Biblical Shadows Created in God’s Image

Biblical Shadows Created in God’s Image.

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make humanity in Our image (“tselem”) and likeness to resemble Us…’ So God created mankind in His own image (“tselem”), in the image (“tselem”) of God He created them; male and female He created them.“ (Genesis 1:26-27).

“Tselem” = a resemblance in shape; a representative figure of a looming presence; an essential similarity; the shaded image of something greater; the general form of a more substantial reality; the basic outline of something solid. The root word is “tsel” which means shadow.

We are each a shadowed image of our Creator God. Here is another angle we can consider as we wonder about being made in God’s image. Each person is a shadow cast by God Himself as the heavenly light blazes upon Him. We are each a lesser image of an unimaginably greater God, similar to but not the same as God. As God’s shadows, we resemble Him and we represent Him. As God’s shadows, we remind each other of His presence in the world. As shadows of God, we each are an outline of His qualities, but not the full substance of them. As God’s shadows, we each are aware of His presence because of the shadowed image we reveal of Him.

Sacred Shadows. Creator God is so overwhelmingly sacred, so completely holy and set apart, that even His shadows are sacred. Even the shadows of God, each and every person He creates, have the eternal dignity of His presence. God is so gracious that He even cherishes His general shape. He highly values His shadowed image, even though we are less substantial than Him. Creator God considers us worthy of His love, even though we are only shadows of His holiness. As God’s shadows in this world, each person is nonetheless treasured by God as an image worth dying for. The Eternal Substance of the cosmos intends to dwell with His shadows and develop an everlasting relationship with each one. Because of God’s lovingkindness, each of us shadows are destined to enjoy an eternal relationship with He who is casting His shadows.

“What is the mission of man? To be a reminder of God. As God is compassionate, let man be compassionate. As God strives for meaning and justice, let man strive for meaning and justice. If we are created in the image of God, each human being should be a reminder of God’s presence.” (Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel).

The Heavenly Light. There could be no shadow without a light shining on the Object of Substance who is God. Is this why the first ‘creature’ in the creation story was light, and God’s first words were, “Let there be light.” The fact is that God’s heaven is full of divine light, and without that light God could not have cast His shadow and created human beings in His image. The God-man, the divine shadow, is the Light of the World, the shadow united with the light.

The Glorious Substance Casting the Shadow. Another word for the substance of God, the solid presence that is casting the shadows and forming us into His image, is Glory. The biblical meaning of God’s glory tends to emphasize the weighty splendor of God’s personal presence; God’s supreme worthiness to be honored and praised; the overwhelming greatness of God’s beauty and power; the eternal weight of God’s substance; the heaviness of God’s inherent majesty.  The weight of God’s presence outweighs the world; His presence is more substantive and heavier than the universe. His eternal and glorious substance remains constant, whether or not He decides to reveal Himself to us. God’s essential glory is forever Real in the heavens, and yet we can see glimpses of His substance through His shadows, His image in humans, here on earth.

As God’s Shadows, We Identify with Him. “Identity is found when we place ourselves into God’s story of what He is doing in the world, and what His plan is, not where we make ourselves the center of the story and either push God out or squeeze Him in.’ (Dustin Crowe). It’s natural for each of us to establish a self-identity. We want to define ourselves, we want to have a personal brand. Out of all the possibilities, the one identity worthy of being embraced is that of being an image-bearer and God’s shadow. This is the only foundational identity that goes deepest into who we truly are, that accurately defines us at the most basic level. As God’s shadows, image-bearing is our one unifying factor, the one identity that we all share. Our central identity of being God’s image is meant to morally and personally shape whatever identity we might be considering in our self-definition. Every identity that we claim for ourselves, whether sexual identity, or political, or racial, or gender, or ethnic, which is not directly founded on our image-bearing identity will be sadly lacking in depth, substance or meaning. Actually, do we really need a secondary identity? Once one accepts being God’s beloved shadow made in His image, why continue looking anywhere else? Once we accept being God’s general shape in this world, living reminders of His solid presence here on planet earth, why would we bother exploring for another self-identity?  Once we’ve discovered this foundational way to define ourselves, we can begin to build our life purpose, our character and our destiny.

Qualities of Each Shadowed Image of God. Since we generally resemble our Creator and remind each other of His presence in the world, in what ways are we similar to Him? What does it mean for us to be image-bearers?

