What does it mean to be Imago Dei?
This Latin phrase, which translates to “image of God,” expresses the unique relationship between God and humanity where mankind is the sole representation of the Most High within the the boundaries of Creation. It finds its origin in Genesis 1:27 which reads: “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them,” (NASB). Personally, I find that verse to be deceptive in that it states something so plainly which should have tremendous implications for our day-to-day lives. We, as human beings, are made in the image of God. We are not mere animals, we reflect (or are supposed to reflect) God like a mirror, or perhaps more like the moon, where we are luminous but solely because a greater light is shining upon us—secondhand sunshine, if you will.
Now, Imago Dei can and should play itself out through each and every one of our lives in a variety of different ways. There is not necessarily a one size fits all approach to modeling God, and it probably goes without saying that some people are blessed with certain abilities and potentials while others are not. In a previous article, I touched upon the Christian’s responsibility towards the natural world, and in yet another article, I also discussed some lessons that an individual could derive from the literal actions of Jesus Christ as presented in the Gospels. For this article, however, I want to shift attention towards something that happened long, long ago*, far before the earthly life of Christ, and explain how I believe another aspect of Imago Dei should be present throughout our respective lifetimes.
So, what is this long ago event that I am referring to?
Well, it is nothing other than the good ole’ act of Creating the Universe, the Earth, and Everything in It.
*How long ago? I am not sure, although I do currently lean towards an Old Earth perspective. If you really want to dig into the science and conjecture of it all, I would highly recommend checking out both Answers in Genesis and Biologos. The former presents a Young Earth understanding of Scripture and the latter presents an Old Earth understanding, and each have been invaluable to me as I have delved into the worlds of Science and Faith.
The act of creation is the first thing that we actually see/read about God doing, and it is one heck of a start. By merely speaking, God creates literally everything that we see, touch, hear, taste, and experience. Plus all the things we still do not know about an have yet to encounter! According to National Geographic, there is still about 80% of the ocean that has yet to be explored or mapped out. That means that we technically have a better idea of what the Moon and Mars looks like than we do the entirety of our own planet. On top of that, per Space.com, humanity has “discovered” around 100 billion galaxies as of February 2022, and there are projections that the number could increase to 200 billion or so as our telescope technology improves. Even if we one day map out every square inch of the ocean, unless we also invent human-compatible lightspeed travel/transportation, we still will not be able to witness the full extent of Creation.
All of that is mind-blowing, but in a way the scale of Creation is beside the point that I am trying to make. What I am attempting to draw attention to is the sole act of Creation itself. One of the things that we learn about God before almost anything else is that He is a creative being. He also ensured that the ability to create was passed down to His creation through sexual and asexual reproduction. From the smallest amoeba to the largest animal, everything (as far as I know) procreates/reproduces in some shape or form. Thus, creating is inherent to creation in a biological sense. However, what sets humanity apart from the rest of creation is that the aforementioned concept of Imago Dei, being made in the image of God, elevates our creative nature from being strictly biological to being both biological/practical and metaphysical.
Humans are not bound to practice creation solely through procreation but are rather able to create and develop cultures and societies through art, architecture, agriculture, and so much more. I would argue that not only are we able to do such things, we are commanded to! Take for instance the following verses from the 29th chapter of the Book of Jeremiah:
4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. … 10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.”
Yes, that is the ever popular and often quoted “For I know the plans I have for you…” verse in its full context. So, next time you or someone you know use that to apply to a modern circumstance, remember that the verses before it explicitly call for cultural and societal engagement wherein we build families and plant gardens. Those actions of course entail some act of creation be it through sexual intercourse and raising a family, or the physical acts associated with gardening and harvesting crops. Beyond those particular, explicitly listed behaviors, I believe that “seek[ing] the welfare of the city…for in its welfare you will find your welfare” implicitly advocates for any number of actions that benefit, enhance, and grow a culture and/or society in a God-honoring way.
Welfare, as a concept, does not exclusively refer to actions that empirically lead to a prolonged life. It additionally must refer to behaviors and actions that make life worth living, things that lead to joy, specifically: God-honoring joy. The Bible says as much in 1 Timothy 6: 17
17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
See? God provides us with things that we are to enjoy. Our enjoyment of God’s material providence, His concern with our welfare, is a microcosmic representation of the overall joy that we should experience knowing that He exists, that He loves us, and that we can eternally serve Him. So, when we enjoy something this side of eternity—as long as it is truly God-honoring, and what is or is not God-honoring is something that is entirely deserving of its own article/discussion—we are getting a taste, a tease, of the ultimate joy that is yet to come which is accessible purely through service to the Lord.
