Made in the Image of God
Got a coin handy? Good. Whose face is on it? More than likely, you’re looking at the image of a former president or a well-known woman from history (Susan B. Anthony or Sacagawea). If you check out a set of stamps (the non-flag kind), you might see the image of another well-known person from history.
Imagine having millions of coins or stamps bearing your image. (Unfortunately, you have to be dead before you can appear on either.) Although God has never been on a stamp or a coin, millions of people bear his image. According to Psalm 8, we were made in his image. We’re ‘stamped’ with his likeness. This doesn’t mean that we have his chin or his eyebrows. We have his characteristics.
It’s easy to believe this truth when we think about kind, attractive, thoughtful people. But it’s just as true of the murderer on death row or the terrorist who bombs airports. We’re God’s image-bearers not because we’re good but because he created us.
When you’re confronted by people who seem to exist only to make your life unpleasant–the classmate who majors in being obnoxious, the relative who constantly criticizes you, the teacher who takes pleasure in humiliating you–remember: that person was made in God’s image just as you were. Regardless of our habit of wrongdoing, we are all of great value to God.
