Imago Dei
“Imago Dei”
by Pastor Joshua Doumani
June 7, 2020
This is the book (the written record, the history) of the generations of [the descendants of] Adam. When God created man, He made him in the likeness of God [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness].
Genesis 5:1 (AMP)
Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind.
Genesis 9:6 (NIV)
Our individuality is one of the key attributes that defines us as being made in the image of God. However, due to a pandemic, we have been forced to stay home, to stop working, and as a result, many of us have questioned our worth and value. At the same time, we’ve had a front-row seat to systemic racism on display in our country.
These injustices happen because of a lack of understanding of the fact that we are all made in God’s image, and that we are created equally. Now, more than ever, we, the church, must remind ourselves of our identity in God.
There is a powerful phrase that appears in the Bible that speaks to our identity in God, which is translated in Latin to read "imago Dei." In English, imago Dei is translated as "the image of God." In Scripture, we see this phrase used three separate times, all in the book of Genesis.
Imago Dei means that God’s power becomes our power. God makes us agents of change. We reflect his image and his glory to the world around us, speaking life into every situation.
In the past, people believed that kings were God’s representation on earth. Kings would have statues made in their likeness and set up as monuments in their conquered lands. These statutes were intended to remind people of the king’s authority. God placed his image on earth through us. From the beginning, God planned to rule through us. We are to go and make disciples, creating more images of God. Thus, we fulfill God’s command that we be fruitful and multiply.
In life, we are faced with a choice: to rule for God or to rule for ourselves. This is where sin enters. Sin creeps in and misrepresents the image of God. Sin has this uncanny ability to cause us to believe that we are not good enough and not loved. This distortion creates a broken world that results in the kind of travesties that we’re facing today.
As humans, we see chaos, and we try to fix it. As broken people, however, we can’t fix the brokenness by ourselves. Broken people plus broken people does not equal a perfect person. Jesus is the visible image of our invisible God, humanity’s face to face interaction with God on earth (Colossians 1:15). His perfect image can restore our broken image.
When we look to Jesus, we transform our likeness. We must look more and more like him. But, we can’t do this on our own. Let’s learn more about what imago Dei means.
Imago Dei is Spirit-led. The spirit of God takes our humanities, failures, and weakness, and he redeems them. Jesus is the human form of God’s image, the Word that became flesh (2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NIV). We become more and more like him as we look to him, and as we respond to the spirit of the Lord.
Imago Dei is a lifelong journey. It’s joining in Jesus’ suffering. We don’t settle for where we are, but we continue to use the time we have to become more and more like Jesus. (Philippians 3:10). This is a journey that doesn’t just require perseverance, but it is a glorious journey.
Imago Dei is Missional. Theologian N.T. Wright describes humanity as an angled mirror. We should reflect the praises of creation to God and God’s heart into creation. In times of uncertainty, fear, and loss like what we are facing now, the church needs to reflect God’s glory. Our global community is experiencing grief, but Jesus and his image in us is our hope and our key to overcoming this brokenness.
There are mountains in each one of our lives--they can be emotional, financial, or even systemic mountains. Whatever that mountain is, we have to start speaking to that mountain. It was God who gave us the ability to speak to our mountains.
When we start to take authority over these mountains in our lives, we ultimately appear in the image of God. As a society, we are dealing with a mountain that we need to start speaking to -- we need to speak life and faith to it, and as we start walking with that authority, we start stepping into the image of God. Empowered speech will move whatever mountain is in front of us.
Reflection/Discussion Questions:
1. What can you do to remind yourself that you are made in the image of God?
2. Which mountains in your life do you need to speak to in order to see change?
3. How can we as a church speak life and faith to the mountain(s) that our country and our world are facing right now?
4. How can you inspire and empower others to believe that they are made in God’s image?