Genesis 1:26-27 (NRSV)
26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” 27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1 recounts for us God’s work during creation. We clearly see the order and understand that without God none of what we see or do not see with our eyes would exist. God spoke and everything was formed, including humans. Genesis states that God spoke to let “us” make humankind in “our image”. What, then, is that “image” of “us”?
We too often attempt to wrap God in the human characteristics that we admire and desire. We want to affirm ourselves by conforming God into a mirror image of us. We choose too frequently to ignore that God is Spirit and has no human form. Jesus took human form and flesh to perform the work on the cross, but the Triune God is Spirit. Therefore, we are not correct when we fashion God to have a human male face. God clearly made both genders in God’s image. Even our pictures of Jesus are incorrect. Jesus was born to a Hebrew mother and did not have European features. A child with European features would not hide so easily in Egypt. We place too much value on certain features to elevate status. That Jesus had Middle Eastern features while walking this earth does not imply that any other ethnic group is somehow lesser. That was not and is not now God’s intention. We all bear the image of God.
So what is that image of God that we received? We received the very heart of God that is love. It is what is in our hearts that matters. If we cannot express love for those who do not look like us, then we do not have true love, we only have self-approval. Self-approval elevates us falsely and states that because of our physical likeness we are somehow better than everyone who does not share our physical traits. That is not the image God gave us.
The image God gave us requires a piercing look. Our God-given image forms deep within and only makes it to the surface when we let go of the love of outward appearances. We have to look deeply at ourselves to find the true us. We have to look deep within other people to find that connection to each other which is the image of God. Only when we can see God in ourselves and everyone else will we truly express the image of God.
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