Image and Identity Part 2: Need to be Redeemed
Genesis 1:28-29 says, “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’ Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food’.”
Later in vs. 31, scripture says God looked at what he had made and said it was not simply good, but Very Good. He gave humans a blessing, a purpose to rule and reign over creation as His representatives here on earth.
In Genesis 3, we find that although Eden was perfect and they had been given all they needed, it took humans no time at all to mess up a good thing. Adam and Eve sinned. They disobeyed God and this act changed things for all humans to come after them.
Romans 5:12 explains, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way, death came to all people, because all sinned.” So, humankind misused this God-given humanity and fell short of representing God well here on earth. But here’s the amazing thing that scripture teaches: Sin didn’t cause us to lose the stamp of His image.
In Genesis 9, God is talking to Noah and his family after the flood and he’s giving them a blessing, a purpose, and a few rules. Tucked in verse 6 we find this, “Whoever sheds human blood, by other humans must his blood be shed; for in God’s image God has made humankind.” God said this after the flood. After people had sinned so much that God determined the only course of action was to wipe them out and start over! He says even then, humans bear the image of God.
No matter how we sin or what evil we participate in, humans still have the Imago Dei. Our worth and value are inherent in our being made in the image of God.
It was given to us. It isn’t earned.
But there’s still a problem. Although we don’t lose our stamp of God because of sin, we were forever changed by our new sin nature. We were no longer perfect. We must be redeemed before God, and Jesus is the only way. Jesus was fully human and fully God, so he was the perfect redeemer. He could perfectly represent God in human form. We know this because of verses like Hebrews 1:3, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” And Colossians 1:15 says,
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ”
So, although we keep our status as image-bearers of God, we are given only one avenue for perfectly representing God, for redemption, and that’s through the firstborn of God who is the only possible substitute. That is the good news! By accepting this gift of redemption, we turn to Jesus as the true source of our identity.
Image and Identity Part 2 of 3