Who Are We?

The purpose of humanity is to extend the glory of God to all of creation. Just as their body/soul dichotomy sets them apart from the rest of creation, so does their vocation. God’s command to the first humans is known as the “cultural mandate” (Gen. 1:28). A mandate is simply a command. The word cultural is used in the same sense as a cultured pearl versus a freshwater pearl. Cultured pearls have been intentionally shaped to be round versus asymmetrical. Thus, the term cultural mandate means “a command to order what is disordered.”

When God gives the cultural mandate to humankind, He invites them to join Him in the work He has begun in the six days of creation: the ordering of chaos. The God who has ordered light and darkness, sea and dry land, plants and animals now tasks those who reflect Him in their embodiment to reflect Him in their vocation.

It is the unique job or vocation that is given to no other part of God’s creation but humanity. In the cultural mandate, humanity is commissioned by God Himself to rule over His creation—the land, the sea, the air—and to represent His glory to all. Humans bear the image of God in their work by ordering what is disordered. This means even the most mundane tasks can be infused with supernatural meaning: doing yard work, creating a filing system, changing a diaper, cleaning a kitchen floor, making a shopping list. Every act of ordering is an act of ruling.

The Bible presents God as King over all His creation. But it also presents humanity as vice-regents, or mini-kings and queens, through whom God extends His authority to His creation. To be an image-bearer is to be royalty, but royalty with a purpose. Humanity’s task is to represent God by extending His sovereign and gracious rule to all He has made. Our representation of Him is for His glory, not for our own. Every act of ruling by an image-bearer is meant to reflect God, not to rival Him. We were not created to be Babel-builders, seeking our own glory. In all our labor, we labor as unto the Lord.

This is exactly what Christ did. Any conversation about image-bearing that does not end with Jesus Christ is insufficient. Jesus is the true image-bearer, who perfectly rules on God’s behalf and represents Him perfectly.

Though the image was obscured in us by sin, it is becoming clearer and clearer again as we are made to look more and more like Jesus. As we grow in our sanctification, we see the image of God reemerge from obscurity. And we become increasingly truly human, as we were created to be.