The Alex McFarland Show-147-Imago Dei: What Does it Mean to be Made in the Image of God Part 1

The spiritual condition of America, politics, culture, and current events, analyzed through the lens of scripture. Welcome to the Alex McFarland Show. What does it mean to be made in the image of God? Hi, Alex McFarland here.

Welcome to the program. And as you know, in our ministry, whether it's publishing, broadcasting, events, camps, conferences, we for 27 years now have done much with the biblical worldview. And when you think of apologetics and biblical worldview, maybe you think about defending that God exists, and we've done much on that topic. Maybe you think it's defending the Bible, defending Jesus and the resurrection, and those are topics that we've published on, written on, hosted entire conferences around.

But more and more I feel like as I've traveled to universities, as we've done open panels and dialogues with countless numbers of audiences, it's important to talk about humanity and what it means that individuals, human beings, are made in the image of God. It was said back in the 60s, I think about some of the people like Francis Schaeffer and David Noble, the founder of Summit Ministries, the man that wrote the original edition of that incredible book, Understanding the Times. And I also think about Oz Guinness, who wrote a very wonderful book that I would hope if you're trying to keep your biblical worldview knowledge comprehensive, that you would seek out Oz Guinness's incredibly wonderful book, The Dust of Death.

It came out around 73-74. But a lot of those people noted that the death of God would ultimately mean the death of man. There had been a number of people, philosophers, that had speculated that God did not exist, or maybe God once did exist, but died. And in 1964, of course, a Time magazine cover asked the question, is God dead? The great evangelist Billy Graham had famously said, God? Dead?

Well, we were communicating just this morning. And so the rise of the assumption that God is dead had given rise to the awareness or the realization, and it was a true realization, that if God was dead, the human race would die. Now Friedrich Nietzsche, the German philosopher, he said that God is dead, we killed him, and how will we comfort ourselves if there is no God? And there was the theology of despair.

The British historian A.N. Wilson, who wrote this book called God's Funeral. And that's a reference to a line from a Thomas Hardy poem, God's Funeral, that Paul McCartney quoted in Eleanor Rigby, Father MacKenzie, wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave. That's from God's Funeral.

Who was dead? The philosophers pondered. Well, God.

But here's the point. If there is no God, and philosophers from Nietzsche, Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, and the wild rock-and-roller Jim Morrison recognized, if there is no God, then anything is permissible. Now why would the alleged death of God mean the death of man? Because look, our whole identity, meaning, purpose, view, and personhood is tied to the fact that in Genesis 1, 26, and 27 that humans are made in the image of God.

It's very interesting. And of course, not only the existence of humans, but the nature of humans. That we are body, soul, and spirit.

We are physical, but we are non-physical. And we are made in the image and likeness of God. Therefore, we are not the product of just some evolutionary accident, but we have worth and value and dignity. And also let me say this, that the incarnation of Jesus Christ speaks to the value of human beings.

I mean, think about this. That Jesus Christ, when he was incarnate, did not come in the likeness of an animal, but the second person of the Trinity, God the Son, took human form and came into a biological existence. You know, I think about in Luke 1, verse 36, when Mary met Elizabeth, and the baby John the Baptist leapt in Elizabeth's womb, and it says that she was in her sixth month. And it shows the personhood of the unborn baby. And of course, Jesus Christ came in the likeness of a human being.

It's interesting, I believe. In the beginning, God made man in his image. And with the incarnation of Christ, God entered the stage of human history in man's image. Jesus did not come in the likeness of an animal or a plant, or even some nebulous, fuzzy force that Jesus took on a human body. The word incarnation itself speaks to the reality that God enfleshed himself. So what we want to do is talk about the Latin word imaga Dei, image of God.

What does that mean? Well, the existence of the human race is not an evolutionary accident, nor are human beings simply highly developed primates. Humans possess a structure, identity, dignity, knowledge of morality, all of which point to our design, composition, and creation by Almighty God. So over this program and the next, really in two segments, we're going to look at some Bible verses, some scriptural texts, historical opinions about this doctrine.

And our goal, we want to, for one thing, define the concept of the imaga Dei according to the Bible. And then I want to discuss the ethical implications of being made in the image of God. And I want to reflect on how this realization that humans are made in God's image, and God not only really defines what we are, God decrees that we are when we are born, and really the moral boundaries that we live within. And this should influence people, families, marriages, and the church.

