Image versus Likeness

In Hebrew, the phrase “image of God” is ‘tzelem Elohim’, translated as likeness, (Genesis 5:1-3) and is derived from the root word ‘shadow’. Basically, we are like the shadows God casts on the world.

In the Bible, the image of God applies uniquely to humans – it is symbolic of the relation between God and humanity. The image is something that is given at creation, while the likeness of God is something that a person grows into at a later time, during one’s lifetime.

To be in the ‘image of God’ is to have a functional likeness to God or to have the divine purpose of God. (Genesis 5:1-3) Jesus said, “Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it,” calling us into the eternal purpose, with God as one’s icon or purpose. To be in the image of God is to conform to the image of Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:29)

Image of God does not mean a physical image of God, since God is beyond time and space. The Bible says that God is spirit. To live in the ‘image of God’ begins with commitment to God’s purpose, and living according to the commitment.