What We Believe
The Nature of Humanity
The Lens of Glory
We truly see each other only when we look at Him.
O
ne night, as September changed into October, my daughter was born, made in my likeness and according to my image—a girl with cheeks like mine and hair like mine, eyes blue like mine. Now a toddler, my daughter speaks the way I do, packs her purse the way I do, and loads the dishwasher the way I do. I imagine that when Adam and Eve became parents, they were as interested and amazed as all parents who have come after them, wondering at the features of themselves that they saw in their children. The Bible tells us that Adam fathered a son “in his likeness, according to his image” (Gen. 5:3).1 This description of Adam and his son is a copy of the description used for the relationship between God and humanity. “Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness’” (Gen. 1:26; compare with Gen. 5:1, 2). God is very clear that human beings are created in God’s image and likeness (Gen. 1:26, 27; 5:1, 2; 9:6). IN HIS IMAGE
It sounds grand, but what does it really mean? It’s easy to see how my children are like me—they share my brown hair, my regional dialect, some of my mannerisms.
