What's your story? Christians are people with a story to tell to the nations, good news of great joy for all people. We are story-tellers and story-dwellers. It is by believing and embodying the story of God that we testify of the truth.

How do we begin to dwell within the story of God? We begin by allowing the story of the Bible to provide us with a new vision of God. This vision of God changes our perspective of everything else: the world, ourselves, our place in the world, and others. It helps us answer one of the most perplexing questions: Who am I? The answer according to divine revelation is that you and I are made "in the image and likeness of God."

This is the essential starting point of a distinctively Christian spirituality: the recognition that humankind is made in the image and likeness of God. It is impossible to understand who we are apart from God. We cannot speak of ourselves apart from God, for we are made in God's image. It is therefore vital to a robust Christian spirituality to remember who we are.

The Image of God

But what exactly is the image of God? Defining the image of God has always been a challenge for theologians and serious students of the sacred scriptures. The phrase is intrinsically evocative. Numerous explanations have been offered.

Some suggest that the image of God is located in our rationality. But it has to be more than this. Humankind is not just a reasoning being. Furthermore, this definition seems to exclude those with mental challenges. Jean Vanier, who has worked with the intellectually challenged for most of his life, writes,

I differ from Aristotle over certain aspects of anthropology, particularly over his definition of the human being as "a rational animal", a definition which excludes people with mental handicaps from humanity. I would sooner define the human being as "someone capable of love".[1]

Others locate the image of God in the fact that we are moral beings. Endowed with the gift of freedom of choice we possess the potential to fashion our lives through our own volition.

Some define the image of God as our capacity for relationships. They conclude that God's image is not something innate in the isolated individual. Instead, it has to do with our relationality - that we are meant to live life with and for others. Our sexuality reflects the scope of God's image, encompassing both male and female.

Others define the image of God as our call to have dominion on the earth. As God's image-bearers we represent God in the ongoing stewardship of creation. But the image is not dominion itself. This is merely an expression or activity of God's image. It is the result of possessing the divine image and not its inherent meaning. While humans are central to God's creation, it is true that God delights in the whole of God's creation. As God's image-bearers we are to steward our corner of God's creation. Our task is not to "lord" over creation as sovereign masters, but to serve creation as divinely endowed stewards. Jesus' example of stewardship is our model. (Though this most likely includes our responsibility for the global care of the world, it is important to recognize that the ancients could not possibly imagine such an expansive responsibility. They would, however, recognize our responsibility to care for our own sphere of influence.)

The common feature in all these definitions is that they all assume some kind of unique and distinguishing correspondence between the human and divine. In other words, the identity and meaning of human life is directly related to the divine life. The Spirit of God breathes into matter and we find ourselves alive - a copy or reflection of God, a mirror of God.

Though the preceding definitions give insight, the full significance of what it means to be created in the image and likeness of God is not fully resolved in the Old Testament. It remains a mystery until the coming of Christ, who is presented as the image of God. In Christ's humanity we see most clearly who God is, for Jesus is God revealed to us, "the Word made flesh." Conversely, in Christ's humanity we see most clearly what it means to be truly and fully human, for no human being ever completely fulfilled this divine vocation than Jesus. Put simply: In Jesus, we are given a true vision of God and a true vision of humankind. It is for this reason that the first systematic theologian, Irenaeus wrote, "The glory of God is man fully alive."

The Uniqueness of God's Image

Whatever the image of God is, it is not found in anything else in God's creation. Humankind alone is created in the image of God. It is this that make us unique in God's creation - distinguished from all other creatures. Jurgen Moltmann puts it simply, "The world is God's creation, but not his image. Only the human person was destined to be God's image. God is more visible in his image than in his works."[2]

Some moderns accuse this view of speciesism - giving unwarranted preference to human beings over against the rest of the world. For example, Ingrid Newkirk, the founder and president of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has been quoted as saying, "Six million Jews died in concentration camps, but six billion broiler chickens will die this year in slaughterhouses."[3] Elsewhere she has written, "There is no rational basis for saying that a human being has special rights. A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. They're all mammals."[4] In one fell swoop, Newkirk reduces anthropology to biology or zoology.

I'm all for the ethical treatment of animals, but I think Newkirk has gone too far in her statements. As much as we might love our pets (and, by the way, PETA is opposed to the use of animals as pets) we don't muss up the hair of our friend's mother, but we will certainly tousle her dog and scratch its ears. Furthermore, we have little problem disrobing in front of animals. Animals are beautiful creations that speak of God's wisdom, but they do not bear the image of God. Birds may sing beautiful songs, but their creativity is low. One will find no budding Beethovens, Bachs, Handels, or Van Halens among birds.

We must steward God's creatures with care and compassion, but we do not have to conclude that animals and humans are identical. We may be mammals, but we are mammals uniquely made in God's image, and thus, more than mammals. Even Jesus taught, "You are of more value than many sparrows... How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep" (Matthew 10:31; 12:12).

