09/14/2008 - The Doctrine of Man: Created in the Image of God

The fact that man is in the image of God means than man is like God and represents God.

The Hebrew word (tselem) for “image” and (demut) for “likeness” refer to something that is similar but not identical to the thing it represents or is an “image” of. – Wayne Grudem

What does it mean to be created in the image of God?

1. We are moral
1.1 We are morally accountable before God
1.2 We have an inner sense of right and wrong (sets us apart from the animals)
1.3. God is reflected in behavior that is holy and righteous
- Contrast – our unlikeness to God is shown when we sin

2. We are spiritual
2.1 We are not only physical, but we also possess immaterial spirits
2.2 We have a spiritual life that enables us to relate to God
2.3 We are immortal in that we will not cease to exist, but we will live forever

3. We are able to think
3.1 We have the ability to reason and think logically
3.2 We can use and understand complex and abstract language
3.3 Ecclesiastes 3:11 We have an awareness of the distant future, even an inward
sense of that future
3.4 We have the ability to be creative (art, music, literature, science)
3.5 We have complex emotions

4. We are relational
4.1 We are capable of interpersonal harmony in marriage relationship
4.2 In marriage we reflect the reality of inter-Trinitarian relationship in that men
and women are of equal importance, but possess different roles.
4.3 We have been given the right to rule over creation and will be given more
authority when Christ returns.

5. We are physical
5.1 Our physical bodies reflect something of God’s own character as well
5.1.1 Pre-existent Christ
5.2 The God given ability to bear and raise children who are like us is a
reflection of God’s own ability to create human beings who are like himself

What is the result of being created in the image of God?

Dignity

“It will probably amaze us to realize that when the Creator of the universe wanted to create something “in his image,” something more like himself than all the rest of creation, he made us. This realization will give us a profound sense of dignity and significance as we reflect on the excellence of all the rest of God’s creation: the starry universe, the abundant earth, the world of plants and animals and the angelic kingdoms are remarkable, even magnificent. But we are more like our Creator than any of these things. We are the culmination of God’s infinitely wise and skillful work of creation.” – Wayne Grudem


The church is made up of humans created in the image of God that have been redeemed back from the catastrophe that our first parents (Adam & Eve) sold us into with their rebellion in the fall. Since we are made up of humans created in the image of God, then the church has intrinsic dignity.

The church is to be moral
The church is to be spiritual
The church is to be thinking
The church is to be relational
The church is to be incarnational