What Made in God's Image Really Means: Theology in Action

Levi Hightree: welcome back to theology in action again I'm Levi Hightree here with Dr Tony Caffey 

Dr. Tony Caffey: how's your day Levi good to see you man ready to talk some theology yeah 

Levi Hightree: yeah so today we've got a a interesting topic I think we'll have plenty plenty to chew on when we get into it and today's topic is being made in the image of God uh and first I think most direct question is what would you say it means to be made in the image of God

Dr. Tony Caffey: yes this is something that's uniquely Christian too uh you might say judeo-christian because when you come at this question without the benefit of scripture without the benefit of Christian faith you really don't end up anywhere meaningful and if your world view is derived from let's say an evolutionary framework you have primordial goop that all of a sudden becomes self-aware and that's how you drive meaning or dignity as a human being it's not very substantive and so I think as there there is something in the the human psyche in the human nature that says we are different we are important we're unique but why um some atheists would say we're not we're just a bunch of molecules who are randomly kind of gathered and then the world will cease to exist and it'll be over um that's not very compelling or uh you know there's something inside of the human being that says no we got to be more than that there's something more to it and that takes us to the scriptures that say we are a created being by a Creator and we're created different from the other created things even the other organic living things so you know the the basis of our faith and the basis of our world view in terms of Christianity Judea Christian worldview if you want to say it that way is God created the entire world everything we see um even beyond what we can see in the world and on the sixth day after he created the rest of the animal kingdom he created human beings and he created them in His image and that's different that's substantively different than the rest of the Animal Kingdom so that's who we are we are yes we're animals and I'm okay saying that we're a mammal uh you know I've even said before I think it comes from Philip Yancey he talks about Jesus part of his Incarnation is that he became a mammal and that's really shocking the idea that yes Jesus became a mammal what is what does that mean he became a human being and uh that's glorious in terms of his Incarnation and how he became like us but we are a part of the animal Kingdom and yet were distinct we're the only one the only species that's made in God's image Genesis 2 even goes on to describe the the breathing into our nostrils the breath of life which is different from the animals as well so that's what it means to be human in the Christian tradition

Levi Hightree: okay okay uh so as you started kind of touching on it you I think as you read through Genesis 1 and into two there is that clear distinction that man and woman are the only ones that was made in God's image so you are making a clear distinction between man and animals and how we should perceive humans compared to how we should perceive animals yes okay uh can you kind of elaborate on on your perspective on that

Dr. Tony Caffey: yeah so the theological term is Imago de okay which is Latin for image of God actually my son is taking Latin right now so he says it's Imago de e so I don't know Latin well enough to know but interesting okay that takes too long so I'm just going to say Imago day um yeah and there's an aspect so so what does that mean okay we're made in the image of God uh there are certain attributes certain aspects of God that he has actually implanted inside of men so we're there's a god-likeness that we have as human beings but there's also an animal likeness and so that's the intersection for human beings uh part of what that means I believe theologically is that we have this self-awareness we have a conscience and animals do as well but it's different it's quite different actually we have the ability to discern good and evil our instincts are are more refined than the animal kingdom which reflects that uh you know aspect of our God likeness we can communicate in ways that the animal kingdom can't you might say well you know whales talk to one another they whistle or whatever they do and dogs bark yeah they communicate but it's it's very primitive compared to what we're doing right now we're recording a podcast people are listening to us um there's the the power to innovate and create you know um humans build skyscrapers dogs don't you know not yet anyway uh beavers build dams but there's not a whole lot of uh there's not a whole lot more to that than just Instinct and that's not always good either that what they're doing in terms of building dams human beings uh engineer things in a way that's way different than the animal kingdom we have uh the power even now to travel into outer space to build these microprocessors that can store an incredible amount of information we build these things called iPhones that are little brains we're all little cyborgs running around because of how powerful these things are that's just different than the animal kingdom and I think that's a reflection of us being made in the image of God and I'll add one more thing to this this is a little bit debated but you know Ecclesiastes talks about eternity in the hearts of man and I do think that's an aspect of our Imago day uh Essence as well is that we are created to live forever we're Eternal beings and so that's part of the Christian world view as well that we believe that everybody's going to live forever every human being I should say somewhere either in the presence of God or separated from God forever so I think that's at least philosophically wrapped up into this this idea of us being image bearers as well

Levi Hightree: yeah absolutely you keep answering parts of my question before I ask them but you just touched on on uh subject would you say that all men Christian or not are created in some aspect of in the image of God

