Jesus as the Image of God

One of the meanings of the phrase “image of God” means that people are created as God’s image—or, as His imagers (Gen 1:27). The image of God language in the New Testament brings this into focus: Jesus is described as God’s imager, and believers are to image Christ.

Two passages refer to Jesus as the image of God: 2 Corinthians 4:4 and Colossians 1:15. These passages speak of the incarnation of Christ—the eternal God becoming a human being. Having been “found in appearance like a man” (Phil 2:7; compare Phil 2:1–11), Jesus—through the incarnation—made it so that God was accessible to our human senses. He accomplished the plan of redemption on the cross, and offers salvation to humanity.

The language, however, suggests more. Paul writes that believers are destined to be conformed to the image of God’s son, Jesus Christ (Rom 8:29). This language is a call to act as Jesus would—to live like him. Acting like Jesus points to the functional idea of the image of God; it suggests we think of the image of God as a verbal idea. By “imaging God,” we work, serve, and behave the way God would if He were physically present in the world. In Jesus, God was physically present. Thus, we are to imitate—or, image—Christ.

God wants all humans to believe in Christ and be conformed to the image of Jesus. As Jesus imaged God, so must we image Jesus. In so doing, we fulfill the rationale for our creation: we image God (Gen 1:27). This process is a gradual one: “And we all, with unveiled face, reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory into glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18). In this passage, being filled with the Spirit is linked to imaging Christ—the ultimate fulfillment of our status as God’s imagers. One day, our imaging of Christ will transcend our life on earth. As Paul also says: “just as we have borne the image of the one man who is made of earth, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (1 Cor 15:49).

Michael S. Heiser