Imago Dei
Sr High-Life has spent the fall unpacking the idea first presented in Genesis 1 and 2, that we all bear the image of God. Image bearing is an inescapable reality for all humans. It is the reason that we can find beauty in our own brokenness and the brokenness around us. Our broken reflection of God’s image is how we recognize and are made whole, through Jesus, the perfect image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15).
Our image bearing makes us unique as creatures. We often try to escape our creaturely reality by creating a spiritual realm in which we are supposed to live, which denies our embodied reality. But Genesis 1 and 2 make no mistake to call us creatures in the world. We are image-bearing creatures. This noun is an inescapable fact.
But, image bearing is also a verb. What we do matters. Not only are we in the world, but we are also for the world. Our dominion in the world is based upon our bearing the image of the loving God who wishes for all people to come to repentance (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9; etc.). The fruit of the Spirit Paul discusses in Galatians 5:22-23 is the product of a turn from the selfish desire to recreate our broken image to reflect the world, to the desire to die to self and be found alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 6:11), reflecting his image, as intended from the beginning.