MORNING MESSAGE: John Cline
Genesis 1:26-31; 2:15; Psalm 8
To be made in the image of God – what does that mean for humans? Animals aren’t made in God’s image. Birds aren’t. Fish aren’t. Certainly, worms, trees, flowers, and grass are not. But humans are. We read,
Then God said, “Let us make human beings 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.” So, God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26,27)
Some people mistakenly think being made in imago dei (Latin for the “image of God”) means that humans resemble God physically but Scripture says that,
“God is spirit” (John 4:24).
Therefore, famous paintings such as Michaelangelo’s creation painting on the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel ceiling which shows Adam’s finger touching God’s to receive life, and shows God as being as an old, white-haired, bearded, European man is wrong.
The great 4th century theologian Augustine proposed that the image of God resides in human memory, understanding, and will, mirroring God in that. Others point to the fact that only humans have a written language through which we can communicate with one another but also record history that can then be remembered for thousands of years, a trait unique to humans. As well, only humans reason and debate, have courts of law through which a person is judged to be innocent or guilty of a crime. Only humans have prisons in which to incarcerate wrongdoers. Instinct or natural drives are what control nature. It is impressive to see migration patterns, particularly amongst birds who fly tens of thousands of kilometers north and then south every year, or salmon who swim upstream to return to their birthplace four years after being hatched, or wildebeest in East Africa who cross the treacherous, crocodile-filled, Mara River to get to the other side where grasslands for grazing await them. Humans do not migrate (well, maybe “snowbirds” kind of do!) but instead make rational decisions about where to go. This freedom of choice, the freedom to choose in every case, is a trait unique to humans. Sadly, our freedom of choice enables people to choose unwisely in their relationship with God, other people, and with nature. But it is only to humans that the gift of salvation is offered because it is only to humans that freedom of choice is given.
Standup comedian Brian Regan tells of going to a dinner party where one guest proclaimed, “Animals are smarter than humans.” Brian Regan said that he knew that he should respond to that statement as the other guests in the room were responding, that is in silence while looking down at the floor but he heard himself instead asking that person, “How are animals smarter than humans?” The guest explained, “Look at beavers. They are smarter than humans. They build dams from twigs and sticks.” To which, Brian Regan pointed at nearby Hoover Dam and simply said, “Hoover Dam!” Brian Regan knew that he should stop at that point but he couldn’t contain his thoughts and so he asked, “If you hired a group of engineers to build a dam for you in the pond beside your house and the engineers responded by wading in the lake, gathering twigs and sticks in their teeth and then putting them together to form a dam, would you think they were smart?”
Certainly, animals, birds, fish, trees, fungi, etc., all do things that delight and amaze us, but no other living creature stands back, and looks at that in wonder and amazement. Alone of all creatures, humans have unique capacities to create, to write a book, paint a landscape, compose a symphony, or calculate a mathematical sum, etc. Monkeys typing away at keyboards produce gibberish, contrary to a popular premise that they could eventually produce something legible.
Some people challenge whether there is a substantial difference between the cognitive abilities of humans and other animals. Studies of animal behavior (particularly of chimps and other apes) show that animals not only laugh and cry and care for each other but can learn some sign language and even have basic reasoning ability. But while some think these similarities mean that humans are “just another animal,” a strong case can be made from a host of disciplines for human distinctiveness. This is not just a religious thought but a scientific point of view, as well. Kevin Laland, Professor of Behavioral and Evolutionary Biology at the University of St Andrews, writes, “A hundred years of intensive research has established beyond reasonable doubt what most human beings have intuited all along; the gap is real (between humans and non-humans). In a number of key dimensions, particularly the social realm, human cognition vastly outstrips that of even the cleverest nonhuman primates.”
Only humans have the intellectual capacity or creative artistry to write a book, paint a landscape, compose a symphony, or calculate a mathematical sum. Monkeys cannot type out a thesis, nor can elephants paint a Mona Lisa. Other than humans, no creatures nor anything in creation can do that sort of thing. Having worked in the airline industry, I can tell you that I was not aware of any airplanes that were made by animals. The imago dei is only in humans.
Morally, humans reflect God’s righteousness by having a conscience, a moral compass. Oh, pet dogs certainly feel guilty after destroying their owner’s house when the owners are away at work. Pet cats might not care, but dogs often do. That is cute but doesn’t mean dogs are made in God’s image. The human conscience or “moral compass” is a vestige of our original state of being in imago dei. Whenever someone writes a law, recoils from evil, praises good behavior, or feels guilty, he or she is confirming the fact that we are made in God’s own image. The apostle Paul writes that humans have been,
“Created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:24)
The understanding of righteousness and holiness is from God.
