Then God said, “Let us make humanity in our image to resemble us so that they may take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and all the crawling things on earth.”
God created humanity in God’s own image,
in the divine image God created them,
male and female God created them. – Genesis 1:26-27 (CEB)
What does it mean to be made in God’s image? Drawing on this passage from the first chapter of the bible, Genesis 1, the doctrine that humanity is made in God’s image is a fundamental doctrine of Christian thought. Also known by its Latin translation, Imago Dei, it is a powerful statement to affirm that we humans, broken though we may be, are in fact created as not only fundamentally good but in fact bearing the image of God.
Yet what exactly is included in being made in God’s image has long been debated by theologians. Most theologians of the early church through medieval times held that rational thought is what is being referred to when discussing the image of God. In this line of thought, the ability to think rationally is distinctive to humans on earth and is the way that humanity uniquely is a reflection of God. Martin Luther changed this a bit to focus on the ability to live a godly life without fear of death. For him, in other words, the ability to trust in God is how humanity resembles God. One of the more dominant proposals in contemporary Christian thought, though, is that God is particularly defined by unlimited creativity. God not only brings forth the universe at the beginning but continues to bring new things into the world. God is always creating. Even more, Christ is the first fruit of a new creation. A whole new level of creativity free from sin is opened in Christ’s resurrection. The Holy Spirit makes us part of that new creation. Thus God is a God who creates. Because of this, being made in the image of God can be seen in humanity’s continual drive to create. Human creativity, in this way of thinking, is an image of the God who is infinite creativity. When we create things, we participate in the God who continually creates and makes all things new.
With that in mind, it was wonderful to experience the creativity of this congregation through our recent art and craft show. To see one another’s creative endeavors is to see the image of God in one another. It was wonderful to get to see and experience that creativity together!