In His Image

Late in 2025, I bought a couple of Bible activity books for our two oldest grandchildren, Israel (9 years old) and Julia (7 years old). One of the early activities posed the question, “You are made in God’s image. What does that mean to you?” It warmed my heart when I read their answers. Julia wrote, “It means to be able to spend time with God.” Israel’s response was, “It means we get to be with Him whenever and wherever we are.” 

This idea of being created in His image can involve some pretty lofty concepts and has certainly fueled a lot of surmising among the body of believers. I was pleased with the responses from my grandchildren because it is, in fact, because we are created in God’s image that we can access Him relationally, intimately, and without limitation. This very personal and comprehensive access is unique to humankind by God’s design. 

In the most literal sense, some believe our physical likeness resembles His form. The Master of Creation designed the most remarkable creatures in the animal kingdom — in the air, in the sea, and over the earth. Then Genesis 1:26 says this: “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground’” (NIV used throughout). This verse features the presence of the Trinity when it says, “Let us make mankind” and “in our image, in our likeness.” This begs the question, “What do God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit look like?” 

The authors of the Holy Bible have made several references to the image of God. Psalm 34:15 refers to the eyes and ears of God. God also appeared in a physical sense before Moses as a burning bush (Exodus 3:2-6). When the Israelites made their way to the desert, Exodus 13:21 says, “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light.” Moses, as well as others in Scripture, was familiar with the voice of God. Exodus 19:9 records, “The Lord said to Moses, ‘I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear Me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.’” 

When it comes to likeness to our physicality, we can’t dismiss God walking in the garden (Genesis 3:8) or the “human hand” that appeared to King Belshazzar, writing God’s message of his reign ending and a kingdom divided (Daniel 5), or in Exodus 6:6 when He says He will redeem Israel with an outstretched arm. Then there are the references to the face of God (Exodus 33:20, Numbers 6:25), the heart of God (Hosea 11:8), and the mouth of God (Isaiah 55:11). 

Still, Paul speaks of “the King eternal, immortal, invisible” (1 Timothy 1:17), and John 4:24 poignantly removes physicality from God when John writes, “God is Spirit, and His worshippers must worship Him in the spirit and in truth.” What, then, does the Spirit look like? 

Holy Spirit looks like a dove. “As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him” (Matthew 3:16). Since the Holy Spirit takes on other forms in the Bible, one must ask why on this occasion He was a dove. Remarkably, those witnessing this moment were encountering the Trinity with Heaven opening up and God speaking as the Holy Spirit landed upon Jesus the Christ. This dove symbolizes something purposeful from a God who has made us in His image, who understands us so comprehensively. Ephesians 1:13-14 refers to the Spirit in a manifestation very different than a dove. “When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,” Jesus spoke of the Spirit of the Lord being an anointing, and John the Baptist spoke of the One to come baptizing with the Holy Spirit and fire. 

John 3:8 says, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So, it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” This agrees with 2 Corinthians 3:17. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” What, then, does Jesus look like? 

He looked like a newborn baby born in a stable; He looked like a boy in the temple having very grown-up conversations; He looked like a man teaching, healing, leading, loving. He looked like a Savior hanging on a cross. He looked like God incarnate raised from the dead. He was the Word made flesh, dwelling among us. “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” (Colossians 2:9-10). This manifestation was for our redemption. God’s nature as eternal, infinite, from the beginning, before time, omnipresent did not become redefined when God presented Himself to mankind in the flesh. This condescension and grace were so that we may receive atonement through Christ. The two natures of Jesus (man and God) were separated in the tomb. His death was for our salvation. His resurrection was asserting His identity as God, unconfined to anything perishable. 

Created in His image? These representations of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are meant to inform us of a broader, deeper image we’ve been modeled to resemble. We are His greatest design, and we are meant to look like a God / a Spirit / a Savior who has appeared to us in so many forms, all of which are common to the identity of a God of authority, morality, creativity, rationality, spirituality, and love. These are the attributes we are meant to inherit from our Father in view of all other living things. We are separated from the failed notions of naturalistic evolution because no matter how much those subscribing to the theory search for the missing link, no beast of the field can build a bridge … but mankind can. Trees can’t love … but mankind can. Fire can’t choose to be strategic … but mankind can. 

The value we place on fellow man should bear our understanding that fellow man is made in God’s image as well. This establishes the sanctity of life and the inordinate obligation to respect humanity. 

God, the all-knowing and only source of freedom, has endowed us with rationality and volition, able to reason and make choices because we are created in His image. God, the brilliant artist of sunsets, flowers, stars, and light, has equipped mankind to be able to create, to design, to build, to develop, to write, and to calculate because we are created in His image. 

Morally, societies the world over and through all of time have established codes of conduct that were expected within their communities. People have consciences and feel guilt or resolve because of our innate orientation toward moral truth. Some deny that absolute truth exists, yet they still believe that lying and untruths do exist. That is because our morality embedded in us in His image persists. 

In His image, humanity was created for fellowship. God’s loving fellowship above all else defines what it means to be made in His image. Person to person, we laugh, we cry, we confide, we encourage, we gather, we experience disappointment, we lose trust, we build trust, all because we are meant for relationships and experiencing love. The grandchildren answering the question that being made in God’s image means we have access to Him was gratifying. The two children skipped over arms and legs and hands and feet as a definition for “in His image,” but instead referenced what is attainable because we are created in His image. Being made in the image of God affords us the most robust and intimate of realities, and that is to bear the image of love itself. What, then, does love look like? 

Late in the day on September 26, 2024, Hurricane Helene made landfall along the coast of Florida, causing catastrophic damage over multiple states, resulting in unprecedented flooding through the mountainous regions of Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. An estimated 73,000 homes in North Carolina alone were damaged or destroyed, leaving thousands without power, water, and medical care for days. FEMA was caught flat-footed with respect to funding for such a calamity and had issues with political weaponization, causing broader failures in service. At the same time, the Red Cross and like organizations were simply unable to reach hundreds of victims up in the mountains due to the massive extent of destruction in their path. Situated in the midst of this crisis was a ranch of packer mules, and those who owned and operated the ranch felt the Lord’s beckoning to meet a need our highly advanced culture of sophisticated engineering and structure simply could not. They loaded up their pack mules with relief supplies of all kinds and headed into the mountains in search of those in need. Mountain Mule Packer Ranch called it a leap of faith when they headed into mass destruction on prayer that their mules would be able to traverse the impassible to reach communities that had been completely shut off from help of any kind … and they succeeded. They were a vision of hope to people who had no news of help on the way as they reached hundreds of families with supplies, relief, encouragement, and hope. 

Their mission statement today says, “Rooted in our Christian faith, our work is guided by a deep commitment to selfless service. We see ourselves as bearers of both physical and spiritual sustenance, striving to be a beacon of light in times of darkness.” It concludes with these words: “The initial call to action, a simple yet profound ‘Pack it up and Follow the Lord,’ remains our guiding principle. This commitment to faith-based service empowers us to overcome obstacles and achieve a greater impact than we could ever accomplish alone. We are driven by a desire to serve God by serving others, carrying the weight of both physical and spiritual burdens, and sharing a message of hope and resilience wherever we go.” 

What does God look like? He looks like a pack of mules appearing through the debris with riders created for such a time as this … in His image.