Genesis 1:26-28 explains the beginning of humanity:

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.”
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.
Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

The doctrine of the Imago Dei, or image of God, is a defining notion for understanding who we are, where we have come from, our purpose, to whom we are accountable, and how we function in our various relationships. In particular, verse 27 is fundamental to rightly discerning truth on every hot-button political issue of our day, whether abortion, racism, gender, marriage, or parenting. Getting our origins right is essential to speaking truth into our confused and contentious culture.

When considering the Bible’s claims regarding man being made in the image of God, we must first reaffirm that Scripture represents the living triune God’s special revelation of Himself. Therefore, we must regard its content as inspired, inerrant, sufficient for all life and doctrine, and wholly authoritative—it is where we will find timeless truth. Moreover, inspired Scripture must be rightly interpreted according to a proper hermeneutic, which accounts for accurate historical context and grammatical analysis while pursuing the original author’s specific intent. Any wavering on these commitments will undercut our ability to get things right.

That said, Genesis says Man is a direct creation of God (Gen 1:26-27; 5:1; 9:6; 1 Cor 11:7; James 3:9). Man is made as the creature of the eternal triune God, and Man is also said to be created in the image of this almighty God of Scripture. A vital theme throughout Scripture is that the value of all things lies in their manifestation of the glory of God. Man’s place in this theme, as articulated by TMS Professor Michael Riccardi, is that God has chosen to concentrate His revealed glory in the human race. Thus, human glory and dignity are derived from the glory and dignity of God, whose image man is. The main idea is that God multiplies and magnifies His own glory by creating images of Himself—pictures of His beauty, and His glory and righteousness—in the crown and apex of His creation, which Genesis tells us is man.

Defining an “image” is vital as we consider these biblical assertions. The Hebrew term corresponding to image refers to a carved or artistic depiction of something. The term is used throughout the Old Testament to identify and destroy idols. The term likeness in Hebrew speaks of a model or pattern. Image and likeness also lend themselves to interchangeability. They are synonymous in communication with the notions of representation and similarity. Thus, man is a representation of God.

There are three perspectives on the precise nature of man’s representation of God. The substantive or structural view asserts that the image of God is some characteristic or quality that makes up the structure or constitution of man—reason, memory, and conscious moral choices. The relational view asserts that since God is triune, man’s experiences of relationships are the essence of God’s image in him. Finally, the functional view emphasizes that the image of God is something humans do. Considering these viewpoints, we can make the following assertions.

God designs men and women to make His character visible. We are like God in certain respects. Yet, man is not identical to God as in pantheism, nor is he a part of God as in panentheism. Humans do not partake in God’s incommunicable attributes such as omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, or immutability, to name a few. We are not so much like God as to be gods. Instead, being created in the image of God means that we are like God in essential ways relating to God’s purposes in creating us, and we represent God in the world in a unique way among the other creatures. We are to live in a way that tells God’s truth about Him—His character—to the rest of creation for His glory.

The concept of representation is helpful as we think of how we are to interact with the world as Christians. We do share some of God’s attributes in a finite way to communicate Him to the creation for His glory. We show forth His communicable attributes like love and justice. As image bearers, humans reflect God’s power and authority in exercising dominion over the earth. We are persons, reflecting His personhood. We communicate in languages after his attribute of speaking.

The concept of reverence is also important. The true God made images of Himself to multiply the worship of Himself. Thus, idol worship is aberrant and anathema to God because we become what we worship. In man, we may see the faint reflection of God’s character and, in turn, worship Him in how He has revealed Himself in His image-bearers.

The concept of relationship is a component of image-bearing as well. There is personal plurality in the Genesis creation account: “Let Us make man in Our image” speaks to relation in the Godhead, and Man is thus a relational being as the Triune God’s image-bearer. There is, again from Mike Riccardi, unity and diversity in the very life of God himself—One essence subsisting in three co-equal, co-eternal, consubstantial persons. The unity and diversity of the relationship exhibit the very essence of the Godhead, and thus the relationship is purposefully reflected in the creation of gender—male and female—and the institution of marriage. In man being fruitful and multiplying, the family becomes the foundation of human society. God is glorified in the variety and unity of man’s collaborative work on earth.

Rule and reign represent another category of image-bearing. Adam was tasked to rule and reign over the created earth and its inhabitants. Man is intended to exercise God’s authority over His creation as a vice-regent. Man is intended to make the invisible king visible by ruling as God’s image-bearer over the creation according to the dictates of God, the true king. (Psalm 8:4-8).

The image of God has a moral aspect as well. God made man “very good” (Gen 1:31). Ecclesiastes 7:29 says that God made man “upright.” Adam and Eve were not made morally neutral. They were made with original righteousness or innocence. However, this moral aspect of image-bearing was lost in the fall. It is regained only in Christ. True knowledge, righteousness, and holiness do not describe man in his sinful condition since the fall (Eph 4:17-18; Rom 1:21-22; 1 Cor 2:14; Rom 3; Is 64:6).

However, Scripture is also clear in saying that the image of God is not entirely vanquished by the fall. Although it is marred and distorted, it is not lost or destroyed. God’s mandates to Noah regarding murder after the destruction of the flood reflect this truth. Even fallen man is distinguished from the animals (James 3:9). Romans 1:20 also speaks to the character of remaining image-bearing in man’s fallen state. Fallen men have a knowledge of God, which is more than can be said of the inanimate and animate creation beyond man. Man also has a conscience (2:15). Matthew 7:11 speaks to a residual kindness in men. Second Timothy 3:5 speaks of shadows of virtue—a “form of godliness.” There is some reflection of godlikeness in fallen men because the image remains. Thus, all people should be treated with dignity and kindness because some image-bearing dignity remains.

The New Testament descriptions of sanctification in salvation describe the progressive renewing of righteousness in the redeemed believer in Christ (Col 3:10; Eph 4:23-24). Saving faith begins the renewal progression into the image of God, which is Christlikeness. The original condition of Adam and Eve before the fall, to which believers are now being renewed under the New Covenant of Grace, consists of true knowledge, righteousness, and holiness.

The realized image of God is Christ Himself. The Son of God is the perfect representative of God Himself and of humanity (2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:15; Heb 1:3; John 14:9). Christ makes the invisible God visible, which is what Adam failed to do. Jesus has succeeded in functioning as God intended for man in all three aspects of relationship—vertically upward to God, horizontally to other people, and downwardly to the creation under His dominion. Jesus is the last Adam (1 Cor 15:45) who succeeds precisely where Adam and all fallen mankind since have failed. He imputes to redeemed believers now under His headship the righteousness that God demands, which eventually restores us into the image of God. In being conformed to the image of Christ, believers are restored to the image of God. The renewed image of God is the result of our sanctification. The moral aspect lost in the fall is being renewed and will eventually be fully restored in our glorification (1 Cor 15:49; 1 John 3:2).

Imago Dei is a defining notion for understanding who we are, where we have come from, our purpose, to whom we are accountable, and how we function. The implications are immense for theology, psychology, ministry, and Christian living. Ramifications of the image of God embrace issues of human dignity and value, personal and social ethics, relations between men and women, the solidarity of the human family, and racial justice. All these topics are utterly relevant in our world today.

Sadly, secular culture has rejected the biblical doctrine of man. Man is made in the image of God, and therefore, an erroneous understanding or rejection of God as he is revealed in Scripture axiomatically results in a distorted understanding of man and his place in the universe. Christians must understand and be able to articulate Imago Dei to refute the foolishness of our day. The only ground for justice in society is that human beings are the image-bearers of the almighty God.