s my wife”—though of course it isn’t; it’s pixels or paper that stands for them. We treasure pictures of those we love (every year our family gets photos taken because Shanna loves to capture what the kids were like when they were younger), even though the picture is not the person but a likeness of them. The logo or icon (recall that eikōn gives us “icon”) is helpful but only narrowly: a logo stands for a product or company, but the likeness is abstract and teaches little about the thing represented. A flag is similar—it represents a nation, but with little actual likeness to it.
Walking Through the Key Passages
Let’s walk through the key passages, organized into groups by theme: man made in God’s image; man in Adam’s image; fallen man still in God’s image; Jesus as the perfect image; Jesus becoming the image of man; man being restored to God’s image; and man perfectly imaging God.
Man in God’s image. “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion….So God created man in his own image…male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:26–27). A few observations: verse 26 uses both Hebrew words, and verse 27 repeats the first; God says “let us make man” (something we’ll come back to next week); the image is tied to the command to exercise dominion over the rest of creation; and it’s correlated with our being made male and female—so there’s a relational component to what it means to image God. Genesis 5:1–3 again connects male and female and then shows Adam imaging God by fathering a son “in his own likeness, after his image”—so being fruitful and having children is itself an expression of the image. Genesis 9:6—“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image”—grounds the wrongness of murder in the image: violence against man is, in a sense, violence against God. If you showed me a picture of your wife and I ripped it up, you’d take offense; people burn flags not because they care about cheap cloth but because of what it symbolizes. What symbolizes is connected to what it represents. And note this text shows even fallen man is still in God’s image. Psalm 8:3–8 doesn’t use the word “image,” yet it’s one of the most important passages on the theme: God made man “a little lower than the heavenly beings” (the Hebrew is Elohim; the Septuagint renders it “angels,” and the New Testament confirms that reading), whether “a little lower than” or “for a little while lower than” the angels—and it again emphasizes dominion. First Corinthians 11:7 ties image and glory together: “man…is the image and glory of God” (without implying women aren’t in God’s image—Paul is making a point about order). And James 3:9 says it’s wrong to curse people “made in the likeness of God”: it makes no sense to praise God and then curse his image, just as you wouldn’t tell your wife “I love you” and then “I hate this picture of you.” Here too, all humans—even those who rebel against God—are still in his image.
Man in Adam’s image. We already saw Genesis 5:3—Seth fathered in Adam’s likeness and image, paralleling exactly Adam’s being made in God’s image. This is presumably true of all Adam’s descendants: we bear the image of our fathers. Procreation, again, is the best analogy for the image—we are like God our Father much as we’re like our father Adam and our immediate fathers. First Corinthians 15:49: “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust” (Adam), “we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (Jesus, the second Adam)—so in the resurrection we’ll bear Christ’s image in a glorified body.
Fallen man still in God’s image. Scripture keeps calling man God’s image even after the fall; he still images God, though imperfectly. Genesis 9:6 forbids killing any human, not just believers, because all bear God’s image; likewise 1 Corinthians 11:7 and James 3:9 give no indication they’re restricted to believers. All humans, fallen included, are in God’s image.
Jesus as the perfect image. In John 14, when Philip says, “Lord, show us the Father,” Jesus answers, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”—he perfectly represents and images the Father. Second Corinthians 4:4 calls Christ “the image of God” (and, incidentally, calls Satan “the god of this world”—another case where the word “god” doesn’t refer to God himself). Colossians 1:15 calls the Son “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation”—Jesus makes God visible, the preeminent image among images. Hebrews 1:3 calls him “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.”
Jesus becoming the image of man. The perfect image of God took on the likeness and image of man—the essence of the incarnation. God sent his own Son “in the likeness of sinful flesh” as a sin offering (Romans 8:3); Jesus’ body wasn’t sinful, but he came in the likeness of sinful flesh—true, full human nature, just not sinful. “He made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7). This reverses, in a sense, our being created in God’s likeness—and again, he was truly and fully human, not merely humanlike.
Man being restored to God’s image. This is the essence of sanctification—so you can see how the image of God runs through so many doctrines. “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18): the image marred by sin is gradually restored as we grow, reflecting God more clearly and conveying his glory. “Put off your old self…and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22–24), a transformation that works through the mind. And the parallel in Colossians 3:9–10—the new self “being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator”—again renewing our minds by the knowledge of Scripture to conform us to the image of Jesus.
Man perfectly imaging God. This is glorification. “Those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29)—the very aim of God’s foreknowledge and predestination was to make us like his Son, lesser copies of the perfect image, with Jesus preeminent among them. “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:49); God “will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21); “when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Our glorification includes the body being made like Jesus’, not only likeness in righteousness and holiness.
So, summarizing: man was made in the image of God; man is also in the image of Adam; after sin, man still images God, though imperfectly; Jesus, the second Adam, is the perfect image of God; Jesus, the image of God, became the image of man; we are being restored into the image of God; and we will again perfectly image God when he makes all things new.
From our vantage point, there are four phases of the image of God: the original image, when man in innocence imaged God; the perverted image, when fallen man imaged him imperfectly; the renewed image—where I trust most of us are living now—as our image is progressively restored; and the perfected image, one day to come.
Conclusion
Let me draw the threads together. What a glorious privilege it is to be made like God, to display his glory and represent him on the earth—stop and ponder that the God of the universe made us like himself. And what a glorious redemption, that God lovingly pursues marred images that veil his glory, in order to restore them. The God in whose image we were made takes on our image so that he might restore us to his. In this age we’re privileged to image him more and more as we’re renewed and as we behold him in his Word; and one day we’ll be perfectly like him in body and soul, glorifying him fully as we were designed to—so that Christ will be preeminent among all his brothers and sisters. That was God’s aim from before the foundation of the world, when he predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son.
A few resources you might find helpful: Anthony Hoekema’s Created in God’s Image—really a book on the whole doctrine of man, but it treats the image extensively and is very helpful; G. C. Berkouwer’s volume on the image of God; Meredith Kline’s more technical treatment, with some fascinating insights; and a work by James Orr.
Let me close in prayer. Father, thank you for this opportunity to study what you teach us about making us in your image. What an honor, what a privilege, to be made like God. Forgive us for not imaging you as we ought, for veiling your glory. Thank you for working to renew and restore us into the image of Jesus, the perfect image of God, and that one day we will be perfectly like him. Help us to behold his glory, that we may be transformed more and more into his image. We look forward to the day when we will each be a little copy among his brothers and sisters, displaying your glory for all eternity. Bless our time now as we worship you and hear your Word preached in fellowship together. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.