“Whose image is this”…….whose image are we?

Like the Pharisees who could identify instantly the image of Caesar on the coin, it is easy for us too, in our daily lives, to associate images with people or things. But do we ever think of ourselves being images too? Today let us reflect upon this common little word—image.

Jews never made an image of God for the Law forbade it. But in Genesis 1:26 we read, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”, so God made an image of Himself, a little image called man. In Creation Theology, creation and redemption are interconnected, that is, the purpose of creation does not only manifest God's perfection and glory, but is part of God's overall plan which includes its redemption. Thus the first Adam was made according to the second Adam (Christ) who, being the source of all creation and the perfect “image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15), is the template which men are made after. God thus modeled man on Christ.

If we truly understand this, we will be in awe. As descendants of Adam, we are in fact God's image in Christ. We are not evolved from some primates or just come into being accidentally. The psalmist in Psalm 8 understood this and said, “What is man that you should be mindful of him, or the son of man that you should care for him? You have made him little less than a god and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him rule over the works of your hands, putting all things under his feet.” “Man is [truly] the summit of the Creator's work” (CCC343).

Being in the image of God refers to the totality of the human person in both the natural and supernatural aspects. In the material sense, our human body shares the dignity of the Creator and is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19). Hence we should not mistreat, abuse or despise it, both of ours and others'. In the spiritual sense, we should reflect our Creator's goodness and love in relation to the rest of the creation. We are God's representatives, His stewards in Creation and therefore we have the responsibility for what God has entrusted to us. Being in the image of God means to have a direct relationship to God. We are able to know, to respond to and to have reference to Him. We should therefore serve, love and honor our Creator. Being in the image of God also means to resemble that of the Trinity. Though each of us has our own individuality, but we are not made just for our own selves. Like the divine communion of the Trinitarian Persons, we are made for interpersonal communion. Lastly, being in the image of God is not static. We, being the imperfect image have a dynamic role to fulfill, that is, we should constantly strive to become Christ, the perfect image of the Father (cf Hebrew 1:3), and let this image fully dwell in us.