"God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; 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 of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.'" (Genesis 1:27,28)

God created us with a divine image, likeness and vocation. If we can appropriate that understanding of ourselves by faith we can become what a truly healthy and flourishing human being is born to be. As we age we are prone to dwell on our limitations, our shortcomings, our regrets. We need to be reminded of our divine identity.

While we are part of the animal kingdom, homo sapiens, humans as a species, are unique. At a point in time God created us in his image. Michelangelo in his famous painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (1508-12), artistically captures the moment when the hominid, called Adam, received the creative power of the divine image and likeness, which transformed our ancestors into the likeness of God. This is the high point of creation. God creates in his image human beings whose special identity is the ability to have a personal relationship with him. We are sufficiently like God that we can have an interactive relationship with him. God walks in the garden with Adam and Eve, and he speaks to them in a different way than to the rest of creation. He speaks personally, while they understand and respond.

"Christianity maintains that the real meaning of the Universe is not to be found in an impersonal cosmic force, nor in a mathematical theory of everything, but in a personal God who wants to be in relationship with human beings. To be human is to be made for relationship, to love and to be loved by the God who created us. This means that relationship is at the heart of the Universe." (David Wilkinson, The Message of Creation, 39)

We are not autonomous or self-sufficient. We need God and one another. To live into the understanding of being made in the image of God requires us to consciously relate to God. The person who does not consciously relate to God is creatively dysfunctional. He or she reverts to the pre-human condition. It is no wonder that lack of a divine image and vocation leads to destructive behavior.

The benchmark for being made in the image of God is Jesus. Jesus is the decisive norm for divinity and humanity. "He is the image of the invisible God." (Colossians 1:15) His life is characterized by his conscious, intimate, interactive relationship with the Father. If we want to appropriate this self-image we will welcome Jesus into our lives and follow him. Every day we will put on "the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator." (Colossians 3:10)

When God creates us in his image he blesses us, and tells us to be fruitful and multiply. He wants us to reproduce ourselves, not only physically, but spiritually. Jesus told us that our relationship with him should result in us bearing fruit. (John 15:1-8) We are called to a divine vocation - to pass on God's image and likeness to others. We are meant to have spiritual children. The world is filled with people who have no understanding of God's image and likeness, no appreciation of having a divine vocation. Their self-image is poor, unhealthy, and destructive. They need to put on a new self and be renewed through Christ in the image of their Creator. We need to be reminded of our responsibility to propagate this good news to our neighbors: to the ugly, the disadvantaged, the rejected and the obnoxious.

In the ancient Assyrian and Egyptian texts the king is described as the image of God, meaning God's representative on earth. We are God's representatives, his ambassadors, God communicating to the world through us. (2 Corinthians 5:16-20)

Understanding ourselves being made in God's image and likeness results in knowing that we have a compelling calling. There is a close connection between being made in the image of God and God's command to rule over the natural world. To rule and to subdue the earth are royal tasks. We are called to be God's royal stewards of our environment. We are responsible for the wellbeing of the earth and its inhabitants. Implicit in our creation is our responsibility to govern and be governed, to order our civic and social life for the common good. Knowledge of and involvement in politics is a necessary part of ruling. Every person is endued with this responsibility, not just politicians. The last words of the Declaration of Independence are the mutual pledge of "our sacred Honor." Each of us has the sacred honor of being called and chosen by God to be responsible for our governance. All of us matter. None of us is superfluous or without value or consequence. Our self-image should include this importance. We are all part of the national conversation if we see ourselves as striving to do God's will to make this world what God created it to become.

Both male and female are equally created in the image of God and equally given the vocation of ruling over the earth. There is no gender hierarchy in creation or salvation: "There is neither... male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28). Whatever other texts of Scripture may say, the creation narrative makes no distinction between the value and calling of the male and female. Women should never feel inferior to men. Each should be treated with equal respect and sacred honor. Jesus related to women with sensitivity and consideration. Any man who acts otherwise does not understand what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God. The subjugation of women and their subsequent poor self-image is sub-human, bestial, and a reversal of God's creation. It can only be cured by the good news of a new creation in Jesus.

If we believe that all people are created in the image and likeness of God we will relate to everyone we meet as God's representative, a member of the divine royal blood. Mother Teresa said that she saw in each dying or destitute soul on the streets of Calcutta the image of Jesus. When we encounter those who are depressed, who feel valueless, whose self-image is poor to non-existent, we need to share with them the good news that they are created in the image and likeness of God, and they can put on a new self in Christ, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of their Creator. No one should be controlled by a mental picture of themselves that they have received from others. The only picture that counts is that which God supplies us in Christ. That is life and peace. That is good news.

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