What it Means to Be Made in God’s Image

A Misunderstood Verse

Genesis 1:27 is one of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible. It states: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. To understand this profound truth, let's determine what this verse does not mean.

What Genesis 1:27 does not mean is that human beings were created in the physical image of God. John 4:24 tells us that God is spirit; He does not possess a physical form. God can manifest one if He chooses, but innately, God is spirit and has no physical form.

What God does possess is substance, something all beings must have to exist. God's substance is spirit; man's is physical. God's substance is invisible; man's is visible. Therefore, man is not made in God's physical image.

About God

Let's take a brief look at what God is – what He has revealed about Himself in the Bible. Among many things, God is a spirit possessing intellect, emotion, and will, meaning He can think, feel, and act.

Romans 11:33 says of God's wisdom: O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! Regarding God's emotion, John 3:16 suffices: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And pertaining to God's will ¬РHis ability to act Рwe have Matthew 6:10: … Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (There are many verses relevant to these attributes you can look up.)

The main thing to remember is that God is not some impersonal force with no emotional ties to the world He created. He is intimately connected with the work of His hands and cares deeply for them. This is why deism is so wrong. This errant belief holds that God created the universe, but remains apart from it and permits His creation to administer itself through natural laws. This view emanates from flawed observation, not the Holy Scriptures.

Man in God's Image

When Genesis 1:27 tells us God created man in his own image, it refers to God's personality. This is what He has given to humans and to no other living beings (Genesis 2:7).

To say that man is made in God's image is to say that all people have the capacity to think, feel, and act in a Godward manner. (However, because of sin, human beings are flawed, finite, and highly imperfect, rendering the above capacities deficient in one way or another.) In general, however, God created men and women with the ability to interact with Him intellectually, emotionally, and willfully.

These three attributes – intellect, emotion, and will – are what make up personality, and it is personality that allows us to know God intimately. We see this in Romans 1:18-19: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them (italics added).

Animals, on the other hand, are not made in God's image. They have personality, emotions, and feelings, but cannot interact with God. This is the key difference spiritually between animals and people. That man possesses God-designed intellect, emotion, and will means human beings have the capacity to understand, love, and obey God; animals cannot.

What it Means to You

Because you are made in God's image, you can be assured that God fully understands your thoughts, feelings, and everything that makes up who you are. He understands this because He modeled your basic personality – intellect, emotion, and will – after His own. (Yours, of course, is imperfect and finite; His is perfect and infinite.)

I used the word understands in the previous paragraph, but God's understanding of you goes far beyond this. Because you are made in God's image, He empathizes with you. With great compassion He sympathizes with your hurts and weaknesses. He intimately feels the intensity and pain of your failures and longings. He fully grasps your struggles, anguish, and strivings. He rejoices with you when you succeed, and grieves with you when you fall.

Furthermore, God's image is personified in Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, who came to earth to share in our humanity (Hebrews 2:14). Because He did: … it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people (Hebrews 2:17).

So, what's the bottom line? You were created in the image of God and therefore have the ability to understand, love, and obey the One who loves you with an everlasting love and has drawn you with lovingkindness (Jeremiah 31:3).

And this, you who are made in God's image, is cause to rejoice!

David Ettinger is a writer/editor at Zion's Hope, Inc., and has written for Zion's Fire magazine since its inception in 1990.