And we'll talk about how this really overlaps with contemporary issues and why we're talking about this. So again, human beings, and we use what we say mankind, we're not politically correct on this show. Masculine pronoun in the generic sense. But man, according to the Bible, is the pinnacle of God's creation. Now in 1 Thessalonians 5 23, it says that human beings are spirit, soul, and body.

Scholars use the word tripartite. God is triune, Father, Son, and Spirit. And similar to God our Creator, humans have spirit, soul, and body. Spirit is pneuma, soul is psyche, P-S-Y-C-H-E, our mind, our intellect.

And then body, soma, or sometimes rendered, sarx, from which we get sarcophagus. But we have the capability to be self-aware, to reason, to think abstractly, to make choices, to consider moral implications, and to act in light of future outcomes. That's one of the reasoning capabilities of human beings and God, of course, as well. I mean, we can think about the repercussions of our actions and our choices. And Thomas Aquinas taught that in relation to our traits or virtues, Aquinas talked about traits of righteousness, that humans may exercise these, but God is the embodiment or personification of these. In other words, people can love. God is love.

So the creature reflects the Creator. Now we've got to take a break. We're going to come back and talk more about what it means to be made in God's image after this. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert.

Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. In recent years, our nation has suffered greatly, and we seem to be on a rapid moral decline. We've rejected God, morality, and we've almost completely lost our sense of patriotism. It's no wonder that many are asking the question, Is this the end of America? Hi, Alex McFarland here, and I want to make you aware of my book, The Assault on America, How to Defend Our Nation Before It's Too Late.

You know, our nation has seen politicians that are corrupted by greed, and they've got a vested interest in power, and many of our elected officials seem to care little about the country that they've been appointed to serve. Read my book, The Assault on America. We can stand up for our great nation and defend America before it's too late.

It's available everywhere. You can learn more on my own website, which is alexmcfarland.com. Read the book, The Assault on America, How to Defend Our Nation Before It's Too Late. He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to The Alex McFarland Show. Welcome back to the program.

Alex McFarland here. We're talking about what does it mean to be made in God's image. This is a very important thing. This is why thinkers throughout history, some Christian, some non-Christian, but we realize, you know, when we hurt each other, demean each other, and there's from just general disrespect and rudeness to violence, abuse, or even murder, there's something objectively wrong about harming another human being. Because when you show malice and evil to a human, it's really also an offense against the one whose image they bear, which is God. Now before the break, we were talking about that you and I can reflect, we can engage in, we can act in terms of virtue or righteousness, traits of righteousness. We can act righteously, but God is righteousness. We can love, but God is love.

We may possess intelligence or act wisely. God is omniscient and does all things well. Genesis 18-25. So in some ways, humans are like God, but we are not God. The creature reflects the creator, but we are forever the finite created limited beings, but we were made by an infinite uncreated unlimited being Almighty God. So let's talk about some of the biblical foundations in this series on what does it mean to be made in the image of God? I mentioned Genesis 1, verses 26 and 27, that we not only are made in God's image, but oh my goodness, don't you know the secular globalist utopian humanists don't like this, but God not only gave the imago de pronouncement, but he gave the dominion mandate in Genesis 1.

Let them, Adam and Eve and human beings, let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps the earth. So God made man in his own image, in the image of God, he created him. Okay, first of all, the left is going to freak out that it gives maleness a father designation to God. God he created, so God is attributed with maleness, but then a binary view of human gender. Male and female, he created them. Genesis 1, 26, 27. Okay, in Genesis 5, 1 and 2, the Bible says this, this book is the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. And again, not transgender, not gender fluidity, but a binary view of gender. Male and female, he created them. And he blessed them and named them man when they were created.

Humanity. You know, in Trump's inauguration speech, he said that under his government, the U.S. would only acknowledge two genders, male and female. I rejoiced over that, and of course, the leftist bishop that wanted to give Trump a verbal taking to school, the next day, Marian Edgar Buddie, she said transgender people are in fear for their lives. Well, they needn't be. It's just that our Constitution assumes truth.

T-R-U-T-H. Aletheia. That's the word for truth. Natural law. Male and female.

And the founders routinely spoke of the laws of nature and nature's God. When the Bible speaks of a binary view of gender, there is man, there is woman, there is male, there is female. Folks, that's reality. That's not transphobia.

