Theology @ Work – Made in God’s Image

The last Theology @ Work posting noted that Work is a Good Thing, because it characterizes what God does and that He sees it as good. But does that make it a Good Thing for us? Yes – because we’re made to be representatives of God, carrying His image into the world. In Genesis 1:24 God says "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness”.

But what does it mean to be made in God’s image, and what does it have to do with work? The first question, although philosophically challenging, is actually very easy to answer. We know what God’s image looks like because, according to Colossians 1, Jesus himself is “the image of the invisible God”. It goes on to be more specific, stating that “by [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” (Col 1:16) So God’s work in Creation, that same work that God Himself has said is good, is embodied in His perfect image, Jesus. From God’s stated intent to make [hu]man[s] in our image”, we know His original plan for us. In our originally planned state, we were to embody His creative worker image. We have admittedly messed it up (see a coming edition of Theology @ Work) but by God’s grace it is being restored as His Kingdom is rolled out in and through us.

And so it turns out that the answer to the second question (what this has to do with work) is also clear for a couple of reasons. Firstly, work is our primary and highest calling. It is what we were created to do, because we were created in God’s image and the first thing we discover about God is that He is a Worker. Secondly, it tells us everything about how we are to approach and do our work. We simply need to look at Jesus – the perfect “image of the invisible God” – to know how we should be handling conflicts, challenges, stress, fear, anxiety, opposition, injustice, suffering, etc in the workplace.

This isn’t really a surprise – quite simply our call to be like Jesus in the workplace results from the fact that we are made in the image of God, and that Jesus is the perfect image of God. This is why I’m writing this blog in the first place, and is intended to be the foundation for my more practical posts about what it means to exhibit the attributes of Christ, and the fruit of the Spirit, at work.