The Image of God

The Image of God is a vocation to rule as God’s ambassadors through His wisdom. Gen 1:26-29, Psalm 8:4-8 We are cracked images and have tried to rule to world and live by our own wisdom (idolatry). Romans 3:23 Jesus is truly human one who faithfully and correctly images God. 2 Cor 3:18, 2 Cor 4:4, Rom 8:29 The Holy Spirit is at work within us to conform us to the image of Christ To image God in community (with God and others) on this earth in resurrected bodies for eternity The Bible begins with Eden and ends with Eden God’s plan has not changed from beginning to end The image of God is the royal office or calling of human beings as God’s representatives and agents in the world. Image of God means that humans have been given power to share in God’s rule or administration of the earth’s resources and creatures. - J Richard Middleton (The Liberating Image) The notion of the “image” doesn’t refer to a particular spiritual endowment, a secret “property” that humans possess somewhere in their genetic makeup, something that might be found by a scientific observation of humans as opposed to chimps. The image is a vocation, a calling. It is the call to be an angled mirror, reflecting God’s wise order into the world and reflecting the praises of all creation back to the Creator. That is what it means to be the royal priesthood: looking after God’s world is the royal bit, summing up creation’s praise is the priestly bit. – NT Wright (The Lost World of Adam and Eve)