by Father Gerard Beigel, S.T.D.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the great Russian author who exposed the injustices of Soviet Communism, once said that the greatest problem in the modern world is that human beings have forgotten God. Putting it another way, we could also say that man has forgotten that he is created in the image of God. When people today think about their problems, how many would really believe that the solution to their problems is found in remembering that they are created in the image of God? But however much modern man forgets, denies or ignores that he is the image of God, whenever a person discovers this truth the miracle of hope and new life always unfolds. There is the story of an atheist scientist who one day was converted to belief in God simply by looking at his daughter's ear. The man realized that the design of the ear and the ability to hear could only manifest the hand of God. In that moment, the scientist was able to see that the human being is created in the image of God.
Many of the great saints of the Church have reflected on man's dignity as image of God. St. Gregory of Nyssa taught that the focus and goal of all God's work in a Christian is simply to renew and reform the divine image in the believer. St. Gregory explained that the more the human heart is purified of the wounds and memories of sin, the more the image of God will shine within the depths of the man's being. The saint proposed the following image:
"Take a piece of iron as an illustration. Although it might have been black before, once the rust has been scraped off with a whetstone, it will begin to shine brilliantly and reflect the rays of the sun. So it is with the interior man, which is what the Lord means by the heart. Once a man removes from his soul the coating of filth that has formed on it through his sinful neglect, he will regain his likeness to his Archetype, and will be good."
The fundamental blessing God has bequeathed to human beings is to make them, male and female, in His own image. This is the original blessing given to mankind in the divine work of creation. Moreover, man's creation as image of God is a blessing from God that cannot be lost. It is true that sin has disfigured the divine image in man. Using St. Gregory's illustration, sin covers over the divine image in man just like a layer of rust over a piece of iron. But despite the corrosion of sin, the image of God is still found in every human being. God committed Himself to undoing the corrosion of sin by sending His Son Jesus Christ so that the splendor of the divine image in man might again shine forth. Christ is the true Image of God who has the power to restore and renew the divine image in man.
The deepest healing that people need is simply to know and believe that they are created in the image of God. First of all, we need to understand what it means to be created in the image of God. Then we need to see how our sins have blocked our awareness and vision of the image of God within. Finally, we need to let Jesus refashion the divine image within us. Let us now consider in turn each of these three points.
Genesis 1 — "In the Divine Image He Created Them"
The creation of man and woman is described in the first chapter of the Bible. God's creation of man and woman is presented as a unique moment in God's creative work. First of all, using figurative language, Genesis 1:26 presents God as pausing and deliberating before He creates man and woman. "Let us make man in our image, after out likeness." These words indicate that, in distinction to all the other creatures, man and woman will have a unique and privileged relationship to God. Secondly, this special relationship of man to God is described with the words "image and likeness." All of God's vision for man, all of His plan for man, is conveyed by the notion that man is to be in the image of God. In other words, the fact that man is the image of God is not an afterthought, not something added to man's identity. Rather, the very essence of man and woman is that they are created in the image of God. This truth ought to be the bedrock of how human beings think about themselves.
The New Testament opens another deep perspective upon the creation of man and woman in the image of God. There is a beautiful hymn about Jesus Christ in Colossians 1:15–20, which begins by proclaiming that Christ is "the image of the invisible God." The hymn then declares that "all things in heaven and on earth were created in him"—that is, in Christ. Thus, not only are man and woman created in the image of God; they are also created "in Christ." We must keep both of these facts in mind in order to understand fully what it means to be created in the image of God. What we see immediately is that the "image of God" is not an abstract idea. Rather, in creating us in His image, God was actually creating us in His Son and for His Son. Every man, woman and child who has ever lived has been created for Jesus Christ. The image of God that is within every human being is a divine gift to enable them to be joined to the Son of God. The divine image is a grace that moves people towards a total loving conformation to Jesus the Lord. When God created man and woman in His image, His deepest desire was that all people would become "like" God's own Son, Jesus Christ. The fact that we are created in the image of God is an unmistakable manifestation of God's desire to share with us His own inner life, where the Father and Son are united in an unbreakable bond of love and truth. This deeper insight about the meaning of the divine image, which we grasp in light of Jesus' coming in the New Testament, ought to shape the way in which we read the teaching in Genesis 1 concerning the creation of man in the image of God.
