God, who made everything, made people to be different from the rest of the world. People are made in the image of God (Gen 1:26-27
). People are declared to be “very good” while the rest of creation is declared to be “good”. People are special to God, and have a special role to play in the world.
The phrase “the image of God” is used three different ways in the Bible. Firstly, all people, male and female, are made in God’s image. Secondly, Jesus is the image of God in a way that we are not (Col 1:15). Thirdly, when people come to trust in Jesus they should become more like Jesus and closer to a true reflection of God’s image.
What might this mean for Christians? It means that human life is important to us, so we oppose abortion, euthanasia and care about how all people are treated. It means that we must value humans above the rest of creation. And it means that we need to seriously pray and strive to better reflect Jesus’ character so we can better reflect God’s image.
(Based on Bible Cafe teaching, 19 February 2010).