What Is My Mission?Намуна

Made in the Image of God

Did you know God made you to reflect him? Your uniqueness is fashioned after God, and you are designed to flourish.

“Then God said, Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.” (Gen. 1:26)

This verse reveals truth about our own nature and about the nature of God. Being made in the image of God means we were made to be relational beings.

The orthodox doctrine of the Trinity recognizes that God is one God, co-existing in three distinct persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is taught in Scripture and has been recognized by the church since the second and third centuries. It is also formalized in early Christian creeds, like the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. The three persons of the Trinity are forever in perfect relationship with each other. There has always been and always will be absolute love, joy, and peace within the Godhead.

The very essence of God is relational, and that essential quality has been imprinted on us as humans. We are made to be in relationship with the Creator and his creation.

This truth is at the very heart of the gospel. The chief goal of life is to know and be known by the Creator. This loving relationship between God and man is the way things are supposed to be. Our purpose, fulfillment, delight, and very life itself flow from this relationship with him.

God also created us to be in relationship with one another. This interconnectedness plays an important part in God’s design for his creation and his desire for it to flourish. While we are all made in God’s image, we are also uniquely made.

Our culture stresses the importance of independence, but the Bible teaches interdependence. In I Corinthians 12, Paul reminds the Corinthian church that we are not made to do everything by ourselves. Paul’s illustration establishes that while we each have different gifts and talents, we are to use these personal resources in relationship with others. As we each do what we are best at doing, together we add more to the common good than we could alone. This is what God intended from the beginning.

Our relationships and creativity were damaged by the Fall, but through Christ’s redemption we are restored to a right relationship with our Heavenly Father and each other. That in turn allows Christians to seek the fullness of living and being good, creative stewards in community, bringing a new level of flourishing to God’s kingdom through our work.

What connection do you see between being made in God’s image and your work?

Additional Elements

What does this mean for my specific calling? Should I quit my job to go to seminary? What about women, work, and calling? Explore the answers to these critical questions from a biblical perspective in The Calling Learning Collection.