What does it mean to be human?

What does it mean to be human?

We desperately need an answer to this question in the modern Western world. This vital question concerns your identity and mine—who we are as humans. 

At its most basic, we are asking, “Who are we?”

“Who are we?” will also lead us to “Who am I?”

Bruce Waltke, in his commentary on Genesis, writes: 

‘Who am I?’ is the fundamental question of our existence. Our self-identity is the window through which we perceive and engage the world; it determines all that we do.

Christian theologian Millard Erickson adds:

If who we are is at least partly a function of where we have come from, the key to man’s identity will be found in the fact that God created him.

Hopefully, these questions will also move us toward our purpose and the full potential of who we can be.

At this point, let me confirm a foundational presumption. 

Our Starting Point

My presupposition (and we all have them) is that the biblical record is true and reliable. This presupposition is based on certain facts, arguments, and reasons, but I won’t go into them here. 

This is an invitation to look for the answer through the lens of the Bible—what I call “God’s perspective.” From this perspective, the way forward becomes clear, and the implications for living become obvious. 

As we open the Bible, the first words are:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

What follows is a description of the creative acts of God. 

It is necessary to remember that this is an ancient text, not a 21st-century scientific treatise. This in no way undermines the reliability or truthfulness of the Bible. Instead, it reminds us that we must listen carefully to what the Bible says on its terms, not dismiss or distort it. 

Creation as a temple

Viewed from the perspective of an ancient text, Genesis 1 portrays the creation of the world in the same way as the construction of a temple. Here’s a quick survey.

Days 1 to 3 describe the construction of the spaces—the structure of the temple.

On Day 1, the light was separated from the darkness, creating the astronomic heavens—space (if you will).

On Day 2, the atmospheric heaven was created.

On Day 3, waters were gathered together as seas, creating dry land.

Then, Days 4 to 6 describe the filling of those spaces created in the first three days—the furnishing of the temple. 

So, on Day 4, the Sun, Moon, and stars were placed in the astronomic heaven.

On Day 5, living creatures filled the waters, and bird life filled the skies—the atmospheric heaven.

On Day 6, land animals filled the dry land.

But the temple was not yet complete.

When a temple was constructed in the Ancient Near East—the final and climactic act was placing the image of the deity in that temple.

So, in Genesis 1:26-27 we read:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule 

over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, 

over the livestock, over all the earth, and

over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 

So God created man in his own image, 

in the image of God he created him; 

male and female he created them.

This image of the one true God—the Creator—is not some lifeless idol of wood, stone, or metal—this is an image full of life and purpose—the human being.

What does it mean to be “image of God”?

In general terms, David Clines puts it well when he writes:

That man is God’s image means that he is the visible corporeal [or, visible bodily] representative of the invisible, bodiless God … to represent God’s lordship in … creation.

We can expand this understanding with three interrelated elements.

1.         Substantive  

The “image of God” is substantive—there is something about what we are that uniquely bears characteristics of God—such is the nature of an “image.” As the “image of God,” we bear characteristics of God, but we are not God. 

2.         Relational

As the “image of God,” humans are distinctively relational—this is what we are to and for others. Each human is, actually or potentially, capable of being a nexus of relationship with God, with others, and with creation. 

3.         Functional

The functional understanding of the image of God is what we do as representatives of God. These functions, actually or potentially, include what we do toward God, toward others, and in responsible stewardship toward creation.

In Summary:

Substantive    => who we are.

Relational      => how we relate to God, other people, and creation.

Functional     => what we do; our purpose.

Substantively, relationally, and functionally, this God-humanity relationship invested humans with dignity, authority, and responsibility.

What it means to be human

In short, each human—whenever, wherever, and however they live—is wired for God, others, and creation because each of us is “image of God.” 

If Adam or Eve had then asked the question: “Who am I?”—they would have answered with delight: 

“I am the image of God, my Creator.”

But something went wrong, which is the subject of our next post.

FORWARD TO the next post in this series

Notes: 
1. Bruce K. Waltke with Cathi J. Fredricks, Genesis: A Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), 13.
2. Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1985), 488.
3. D. J. A. Clines, “The Image of God in Man,” Tyndale Bulletin 19 (1968): 53-103, at p. 101

Image credit: From the “Creation of Adam”  by Michelangelo (1512) - Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michelangelo_-_Creation_of_Adam_(cropped).jpg (accessed September 2, 2024) as modified by John B. MacDonald © 2024.