Don’t be overwhelmed with the concept of the Trinity, that God is One yet Three Persons. There are many good illustrations of the Trinity, even though we who live in a temporal world will not be able to fully comprehend this infinite God. Here is my favorite illustration about the Trinity from C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, pp. 141-142
“You know that in space you can move in three ways - to the left or right, backwards or forwards, up or down. Every direction is either one of these three or a compromise between them. They are called three dimensions. Now notice this. If you are using only one dimension, you could draw only a straight line. If you are using two, you could draw a figure: say, a square. And a square is made up of four straight lines. Now a step further. If you have three dimensions, you can then build what we call a solid body: say, a cube - a thing like a dice or a lump of sugar. And a cube is made up of six squares.
Do you see the point? A world of one dimension would be a straight line. In a two-dimensional world, you still get straight lines, but many lines make one figure. In a three-dimensional world, you still get figures but many figures make one solid body. In other words, as you advance to more real and more complicated levels, you do not leave behind the things you found on the simpler levels: you still have them, but combined in new ways - in ways you could not imagine if you knew only the simpler levels.
Now the Christian account of God involves just the same principle. The human level is a simple and rather empty level. On the human level is one being, and any two persons are separate beings - just as, in two dimensions (say on a flat sheet of paper) one square is one figure, and any two squares are two separate figures. On the Divine level you still find personalities; but up there you find them combined in new ways which we, who do not live on that level, cannot imagine. In God’s dimensions, so to speak, you find a being who is three Persons while remaining one Being, just as a cube is six squares while remaining one cube.
Of course we cannot conceive a Being like that: … but we can get a sort of faint notion of it. But when we do, we are then, for the first time in our lives, getting some positive idea, however faint, of something super-personal, something more than a person.”
The three Persons of the Trinity, the “Three-in-One” God, all participate in creation for a great reason. They desire to share their harmonious lifestyle with their new creation. They will be reflected in the focal point of that creation - humans. They create humans “in Our image, in Our likeness.” What does it mean for humans to be created in the image of God? Great pains must be taken to understand what God has done to create humans. Our reason for existence and the ideal for marriage are both hidden in these two verses (26-27 NRSV)
26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.
God commands everyone to consider images carefully. The second commandment prohibits humans from making images that try to represent God. Exodus 20:4 (NIV) “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” Michelangelo sculpted the masterpiece statue of David that stands in a museum in Florence, Italy. He crafted this statue of stone into a wonder of human form. As masterful as Michelangelo’s carving was, even his stone statue cannot come close to depicting real flesh and blood. How can we expect images of stone, wood or other inanimate objects to catch the essence of the infinite God? Anything we attempt would be an inferior mockery, degrading to God. We cannot make an accurate enough or alive enough image of God. But God can and did make an image of Himself when He made humans. He intended something unique when He made humans. He created beings that in some way reflect His likeness. In what way?
Let us clearly state a way that God did not intend for humans to be in His image. God did not intend humans to reflect all that He is - the fullness of His being as Sovereign God. Jesus Christ alone as the only Son of God fully reveals God the Father to the world. Jesus Christ is “the image of the invisible God,“ as the Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 1:15. In verse 19 of that same chapter Paul writes, (NIV) “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Him.” The Greek word for image is ‘eikon’ from which the English words icon or statue are translated. We are not to sculpt a statue to represent God or have icons take His place in worship, because God gave us Jesus to worship. Whenever we want to see God, we need only to look to Jesus, not an inferior copy. He is the fullness of God’s love and justice, holiness and majesty, sent to earth by God to be humanity’s Savior and Lord. We are not to create images of God so that our hearts and minds are left free to worship the fullness of God in Jesus Christ.
Therefore, it is a surprise to read in Genesis 1:26 that humans are made in the image or likeness of God the Trinity. Humans are not the fullness of God that Jesus reveals to us. But we are a different type of image of God, better understood in the second word for image used to describe our creation; we are in God’s likeness. We are like God, but not fully God. We are reflections of His image, but not His full image.
To illustrate this point, consider the earth’s moon. The moon has no light source of its own. This is hard to believe during a night when the moon is full. On those nights it is possible to walk outside in the open without any other source of light. We can see our distinct shadows in this moonlight. Yet the moon only reflects the light from its source the sun. There is no mistaking the brilliance of the sun with the reflected light of the moon. Or consider a mirror. A mirror gives a reflection of your own image, yet you know the face in the mirror is not your real face. Children who first discover their reflection in the mirror sit enraptured. After more such discoveries, the mirror holds little excitement for them. The children have learned the difference between a reflection and the real thing.
So we are a reflection of the image of God. In some ways we are like God, yet in other ways we are not like God. In no way are we God. Jesus is the sun, while we are the moon. Hebrews 1:3 (NIV) explains who Jesus is, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” Jesus is God, while we are reflectors of God’s image. Keeping this in mind can save us from a lot of problems, and it could have saved Adam and Eve from a lot of suffering as we shall see.
In what way do we reflect God? How are we in His image? Finite creatures cannot be like God in His infinite qualities, such as living outside time and space dimensions. We cannot be all-present, all-knowing, or all-powerful to name three of God’s infinite attributes. We can, however, be like God in His moral characteristics. We can love in sacrificial, giving ways. We can be faithful and trustworthy. We can be joyful. We can be kind and gentle. These are the qualities we appreciate about God and can see developed within us. Indeed these are the qualities God placed within us when He created us in His image.
In verses 26 and 28 of Genesis 1, we get a listing of some of these qualities. We are to rule like God in wisdom and beneficent decree. The rule of God promotes life, encourages right, cultivates good and fosters health. God created humans to rule His way over the rest of God’s creatures. We are in God’s image to be overseers of the wonders of His creation. We are to have oversight in His name to care for the environment for the long-term, and not pollute it for short-term gain. We are to be fruitful and increase to fill the earth. We are to bring forth new life in children to enjoy the bounty of the earth. Ruling as God rules, under His direction, we sustain the harmony between humanity, creatures, and God, which God initiated.
There is much more we could say about this, but suffice it to say that being in the image of God is not referring primarily to the physical. To think we are in God’s physical image and thus that God has fingers, toes and a nose misunderstands the depth of our place in God’s creation. Humans are much more than physical as we were created in God’s image. We are the link between God and His creation, bridging the physical and the spiritual realms. We are somewhat amphibious, created