We were made in the image of God – Gen 1:26.
We know that Jesus is the image of the invisible God – Col 1:15.
As Christians we get the image of God in us restored – Col 3:10, Eph 4:24 and 2 Cor 3:12-18
I do not believe that sin removes the image of God from within humanity. I do believe sin mars the image of God within us…making it harder to see and harder for his image in us to do any sort of convicting work in the world. Our reconciliation to God, through Christ, by the Spirit works to renew and restore God’s image in us. It doesn’t put it back in as if it was gone. It renews it and makes it more obvious to spot. When the world sees us, they need to get a clearer idea of what God is like.
5 Responses
This has been an abiding theme in my thinking and teaching in recent years. I appreciate anything and everything that adds to my understanding of it, so thank you for this important insight.
Glad this was helpful Mike! Thanks for commenting.
James 3:9 “With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.”
Man was made in the image of God. But we take on the image of Satan when we act ungodly towards another.
I so much appreciate your conclusion that the image of God never leaves us. We should keep this in mind when we look into the faces of others, to look deeper. It means recognizing the image of God when walking through the market as much as we recognize it in the pew.
This should motivate us to care for every person we meet just as God cares for them.