We Are Made in the Image of God, part 2

God said in Genesis 1:26 that He uniquely made men and women “in His image.” He didn’t say that about the plant life or the animal kingdom. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God,” and we reflect on the goodness of God when we look around and the splendor of His creation. However, men and women are uniquely made in God’s image. We will find our purpose as we celebrate the image of God in each person. It's crucial to appreciate how we are created in God's image in our design, our differences, our discernment, our dominion, and our destiny.

Our Design
 
First, we can see God’s image in our design. John 4:24 states, “God is a Spirit and those who worship Him will worship him in spirit and in truth.” God is a spiritual being, and we are made in His image. We, too, are spiritual beings.
 
Notice the three-part nature of man in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, which says, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” While Christians sometimes use the terms "spirit" and "soul" interchangeably, the Bible describes humans as three-part beings: spirit, soul, and body.
 
Hebrews 4:12 distinguishes between spirit and soul when it states, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Though some Christians and theologians would like to say the spirit and soul are the same, and though they are difficult to divide, the Bible says they can be divided.
 
The spirit and soul make up the inner part of who we are, the invisible but genuine aspects of our existence. Our spirits reflect God's image, as God Himself is a spirit, and it's this aspect that allows us to communicate with Him. The word “soul” in Greek is psuche, from which we get the word psychology. Our soul is the part that gives us our unique personality – it involves our mind, will, and emotions. This individuality distinguishes us from one another.
 
Take a look at a litter of kittens, and you can observe these personality differences. These kittens are raised in the same environment, but some of them are shy, some of them are aggressive, and some of them are tender. They just have different personalities. However, they do not possess a spirit. What distinguishes us from animals is our spirit, which allows us to communicate with God.
 
James Montgomery Boice once wrote, “One thing it means is that men and women possess the attributes of personality, as God himself does, but as the animals, plants, and matter do not. To have personality one must possess knowledge, feelings (including religious feelings), and a will. This God has, and so do we. We can say that animals possess a certain kind of personality. But an animal does not reason as men do; it only reacts to certain problems or stimuli. It does not create; it only conforms to certain behavior patterns, even in as elaborate a pattern as constructing a nest, hive, or dam. … It does not worship. Personality, in the sense we are speaking of it here, is something that links man to God but does not link either man or God to the rest of creation.”[1]
 
We are a spirit, we have a soul (a mind, a will, and emotions), and we live in a physical body. This body gives us the ability to walk, talk, work, and communicate. We can live in this world if our body is working the way it needs to work. As a person gets older, some may experience their body breaking down. Their mind may still be sharp, but their body is not functioning like it once did.
 
God warned the original couple in the Garden of Eden that if they chose to disobey God, they would surely die. However, the original Hebrew of Genesis 2:17 reads, “In dying you shall surely die.” It is plural. If they chose to sin against God, they would immediately die spiritually which would lead to eventually dying physically. We know that Adam and Eve didn’t immediately die physically, but they did experience spiritual death. In the end, spiritual death is separation from God (see Isaiah 59:1-2). We all experienced that separation from God, which is why Jesus Christ came. He died on the cross for our sins so we could experience new life spiritually. Now, though our bodies will still die, our spirits are alive with God and can be in a relationship with Him.
 
Romans 5:11, in the Living Bible, reads, “Now we rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God—all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done in dying for our sins—making us friends of God.“ Boice continues, “[M]an is made for communion with God, who is Spirit (John 4:24), and that this communion is intended to be eternal as God is eternal. Although man shares a body with such forms of life as plants or flowers and a soul with animals, only he possesses a spirit. It is on the level of the spirit that he is aware of God and communes with him.”[2]
 
God is eternal, with no beginning and no end. Mankind had a beginning but will have no end. When the body is dead, the spiritual part of man will live on throughout eternity. All of this distinguishes mankind from everything else in God’s creation. We are designed as spiritual beings who can commune with God and live with Him through eternity.
 
Our Differences
 
Second, we can see God’s image in our differences as men and women. God says in Genesis 1:27, “male and female He created them.” We, as human beings, are different from the animal kingdom, and not simply evolved animals.
 
