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John Wesley on the Image of God
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The sense that God created us “in his image,” “in his likeness,” and “after his kind,” is found especially in the creation story of Genesis 1:
“Then God said, ‘Let us make humans 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 humans in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them..”
Genesis 1:26-27 (NRSV)
In his sermon, “The New Birth,” John Wesley articulated three dimensions to this image of God in us. Dr. Steve Deneff will move beyond Wesley in his Lesson, noting that Wesley tends to see the image of God in terms of our functions rather than in ourselves. So, while we are starting with Wesley, Dr. Deneff will move beyond him.
First, Wesley said, there is a natural image of God in us. This dimension of the image is seen most clearly in our intellect. We can think on a higher level than animals can. We are self-reflective – we know we are thinking.
Wesley saw several other aspects of humanity as part of the natural image of God in us. For example, we are immortal like God. When our humanity was not marred by the fall of Adam, we had free will like God does. In our current fallen state, we can only exert a fuller free will by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our ability to enter relationships with each other is another feature of the natural image of God.
Second, there is a moral image of God in us. God created us morally “good” (Gen. 1:31). We were created righteous. We were created in true holiness, in full relationship with God. God’s Law was written on our hearts, and our entire disposition was to do the good. We had a purity of heart. The Fall of Adam has also dramatically marred this aspect of humanity to where we cannot do the good without the power of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, there is the political image of God. This relates to the position that God gave humanity within the creation. This is the primary feature of the image of God in Genesis 1, for God commands humanity to multiply and to “subdue” the earth. In our fallen state, we are prone to abuse this power. We are prone to abuse God’s creation rather than be its stewards. We are prone to abuse others in our relationships (Gen. 3:16).
Jesus died not only to redeem us from our sins but to restore the image of God in us. God does this work through the power of the Holy Spirit. He “sanctifies” us or makes us holy again. He empowers our wills to do good. He restores our relationships and gives us the strength to live righteously. Most of all, he restores our relationship with him for all eternity.