Made in the Image of God

The debate goes like this. Is man made in the image of God? Or is God a manmade image after his likeness, made in order to console himself? The Christian will hold the first opinion, the Atheist will conform to the latter. There is a very distinct difference of perspective based on worldview.

Genesis 1:26 states, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Here we see that the trinity of the Godhead spoke of how we were to be created. We are the handiwork of God on display. To me, this makes total sense from a rational perspective. We are God’s workmanship, we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

It is interesting that there were also manmade gods listed in the Old Testament. We read in Isaiah 42:17
“They are turned back and utterly put to shame, who trust in carved idols, who say to metal images, “You are our gods.” So, in some sense, the Atheist is correct to say that little “g” god(s) are manmade. However, these little “g’s” are not the real thing. They have no power to create the universe or life or people. The atheist will attempt to lump all notions of God into an object of man’s creation, including the God of the universe himself.

God actually told the Israelites not to make idols of wood and stone because he knew that they would have the propensity to worship false gods. The psalmist says in Psalms 31 I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord.

So, I would agree with the Atheist to the extent that a manmade god is meant to console him or herself. However, there is a great deal of difference between something manmade and an eternal awesome God who has created all that we can see. He exists beyond time and in his wisdom, has chosen to make us in his image. His power to create is seen in the complexity of how amazingly we are made.