Counseling Theology: The Image of God In Man

After God had made all other creatures, he created man, male and female, with reasonable and immortal souls, endued with knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, after his own image, having the law of God written in their hearts, and power to fulfill it; and yet under a possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will, which was subject unto change. Beside this law written in their hearts, they received a command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; which while they kept they were happy in their communion with God, and had dominion over the creatures.

Westminster Confession of Faith 4.2 (emphasis added)

Introduction

The question of identity is a perennial one. A question that our American culture seems to be struggling to know and understand more than ever before - at least in my life time. The question of identity and our being can be a daunting one, especially when we have no guidance in the matter. And, this problem can be exacerbated in the lives of those who don’t or didn’t have God’s ideal for the family as they grew up. If a child doesn’t have a father in the home, as a head and lord, a comfort, a guide, a spiritual leader, etc. then he or she will grow up with challenges that those with fathers do not have. This is, at least in part, why God portrays himself to his children as a Father. He’s not a mother, or friend, or coach. He’s a Father. He’s a loving, disciplining, expecting, comforting, humble, Father. You may be asking, “What does this have to do with who I am, with my identity?” But this is exactly the point. Who your Father is, is determinative of who you are.

In the bible we see lineage after lineage, and a common theme of these is that people are referred to as “the son of so-and-so” or it will say, “he was the father of so-and-so.” And all this is identity language. The father is used to identify who the person is. Ultimately, however, we will have one of two fathers. Men will be of their father, the devil (John 8:44), or they will be of their Father in heaven (Matthew 6:9), and there are no other options. This delineation will determine everything, both in this life and in the one to come. So, if our identity is wrapped up in who our father is, then our elder brother, Jesus Christ, can show us how to understand who we are.

Who Jesus is

In Matthew 16, Jesus is recorded as having several discourses, and one is very telling for our purposes here. Jesus and his disciples were traveling into the district of Caesarea Philippi and all the sudden Jesus asks a pointed question: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” The disciples answered with a slew of possibilities. Apparently lots of people said lots of things about who Jesus was, but, were nevertheless incorrect. This isn’t to say that John the Baptist, or Elijah, or Jeremiah are bad, but they aren’t Christ. They aren’t who Jesus is. They are who they are, but they are not Jesus. They have the same Heavenly Father, but not the same mission (which we’ll see more about later). Jesus then asks even more pointedly: “But who do you say that I am?” or in other words, who am I to you?

This is a question of identity, the who or what a person is, their being. Well, Peter exclaims, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Notice, this is an example of what I said above. Who Jesus is, is answered in an interesting way. Observe first, the importance of who his Father is: “the Son of the Living God.” Peter doesn’t say “you are Jesus” or “you’re whoever you want to be.” No. He says, in effect, “you are your Father’s Son.” Now notice, what is said about Jesus himself. He is called “the Christ,” but this is not his name, this is a title. Christ is the Greek rendition of Messiah, and Messiah is more aptly understood to be on mission. This name denotes that Jesus was divinely appointed, commissioned, and accredited as the Savior of men (Hebrews 5:4; Isaiah 11:2-4, 49:6; John 5:37; Acts 2:22). So, when Peter answers Jesus’ question, he says essentially, “This is what your mission is, and this is who your Father is.” Kind of a weird way to identify yourself, right?

Well, Jesus didn’t think so. He answered and said:

Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven

Matthew 16:17

In other words, Jesus said, “You got it man!” Peter was right! That IS who Jesus IS! Now, lest we be tempted to think this to small or insignificant, Peter’s answer is said to be from the Father himself! So, this isn’t a partial answer, or an altogether wrong answer. This is the sufficient answer.

Who Am I?

The image of God in man is a truth of scripture that penetrates our understanding of who we are from the very introduction of the biblical text. Genesis 1:26 shows that it was God’s intention that humanity be in the image of God and after his likeness. The Westminster Larger Catechism explains that God,

…endued [Adam and Eve] with living, reasonable, and immortal souls; made them after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness and holiness, having the law of God written in their hearts and power to fulfill it, with dominion over the creatures…

Question 17

Understanding the image of God in man, and coming to a conclusion of who we are, just as Jesus knows who he is, is of critical importance in our day. So, in the counseling room, with love and humility, we need to convey these truths to those we seek to help, because this issue will - to one degree or another - underpin all that people face. And we need to convey this “…because we live in a world where the image of God has been distorted in all those created to bear it.”[1] All the failures and missteps in life that lead to counseling, therefore, can be traced back to the misapprehension of the image of God. It is vital therefore for the counselor, the churchman, the elder, the mother and father to see that the objective of counseling and soul-care is to restore a man or women, boy or girl, to the image of God. This of course brings us to a logical question: what does it mean to bear the image of God?

Bearing The Image of God 

I believe the scriptures are perfectly clear as to what this is and how this is to look in a Christians life. Second Corinthians 4:4 declares that Jesus Christ is the image of God. Colossians 1:5 says that Jesus is the image of God, who is invisible. Hebrews 1:3 – which may be one of the best descriptions of Christ – says “[Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature…” Like so many other things, therefore, it seems that to know what the image of God is, we must look to Jesus for here the answer will be found. And this is why Peter’s answer is so vital to our understanding. And, as we survey these texts, it seems to become obvious, that the bible screams “THIS IS WHO JESUS IS! THIS IS HOW YOU LIVE! THIS IS WHO YOU ARE!”

We look to passages like John 13, where Jesus gave a dramatic display of the image of God. In verse 14 Jesus says, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet” showing an example of the image of God. Matthew 20:28 shows us that Christ desires to be a servant, and to give his life for his people. In Philippians 2:7-8 Jesus is described as emptying himself, taking the form of a servant, and humbling himself. These descriptions of Jesus are replete throughout the New Testament. So, what does this tell us? We are what we were created to do, and who we are depends of who our father is. Our identity is wrapped up in our duty and in our daddy. (my attempt at an alliteration)

Conclusion

Men and women who are in the Lord, have the same heavenly Father, and we have the same Christ to emulate. Men and women also have the same mission (Matthew 28:16-20) and within this mission they have different duties, which distinguish them as male and female (more on this in another article). Understanding this will clear up confusion after confusion. So, for our purposes here, and practically speaking, bearing the image of God is to be Christ-like. It is to embody an ever growing desire for holiness and a growing affection for Christ and the things of God and to do the work and mission he has given you. The image that Christians bear is one that, by Christ’s blood, grows us more and more into Christ’s-likeness as we grow in sanctification, and enables us to live lives of humility and in service to one another. 

[1] Lambert, Heath. A Theology of Biblical Counseling. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016.