Not only do we get a preview of a transcendent joy when we experience something wholly wonderful, we reflect God’s creative nature when we ourselves are the ones that are creating stuff that can provoke such a feeling in other people. The act of creating aligns us with a literal action of our Heavenly Father and allows us to partially understand a possible reason why He even bothered with creating life as we know it in the first place.
Because creating brings joy!
Think about how you felt after having a kid, baking a cake, writing a poem, singing a song, planting a flower, or whatever you have done that has resulted in the creation of something else. Again, I do not know about you, but when I make something, I enjoy the heck out of it. Nothing feels better than finishing up one of these articles, or writing a poem, or cooking up a meal, or creating a home and safe environment for my wife. Whatever level of joy you feel after doing something like any of the things that I listed above, multiply that by an infinite level of magnitude and you are probably beginning to barely scratch the surface of the joy that God feels from creating us and seeing us honor Him.
Now I understand that the main image for this article is a painting and that the image a few paragraphs above this sentence is yet another painting, but I want to be perfectly clear when I saw that whatever you create does not have to be artistic in nature, at least not artistic in the liberal arts sense. As I mentioned towards the start of this article, how exactly each one of us is gifted in our ability to reflect and glorify God varies from person to person. No two people are identical. Yet, we are identically called—I believe—to create something! Anything!
It is phenomenally and depressingly easy to be a mere consumer in today’s world, particularly within Western civilization. We can sit back and watch other people’s art, enjoy the fruits (literally) of other people’s labor, and essentially have every need and desire satisfied at the touch of a button. That consumeristic mindset flies directly into the face of what I think God wants for our lives. We were not designed to be mere recipients all throughout life, we were designed with specific purposes in mind.
Those purposes will differ between each and every one of us. One of my best friends is a phenomenal spiritual leader, he is able to create environments where people feel safe yet challenged with apparent ease. Another one of my best friends is an extremely talented computer technician who can create and fix programs seemingly in his sleep. My wife is probably the smartest medical professional I know and not only creates a clinical space where her patients feel cared for, she is also has a beautiful voice and can sing like an angel. Then one of my wife’s best friends is an utterly sublime baker who makes delicious, entirely vegan pastries and baked goods who is working towards opening up her own storefront (check out her Indiegogo here and the Facebook here). And then I could go on and on about my wife and I’s respective parents and their ability to create loving homes while continuing to foster their own respective hobbies and careers.
If you sat back and took the time to think about it all, you would be able to recognize an almost unlimited number of ways that people around you create something daily or have created something in the past. As image bearers of God, we as humans create things all the time (for better or for worse), and if we do not, then we should (create better things, not worse things)!
As I mentioned previously, creating allows us to understand God more, at least in regards to understanding why He bothered to create any sort of life in the first place. But creating also allows us to better know ourselves, to know our strengths and weaknesses—our fears, our hopes—and to grow as people. One of the writings I stumbled across recently that motivated me to write this article was the following letter written by Kurt Vonnegut (author of Slaughterhouse-Five, amongst other pieces) to a class from Xavier High School.
Now, ignore the “God bless you all!” sign off at the bottom, from what I can ascertain about Mr. Vonnegut he lived and died an atheist, but focus on the overall message of that letter. Even though he did not believe in God, Kurt Vonnegut understood that creating, as an action, is an inherent and transcendent part of the human experience. Sure, he is definitely referring to creating in a traditionally artistic manner, but the sentiments can be similarly applied to creating pretty much anything. Through the act of creation itself, we understand ourselves a little bit better and we can then begin to understand God a little better since we are made in His image.
Yes, we must be diligent in differentiating between the parts of us that we discover that align with God and those parts that do not, but the act of creating is transcendent and nonetheless. We discover the heights and depths of our own souls and natures as we explore the feelings and thoughts we experience as we determine ourselves into creating something, no matter what it is. The heights? We should want to climb those all the more. The depths? Well, we should find out how to deal with those accordingly.
Nevertheless, as God created, so too must we. We create to understand ourselves better, to know God more, and to learn about His purposes and intents for our lives.
We are created to create.