What Is the Image We Were Created to Reflect?

Determining who we were made to be requires learning about the God we were made to reflect. We can be thankful that God gave us the information we need in his Word so we can discover more about who he is and which of his qualities we are capable of reflecting.

Incommunicable Attributes

The qualities of God are often called attributes. Some of these qualities can’t be transferred to his reflections (us). For example, God is self-existent (Acts 17:24–25; Exodus 3:14). That means nobody created God, and he doesn’t rely on anyone to keep him alive.

Other qualities of God that we can’t reflect are . . .

His eternity—he has no beginning or end (Psalm 90:2; Isaiah 40:28).

His omnipresence—he is everywhere at the same time and is not contained within a defined space (Psalm 139:7–12; Jeremiah 23:23–24).

His immutability—he never changes (James 1:17; Hebrews 13:8).

and . . .

His unity—he is not ever divided into parts or percentages. This means he’ll never be 50% holy and 50% loving. He is 100% every one of his characteristics at all times.

There are many attributes of God that we can reflect, like love and compassion. We will never live out these attributes as perfectly as God, but even a small fraction of his glory reflecting off of us is much better than anything we could accomplish on our own.

Communicable Attributes

There are many attributes of God that we can reflect, like love and compassion. We will never live out these attributes as perfectly as God, but even a small fraction of his glory reflecting off of us is much better than anything we could accomplish on our own.

Spirituality

God is not only spiritual, he is a spirit (John 1:18, 4:24). He created humans to reflect this characteristic by having an invisible, eternal soul paired with their physical bodies. When we keep our eternal future in mind and let that guide the way we live today, we reflect a fraction of God’s eternal, spiritually minded nature.

Knowledge

God knows everything (1 John 3:18–20; Romans 11:33). Humans are limited in knowledge but can reflect the knowledge of our Creator when we learn, teach others, and use what we have learned to serve God.

Wisdom

God not only knows everything in a factual sense, he also always knows what is best to do (Job 12:13; James 1:5, 3:17). Because we aren’t God, the best way for us to reflect his wisdom is to rely on the sources of wisdom he has given us. This usually means making decisions based on the instruction of the Bible, prayer, careful thought, and sound advice.

Holiness

God is completely uncorrupted by anything sinful or wicked (1 Samuel 2:2; Leviticus 19:1–2). We can reflect his holiness by being careful to avoid sinful thoughts and actions.

Peace

God is a God of order, not chaos or confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33; 2 Thessalonians 3:16; Psalm 46:10). He is secure in his control of the universe and rules it with purpose and intention. We can reflect his peace when we rest in his power to rule this world and when we live with order and intentionality.

Power

God is omnipotent, which means he is all-powerful (Jeremiah 32:17, 27; Hebrews 1:3). We reflect his unlimited power by using the limited physical and mental powers he has given us to serve him with our lives.

Justice

God is a just judge (Isaiah 30:18, 61:8; Deuteronomy 32:4). His perfect character sets the standard for what is right, and he consistently rewards and punishes according to how people’s choices and behavior measure up to that standard. We reflect his justice when we deal fairly with others.

Truthfulness and Faithfulness

God is always honest and consistent (Psalm 117:2; Titus 1:2). We can trust every piece of information or instruction that comes from him. We can reflect these attributes by being people others can trust to be honest and consistent with them, no matter what happens.

Righteousness and Goodness

Everything God does is consistent with what he has shown us in his Word as good (Ezra 9:15; Psalm 145:9). We can reflect his righteousness and goodness by making sure our lives and behavior reflect what he says is good and keeping what he says is bad or not worthwhile out of our lives.

Love

God loves unconditionally—meaning, with no strings attached (Romans 5:6–8; 1 John 4:7–12). We reflect this kind of love when we care about others unselfishly and regardless of whether this world’s estimation of them might consider them “worthy” of our love (James 2:1–4).

Mercy, Grace, and Patience

God is patient and quick to forgive (Psalm 103:10–12; Romans 2:4). He gives good things to people who don’t deserve them and forgives people who wrong him again and again. We can reflect these attributes by being compassionate, patient, generous, and quick to forgive those who are unkind to us (Colossians 3:12–13).

Creativity

God can create beautiful things out of nothing (Hebrews 11:3; Colossians 1:16). We can only create using the materials that God, as the Creator of everything, gave us. Even the brains we use to create came from him. But when we use the creativity he gave us to solve problems or create beautiful things, we reflect him and bring glory to him as the original Creator of beauty and the ultimate problem solver.

Jealousy

The word jealousy is often used to describe a negative quality in our modern culture. But when this word is used to describe God, it doesn’t mean that he is petty or insecure. The word jealous comes from the Latin word zealous, which means being passionately invested in a thing, a cause, or a person. God cares deeply about his people and will defend them against the traps of false gods and destructive philosophies (Exodus 20:4–5; Zechariah 1:14). The Lord also tells us that he is jealous for his holy name, meaning that he will not allow these false gods to be given praise or credit for his wondrous and righteous acts (Ezekiel 39:25; Isaiah 42:8). We can reflect God’s jealousy by being passionately loyal and committed to him in return, by defending the honor of his holy name, and by sharing his care and protective nature for others.

Wrath

Wrath also comes with bad associations in our culture. But when we talk about God’s wrath, we are not referring to a temper tantrum. We are describing how intensely he hates sin and wrongdoing (Romans 1:18; Colossians 3:5–6). Because none of God’s attributes exist in isolation from the others, God’s wrath is connected to his love. It makes sense that he would intensely hate something that is so harmful to the people that he created and cares for. In his wrath and justice, God must thoroughly punish sin. But in his mercy and patience, he provided Jesus as a way for us to escape his wrath (Romans 5:8–9). We reflect God’s hatred for sin by recognizing how evil and destructive it is and by being passionate about overcoming it in our lives and helping others overcome it in theirs.

Looking In vs. Looking Up

As people made to reflect God, the answers about our identity can’t be found by just looking inside ourselves.

As people made to reflect God, the answers about our identity can’t be found by just looking inside ourselves.

Figuring out aspects of ourselves like personal interests, skills, and personality traits can help us understand the ways God has uniquely equipped us to serve him and others. But it’s important not to stop there.

We need to stay focused on the goal for our identities, not just their current state. And the only way to see that goal clearly is to get to know the God we were made to reflect. The better we know who he is, the better we will know who we were created to be.

As we focus on God, all the unique aspects of our identities like special skills and personality traits will be made even more stunning as they are refined by God’s goodness and used for a higher purpose.

“Your real, new self will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking at [God].” — C. S. Lewis, from Mere Christianity