1. We each have the freedom to live and move and have our being. As image-bearers, God has given us the freedom to reflect His nature responsibly. As His shadows, we are equipped to be creative, and to think with reason, using our imaginations and our reason with the mind God has given us. Reflecting His image, we are intended to exercise our God-given conscience, discerning right from wrong, wise from unwise. As image-bearers, we have been gifted with the ability to make moral judgments, operating within the context of a moral universe. As God’s shadows, we have been given the sacred duty of caring for and managing God’s astounding and beautiful creation. A part of our job description as human beings is to be good stewards of God’s created order, including each other.
2. We each have a mission and purpose. God doesn’t just hang out in the universe, a divine blob who is content to merely exist for no apparent reason. As God’s shadows, we know that our lives have a profound purpose and reason for being. We are intended to represent God’s presence in the world. We are God’s ambassadors, His representatives, who are intended to duplicate His work and be His apprentices in His workplace, the world. As God’s shadows, we are gifted with what is needed to resemble Christ, who is the original version of the Trinity’s image. We were made to be living reminders of God, displaying God’s nature in Christ. We were created to imitate the attributes of God’s character, to mirror God’s very essence. As image-bearers, our destiny is to continue clarifying God to His world, to live into His likeness.
3. We each are made to have relationships. Made in the Trinitarian image, we were created to be relational. The Holy Trinity is an eternal, intimate community of Three, a divine fellowship that is everlasting. So made in that image, we find fulfillment and satisfaction in community, in relationship. To be fully human, we need to be in meaningful relationship with others. We will be fully alive when we love others and are loved by others. If God is love, and He is, then being made in His image means we are people of love. As God’s shadows, each of us reveal the basic form of what His personal love looks like. As God’s shadows, we go out of our way to resemble the shape of His grace, which will enable the world to understand and experience the substance of God’s love.
4. We each are eternal beings. Our Creator God is an eternal being, with no beginning and no end. God has no birthday, because He has always been in existence. As God’s shadows made in His image, we resemble His everlasting nature. We each have been gifted with our own unique piece of eternity. Each human being has been given a soul and spirit that reflects the essence of God’s being. Each of us is not only a physical being having a spiritual experience, but also a spiritual being having a physical experience. We each are living souls, talking spirits, body and soul tightly woven in a way that can’t be torn apart. We each breathe the very breath of the Holy Spirit. We have an indivisible part of us that is spiritual in nature, because that is what God is. So each person is sacred, each person has a holy center in his being that sets us apart from the rest of all creation. As God’s shadows, His image in us means that we reveal the general shape of His eternal status, His everlasting existence.
5. We each resemble the shape of Jesus. “For He knew all about us before we were born, and He destined us from the beginning to share the likeness of His Son.” (Romans 8:29, TPT). To be made in God’s image means that we are His shadows created to look like the prototype, the very Son of God. God’s image is Christ, and we are created to look like Him. Yes, when mankind was created, God had Jesus in mind. Why? Because Jesus was the perfect image of God for all eternity, the exact representation of God, the divine likeness of the Father (2 Cor. 4:4; Col 1:15; Heb. 1:3). So Christ is the image in which we were made. As Father Reardon puts it, “Christ is the original meaning of humanity.” Man and woman were created in the image of Christ. Both genders are gifted with the dignity that comes with being image-bearers of Jesus Christ. Both genders have the honor of being made in the likeness of God Himself.

The One and Only God-Shadow.  “He is the image, the exact likeness of the unseen God.” (Colossians 1:15). There was one time in human history when the human shadow cast by God was fused with the God of substance who was casting that shadow. Jesus Christ not only the shadow that represented the heavenly substance of God, but He also was the actual substance of God as well. As fully human, Jesus pointed to God, while at the same time He was God. He was similar to God in form like a shadow and at the same time God Himself who is casting that shadow. He not only was a faint personal image of Creator God, but also the full substantial presence of God on earth. Jesus was not only the shadowy resemblance but also the heavenly reality. As impossible as it might seem, Jesus was and still is the image of God but also the substance of God. He was not only the human shadow cast by God, but also the heavenly God who cast that shadow.

Shadowing God. We human beings, God’s shadows, are given the task of shadowing God in His workplace, which is His creation. Like a shadow, we represent the reality of God’s presence on earth. As His shadows we reflect His goodness by resembling His character. While working alongside Him, we learn to ask for His substance to make us more substantial. We are like the child who wants to shadow his father or mother at their place of work. That child closely follows his parent wherever he goes in the workplace, tagging along, never losing sight of the parent, carefully doing what the parent does, observing how the parent does his work. The shadowing child imitates what the parent does at work and how he does it. As the child grows, he will be able to effectively duplicate the work of the parent.

Shadowing Jesus in the Gospels. Thankfully, the Lord of the shadows has graciously provided a first-hand look at how God operates in His workplace. In the gospels we can observe Him in action, how He does things, what He thinks about, how His character is revealed in a variety of human situations. In the gospels we can shadow Jesus and follow His lead, growing into Him, allowing His Spirit to change us from a general shape hinting at God into a substantial form that faithfully duplicates God’s work. Each time we read the Gospels, we can consider it God’s “Take a Child to Work” day.

Other Biblical Symbols of Shadows. There are many other ways that shadows are used in Scripture… As a symbol of God’s protective presence, and His being a shelter and refuge; a picture of how brief and temporary life on earth actually is; a symbol of darkness and death;  the shade that provides a needed relief from sweltering heat from the sun; the clouded thinking that comes from a lack of understanding; the foreshadowing in which there are hints of coming attractions; a preliminary earthly picture of a spiritual reality that will be fulfilled or completed at some point; the sadness of despair; an illustration of how swiftly and unexpectedly things can change; to be overshadowed and dominated by someone else; the Greek word for “image” is “icon” which means each person is a living icon, made in the image of God; the faint promise that points to its fulfillment in the fullness of time; the Greek term “skia” which means a shading off into thick darkness or the shadow of a general shape, is used 8 times in the NT. All of these biblical meanings of shadow will be looked at carefully in articles to come.