Genesis 1:31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.” 

In “Created in God’s Image,” Anthony A. Hoekema explores the Hebrew words for “image” and “likeness.” He explains that the term “tselem” (image) comes from the word meaning “to carve,” suggesting a carved representation of an animal or person. On the other hand, “demuth” (likeness) refers to “an image that resembles us.” God chose to create us in His image and likeness, meaning we resemble Him both in form and representation. This realization carries a significant responsibility, doesn’t it?

This statement reflects a fundamental truth about every individual: in our world, where discussions about what defines a person often arise in debates surrounding abortion, slavery, and the circumstances that lead to genocide, the concept of personhood is crucial. Every person embodies the image of God, both in their physical form and in their capacity to represent God through intellectual reasoning, morality, relational abilities, and spirituality. This idea of being created in God’s image bestows the highest dignity upon every individual.

When we view creation through God’s eyes, every person has infinite worth. They are eternal beings, just like you. We are to love them as God loves them, and we are to love ourselves as God loves us, even when they (or we) are difficult to love. 

Maybe you find your body hard to love. It may not currently do what you want or look like you want. But all God created is good. Sin has depraved us, but it has not removed God’s image from us. And for Christians, His image is progressively becoming more clear in each of us as we continue in the process of sanctification, or being made more like Him (Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18). 

The Cultural Mandate: Our Responsibility as God’s Image Bearers. In Genesis 1:28, God instructed His people to “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it” (CSB). This instruction is often called the cultural mandate. Bearing God’s image comes with responsibilities to be fruitful and multiply; building societies and filling the earth with God’s glory, and reigning over all creation and stewarding it well. The work reflects the character of God, but it is also reliant upon the Lord to yield the fruit. 

You are infinitely valuable as one made in God’s image and given great responsibility as His representative. You have valuable work to do for the kingdom. Every tribe, nation, ethnicity, and personality type was created by God. There is such beauty in the diversity of God’s creation. May we rejoice in it and rest in His kindness to make us into His image today! 

1. Anthony Hoekema, Created in God’s Image (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1986), 13.

“Remember the goodness of God in the frost of adversity.” Charles Spurgeon