Immediately after the words about God creating man "in the divine image," Genesis 1:26–2:3 gives a detailed description of several ways in which man and woman possess the image of God. There are four prominent marks of the divine image in man: the communion between man and woman, the dominion man has over the created world, the power of fertility given to the man and woman, and finally, man's resting in the Sabbath day that is blessed and hallowed by God. Let us consider in turn each of these aspects of the divine image in man.
The first mark of the divine image in man is that man and woman together, in and through their communion, reflect the inner life of God. "God created man in his image, in the divine image he created him, male and female he created them" (Gen 1:27). Pope John Paul II, in his teaching on The Theology of the Body explains the mystical meaning of these words. "Man became the 'image and likeness' of God not only through his own humanity, but also through the communion of persons, [which is] an image of an inscrutable divine communion of Persons." In other words, the communion of man and woman in love is an image of the divine communion among the Three Persons of the Trinity. Think of how God would be glorified throughout the earth if all married couples were aware of the great dignity of their love and lived this grace!
The second mark of the divine image in man is that he has been given dominion over the created world. Dominion signifies the authority to rule. In creating man in His image, God gave to man a share in His own authority, entrusting the rule of the earth to mankind:
"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground… God blessed them, saying…'have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth.'" (Gen 1:26.28)
Humanity's dominion over the earth is not an absolute power. We are not the absolute lords over the earth, but rather stewards of the earth on behalf of God. This means that our exercise of dominion and care over earthly things must respect the laws of God. We are called, not to dominate or misuse the created world, but to use it wisely in keeping with God's goodness. Human history shows that the divine image present in us through the gift of dominion has been misused in countless ways, from pillaging the environment to any form of injustice towards other human beings. The solution to these abuses cannot be to deny the gift of dominion and to assert that man is just another animal with no special privileges. Rather, human beings must come to see, accept and live out the great responsibility they have been given by God.
The third mark of the divine image in man is the power of fertility that is given to the man and woman by God: "Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it" (Gen 1:28). The gift of fertility is not simply a biological function. Human fertility is a gift that enables us to share in God's creative activity. Through fertility, human beings continue the creative work of God, bringing into the world children who are called to an eternal life with God. Through fertility, men and women truly become co-creators with God! This awesome power has also been misused tragically throughout human history. Through the misuse of sexuality outside the commitment of marriage and through willful efforts to block the human power of fertility, countless people have not lived in accord with the divine image that is reflected in the human power of fertility.
The fourth and final mark of the divine image in man is found in the description of the Sabbath rest in Genesis 2:1–3:
"Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing, he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation."
These words are nothing less than an invitation to man to enter into the Sabbath rest of God. In creating us, God has planted deep within us a desire to return to Him and rest in Him. The Sabbath day rest is an external reminder to us of this interior desire planted within our hearts. And this desire to rest in God, to abide in God, is truly the deepest manifestation of the divine image within man. This mark of the divine image within man is what makes man a religious being—it moves him to seek out and worship God who is both the unique source and goal of his whole being. The divine image in man impels him to return to his Creator in perfect love. As the Catechism states, "God created everything for man, but man in turn was created to love and serve God and to offer all creation back to him" (358).
Sin Disfigures the Splendor of the Divine Image in Man:
By creating man and woman in His image, God endowed them with all the gifts they needed to remain in His love and to deepen their union and likeness to God. All that man had to do was to use his freedom always in accord with God's Commandments. It was precisely the misuse of human freedom that brought about the first sin. Tempted by the devil, Adam and Eve preferred to trust the serpent's deceptive promises rather than cleave to God and trust in His goodness. This sinful choice could not fail to have profound consequences upon man's relationship to God. Think of the vast difference between trusting God and trusting the devil! The original sin of Adam and Eve truly involved a radical turning away from God and this turning also distorted the presence of the divine image in man. As the Catechism teaches, the divine image was "disfigured in man by the first sin" (1701).
