God’s Amazing Character That Will Inspire And Motivate Us To Persevere. Series

Every manufacturer designs his product with the right components, engineered to fulfil the function that the product is created to perform. In essence, the purpose of the product dictates the mechanical and engineering components required to fulfil the manufacturer's intent. This principle holds true for all creation, including human beings.

Remember that everything God does is motivated by his purpose. For example, God created seeds to produce trees and plants, and therefore they naturally possess the inherent abilities and capacities to perform this purpose. Fish were created to swim, and thus their ability and capacity to swim are inherent in their design and instincts. Birds, on the other hand, were created for flight and naturally come with the inherent design and ability to fulfil that purpose.

This principle begs the question, "Why, then, did the Creator create mankind?" The answer is found in his declaration of his purpose and original intent for humanity in the first book of the Bible -Genesis 1:26 reads: “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the livestock and all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

One of the most exciting truths in the Bible is that God created man in His image, forming man from the dust of the earth and breathing into his nostrils the breath of life. "'Image' suggests reproduction in form and substance, physical or spiritual: and 'likeness' gives the idea of resemblance and outward similarity. All human life is sacred because all humans are made in the image of God. Having the “image” or “likeness” of God means, in the simplest terms, that we were made to resemble God. The image of God imparts special meaning, harmony, intelligence and design to human life. The image of God (Latin: imago dei) refers to the immaterial part of humanity. It sets human beings apart from the animal world, fits them for the dominion God intended them to have over the earth (Genesis 1:28), and enables them to commune with their Maker. It is a likeness mentally, morally, and socially.

Mentally, humanity was created as a rational, volitional agent. In other words, human beings can reason and choose. This is a reflection of God’s intellect and freedom. Anytime someone invents the machine, writes a book, paints a landscape, enjoys a symphony, calculates a sum, or names a pet, he or she is proclaiming the fact that we are made in God’s image. Saint Augustine wrote, “Man’s excellence consists in the fact that God made him to His image by giving him an intellectual soul, which raises him above the beasts of the field.”

Morally, humanity was created in righteousness and perfect innocence, a reflection of God’s holiness. Whenever someone writes a law, recoils from evil, praises good behaviour, or feels guilty, he or she is confirming the fact that we are made in God’s image. Man stands apart from all other living creatures because of his relationship with God. Throughout the Bible, the relationship of God to man is represented as that of a father to his children. And children usually have a strong resemblance to their parents.

Socially, humanity was created for fellowship. This reflects God’s triune nature and His love. In Eden, humanity’s primary relationship was with God (Genesis 3:8 implies fellowship with God), and God made the first woman because “it is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). Every time someone marries makes a friend, hugs a child, or attends a celebration, he or she is demonstrating the fact that we are made in the likeness of God.

Part of being made in God’s image is that Adam could make free choices. Although they were given a righteous nature, Adam and Eve made an evil choice to rebel against their Creator. In so doing, they marred the image of God within themselves and passed that damaged likeness on to all of their descendants (Romans 5:12). Today, we still bear the image of God (James 3:9), but we also bear the scars of sin. Mentally, morally, socially, and physically, we show the effects of sin.

The good news is that when God redeems an individual, He begins to restore the original image of God, creating a “new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). That redemption is only available by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ as our Saviour from the sin that separates us from God (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Through Christ, we are made new creations in the likeness of God (2 Corinthians 5:17). When first created, we reflected God’s “wisdom, righteousness, and goodness “but, as Paul teaches, that image was tarnished by sin and is being restored in Christ. Paul says that we are transformed into the image of God by the gospel. And, according to him, spiritual regeneration is nothing else than the restoration of the same image. (Col. 3:10, Eph. 4:23)