Opus 2016-105: Basic Beliefs: Imago Dei

I was listening to a hymn that spoke of “I am the Potter, you are the clay”.

This is an expression of two points of Christian belief that are paradoxical.

One is that we are nothing compared to God.  This is what the song was singing about.  We are the created beings.  He is the Creator.  That gives him the right to do with us as He pleases.  This is expressed in different ways in the Old and New Testaments.  An early expression is,

(Isaiah 64:8 KJV)  But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

Generally speaking the clay on the wheel doesn’t tell the potter how to shape it.

The other is that we are created in the Image of God.  This is the Imago Dei. 

(Genesis 1:26 KJV)  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

This is the reason that Christians can turn the other cheek with dignity.  This is why Christians can have a belief in the future.  Our God cares about us.  He has instilled something in us that is not in the animals, plants of rocks of the field.  We are a unique creation and that governs not only how we relate to the world but how we relate to each other. 

This is why Christians have been at the front of the battle against slavery and its modern jargon of “human trafficking”.  When a slave is declared to be your brother that means you must treat him as a brother even if the status of slave is legal.  You also know that if you don’t treat him right then the Father of you both will meet you behind the woodshed and He will not be happy.  That can be a powerful motivator.

This is why Christians have been the creative force behind ending slavery and creating hospitals, orphanages, food banks, and the rule of law. 

If you are a believer you need to understand this.  If you are not a believer you need to understand this.  It could make your day, or ruin it.  Or make it by ruining it.

homo unius libri