Dr. Tony Caffey: absolutely okay and that's that's a fundamental Christian doctrine yeah so and and there's a common Grace aspect to that that's passed down to every human there's dignity passed on to every human being and so you know even if you know if I were to argue against the demeaning of human beings in other parts of the world and in some parts of India there was child sacrifice historically or the actually sacrifice of a widow after the husband died um that was a practice that William Carey actually sought to eliminate in India child sacrifice has been part of some Pagan kingdoms historically um in our modern day world we have things like euthanasia we have things we have the whole Eugenics movement which was actually quite popular in America at the turn of the 20th century a lot of people don't know that but and Hitler used that to to do some really terrible things that mentality why how do I argue against that even in places where there's not a a Christian Foundation of Christian worldview it's because there's dignity bound up in us being made in the image of God and that that dignity and that um uh the humanness that we have needs to be protected needs to be honored and so I think that's in terms of common Grace that's a gift also that our Christian theological uh bearings gives to the world yeah you know there's a lot of negativity about like what Christianity brings to the world and people can harp on all different kinds of things but uh as you trace the movement of Christianity historically it has always brought good things into the world whether that meant you know the elimination of slavery William Wilberforce in England and in other places or the way in which they influence the Roman Empire in in a powerful way to give dignity to to orphans and those who were adopted those children that were kind of just left on the streets and the Roman Empire you know the Christians were initially the ones that were bringing those um people into their houses adopting people into their homes because they had this conviction inside of them this is an image Bearer this child this young boy this young girl and so I I see that I know I'm a pastor and so I've I've got a an agenda but that's part of what I see is that one of the gifts that Christianity gives to the world is is we're uplifting this idea of human dignity and I don't think you can really derive that from other World Views certainly not the the atheistic worldview

Levi Hightree: okay yeah I would I would agree completely I have heard uh many talk about the broken image and kind of what that means and can you put into terms can you define that kind of in a clear manner for us

Dr. Tony Caffey: yeah the church Fathers as they wrestled with this they actually thought the image of God was uh some of the church fathers was removed at the fall so we're made in the image of God in the Genesis 3 now this all of a sudden the image of God is compromised or obliterated um I don't think that's the case so we carry with us uh past Genesis 3 into our modern world the this this image bearing but and I think this is what you're alluding to there's fallenness yeah and so there's depravity um and we we carry that right into the world even as we're born we have this sin nature we have this propensity for evil and I think you can get carried away with that on both sides of that you can you say oh we're image bearers we're we're god-like look how great human beings are there's this overly optimistic view of how good human beings are are and that even trickles into the secular world as well it was people like Rousseau who thought children are born innocent and they're only corrupted by their horrible parents yeah well you know that's not true any parent will tell you that there's a natural inclination for sin with their children and that's that's part of how we are so if you over emphasize the made in the image of God and de-emphasize the depravity that's built inside of us you're gonna you're gonna miss the way in which we really are and the the biblical tension that is that the biblical truth that's held in tension between that if you over emphasize human depravity which some of the church fathers did unfortunately some you know some over eager theologians over time to have emphasized depravity depriving you know we're so depraved we're so evil we're so yes we are but we're also image bearers where there's also common Grace there's also a conscience and an instinct that's part of us being made like God that's part of the human equation as well even even an atheist even somebody who's opposed to God there is good built into them by their image bearing so those those two things need to be held in tension we are made in the image of God but also Genesis 3 we're depraved and that's why we needed the image Bearer uh Jesus Christ to come into our world who actually circumvented what we call original sin because of the Virgin birth he doesn't have a father like you or I do or the rest of the world uh he was conceived by the Holy Spirit bypassing uh original sin still fully human but also Divine and sinless and he becomes for us the the perfect one that saved us from our sins that's awesome it's always an just kind of a stunning amazing thing to think about on that aspect

Levi Hightree: obviously uh the there is some responsibility and weight and some brevity into in the fact that we are image bearers what does that mean to a Christian how does how should that affect their lifestyle I suppose

Dr. Tony Caffey: well we're going back I'm going to go back to politics which that was our first podcast right but uh you know those children in the womb are image bearers yeah and that image bearing predates their birth their you know I think it's right to call children in the womb pre-born children so there has been attempts at the turn of the 20th century to you know limit the the uh reproductive capacities of certain ethnicities or certain those people who had certain mental handicaps and and I think that's just wrong and um and we need to protect for all human beings this concept of being made in the image of God even if there there are uh certain limitations that they have uh those who do have mental handicaps or those you know who are from a more impoverished part of of the world or our community the the person who is born on the other side of the world totally different from an American person that person is made in the image of God just like I am made in the image of God and you know I'm Scott's Irish sure so we used to be naked in the woods of Britain three thousand years ago too Native American I used to be naked in these woods around here somewhere so yeah I haven't heard a uh one of the Jewish Prime Ministers said that once that they were kind of throwing some anti-semitic statements towards him and he told them well when your ancestors were naked in the woods of Britain you know Moses handed down the law to my people and we were all literate so I mean that's a great response but but even in that we need to be careful that that um uh that we protect the uh the dignity the human dignity and sanctity of each human life so back to politics you know that should inform the way in which we vote that should inform the way in which we Advocate that should inform the way in which we um you know and and not even beyond those issues as well and and the way in which we think about Justice and uh fairness and um you know the way that we distribute and adjudicate issues needs to be fair without partiality on people regardless of their their color or their sex or their socioeconomic background