That's not trans-hatred. That's just reality. You know, I often mention the Flannery O'Connor quote, truth does not change based on our ability to stomach it.

There are a lot of people that don't like reality. We can love them and care about them and do our best to persuade them to step onto the solid ground of physiological, biological, human, historical, undeniable truth, but we can't undermine the stability of the whole to placate the demands of the minute few. Humans are made in God's image, and humans come in two varieties, male and female. You know, the Bible asks the question in Psalm 8, 4-6, who is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him?

In other words, the human race, Adam and Eve, and our procreation, you know, who are we that God would care about us? Yet you made him a little lower than the angels, crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands.

You have put all things under his feet. You see, we are not to kill humans to save animals. Now, look, having grown up on a farm and we spent generations raising horses, cows, chickens, we even had sheep for a while. I love animals.

And those of you who listen to the show, you know that I make frequent reference to my dog Esther. I love animals. We are not to abuse animals or engage in the maltreatment of animals. You know, the question is often asked by ethicists, do animals have human rights or moral rights?

Well, you know, I would say not in the sense that humans have rights. But at the very same time, the dominion mandate, far from resulting in the mistreatment of animals, actually a biblical worldview, results in the stewardship and the care and the compassion on the created world. We are to be good stewards of land, plants, water, aquatic life, marine life.

We are to care for animals. But humans are the pinnacle of God's creation. And it was, yes, Jesus is restoring all things, redeeming the world, but it was the Son of God that gave his life and his body and blood for the regeneration of the souls of human beings. And so, to answer Psalm 8's question, why is God mindful of man?

Because God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whatever humans believe in Jesus can be saved. Well, we've got to take a break. We're going to come back and we're going to talk more about what it means to be made in the image of God, what are the promises and privileges that might go with being made in God's image, but also what are the responsibilities that come with being an image-bearer of Almighty God. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this.

Hi, Alex McFarland here. You know, I was at a college speaking, and I guess we ministers get too wordy. Somebody said, Can you describe Christianity in only two words? And instantly this came to me and I said it, Loving Substitution.

And students raised their hands and they said, What does that mean, Loving Substitution? Here's the thing, because Jesus Christ loves you, he was our substitute on Calvary's cross. The appropriate measure of God's wrath that you and I deserved was put onto Jesus. You don't have to die and suffer for your sins because he was the substitute who died for you. So if you call out to Christ, he will save you, he will forgive you.

I urge you to do that today because Jesus Christ has a plan for your life, and it begins with you putting your faith in him. Thank you for listening. Thank you for your support. Learn more about this at AlexMcFarland.com.

He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to The Alex McFarland Show. Welcome back to the program. Alex McFarland here.

We're talking about what it means to be made in God's image. But I want to take a break and just talk a little bit about all of the exciting things we have going on this summer. Oh my goodness. First of all, we have seven summer youth camps for teenagers, middle school, high schoolers, and we are all over the country. Montana, Virginia, near Richmond. Major thanks to our friend and board member Brad Howard for introducing us to Camp Piankatank near Richmond, Virginia.

We're in Temple Georgia. But biblical worldview. Folks, you want the youth in your life to come to this camp. Go to the website EquipRetreat.org.

EquipRetreat.org. Every year we have hundreds of kids except Christ as their Savior. Learn about defending the faith. We talk about what it means to be a Christian. We talk about what it means to be a citizen.

And it's just amazing. Please pray for our camps, and maybe you might want to consider sponsoring a child to go to one of our summer camps. Of the more than 1,200 kids that we speak to in camps every summer, fifty percent at least need a scholarship.

And that could be roughly $500. Maybe you might want to underwrite a half a week at camp for a youth. We help kids come to Christ. Many of our campers have been two and three summers. They want to grow.

They're so hungry for truth. And what a joy, what a privilege to help kids everywhere rise to the challenge of being a believer and then defending the faith. But also, folks, we have summer camp for adults as well, although it's certainly more than camp. The Cove, the Billy Graham Training Center in western North Carolina for twenty years. Angie and I have had the privilege of going there, and summer of 2025 is no different. Okay, July 18 through 20, I will be at the Cove teaching this summer the Book of Job.

Why do the righteous suffer? One of the most important biblical books. So much in there. So come out, and the Cove is amazing. Just wonderful accommodations.

