Imago Dei

Hello All,

If you’ve never been part of an “Imago Dei” (Greek for “Image of God”) discussion, it goes a little something like this: We hold to Biblical truth in that man was created in God’s Image according to Genesis 1:26. Now after the fall in Genesis 3 what was our situation? I think you’d be hard pressed to argue that God’s image in us was wholly unaffected – but what? Did we totally lose the Image of God, or was it lessened, distorted, or marred in some way? Why does this matter? I think it matters in how we account for certain things natural to our experience: For instance, our anger toward injustice. If it were just “something in us”, we could see that anger as ‘ungodly’ and come up with methods to try and dissuade any responsibility to being provoked in the face of injustice. However, when you attribute it to the image of God in us, the responses prove less benign and rather something of a duty. We should either commit our resources to right the wrong or pray that God would sort it out as injustice is an issue also near and dear to His own Heart.

In spite of the fact that we live in such a sin-sickened world as well as our own fallenness - we are urged to seek after righteousness. What effect does this pursuit have on the image of God in us?

Here is The Word;

Colossians 3:9-11 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.


I don’t want to derail this but the fact of the matter is we can all be easily lied to. I could be lying to you right now (maybe not outright lying, but misrepresenting my own righteousness). I know some peek in on my blog and believe that very thing. That’s why ever since I’ve started writing this blog in 2007, this has never been about getting people to follow me or to believe I’m something I’m not. If you read the verse above, the new man, the inner man that is birthed at our conversion from death to life is “renewed in knowledge” – Not MY knowledge but the knowledge found in the Word of God and no matter what anyone thinks of me, that’s what THIS blog is about. I thank God that there is a place of rest and peace in all of this. I think it’s also something that proceeds to us directly from God’s image in us; impending justice. We are all able to hide and put up fronts and deceive and to do all of these things that support the truth of Scripture where it says in John 3:19 “..men loved darkness rather than light…”. It’s something that we as believers fight against but eventually (or as the Ol’ spiritual would say “Soon and very soon”) It all comes to the light. We should never forget that our lives are lived as an “Expose” before God and the most important thing is not the image I present but to consider the reality of your own “Imago Dei”.



In Him,
Cros