God’s Image?

Am I still the image of God even though I have sinned?

In Genesis 1:26-27, God says that He will make mankind in His image, giving him dominion over all creatures on land and in the sea. When God saw what He had made He was very pleased (Genesis 1:31). All the world was created for God’s glory, but man was specifically made so he could be the visible image of God and the mouth of creation in his praises. It is this image that distinguishes man from all other creatures and gives him the ability of language, judgment, and self-consciousness.

When God breathed His breath into Adam it produced a being comprised of a body, soul, and spirit, something unique from all other creations. Adam chose to sin, forever changing the nature of man. Humanity now suffers from a broken relationship with God and deals with the consequence of death. This does not mean that he no longer has the image of God.

John Kilner uses the analogy of an elephant rolling in the mud saying even though it is covered in filth the elephant is still a large, gray, mammal underneath. Thankfully, God loved man so much that He created a way to redeem him through the death of His son as an ultimate sacrifice allowing His relationship with humanity to be restored. The blood of Jesus washes the filth away and, like the elephant, underneath is the same man that God originally created, one in His perfect image.