Genesis implies that along with
God's image comes an element of sonship.5
Later, when Adam fathered Seth, Scripture says that Adam “had a
son in his own likeness, in his own image.”6
To be made in God's image means to be a son of God. God loved
mankind enough to endow His very image in him. This communal
relationship with God was broken by sin in the Garden of Eden when
Adam rebelled, but the image was retained. Adam's sin has been
passed on to his posterity, and all mankind stands under the judgment
of God. God did not, however, abandon his image bearers. He sent
“His own Son in the form of sinful man to be a sin offering.”7
Because of grace extended through faith in the sacrificial work of
God's Messiah, men can experience renewed relationship with the
living God. Now, believers in Jesus Christ “have put on the new
self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its
Creator.”8
The fact that every man,
woman, and child in all of creation is crafted into the image of God
has huge implications on the life of a believer. People have
intrinsic value because of the imago Dei. This erases all propensity
to discriminate because of physical differences or limitations.
Adherents to Scripture treat all people with equity no matter what
their racial, social, political, or physical status. It would be
disingenuous for a Christian to degrade
or think less of a person whom he truly believes is his or her
spiritual equal. The value of a man is not in things gained or lost
in this world, it is in the likeness of God.
1Davis, John J. Paradise to Prison. 1975. pg. 81
2Genesis
1:26 NIV
3Genesis
2:7 NIV
4Towns,
Elmer. Theology for Today. 2002. pg. 571
5Matthews,
Kenneth A. The New American Commentary. 1996 pg. 170
6Genesis
5:3 NIV
7Romans
8:3 NIV
8Colossians
3:10
Bibliography:
Davis,
John J. 1975. Paradise
to Prison. Salem,
Wisconsin: Sheffield Publishing Company.
Towns, Elmer. 2002. Theology for Today. Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning.
Matthews, Kenneth A. 1996. The New American Commentary. Broadman and
Holman Publishers.