Have you ever wondered what the purpose of humanity is? Why did God create us? The very first chapter of the Bible already gives us the answer — though we often miss the depth of what’s written:
“So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.”
(Genesis 1:27 ESV)
God didn’t just create humanity in his image — he created us as his image, his tselem elohim (בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים). We are God’s visible image-bearers on the earth. As children reflect the likeness of their parents, so the first humans reflected the likeness of their heavenly Father. Sin and rebellion later distorted that image, which is why Jesus came as the perfect image of God — to restore in us what was lost.
The ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint (LXX), renders tselem as eikōn (εἰκών). That same word appears in Colossians 1:15, where Paul describes Jesus as “the image (eikōn) of the invisible God.” Jesus is the perfect tselem — the true eikōn — through whom God’s likeness is fully revealed.
Now here’s what makes this even more powerful: in the Ancient Near East, the gods demanded that humans make physical images (idols) of them. People believed these carved figures could contain divine power once certain rituals were performed.
But the God of Israel turns that idea upside down. He says, in essence: You don’t need to make an image of me — because you are my image. Humanity itself was appointed as God’s royal representative, entrusted with his authority to steward creation — his cosmic temple. Yet that vocation was fractured in Genesis 3.
Through Jesus, the perfect eikōn, God is restoring us to our true calling.
You are God’s image — his representative presence on the earth.
You are the tselem elohim!
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