The Image of God / David Jeremiah

 

The Image of God [You] have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him. Colossians 3:10    Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar ordered a giant statue of gold to be built: ninety feet tall and nine feet wide. It might have represented the king himself or it might have represented Nebuchadnezzar’s patron god, Nabu. Since kings of the day ascribed divine status to themselves, the image—whether of a king or the king’s god—represented the divine on earth (Daniel 3:1).

Recommended Reading: Genesis 1: 26 – 27

We find a similar scenario in the Genesis creation story: God created man in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27). The same word for image—tzelem—is used both for God’s image (a spiritual image) and the image in Babylon (a physical image). What was the purpose of God creating mankind in His image? Mankind was to represent God throughout God’s Kingdom, or creation. As Paul writes in Ephesians 4:24, Christians are a new creation and are “to be like God—truly righteous and holy” (NLT). Though originally marred by sin, we have been recreated (born again) to reflect God’s righteousness and holiness. When others see us, they are to see the character of our God. Man is a creature, because he is made by God. But he is a unique creature because he is made like God. Edmund P. Clowney