In this installment of “How Do We Change?”, Dr. Greg Gifford frames the idea of image-bearing theologically, looking at five distinct ways that believers bear the image of God.
Five Aspects of Being an Image-Bearer
Theologians break down the truth of being an image-bearer in five categories:
- Moral Aspect: Everybody has a conscience, an internal faculty where we know right from wrong. As believers, our desire should be for our internal conscience to be perfectly in line with God’s Word. God Himself is the ultimate source of morality, and it is through His Word that we see the standard of morality set.
- Spiritual Aspect: Galatians 6 describes those who are spiritual as those who have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. As image-bearers, this means that we have a Spirit in which we can reflect the Spirit of God. John 4 states that God is Spirit, and we are to worship Him in spirit and in truth.
- Mental Aspect: Man has the faculty and capacity to be logical and reasonable. Moreso, we also have the ability to be introspective and self-conscious. These mental abilities represent a reasonable and logical God because we inherit them from God.
- Relational Aspect: God has created us in His image to be in relationship with others. The need for relationship reflects the Trinity, the example of a perfect relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Practically, we reflect the image of God by being in relationship with the local church, serving and living out the “one-another’s”.
- Physical Aspect: Although God does not look like us, there is still a physical aspect of our image-bearing. Humanity’s physical aspects are used throughout Scripture to articulate how God interacts with us, such as the eyes, ears, and hands of God.
Behold Him and Be Like Him
Nowhere in the Bible are we given an exhaustive list of how we are image-bearers, but it is made clear that we are image-bearers. We know that we reflect God and that we are like him, even if we don’t understand exactly how. Because we are image-bearers, we know that change comes about by us learning about who God is and then becoming like Him. If there is any hole or deformity in our image-bearing, we are called to behold Him so we can be like Him.
In the next episode, Dr. Gifford will dive into reflecting God in the ways where we are not fully conformed to His image. This blog post captures the essence of Dr. Greg Gifford’s series on the question “How Do We Change?”. You may click on the video above to hear more insightful details about how the pursuit of Christ brings about true change. Dr. Gifford is the Chair of the Undergraduate School of Biblical Counseling as well as a Biblical Counseling Professor for The Master’s University traditional on-campus program.
