Written by Christopher Hall, a contemporary author and theologian. This is an excerpt from his book “The Mystery of God: Theology for Knowing the Unknowable.”
‘Image of God’ is a phrase that is given maddeningly little formal definition in Scripture. This is true – except that when we examine the New Testament testimony, the Christological and incarnational focus of the imago is striking. Paul preaches to the Corinthian Christians about ‘the glory of Christ, who is the image of God’ (2 Cor. 4:4), and he tells the Colossians that it is Christ who ‘is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation’ (Col. 1:15). Christ, the image of God, is the Word made flesh (John 1:14), ‘the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father’ (John 1:18 NASB), the eternal Son who has created all things (Col. 1:16). The Letter to the Hebrews states that the Son ‘is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things 2 by his powerful word, sustaining all things by his powerful word’ (Heb. 1:3). We may want to know what the obscure language of imago Dei really refers to, but the New Testament does not define it. Instead, it points to where we can see the imago in action: we must turn our eyes to Jesus Christ. To look closely at Christ is to see at last what a real human being looks like.” And we are created in his image! We are God’s precious image bearers.
Prayer:
Written by Ken Boa, a contemporary teacher, writer, speaker, and President of Reflections Ministry.
Father, I give thanks that You foreknew me, that You chose and called me, and that You have declared me righteous in Christ. My desire is that I become fully conformed to Your image in spirit, soul, and body so that I will display the beauty of Your light as it shines through me and blesses others. I eagerly await the fullness of my adoption as Your child through the redemption of my body. I long for the day that will come when we put off mortality and are clothed with immortality. In the resurrection of our bodies, we will enjoy the fullness of our salvation. You will do away with death and sickness and suffering and grief, and this perishable will become imperishable. We will manifest Your life and reflect Your glory through the prisms of our unique personalities, so that each of us will contribute to the whole at the great feast and in the great dance.
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