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Introduction:

The Christian Scriptures proclaim that the human being is made in God’s image and destined to grow into God’s likeness: “And God said, ‘Let us make humankind according to our image and according to our likeness.’ […] And God made humankind; he made him according to the image of God; he made them male and female.” (Genesis 1:26-27 LXX). Yet the assertion that the human being is “made in the image of God” begs all sorts of questions: Which God are we made in the image of? What is this God like? What is a human being? And what does it mean for a human being to be in the image of God?

Before we begin our discussion, let’s begin with 120 seconds of silence. It’s been a long day. Take this chance to come into the presence of God and his saints as a group. Sit still. Breathe slowly and deeply. Say the Jesus prayer.

Part 1: Which God?

Many gods have been believed in and worshipped throughout human history. From the Greek god Zeus to the Hindu god Brahma to the Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda, human beings have never ceased to contact and worship various deities. Therefore, if we are to say that we believe in God, it is a reasonable question to ask which god we believe in. “There are many gods and many lords,” St. Paul the Apostle reminded the church in Corinth, and this is no less true in the twenty-first century than it was in the first century (1 Cor. 8:5). Which of these many gods do Christians believe in and worship? Who is this God?

For Christians, the answer to the question, “Who is God?” is simple: Jesus. The historical person Jesus of Nazareth is the God that Christians worship. St. Paul tells us that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God” and that he “bears the very stamp of God’s nature” — in other words, in order to know what God is like, we have to look at Jesus and see what he is like (Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3). This must be approached not simply from an abstract or theoretical perspective, but from the very concrete historical facts of what Jesus said and did.

Questions for Discussion:

  1. When an Orthodox Christian says the word “God,” what do they mean?
  2. What are some gods that are worshipped in modern society? What are these gods like?
  3. Have you heard a non-Christian friend talking about a god they believe in? Is this god similar or different to the God you believe in?

Part 2: Who is Jesus?

To find out who Jesus is, his life must be examined from the concrete reality of how he lived and not simply from an abstract perspective. Jesus spent his time wandering with a band of followers in the backwater Roman province of Palestine, preaching to crowds, healing the sick and the dying, and socializing with tax collectors, prostitutes, and other social outcasts. He lived his life loving others and preaching repentance — that people turn their lives away from their own selfishness and back to God and God’s love.

“My command is this,” Christ said to his disciples, “Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.” (John 15:12-14). Christ gave his followers an example of how to fulfill this command by laying down his own life for his friends – he chose to think nothing of himself and to willingly go to torture and death, even telling his disciples to not fight back against those who were arresting him. He chose to willingly die for those he had loved and healed rather than renounce what he had done.

The early Christians expressed this self-emptying love that Christ had in a poem that was quoted by St. Paul the Apostle:

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus:

‘Who, though he was in the form of God,

Did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

But emptied himself,

By taking the form of a slave,

Being born in the likeness of men.

And being found in human form,

He humbled himself,

By becoming obedient to the point of death,

Even death on a cross.’ ”

(Philippians 2:5-8)

Jesus, though he was God by nature from all eternity, did not consider his divinity to be worth anything in comparison to the love he had for those who he had created. Jesus shows us that being God means caring nothing for oneself, but rather that being willing to sacrifice everything for the other.

Questions for Discussion:

  1. Why would Jesus purposefully spend his time among social outcasts when he could have spent his time with anyone?
  2. Why did Jesus tell his followers to not fight back when he was being arrested and led to his death?
  3. What does it mean to die for the sake of the other? Are there any examples from modern history or the history of the Church that you can think of?
  4. How can we empty ourselves of our own ego and desires?

Part 3: How does the human being become like God?

The meaning of being “made in the image of God” can only be understood alongside St. Paul’s statement that Christ is “the image of the invisible God.” (Colossians 1:15). To be made in the image of God is to be made in Christ, and in the self-emptying love that Christ has for the world. The destiny of the human being is to become like Christ and to imitate his love by voluntarily laying down one’s life for others. This calling is something that is given to us by God simply by virtue of being human – every human being is made in the image of God regardless of their race, gender, social background, or any other characteristic.

However, because love is not something that can be forced on anyone, but rather is freely given and freely received, God does not force this calling to be in Christ on us. He gives us the choice every day of whether to accept that we are made in Christ or to reject this. This choice the Scriptures and Fathers of the Church term “the likeness of God.” Every human is made in God’s image, but we by our freedom have the choice to grow in God’s likeness, to become more like God, to accept our destiny as manifesting the love of Christ to others. This necessarily involves a painful process of self-sacrifice and crucifying our own ego and desires for the sake of others, just as Christ’s love for us involved his own torture and death. “The world is crucified to me, and I to the world,” St. Paul said, expressing his desire to love others and reject the path of selfishness so often offered to us by the world (Galatians 6:14). The likeness of God can only be attained by loving like Christ loved.

This path of love is the path that we Christians are called to walk. It is the path to becoming like God. It is the path to becoming truly human. And we know that just as Jesus’ story does not end with his crucifixion but with his resurrection, we will also be raised from the dead if we choose to love everyone and lay down our life for the good of the other.

Questions for Discussion:

  1. How can humans be made in Christ and in his crucifixion and resurrection if the crucifixion and resurrection happened after humans were created?
  2. What are some ways the Church gives us to practice loving each other?
  3. What prevents you from loving those whom you are called to love?

Closing Prayer

Prayer to Accept God’s Will by St. Philaret of Moscow:

O Lord, I do not know what to ask of You. You alone know what my real needs are. You love me more than I myself know how to love. Help me to see my real needs which are hidden from me. I am afraid to ask for either a cross or consolation. I can only wait on You. My heart is open to You. Visit me and help me for the sake of Your great mercy. Strike me and heal me, cast me down and raise me up. In silence I worship Your holy will and Your ways which are beyond my understanding. I offer myself as a sacrifice to You. I put all my trust in You. I want nothing more than to fulfill Your will. Teach me how to pray. Pray Yourself in me. Amen.

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