Who Exactly Is Created In The Image of God?

Friends Forever by Debra Smith
© The State of Queensland 2011

When I became a Christian, slowly but surely I let the thinking slip in that only Christians bore the Imagine of God. I’m not sure when this slipped in. I don’t remember a sermon or book on the subject, slowly over time it just happened. But the ramifications meant that if Christians bore the Imagine of God than others didn’t. I probably would have never said that to anyone, but it’s what was in the back of my head. I loved that thought that in addition to Jesus dying on the cross to pay for my sins, it also made me special. I confess now that it was elitism and it was wrong!

This might not seem like much, but it totally effected how I related with people. I somehow thought that I was better than the people around me who weren’t Christians. Of course, I’d never intentionally say this but it came out in my actions. Who would I take advice from? Of course I would go to a Christian who must give better advice than a non-Christian because they were gifted by God. I liked hanging out with my neighbor, but most of the time I’d call a friend from Church, who lived across town, to get together for coffee when I had a problem. Of course I had friends outside of church bubble, but they weren’t allowed as close to my heart. And if I am going to really be honest, I probably thought of them as “evangelistic” projects.

I cannot believe that I am admitting this, but I see it all around me: an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ mentality. I recently read this quote from “Breaking the Missional Code” by Ed Stetzer and David Putman: “Many evangelicals live in a “Christianized” world where people listen to James Dobson tell us how to raise our children, consult Ron Blue to understand our finances, sing along with Third Day for musical inspiration, choose political candidates based upon Christian Coalition voting guides, and read Tim LaHaye to enjoy some good Christian fiction. We live in this evangelical subculture, this evangelical bubble, and we see all kinds of people just like us (p.37)”.

As I’m not sure when I let the thoughts slip in, I’m also not sure when I began to realize that it was not lining up with what God’s word says about people. At the very beginning of the Bible, we have the story of creation in which God created the sky, land, water, light, animals, and people. Specifically with people “God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness...’” (Gen. 1:26). It goes on to say again, “so God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27). Confirming what He made, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Gen. 1:31). And I love it in chapter 2 it adds “Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame” (Gen 2:25).

All this happened before Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God made a beautiful creation, which bore His Image. We are ALL created equal, because we ALL bear the image of God. This includes Christians and non-Christians; all people, from all nations, all tongues, and all tribes.

This picture is painted even richer as we read in the Psalms... “For you (God) created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; you works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me where written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:13-16) I would love to have written the entire chapter, as there is even more written about the depths at which God knows each person He created.

If all the people around us are made in God’s Image that means that they all have something to offer us. As we love our neighbor and as we build relationships with around us, we are actually fitting together the puzzle pieces of what God looks like. I don’t know about you, but I think that is pretty incredible! I get to see more of God when getting to know His creation. I have as much to learn from my neighbor as they have to learn from me. We complement each other. While I do believe that I have a hope in Jesus that passes all understanding, they might know how to teach my children to obey, fix my car, or get through a difficult situation. No longer will I judge what someone can offer me because of what they believe. It is not for me to disregard what God has so beautifully and meticulously created.