A god in our image

And then man said: "Let us make God in our image." (Insert car tire screeching sound)

Sounds absurd, right?

Heretical.

So let's take a couple of steps back. Let me explain what I mean.

As early as in the first chapter of the Bible it is stated that God created humans in his image and likeness (Genesis 1:27). God made us somewhat like him. Thousands of pages have been written about what it means to bear the image of God, and I do not intend in this post to develop that idea, but let’s agree on something: God is the creator, human beings are part of  creation; God is the active agent, and humans are passive. And even in the face of that beautiful reality of being by design similar to God, it is also clear that we are infinitely different.

Biblical history shows us not only a God who designs the universe and runs it (analogy of the watchmaker), but one who is involved in creation. Rather than remain a distant script writer or director, he enters history and reveals himself to the beings he has created. And not in a timid way as behind a glass display case, as an object of study at a distance. No.

That eternal and infinite God decides to come closer, be known, relate to human beings, no matter how different we are. Different since creation, but even more after the fall (a word that in theology describes the entry of sin into the world and its consequences). So different and separate that the psalmist, considering the greatness of God and the smallness of the human being, asked himself:

“what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

    human beings that you care for them?” 

(Psalm 8)

Here comes an important point in our discussion. 

The divine decision to self-reveal involves self-limitation on his part. 

There is no other way. (even that “his” in the previous sentence is part of that limitation)

One of the ways in which God limits himself has to do with the use of language. When he decides to relate to the human being, he uses language, in which, as long as the meaning of the words used is understood, we can communicate a message.

God uses familiar words and images to us to be able to communicate something about himself. But we have to remember that what it shows us is what we can perceive. The reality you are talking about is much bigger and more amazing. Let's put it like this, God has to translate (and in some way reduce) his reality into a language that we can understand. Even if that image or word does not do it perfectly.

As Paul said, "now we see only a reflection as in a mirror"                                                   (1 Corinthians 13: 12) 

In those days the mirrors were not like now, but what was reflected was an opaque and imperfect image. It is not saying that what we know about God is wrong, but that it still falls short.

I know what it is to see imperfectly. At 6 years old I was diagnosed with myopia in both eyes. Condition that progressed while growing up. I clearly remember every time I had an eye exam and I wore glasses with a new prescription. 

WOW!

I knew that my vision was not great, but it was not until I received new glasses that I realized how far I was from reality and how much I had become accustomed to a blurred and imperfect vision. Similarly, I think we can get used to our ideas of God, and deceive ourselves that we see perfectly. We need a new exam, we need a new pair of glasses.

A.W. Tozer said that what comes to mind when we think of God is the most important thing about us. I don't know if Tozer was completely correct, but I think what we think about God is, at the very least, very important. It can fill us with confidence to get closer to him, but it can also make us flee in terror. It can make us more loving and humble, but it can also harden our hearts and fill us with pride.

Our ideas about God are not God. 

What we read in the Bible communicates something about him, and serves as a doorway to relate to him. It is an invitation to enter the mystery of knowing the one who created us. 

The ideas that we have about God are as good as the way they allow us to approach him, know him and love him and how they lead us to relate to others.

The problem is that we can get used to these ideas that we have derived from familiar images and we can come to the conclusion that we already understand God, that we are experts in the field. We enter dangerous ground, and we are in danger of 'turning the tables' and practically create a god in our image and likeness. We make him way smaller, in our attempt to make it familiar. (like a calf that is formed by mixing our golden ideas - see Exodus 32)

We arrived at the idea I started with. Thank you for staying with me up to this point.

Now what?

I love theology, and I enjoy having long and deep conversations about the subjects studied in that beautiful discipline. I think that many of these ideas and images can be beneficial in approaching God, knowing him and relating to him and others.

But we must get into the habit of considering our ideas about God regularly.

With the help of the Holy Spirit and our community of faith, and in conversation with the historical church, we can do “eye exams” and adjust our prescription periodically.

Let us always keep in mind, as Paul reminds us, that we still see imperfectly. But let us fill ourselves with the hope that the day will come when "we will see face to face" (verse 12). Someday we will receive the most wonderful new pair of glasses. Or better yet, our eyes will see perfectly without needing them.

 Then we will truly say: WOW!