In our description of the divine image in the first part of this essay, we already noted some of the ways that human beings do not live in conformity to the presence of the divine image within them. The account of man's fall into sin in Genesis 3 gives almost a point-by-point description of how the divine image in man is disfigured by sin. The Catechism offers a sobering summary of the tragic consequences of sin that are portrayed in Genesis 3:
"The harmony in which [man and woman] had found themselves, thanks to original justice, is now destroyed: the control of the soul's spiritual faculties over the body is shattered; the union of man and woman becomes subject to tensions, their relations henceforth marked by lust and domination. Harmony with creation is broken: visible creation has become alien and hostile to man. Because of man, creation is now subject 'to its bondage to decay.' Finally, the consequence explicitly foretold for this disobedience will come true: man will 'return to the ground,' for out of it he was taken. Death makes its entrance into human history." (Catechism, 400)
The above list indicates that ever one of the four marks of God's image in man is corrupted by sin. The original communion between man and woman is distorted and "becomes subject to tensions." Man's peaceful exercise of dominion over the earth is altered and "harmony with creation is broken." Man's and woman's acceptance of the great gift and responsibility of fertility is marred as "their relations [are] henceforth marked by lust and domination." Finally, man's deep desire to worship God, to return to Him, and to rest in Him must now contend with the presence of fear and shame in man's attitude towards his Creator. Paragraph 399 of the Catechism simply notes that Adam and Eve "lose the grace of original holiness. They become afraid of the God of whom they have conceived a distorted image."
We cannot fully understand the tragic consequences of sin upon human beings unless we consider Scripture's teaching about the divine image in which man was created. By comparing the condition of the divine image in man before and after the first sin, we can begin to grasp how deeply man has been wounded through sin. Simply put, human beings were created to reflect the glory, the love and the truth of God within the visible world. If the divine image in man were still shining forth in its splendor, we would not see in our world the human pain and suffering, the alienation, fear and assertive pride that is all too apparent in human relationships. Nonetheless, despite the tragic effects of sin, the divine image in man has not been completely lost. As the Catechism notes, the image of God in man has become "disfigured" through sin, but the image is not completely lost. Every human being who has ever lived is created in the image of God. And although that image is tarnished by sin, God remains faithful to His original plan for man. That plan is for the divine image within man to move him to eternal glory and life with his Creator. To accomplish this plan, God freely chose to refashion the pristine beauty of the divine image in man. How did God do this? Precisely by sending His own Son into human history. In Jesus Christ, the true Image of God, "the divine image, disfigured in man by the first sin, has been restored to its original beauty and ennobled by the grace of God" (Catechism, 1701).
In its teaching on the divine image in man, the Catechism refers twice to a key passage from the Vatican II Documents that describes how Jesus Christ fully reveals the mystery of man and makes known his exalted vocation:
"In reality it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear… Christ the Lord, Christ the New Adam, in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, fully reveals man to himself and brings to light his most high calling." (Gaudium et Spes, 22; see the Catechism, 359, 1701)
This text summarizes powerfully the New Testament teaching that Jesus Christ is the perfect man who alone can fulfill every human being. Christ fulfills us in two ways. First, he shows us in his own life how to live a fully human life, by giving himself in love to God the Father and to others. Second, Jesus fulfills us by healing us and transforming us from the very depths of our hearts. In both of these ways Jesus refashions the divine image in man. Let us consider each of these works of the Lord.
Jesus lived a perfect human life. He never sinned; there was no fault in him at all. He did not live closed in upon himself, but made his life a total gift to the Father. On the eve of his Passion, Jesus proclaimed to his disciples that his death would reveal his total obedience to the Father: "the world must know that I love the Father and that I do exactly what the Father has commanded me" (John 14:31). In the perfection of his relationship to the Father and in his complete obedience to the will of the Father, Jesus reveals to all people the meaning and goal of human life. Precisely in his human nature, Christ manifests himself as the image of God. "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). What Pilate said in mockery is nonetheless the complete truth about Christ: "Behold the man!" (John 19:5). If we want to see the perfect model of how to live as a human being, we have only to fix our eyes on Jesus. He alone reveals to all people the mystery of man—he alone shows forth the perfect splendor of man as the image of God.
Jesus fulfills us not simply by showing us how to live in obedience to God, he also gives us the power to live this way by healing us and transforming us from within. In his first papal encyclical, Pope John Paul II gives us a powerful description of how Christ heals and transforms us from within. Jesus makes "contact with the inward mystery of man, which in biblical…language is expressed by the word 'heart.' Christ, the Redeemer of the world, is the one who penetrated in a unique, unrepeatable way into the mystery of man and entered his 'heart.'"1 Indeed, the New Testament proclaims that Jesus Christ has the power to pierce every human heart with the light and truth of God. He alone "knew what was in man" (John 2:25). Christ's blood that was shed on the cross has the power to pierce the depths of our being, "cleansing our conscience of dead works so that we might worship the living God" (Heb 9:14). Moreover, at the Last Supper Jesus promised that he would send the Holy Spirit upon his disciples, and that through this gift he would come to dwell in the hearts of his disciples.
