We live in this world as God’s representative to reflect His glory and bring love and harmony to His creation. This Triune God has been revealed so that we may believe in Him and become one in a loving fellowship with Him.
This question refers to the following verse from the Book of Genesis:
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (Genesis 1:26, NKJV).
There are essentially two questions here. First, what does it mean that humanity is made in the image of God? Second, who is the “Us” in the above verse?
Before we go on further, allow me to first say this: humanly speaking, I am not qualified to answer this question “What did God mean…?” because “who has known the mind of the LORD?” (Romans 11:34) and “no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11).
Our limited human knowledge and understanding can never reach God’s infinite wisdom (Isaiah 55:8-9). Therefore, it is important to realize that every knowledge of God must be revealed by God Himself — through His Son (Jesus Christ, who is the perfect [full and final] revelation of God) and His Spirit.
Scripture reveals that we need to have the mind of Christ and the Holy Spirit to discern the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:13-16).
From the above questions, we can learn a fundamental truth from Scripture that humanity is made in the image of God, who is triune in nature.
Humanity Is Made in the Image of God
As a sovereign Creator, God bestowed on humans: the position of a special creature among all His creations, the privilege to be His co-creator, the power over His creation.
Humanity is the crown of God’s creation (Psalm 8:5), created with both a material body and an immaterial soul/spirit through His direct, personal touch (Genesis 2:7).
Human beings, unlike animals or plants, are given spiritual capabilities to worship and have a fellowship with God (who is Spirit) — in addition to intellectual, mental/emotional, moral, and social capabilities to relate with other humans.
Each of us is given free will to exercise choice, reason, intelligence, speech, consciousness, creativity, rationality, and liberty to fulfill the purpose we are created for — that is, to reflect God’s glory.
We receive glory from God and give it all back to Him — this is an act of true worship — and we can only do so through the work of Christ and His Spirit in us (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).
This original, God-given purpose or mandate is further explained in the following verses:
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth”(Genesis 1:27-28, NKJV).
Note that God blessed human beings after He created them in His own image. This divine blessing is what enables mankind to “be fruitful and multiply.”
I believe this command is not necessarily only intended for procreation [physical/biological reproduction] — although He desires godly offspring from such a union (Malachi 2:15), but can also be understood as a spiritual blessing that enables God’s people to be “filled with wisdom and understanding, so that they may live worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:9-10, NKJV), manifesting the fruit of the Spirit in their lives (Galatians 5:22-23).
As we trust and obey Jesus’ command to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:10), we can be spiritually fruitful and multiply the citizens of God’s kingdom.
Humanity is also given authority to rule over God’s creation. We are called to bring harmony [peace and justice] as we care for His creation (Genesis 2:15). We are the stewards of creation because “the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it” (Psalm 24:1).
We honor God as we respect and appreciate what He created and belongs to Him. The way we live on earth must not be careless: we are to practice and support ways that conserve or rejuvenate the earth rather than deplete or destroy it.
The Bible teaches us that God is not only in the business of redemption, but also restoration (Romans 8:18-23). Just as we, the redeemed people of God, show our love for the Savior by reaching the lost, we show our love for the Creator by caring for His creation.
The Triune Nature of God Is Revealed to Humanity
In Genesis 1, the Hebrew word for God is Elohim (it is plural in form, but often understood in a singular sense, referring to a single deity, particularly the God of Israel).
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit, the Lord God [Yahweh Elohim] said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil” (Genesis 3:22).
The phrase “one of Us” provides clear evidence that more than one constituted the “Us,” — and this communicates a complex and unified expression of the Trinity — God is One [being] in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit.
Trinity is the only satisfactory explanation considering the equality (parallel) of these three Persons. It is common in the Old Testament to find a conversation within the Trinity (e.g., Genesis 11:7; Psalm 2:7, 45:7, 110:1; Isaiah 6:8, 48:16).
Jesus implicitly revealed His deity when saying, “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). Jesus also showed His intimate relationship with the Father (Matthew 11:27, John 14:23-24), that He came from God (John 8:42), and that He would ask the Father to give us His Spirit (John 14:15-18).
This Trinitarian God has been revealed to us, so that we may believe in Him and become one in Him, who has loved us and been in a loving relationship forever, according to Jesus’ prayer for His disciples and all believers (John 17:20-23).
What Does it Mean for Christians Today?
We reflect God’s glory as we live with the mind of Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are not only God’s image-bearers, but also Spirit’s fruit-bearers.
We are created to worship God, to love Him with all our hearts, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30), to love our fellow human beings — who are the image of God — as ourselves, and to wisely care for His creation.
We live in this world as God’s representation to bring His peace, justice, mercy, and grace, so that His kingdom may come, and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).
For further reading:
Who Was God Talking to When He Said Let Us Make Man in Our Own Image?
How Are We Made in the Image of God?
What Does 'Imago Dei' Mean? The Image of God in the Bible
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Philip Wijaya, Ph.D. currently lives in Vancouver, Canada with his wife, Sandra, and their daughter, Shalom. His interest in science and faith in God has motivated him to actively write in his personal blog (philipwijaya.com), in addition to his professional research work in the area of clean energy and chemical engineering. In his leisure time, he enjoys sports, football games, music, and traveling with family.
