In His Image

"So God created man in His own image,
in the image of God He created him;
male and female He created them."

(Genesis 1:27, ESV)

What does that mean?

Does it mean we bear His glory? We are mind, body and spirit? We were made to look like Him? The Hebrew word for 'image' is 'tselem.' It means, "form, likeness, statue, model, drawing, shadow." Is the writer using this term literally or figuratively? 

This is a topic we've been talking about in a weekly Bible study. We sort of wrestled through what it actually means and pretty much agreed that we are representatives of God. Made in His image, every single human being was made to represent who He is. Hm.

So then I read this...

Dr. John Gottman, renowned psychologist [also Jewish] writes,

"The more I learn about children, the more I believe that the natural course of human development is [me: or was intended to be] an incredibly positive force. By this, I mean that children's brains are naturally wired to seek security and love, knowledge, and understanding. [me: It's how God made us!] Your child wants to be affectionate and altruistic. She wants to explore the environment, and find out what causes lightening, what's inside a dog. He wants to know what is right and good, what is bad and evil. She wants to know about dangers in the world and how to avoid them. He wants very much to do the right thing, to become increasingly strong and capable. Your child wants to be the kind of person you will admire and love." (Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child, p. 127)

How can all that be true when we are inherently evil? Unless...we're not. Being made in the image of God, we inherently reflect His glory. BUT... we are born in sin. In fact, many of us were even conceived in sin.

I've seen, in my own children and in the tenderness of my grandchildren, the truth of what Dr. Gottman is saying. I've seen this in the students I've counseled over the past few years, too. A deep desire for what is good and true. A sense of justice. Though they may not know how to put it into words or into action, there is no denying that it is there. 

But I have also seen the truth of James' admonition when he says, "What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?..." (James 4:1, ff)

Could it be that "yin and yang" are true? There is good in every evil and evil in every goodness? There is light in every darkness and darkness in every light? Well, not exactly. But, maybe there is something to it.

The apostle Paul says, "For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep doing." You can read Romans 7:13-25 for more on the struggle Paul (and each of us have) experienced between good and evil in the human spirit. Paul says, "Surely there is nothing good in me - in my flesh, that is!"

The psalmist says, "Surely I was sinful at birth." (Psalm 51:5, NIV)

Each of us bears God's image. But each of us is tainted by sin. What is the remedy? Jesus Christ, our Savior. We will continue to wrestle - the spirit and the flesh. But there is hope.

What if Gottman's assessment is true? And that he is describing the essence of our having been made in God's image; but that, having been born in sin (sinful at birth), we struggle with our willful disobedience until we finally surrender to God's redemptive plan for us, through faith in Jesus Christ? "None of us is good, no not one." (Paul quotes the psalmist in Romans 3:10.) But we're not all bad. Even in Christ, we continue to struggle. Having been justified in Him, though, those of us who have received Him now have the Holy Spirit to help us fulfill His image - His glory - in us.

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4, ESV)

inherently good vs. inherently evil?

surely i was sinful from birth.

there is no one good - no not one.

but, I am made in His image,

created to reflect His glory.

in Christ, I can be

all that He intended me to be -

and the same is true for you.



Post Script:
So, this continues to gnaw at me. It is complicated, yet simple. We are, in fact, evil by nature. (Our human nature - born in sin.) Jesus said it himself... "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" (Mt. 7:11) And, somehow, we have a capacity to do good things. (Reflecting the nature of God.) It's humbling, really. ❤