Levi Hightree: absolutely as we're talking about this and it kind of just a reminder of even just in a individual's everyday Christian walk and how they treat who they run into in Walmart or HEB or the homeless guy on the corner is he is also an image Bearer and he should be treated as such

Dr. Tony Caffey: yeah yeah agreed uh so I think the Common Place everyone can go to is and we talked about it a little bit is the Genesis one is there any other places new testament old testament that we see scripture tell us where image bearers um well there's a few different places in Genesis uh that reinforce that um Psalm 8 is kind of a go-to passage that I've dealt with even recently in preaching and what I love about Psalm 8 is it strikes the right balance between the insignificance of man before God but the also combined with that the great significance that man has before God for whatever reason so what is man that you're mindful him the son of man that you care about him why does God care about little old us the God who created all these galaxies and all of these stars and you know seven billion people in our world well you know who am I before all of that yeah their hair's numbered it's fascinating yes and yet uh even as part of that Psalm there's this description about how God has uniquely uh created man to be different from the Animal Kingdom and He does care about him and that goes right into the New Testament that goes right in to the idea that you know God became a man in order to save men he didn't become a dog in order to save dogs love dogs you know dogs are great he did become a cat to save cats um he didn't even become an angel to save the Fallen Angels yeah that's interesting you know that Angels really as I understand angelology there was a once for all time opportunity to either show their allegiance to God or show their allegiance to Satan and once that was done it was done and their their eternity was basically set at that point God did differently and Angels long to look into these things this Plan of Redemption that God has set out for human beings so Psalm 8 is a good place to go for how we put together the idea of our creativeness and our humanness and our smallness but also the um the care and the love and the Redemption that God puts in place for human beings as well

Levi Hightree: yeah yeah so are there any we'll go to where we always like to go is the how to's the practicals can you think of any practical steps one might take or changes in their day-to-day or just their thought of perspective that uh a Christian might need to apply knowing this

Dr. Tony Caffey: yeah and let me let me offend some people as we close here um when I was a kid I had a dog named Tasha that I loved my German Shepherd and we were hiking with my dad and we were kind of in a dangerous place where we were hiking up on top of a Hillside and so I love my dog you know Tasha and I had her by the leash and we were you know uh try walking with her my my dad as my dad was was wanting to do when I was young he pulled me aside and he gave me this stiff rebuke and he said if that dog falls off of this Cliff you let go of the leash immediately and don't you dare try to go after or try to re and and of course I was probably crying I don't remember it was like no not Tasha but he what he was teaching in that moment is that son I know you love your dog I know this dog is precious to you and and we're we're we have dominion over the world we're to care for our animals and to you know I've got cats now that I take care of probably take too good of care of them sometimes but my dad was teaching me something and that and he wouldn't have used Imago day or he wouldn't have used some of that theological terminology but he was showing me there's a substantive difference between you and that dog and you my utmost priority as your father is to protect you and to value your life even above hers so I think I think that's a good Learning lesson for our children so as we raise our children we need to show them the difference between um you know let's say uh child sacrifice as we read it in the Bible is this heinous thing and you know Genesis 9 and other places where animals are actually you know sacrificed or can be used for food there is a difference between that and the Bible is clear you know you and I have talked about this offline about the Humane treatment of animals and even the ways in which they're slaughtered for sacrifice and for food and and consuming them but uh never should we mix up those principles so this last Sunday I I quoted that statement from Peta a dog is a rat as a pig as a boy that's new Kirk's kind of famous line that they base Peta off of you know we're all the same we're all God's creatures that is just not true yeah and absolutely we need to teach our children that we need to teach our churches that we need to advocate for human dignity in a world which is quickly demeaning human dignity uh through through ways that they're not even aware of sometimes you know uh the the one that comes to mind and this is hotly debated is kind of Legally assisted suicide why now why not put somebody out of their misery a human being if we do that with dogs and the the quickest answer to that is because humans are different than dogs yeah and God is ultimately the one who determines when a human being's life is going to be required of them that might bring up another issue that we can tackle another time capital punishment but uh it's probably enough for for one part sure I mean even on that I just think about the how many people get saved at the last minute and that 11 o'clock hour and I mean God Sovereign we obviously know that but just are we fighting again are the people that are fighting for these things fighting against that aspect of just give up on this person and move on and we're not meant to I mean even if we see no fruit no results we've got many family members in my life that are a testament to I would not in any other sense I would have given up on seeing any faith any walk of faith in their life and I'm starting to see fruit in that after I've been around 38 years there in their 70s so yeah it's I absolutely agree wholeheartedly

Dr. Tony Caffey: yeah so legally accepted suicide or assisted suicide is is not moral it's not morally assisted suicide there there is a moral argument that we have to make as Christians that this is not right yeah uh and keep advocating I guess against that so yeah 

Levi Hightree: yeah thank you for your time again uh Dr. Caffey unfortunately that is all the time we have today for theology in action uh for more content you can check out messiahbible.org we stream our Sunday and Wednesday services on there and you can stay tuned for more theology in action