Our pastor is preaching through Genesis right now and this morning he spoke on Genesis 1:26-28. At one point he said, “The fact that we are created in God’s image means that God has placed us in the world as a reminder of who he is. We were created to represent his heart and character to the rest of creation” (Kemp, 2025).
I am intrigued by this idea – “created in God’s image, after His likeness.”
Definitions
Hebrew:
- “Tzelem” (צלם): Represents the physical image or outward form.
- “Demut” (דמות): Indicates a deeper resemblance or likeness in character and function.
Greek:
- “Eikon” (εἰκών): Corresponds directly to “tzelem” as a visual representation or image.
- “Homoioma” (ὁμοίωμα): Similar to “demut,” signifying a likeness or similarity in nature. (Google, Generative AI)
The Hebrew word for “shadow” is “tsel,” which is derived from the word “tselem.” While we don’t physically resemble shadows, they mirror our behavior precisely. When we jump, our shadow jumps; when we wave, our shadow waves as well. It acts as an exact replica, reflecting who we are and how we behave. Although we may not look like our shadows, we certainly behave like them. (Hebrewwordlessons, 2019)
Verses illustrating ‘Image’ and ‘Likeness’
- Genesis 1:26: Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
- Genesis 5:1: This is the written account of Adam’s family line. When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God.
- Genesis 9:6: Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind.
- Romans 8:29: For those God foreknew, he was also predestined to conform to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
- 2 Corinthians 3:18: And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
- Colossians 3:10: and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
- James 3:9: With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.
- 1 John 3:2: Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
“Our task as image-bearing, God-loving, Christ-shaped, Spirit-filled Christians, following Christ and shaping our world, is to announce redemption to a world that has discovered its fallenness, to announce healing to a world that has discovered its brokenness, to proclaim love and trust to a world that knows only exploitation, fear and suspicion…The gospel of Jesus points us and indeed urges us to be at the leading edge of the whole culture, articulating in story and music and art and philosophy and education and poetry and politics and theology and even–heaven help us–Biblical studies, a worldview that will mount the historically-rooted Christian challenge to both modernity and postmodernity, leading the way…with joy and humor and gentleness and good judgment and true wisdom. I believe if we face the question, “if not now, then when?” if we are grasped by this vision we may also hear the question, “if not us, then who?” And if the gospel of Jesus is not the key to this task, then what is?” (Wright, 1999)
In what ways is Christ restoring the image of God in you??
References
Hebrewwordlessons, V. a. P. B. (2019, May 8). Tselem: Being IMAGE bearers. Hebrew Word Lessons. https://hebrewwordlessons.com/2019/03/24/tselem-being-image-bearers/
Kemp, P. (2025, February 2). In His Image. https://www.youtube.com/live/t9GROIQP-L0?si=AP_iRQZC9zZOPHhy. Retrieved February 2, 2025, from https://www.youtube.com/live/t9GROIQP-L0?si=AP_iRQZC9zZOPHhy
Wright, N. T. (1999). The challenge of Jesus: rediscovering who Jesus was and is. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL26379408M/The_challenge_of_Jesus_rediscovering_who_Jesus_was_and_is
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