Our good friend Dr. Ipe Mavunkal wrote, when I asked for his thoughts on the imago dei, wrote, “Basically, we are created with the capacity to reflect God’s characteristics. When God does something, he is free to do whatever He wants. He is not under compulsion to create or to do anything. He has the absolute freedom to do whatever He wants. This freedom is what fascinates me. God who created us gave us the freedom to do whatever we want. Freedom even to reject the One who created us. God’s intention was to have a loving relationship with the man whom He created. Love becomes meaningless if it’s forced. So, the freedom is important to a degree we can never imagine. Though we are created in the image of God, we are limited in the sense that we are not gods. We cannot create out of nothing, but God can. We have the capacity to love others like He loves us. In essence, we have the ability to think, reason, and act like He does. Since we are made in His image, we are expected to reflect His characteristics such as love, righteousness, and justice, etc.”
Those are profound words, but we are not done yet in exploring this topic. For example, Scripture also teaches the true value of being made in God’s image is found in valuing human life. Since humans are made in God’s image, human life is highly valued by God. The intentional taking of one human life by another in murder is forbidden by God and will bring about reciprocity because of how seriously God values the imago dei in us. God says this,
“Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made human beings.” (Genesis 9:6)
This shows the seriousness of loving our neighbours and even our enemies as ourselves, for every human was made in God’s image.
Now, the historic context of the Ancient Near East in which the Book of Genesis was written gives us even more understanding regarding the imago dei in humans. The other Ancient Near Eastern people groups confused God with His creation and worshipped various aspects of the creation, such as trees and mountains, the sun and the moon, etc. They also conceived of those various created things as being gods with personalities, and they made idols in the images of those gods to venerate and worship. But, God, in His Ten Commandments, says,
“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.” (Exodus 20:3-5a)
God was forbidding His people from thinking of Him as other people thought of their gods. In the those first two of His Ten Commandments, God was conveying to people that He is “other” than His creation. When God forbids His covenant people to make any graven images that includes of Him. In that, we see the value of us humans being made in imago dei. Humans are representative or images of (God in His creation. In fact, humans being made in imago dei is intentional for it means that we are the only representation of God most people will ever see. This places a huge responsibility on us to act accordingly. The word,
Tselem, Hebrew for “an image, a resemblance; a representative figure” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
This Hebrew word tselem is used in other Old Testament passages to refer to an idol made by human hands. Related languages in the Ancient Near East, like Akkadian and Ugaritic, used the same word to refer to the idols/images/representatives of their people’s gods. So, when Genesis says that God made human beings in His image, that was in contrast to the images/idols found in the other cultures of the Ancient Near East. A person who bears an idol or image of a small-g god can set it down but the image of God is not something humans can put on, take off, adopt, or abandon. Every human being is made in God’s image. Of course, sin has gotten in the way and has greatly harmed the imago dei shown by us, but sin doesn’t discount the fact that we are created in God’s image however that’s for next week’s sermon!
So, being made in imago dei means we are God’s living images in creation. We represent God here on earth better than any idol made by human hands. As God’s representatives, humans have been given authority over the physical realm. The Biblical term is “dominion”, although many moderns are uncomfortable with that word’s connotations, preferring to speak of “stewardship” instead. However, the two concepts are inextricably linked. We’re not to be environmental despots, raping and ruining the natural world to suit our whim. But neither are we to act as if we’re not distinct from the rest of creation, with no right to change or use it. We’re to care for and develop the physical resources God has entrusted to us in ways that will honour Him and benefit others. Thus, unlike any other creature He made, God fitted humans with the capacity to perceive the moral aspect of caring for creation. This differentiates us from the animals, which merely follow instinct and are thus not moral agents. Thus,
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. (Genesis 1:28-31)
We are called to rule or have “dominion” over creation. No other part of creation can rule over us. Not animals. Not fish. Not birds. Not plants. It is true that no other created being can mess up creation like humans can, through pollution and wanton destruction, but that behaviour is part of the Fall and not part of God’s good creation and will. As God’s representatives, humans are to rule on the earth in keeping with God’s standards and purposes. And God’s rule is not the rule of a despot, but the loving nurture of a caring parent. Thus, the first man, Adam, was told to tend to God’s creation:
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. (Genesis 2:15)
We are here by design, not by chance. We bear His fingerprints and are to be His stewards of the world, working towards bringing heaven to earth. Being made in imago dei is an astounding privilege. Why us alone? The Lord knows us intimately. He calls us each by our name. He looks after us and has entrusted us to treat others with the same care and respect. The Psalmist was overcome with the thought of what that all meant. And so, to conclude, let’s read the Psalmists words:
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is humankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:1-9)
