Bible Stories

In some ways we are no different from any other species on earth. We are creatures subject to the usual conditions of space and time. But we know that human beings ’stand out’ from other beings in several ways. Some of these are plain enough; they partly explain humankind’s superiority over other creatures: our creativity, our intellectual, linguistic and cultural achievements.

But the Bible adds a further and remarkable point. People stand out not by what they do but by what they are. This is expressed right at the beginning, in the creation story of Genesis 1. God said, ‘Let us make man in our image after our likeness.’ It is a theme taken up and developed in other parts of the Bible: we are not like the other creatures; we share God’s nature in a special way.

What do we reflect of God?

It is difficult to be very precise about what this sharing of God’s nature means, though many theologians have tried.

The main point behind this very important Bible idea of the ‘image‘ is that humanity has been created for a special relationship with God, intended to be personal and eternal. We are above the rest of creation and given ‘dominion’ over it, not because of the things we can do, but because of the intimate relationship which God wants to share with us. In the Bible ‘doing’ is always secondary to ‘being’. As God intended us, we were called to live life fully in his presence, developing spiritually, mentally and morally as children of God on whom the Creator delights to pour his love.

‘Made in God’s image‘ therefore describes us as people who are open to God’s call and able to respond to his claims. Yet within this very general picture of humankind’s close relationship with God there are particular features which stand out:

True knowledge of God and holiness. We were not created morally neutral. The Bible asserts that we were created as moral beings and that our relationship with him is intended to be one of transparent purity and holiness. The modern assumption is that our moral sense comes through education and group pressure; Christian teaching is that God created us with the knowledge of right and wrong. The coming of sin into human life, however, affected not only our moral state but also, more seriously, our relationship with God.

Intellectual power. We are rational creatures and share in God’s rationality which is seen in creation. Humankind’s intelligence can be seen in the urge towards creativity — in art, science, religion, play. But, as with every other part of our nature, this creativity too has been infected by the blight of sin. None of our achievements has ever come out quite untainted; we have found ways of using all of them for some harmful purpose.

• Spirituality. The Bible teaches that we are made for fellowship with God. As the Westminster Confession so beautifully puts it: ‘The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him for ever.’ We can only find true self-expression and deep fulfilment when we find God.
• Immortality. We were made for eternal life with God. This is the clear teaching of the Bible. It is not ours by nature. It is God’s gift to his children. Opinions differ about whether humanity was originally created immortal. Some argue that death only came into the world when humankind sinned. Others hold that humanity, according to the Bible, is just as much ‘flesh’ as the rest of the animal kingdom, and that the ‘death’ that came with the fall is not physical death, but spiritual separation from God.
• Dominion. The Genesis account speaks in the same breath of our creation in the image of God and our dominion over the rest of creation. Our higher position in creation is God-given. He is Lord of all, and in a limited fashion we share in his lordship. The whole story sets out in full technicolor the glory and honour with which humanity is crowned and the awesome responsibility that comes with it.

All this makes it plain that the Bible idea that we were created in the image of God is a crucial tool for a Christian understanding of human nature. The vivid story of the idyllic life in Eden gives expression to a real relationship with God which was meant to endure.

Primal tragedy

Humanity has fallen from its destiny and calling. Adam and Eve were confronted with a choice. They chose sin and independence from God. The image of God in humanity has, by that choice, been spoiled and distorted. As the Genesis account portrays it, Adam and Eve were made for fellowship with God and for sharing in his love and generosity. Their fate, through rejection of God, was to be separate from his life. They ‘fell’ from grace and it became our fall.

As with the account of our creation, so with our fall, there are different views of how to take the story. Some hold that, unless we believe in a literal, historical fall that actually affected the whole human race, we undermine the central Christian facts of sin and salvation. Others see the Genesis story as plainly figurative, describing poetically the deep alienation between God and humanity. The story is saying that we are sinners and need God. Every person is ‘Adam’ and every person has ‘fallen’ from the righteousness God intends for us.

The human condition is tragic. Something wonderful has been lost. And yet, even after our fall and in our sin, we have not completely lost the image of God. It is spoilt, but not destroyed.

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