Devotional | God’s Image In Man
We are created in God’s image and in His likeness. This is a foundational truth that will answer questions you may have concerning the purpose of your life and who you are created to be. It is the foundation on which everything else in life is built.
As image bearers, we represent God, His nature, goodness, and love. We are a mirror of God’s image and likeness on the earth. As we live and walk by faith, our entire life becomes a reflection of God’s image.
Being Human
After man was created, God saw that everything He had created was very, very good.
‘Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.’ Genesis 1:26-27
Man is the apex/pinnacle of God’s creation. He is the image bearer of God. Image means representation, reflection, and likeness. Man carries a spark of the Divine within his life. He is the crown jewel of everything God has ever done—man is separated from the rest of creation.
Being an image bearer does not remove our personhood. On the contrary, God’s image and likeness are what make us human. Through the cross, we see the restoration of God’s image and likeness manifest in the new creation. His image is part of our identity. It is not like a hat on a rack—something separate from us that we “put on.” It is WHO we are. God’s image and likeness are ingrained into the divine design of all of humanity.
Ten Attributes of God’s Image in Us
We have dominion and authority. We are created to rule and reign in this life as kings and priests.
‘The earth is the Lord ’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.’ Psalms 24:1
‘The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all its fullness, You have founded them.’ Psalms 89:11
Before sin entered into the world, gender was part of God’s perfect plan. When God created man—male and female—He saw that it was very good.
‘This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.’ Genesis 5:1-2
In partnership with God, our parents played a role in bringing us into this world, but God is the one who created us. We came from God, THROUGH our parents. We didn’t come FROM our parents. The heart of culture’s fixation/obsession with gender is an assault on God and His image. It’s rooted in a hatred for God and manifests in self-hatred. The truth is: God saw us. God knew us. God shaped us. God formed us. God made us male and female.
One of the first things we learn about God—who He is and how He works—is that He creates.
‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.’ Genesis 1:1-2
God is a person, not just a force in the universe. Creating is part of His personhood and ours. Man creates because it’s part of God’s image in us—part of what makes us human. We create, we invent, we build things because we’re created in the image and likeness of God.
There’s a spark of creativity inside every person. We can pervert it in sin and darkness, or we can celebrate it in righteousness and light in Christ. But we can’t change it. Everybody has the creative inspirations and impulses of God on the inside.
Words—the freedom and usage of words—is God’s image in man. Everyone speaks. We choose if we will allow sin and darkness to corrupt our speech, or if we will, in righteousness, celebrate the image of God and use words to encourage others.
When God speaks, His Words have creative power—we’re created in His image and His likeness. God said, let there be light, and there was light.
‘Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.‘ Genesis 1:6-7
God creates with words; therefore, we can also create with our words. Our words have creative power, but there are time elements involved. Our words are seeds, just like God’s Words are seeds, but when He speaks, it brings an immediate harvest. Our words are subject to the law of seed time and harvest. Words matter. Words are powerful. Here is how it works: God speaks, and His Word is seed. We speak, and our words are seeds. We can either speak from a position of faith and sow seeds of blessing, or from a position of unbelief and sow seeds of death and discouragement.
God works. Jesus came and did the works of the Father, mentioning His works multiple times. Jesus is the visible image of an invisible God, and He came to model God’s image in humanity.
‘And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.’ Genesis 2:2-3
Part of what makes us human is work. Work is powerful, and we need to live our lives in that knowledge and teach our children the value and purpose of work. Work is part of fulfilling God’s will for our lives. We cannot fulfill God’s will and purpose without work. We cannot be prosperous without work.
Because of God’s image in man, and because God is judge—we judge. There is no reality where we don’t judge, but we must judge cautiously and carefully, with righteous judgment.
‘For the Lord is our Judge, The Lord is our Lawgiver, The Lord is our King; He will save us;’ Isaiah 33:22
We will either celebrate this image of God in righteousness, or we will judge with evil, condemning, hurtful, and malicious judgments. This does not condone being judgmental, negative, harsh, and condemning in our judgments. Everybody judges, but we, as believers, need to learn how to judge righteously. It’s God’s image that causes us to judge, but it’s God’s Word and His Spirit that teach us to make righteous judgments.
God is a just God. Even wicked men demand justice. When we see an injustice, we become outraged because of God’s image in us. It’s important that we understand justice from God’s perspective because it has been perverted in today’s culture.
‘Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.’ Psalms 89:14
Justice is connected to judgment. When we do not understand justice, or when justice is perverted, then judgment becomes skewed, and God’s image becomes blighted. God’s mercy and His truth go before Him, but it doesn’t eliminate justice. The foundation of God’s throne is righteousness AND justice, not just justice.
Justice is God’s judgment meted out without partiality, bias, or hypocrisy. His justice knows no color, gender, financial status, or political affiliation. Justice has equitable consequences for one’s behavior, whether good or bad, reward or punishment. Justice is doing what’s right and correcting wrongs, which is God’s image in us.
Our holiness is based on who God is, not who we are independent of God. God is holy, and because we are created in His image and likeness, we are created to be holy.
‘Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written,“Be holy, for I am holy.”’ 1 Peter 1:13-16
God has restored us to His original plan: to be holy as He is holy. Holiness is part of our personhood. It is God’s divine plan for man. None of us were created for sin.
Even without knowing God, man believes in and pursues love, because God’s image in man is love.
‘Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.’ Romans 5:5
The world knows we’re disciples of Jesus by the love we have for one another, because it flows from the image of God in us. God is love. It’s who God IS. His love is not based on OUR conduct, it is based on HIS character.
There is nothing we can do to make God love us more. We can’t do anything good to make Him love us more, or anything bad to make Him love us less. His love for us is based on HIS personhood, who He is, not who we are. God’s love has no limits, boundaries, or conditions.
Love has 16 character traits found in the Love Chapter.
‘Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. ‘ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Our identity and personhood in Christ are rooted in truth. No one likes or wants to be lied to—even unbelievers. We were created in the image and likeness of God, and He is a God of truth. It is His nature and His personhood.
‘Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”’ John 8:31-32
The Word of God is absolute truth, and when it is embraced in the human heart, it enlightens the eyes to deception and darkness. We are no longer easily deceived. Jesus bears witness to the truth. He is absolute truth. That’s why God’s image in us must be expressed. Spiritual warfare is standing in the truth.
Learn more about how our humanity was created to reflect God’s true nature by accessing the FREE booklet, God’s Image in Man, available as either a digital download or a printed copy. Use code IMAGE to get the free physical copy using this link. Offer expires 3/31/2026.
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Learn what it means to be an image bearer of God. God’s Image In Man outlines ten attributes of God that are built into each one of us. Find out how walking in the image and likeness of God makes us uniquely human.
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This resource is a guide for every believer to understand the incredible gift we received at creation when God said,“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.”
The very breath of God gives us great value and worth
From creation to redemption, this material explores how attributes like dominion, creativity, justice, holiness, and love reveal the divine design within us. When we understand who we are in Christ, God’s glory shines through us to a world longing to see His image restored.
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