Like five diamond gourmet food. The chef and the staff are incredible. And just Billy and Ruth Graham built the Cove. Will Graham, the son of Franklin Graham, now runs it. You will majorly feel the presence of God at the Cove. And I'll be back in August with J. Warner Wallace.

Jim Wallace, one of America's most renowned detectives. He wrote the book Cold Case Christianity. And he and I will be in August doing this deep dive on apologetics and defending the Christian faith.

So this summer, two visits to the Cove. And you can learn about that. Go to their website, which is thecove.org. T-H-E-C-O-V-E. Thecove.org. Just do my name in the search bar. And the times we're going to be at the Cove, please plan to join us there, and we will have an unforgettable time together. And then finally, among everything else, and you can find all that the Lord is doing, events, publishing, broadcasting, alexmcfarland.com. Please check out my tour schedule. When I'm coming to your city, I would love to meet you. But in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Myrtle Beach, we're doing our speaker series.

And here's what it is. Conversations that matter. Dinesh D'Souza is coming in May. The writer of the Five Love Languages, Gary Chapman, is coming in June. And we're going to be talking about restoring the American family. Then of course, Charlie Kirk, August 21, Turning Point USA.

Oh my goodness, Charlie Kirk. And then in the fall, we're also working on a visit with our great friend Lauren Green of Fox News. And we'll talk about speaking in defense of the local church. Now, this is part of what we call our APCA. What is the APCA? The Alliance for the Preservation of Christianity in America.

Folks, we're in it to win it. Young people, grown-ups, all over America, whether it's the restoration of the church, equipping multitudes to stand strong for God and country. Perhaps you might feel led to make a donation. And you can make a tax-deductible contribution. And our growing staff.

Now, part-time, full-time, sixteen people a month are on the payroll. Why am I telling you this? Because God is growing this organization. And we are so excited about what God is doing. And I would ask you to prayerfully consider investing resources to help us preserve Christianity in America. And so you may give securely online at alexmcfarland.com.

You can give securely online alexmcfarland.com. Well, we were talking about the reality being made in God's image. The Bible says in Colossians 3, 9 and 10, do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and you have put on the new self.

In other words, if you're a Christian, you need to live like it. The new self which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator, God. Again, we're made in God's image. 2 Corinthians 3, 18, the word of God says this, we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, we're being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. From this comes the Lord who is Spirit. See, we are made in God's image, but the beautiful thing, if you're a born again Christian, you have the guarantee of an eventual glorification. You'll be in the presence of God, fully conformed to the image of Christ. Now that doesn't mean that we turn into deity, but we are, and this is so unique to the Christian worldview, we are regenerated, we are renewed, one day we will be glorified.

God saves the whole person. Our spirit is regenerated. Our mind is renewed. And we, with greater and greater levels of thoroughness, we have the mind of Christ. And it's our biblical worldview that shapes godly living, righteous beliefs, godly behavior, wise decisions. And then one day, we're in the very presence of Christ. And that's why Ephesians talks about, Ephesians 4-24, living in reality with your true identity. Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

You see, when a Christian lives in sin or carnality, part of the reason there's this internal conflict, cognitive dissonance, is because when you're resisting the Spirit of God and you're living for the flesh, that's out of step with your true identity. Your true identity, your worth, your value, the real you, is tied to Jesus, whose image you bear and whose salvation you have received by putting your faith in Him. Well, we're out of time, but we are going to continue talking about what it means to be made in the image of God.

And let me just say how you love your family, how you treat your neighbor, how you are faithful and grateful for and respectful to your spouse, even how you give your employer an honest day's work. It's reflective of what you view about God, whose image we bear. And you see, when we are respectful and godly to our neighbor, we're honoring the one whose image they bear. And in doing so, you have peace with yourself. And in living as an image-bearer and ambassador for the Savior, you become the real you that God intended. Now let's go forth as image-bearers, representatives of Christ to this world, and we'll finish up next time with part two of our look at Imago Dei.

What does it mean to be made in the image of God? Alex McFarland Ministries are made possible through the prayers and financial support of partners like you. For over 20 years, this ministry has been bringing individuals into a personal relationship with Christ and has been equipping people to stand strong for truth. Learn more and donate securely online at alexmcfarland.com. You may also reach us by calling 1-877-YES-GOD1. That's 1-877-YES-GOD1. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you again on the next edition of The Alex McFarland Show.