We are not just animals, but we must not jump to the other extreme. We are not God either. We are made "in the image and likeness of God." The identity and meaning of human life is directly related to the divine life. We are like God, but not identical to God. The scriptural testimony is clear: Nothing and no one is like God (e.g., Exodus 15:11; Isaiah 40:18, 25). The truth that we are made in God's image precludes Christians from embracing pantheism - the belief that everything is God. We reflect God, but we are not God. Being like God, we may be filled with God, but this is the language of relationship, not identification.

Significance

The significance of the image of God in humankind is great and broad, for the image confers upon us dignity, responsibility, and the capacity to mirror our Creator in the world. To be human is a glorious and wondrous privilege.

The image you have of yourself will ultimately shape your self-perception and sense of significance. This is the truth behind possessing a positive self-image. But a truly biblical self-image cannot be known apart from referencing God. The famed psychologist, Victor Frankl, who survived imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp understood this well. He wrote,

If we present man with a concept of man which is not true, we may well corrupt him. When we present him as an automation of reflexes, as a mind machine, as a bundle of instincts, as a pawn of drive and reactions, as a mere product of heredity and environment, we feed the nihilism to which modern man is, in any case, prone... the gas chambers of Auschwitz were the ultimate consequence of the theory that man is nothing but the product of heredity and environment.

We are more than our DNA, more than chemicals, more than "human resources," consumable raw material for public order.

Clearly, we possess a small view of what it means to be human. We need to be continually reminded of our place in God's story. Out of love, God has fashioned us in the divine likeness. We are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14). We are wonderful beyond imagination: "Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor" (Psalm 8:5).

We need to possess the perspectives communicated by Thomas Merton and C. S. Lewis. In describing one of his rare mystical visions the hermit Thomas Merton wrote:

It is a glorious destiny to be a member of the human race ... Now I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this. But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun...

If only they could all see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time. There would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed... I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other. But this cannot be seen, only believed and "understood" by a peculiar gift...

I have no program for this seeing. It is only given. But the gate of heaven is everywhere.[5]

In his masterful sermon, The Weight of Glory, C. S. Lewis spoke of the glory of humanity:

The load or weight or burden of my neighbor's glory should be laid daily on my back; a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare.  All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with awe and circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.  Nations, cultures, arts, civilization - these are mortal and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors... Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.

It is this truth that makes our destructive choices so devastating and tragic. Humankind's inherent dignity is what makes sin so heinous. We've fallen far from God's original intent. We have been created for so much more. As we will develop at length next week, the tragedy of human depravity is that we were made for so much more. We sin against the love that moves the stars and has made us in the divine image as a gift of grace and an act of love.

Yet, no matter how far we fall we deserve respect, for the image of God remains in even the most hardened and habitual sinner. We see this in Jesus' treatment of others. He always treated others as image-bearers of God. He respected their human dignity, even if they could not do so themselves. He could not mistreat others because he saw God in them. Mike Mason puts it this way, "to be in the presence of even the meanest, lowest, most repulsive specimen of humanity in the world is still to be closer to God than when looking up into a starry sky or at a beautiful sunset."[6] In other words, the bum in the gutter still displays more of the glory of God than the greatest mountain vista or the most breath-taking ocean-side view. In 399 A.D. Augustine lamented, "People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars - and they pass by themselves without wondering."

No matter what a person's gender, class, status, sexual orientation, religion, lack of religion, ethnic identity, age, intelligence, ability, or disability, all are made in God's image and deserve dignity, honor, and respect. Because humans are made in God's image, people "have supreme value. They are more important than systems, philosophies, wealth, or anything else in the universe"[7]

Conclusion

"Spirituality does not consist of being told what to do. It consists of being reminded of who we are."[8]

What's your story? And what does your story tell you about who you are? If you find your story in God's story, than the answer to who you are is this: You know who you are in relationship to God. You are an image-bearer of God. And so is every other human being you will ever meet.

This is a grand and noble view of humankind. This has great significance for your view of yourself, your place in the world, and others. But we must continually remember this in order to act on it. This is not easy. As G. K. Chesterton once wrote, "All people matter. You matter. I matter. It's the hardest thing in theology to believe."

If it is true that we are made in God's image, then it follows that we cannot possibly understand ourselves apart from a relationship with God. Furthermore, we cannot possibly understand what it means to bear God's image apart from a relationship with the image of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

In order to discover the full significance what it means to be created in God's image we must look to Jesus - the image of God. Consequently, the search for one's self is not indulgence in egocentric introspection. We cannot truly know ourselves apart from God. Instead we discover what it means to be a human being fully alive - a human being in loving relationship with God and others by looking at Jesus and learning of and from him.

"And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:16-17)

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© Richard J. Vincent, 2009