"I will come to you. I will not leave you orphans. Before long, the world will not see me any more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me, and I am in you." (John 14:18–20)
This great work by which Jesus cleanses us of sin and then dwells in our hearts is actually the way that he restores the pristine beauty of the divine image within us. From his throne of glory with the Father, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit into the hearts of believers, freeing them to live as children of God. "You have received the Spirit who makes you sons. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father!'" (Rom 8:15). When people are healed by Christ's love and return to the embrace of the Father, they receive power to live a new life. Patterns of sin are broken, relationships with others are healed, and memories of oppression and sin are put to rest. All of these graces remove the ignorance and shame that veil the presence of God's image in man. As we are newly created in Christ, the splendor of God begins to shine forth in us, displaying once again the beauty of His image in man. "For God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Cor 4:6).
But there is more. The fullest manifestation of the divine image in man occurs when we begin to share in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Jesus redeemed us from sin and won us for God's Kingdom through his threefold work as priest, prophet and king. As our High Priest, Jesus entered the sanctuary of heaven on our behalf with the blood of his sacrifice (Heb 9:11–12). Christ is also the Prophet foretold by Moses who proclaims the fullness of God's Word (see John 6:14). Likewise, Jesus is the Messianic King foretold by Scripture who would establish and rule over God's Kingdom (see John 19:36–37). The Vatican II Documents, summing up a long tradition in the Church, teach that the Christian people are called to participate in this threefold mission of Christ as "priest, prophet and king."
"The faithful who by Baptism are incorporated into Christ, are placed in the People of God, and in their own way share the priestly, prophetic and kingly office of Christ, and to the best of their ability carry on the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the world." (Lumen Gentium, 31)
The splendor of the divine image in us reaches its perfection as we are conformed to Christ. Our participation in the kingly, prophetic and priestly offices of Christ brings about in us the deepest realization of God's image. In light of our call to be fully conformed to Christ, we can "re-read" the teaching on the image in Genesis 1 and begin to see that man's participation in the threefold office of Christ is mystically prefigured in that first chapter of the Bible.
Let us consider the four marks of the divine image in man: the gift of dominion, the power through fertility to be co-creators with God, and the desire of man to worship God and to enter into the Sabbath rest in God. The gift of dominion, of exercising God's rule over creation, is ultimately an invitation to participate in the kingly authority of Jesus Christ. The power to be co-creators with God through the gift of fertility is a participation in the power of God's Word that creates all things; thus, this mark of the image involves a share in the prophetic mission of Christ. Thirdly, the desire of man to worship God and to enter into the Sabbath rest in God is ultimately fulfilled by our sharing in the priestly office of Jesus Christ. In and through the Son of God made man, we receive the grace of offering to God a perfect sacrifice of praise. In and through Jesus Christ, we can finally enter into the rest of God (see Heb 4). Finally, in the light of Christ, what is the significance of the original communion or unity between Adam and Eve before sin? St. Paul writes that this communion is actually an image of the communion between Christ and his Bride, the Church (see Eph 5:31–32). Thus, we see that every aspect of the teaching in Genesis about the divine image finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The image of God in us is perfected through faith and union with Jesus the Lord.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
The teaching in Scripture that God has created man and woman in the divine image should be the basis for our thinking about every aspect of our lives. Whether someone is alienated from God and trapped in sin or has been striving for years to grow in Christ, the way forward to our true fulfillment lies in allowing Jesus to liberate the divine image within us. The teaching in Genesis 1 and in the New Testament on the divine image in man is not supposed to be an abstract truth. Rather, this teaching on the divine image is supremely practical. Let us consider what might be the worst possible condition into which a human being could fall. Then, let us imagine that this same person sees and believes the simple truths that we have outlined in this essay—that he or she is created in the image of God, and that even though sin has marred the splendor of the image, Jesus Christ refashions the divine image from within the depths of one's being so that the splendor and glory of God's life may reign in every aspect of one's being. As St. Irenaeus said, "the glory of God is man fully alive." Man becomes fully alive only when he realizes that he is created in the image and likeness of God. Then, as he lives in accord with this truth, the beauty of God shines forth from within the depths of his heart. As Jesus said, "let your light shine before others, that they may see your good works and give praise to your Father who is in heaven" (Matt 5:16).
Father Gerard Beigel teaches at St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver, Colorado, and writes regularly for The California Mission.