Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Genesis 1:26

Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 26:1

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

Romans 8:28-29

God made us in His Divine image; we are God-shaped people. We, in our sinful state, made objects of worship that reflected the creation, neglecting the will of the creator. But now, having demonstrated His love for us in seeking us out in order to redeem us, God is shaping us again. In this He shapes us into His Spiritual image. No longer do we merely bear the outward appearance of God, but now we take on the Spiritual appearance of His firstborn, Jesus.

God is shaping his people into something like a god, in a way that no emperor or president or cult leader ever could think up. He shapes us into the image of a homeless carpenter who was executed for blasphemy by a foreign government. Are we ready to drop the mere appearance of godliness to embrace that spiritual change? Or do we make an image that reflects the creation instead of the creator?

Ethan Kirl

Originally Published October 27, 2022