We, as male or female, are different biologically from one another. The Bible portrays God in male imagery and terms, such as Father. Jesus, God’s Son (male), came to this earth as a man. However, this does not mean that we all, men and women alike, do not reflect the image of God as we live out who He created us to be. James Montgomery Boice wrote, “Men are not women. Women are not men. One of the saddest things in the universe is a man who tries to be a woman or a woman who tries to be a man. ‘But who is superior?’ someone asks. I answer: A man is absolutely superior to a woman—at being a man; a woman is absolutely superior to a man—at being a woman. But let a woman try to be a man or a man try to be a woman, and you have a monstrosity.”[3]
 
John Macarthur explains, “Genetic research has shown that one pair of human chromosomes, labeled X and Y, determine the gender of our offspring. All males have both X and Y chromosomes; all females have only a pair of X chromosomes. From a purely biological point of view, therefore, the Y chromosome is what determines maleness. If the offspring inherits an X chromosome from the father, it will be female. If the chromosome is Y, the offspring will be male. The father’s seed is the determining factor.”[4]
 
It is important that we believe and understand that there are God-given differences between men and women, but we should never argue that those differences create a rank in God’s system. After God said in Genesis 1:26 that He would give “them” (referring to both men and women) dominion, he refers to mankind as man in Genesis 1:27, which says, “So God created  man… male and female He created them.” Men and women are both equally made in the image of God. Every single person on planet Earth has the stamp of God on his or her life, male and female.
 
Our Discernment
 
Third, we can see God’s image in our discernment. We are moral beings, and we internally know right from wrong. This is another difference between humans and animals. Animals have instincts, but they do not know right from wrong.
 
Tom Holladay and Kay Warren write, “We know right from wrong. A dog doesn’t know right from wrong. You can train a dog to do what you tell it, but it has no moral conscience that causes it to think, “I shouldn’t be eating out of garbage cans, I need to get into a recovery program.” “Hi, my name is Spot and I eat garbage.” A mouse that invades your house doesn’t have a conscience. It doesn’t lay awake at night wondering if it was right to steal that piece of cheese, agonizing over its place in the world. When Adam and Eve sinned, they immediately felt shame. God created us to be moral beings. (Genesis 3:7; Acts 24:16).”[5]
 
A lion does not have the slightest guilt over chasing, killing, and devouring his prey, though he will usually catch of the weakest in the herd. He never thinks back, saying, “I’ve got to stop doing this. This is bad. I know right from wrong.”
 
John Phillips writes, “Man is in no way related to the beasts. What animal can transmit accumulated achievements from one generation to another? What animal experiences a true sense of guilt when it does wrong or has a developed consciousness of judgment to come? What animal shows any desire to worship? What animal has hope of immortality beyond the grave? What beast can exercise abstract moral judgment or show appreciation of the beauties of nature? (When did we ever see a dog admiring a sunset or a horse standing breathless before the rugged grandeur of a mountain range?) What animal ever learned to read and write, to act with deliberate purpose, and set goals and achieve long-range objectives? What animal ever learned to cook its food, to cut cloth and make clothes, or invent elaborate tools? What animal ever enjoyed a hearty laugh? What animal has the gift for speech? Even the most primitive human tribe possesses linguistics of a subtle, complex, and eloquent nature. Man stands alone. Physically, he alone of all the creatures on the globe, walks upright; mentally, he alone has the ability to communicate in a sophisticated manner; spiritually, he alone has the capacity to know the mind and will of God.”[6]
 
Mankind has been given these moral faculties by God. God has placed His law on our hearts so that we are without excuse. If you go to primitive cultures throughout history that are not as civilized, with courts or written laws, you will still find people who would have distinct codes of conduct.
 
Romans 2:14–15 (NLT)
14 Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it.
15 They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.
 
Most of the 10 commandments, found in Exodus 20:1-17 can be seen in these contexts. Why? Because God has placed them on man’s heart. We are moral beings, as God’s image bearers, and distinct from the animal kingdom.

"Dear God, thank You that I am made in Your image. I can see it in my design. I can see it in the special differences between men and women. I can see it in my discernment. Lord, I pray that as I appreciate all of Your creation, I realize that my greatest fulfillment and purpose will only be found in a relationship with You. Thank You for showing me that from Your Word. I love You. In Jesus' name, amen."

*This is part 2 in a 3-part series on the subject of being made in the image of God.

[1] James Montgomery Boice, Genesis: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1998), 90.
[2] Boice, 91.
[3] Boice, 96.
[4] John MacArthur, The Battle for the Beginning (Nashville, TN: W Pub. Group, 2001), 169.
[5] Holladay and Warren, Foundations church curriculum (Saddleback Resources, Lake Forest, CA), under “Creation”.
[6] John Phillips, Exploring Genesis: An Expository Commentary, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2009), Ge 1:26–31.