Biblical Worldview Essay: The Image of God
Throughout history, the topic of the image of God is one which has been often discussed.
The topic theorem is particularly import in and of itself because it lays the basic foundation for
exactly who God is and who we see Him to be. There are several different ways to analyze the
description of the image of God, such as biblical, historical, and theological. From a biblical
standpoint, much evidence is found supporting the image of God throughout the Bible. The first
mentioning of it was in Genesis 1:26-1:27 it explains how “So God created mankind in his own
image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Although all
people are made in the image of God, as Christians we are held to a higher standard to uphold
that as seen in verses such as “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect”
(Matthew 5:48). He knows himself to be perfect, yet because of His love for us created all of
mankind with the capabilities to obtain the same qualities that He has. From a historical
standpoint, though religions have evolved and changed, that of the image of God throughout
Christianity has remained much of the same. In 1999 John Piper released a compelling scholarly
journal discussing this and explained how “God created us in his image. Surely that must have
something to do with why we are here. His purpose of making us must have something to do
with the fact that we are not frogs or lizards or birds or even monkeys. We are human beings in
the image of God. We alone and no other animal” (Piper 2-3). History supports this as the
discussion as to why humans are so different from any other species is often brought about and
used in defense for the existence of God. From a theological standpoint, the image of God has
more components to be reviewed. The textbook states how “... the task of theology stems from
God’s original creative work (and not solely from his redemptive work). God created freely and
for the purpose of being known in His creation” (Akin xv-xvi). While created in his image, he
gives us the freedom to pursue that image, or not, and then the grace and forgiveness to welcome
us back.
Upon graduation, I am planning to pursue a degree in law enforcement. This is a field
that I am very much interested in because I feel as if it is important to uphold the standards and
laws set before us as they are all put there each with an intentional purpose. This is a field that
will require an abundance of physical, mental, and emotional intelligence but I am prepared for
all that will come with it because I know that it is what I want to do. Though the process and
some days may be hard, the reward of knowing that I am working towards helping the greater
good of humanity is certainly worth it.
Examining the image of God will impact my career in many different ways. First, it will
remind me of why I’m doing the job. It is a dangerous world that we live in today. Police officers
are often shot and tormented without resilience, terrorist’s attacks are becoming more and more
frequent, and violence amongst even the closest people has been on a steady increase.
Remembering how important each and every person is to the Kingdom will encourage me to
continue in my career with bravery and strength. Secondly, it will encourage me to try to have
understanding with those who I am up against throughout my career in law enforcement. The
Bible shows us time and time again that there was and will never be any perfect human besides
Jesus because “we all sin and fall short of the glory of God”. Some of the most prominent
members of the historical Christian community, such as some of the disciples, were murderers,
tax collectors, liars, and cheaters. I plan to always try to keep this in mind when dealing with
those who break the law. This will allow me to remember that we all make mistakes, however
there are consequences for them and therefore justice must be pursued. Finally, focusing on the
image of God can help me improve the image of law enforcement as a whole. There has been a
negative light shed on those who have sworn to serve and protect because of the mistakes of
some. Many people no longer trust officials and some have even began to rebel and heavily
disrespect them. I will encourage those around me to be just and fair in our line of work and do
my best to uphold the image of God that I hope that others are able to see in me.
References
Akin, Daniel L. Theology For The Church. 1st ed. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2016.
Print.
Piper, John. "Male And Female He Made Them In The Image Of God". Discipleship Library
(1999): 2-3. Web. 10 June 2017.
