Recently I have been pondering what it means to be created in the image of God as it relates to the virtue of creativity in the Arts. Throughout the Bible this idea of being created in the image of God is present in both the Old and New Testaments.
As a student of Biblical Greek in college, I grew to love the meaning of words. The Hebrew phrase for “image of God” is b’tzelem Elohim (בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים), found in Genesis 1:26-27. It implies that humans are created as representatives or reflections of God, with tzelem often linked to the idea of “shadow”. We are shadows of our Creator created to reflect God’s nature, having a unique capacity for relationship with God, different from the rest of creation. In the New Testament, the Greek term Eikon, (εἰκών) meaning “image” or “likeness,” is a profound concept deeply embedded in both philosophical and biblical discourse. It signifies a direct, mirror-like representation, often referring to Christ as the perfect image of God: “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation”(Colossians 1:15). The New Testament discusses Christians being transformed into this same image (Romans 8:29), moving from the image of the earthly to the heavenly (1 Corinthians 15:49). In Christian theology, it also emphasizes the idea of humans created in the “image of God,” reflecting divine qualities through creativity and artistry.
As image bearers of Christ, we reflect who He is as our Creator, and our worth and identity is rooted in this truth. We then seek to discover who God has made us to be as His creation and a reflection of who He is.
In the arts, we reflect our Creator by being creative. “Every good thing is from above” (James 1:17). Our gifts and talents are given to us by God to share and use for His glory. Thus every expression of creativity should ultimately be seen as worship in using the gifts He has given us. Every piece of art or artistic expression can be a reflection of our Creator.
At FRCS we seek to foster a community where artists can thrive and develop their skills to reflect God our Creator. This serves as a foundation for pursuing excellence in all forms of art, aligning with the mission of our department, which aims to cultivate artistic expression that mirrors the beauty and complexity of the divine. As image-bearers we are to be stewards of the gifts and talents God has granted us. Our goal as educators is to inspire students and help them discover what those gifts are initially and then develop them as students grow.
The more we grow in relationship with our Creator, and the more we understand His love for us and who He created us to be, the greater our reflection of Him will be lived out. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says,
“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
Our prayer is that in all we do, it would be for the glory of God out of love, worship and desire to reflect our Creator.
