We are Created in the Image of God

'Created in the image of God' means love

We are created in the image of God—literally. We are the actual spirit offspring of heavenly parents and they love us.

Love motivates parents to bear children--children are an expression of their love. It is so with our heavenly parents. We were born to our heavenly parents as an expression of their love, and they love us and will love us eternally. They are vitally interested in us and involved in the details of our lives. Their greatest desire is to help us live so that we might return and live with them again.

The earliest reference to our being created in the image of God is found in Genesis 1:26:

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...." 1

God’s love for his children is the central theme of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Just as parents love their children, so God, our Heavenly Father, loves his children—us! Once we understand and believe in God’s love and our relationship to him, we feel greater confidence to approach him and rely on him in any situation.

'Created in the image of God' means determined gender

We were born God’s sons and daughters—male and female—and our individual gender is and always has been part of our eternal identity. Again, Genesis 1:27 makes a definitive statement about our being created in the image of God with an eternal gender:

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." 2

'Created in the image of God' means our divine nature

As children of God created in the image of God, we inherit his divine nature and the potential to become like him in every way.

Just as children of earthly parents inherit their parents' physical features and characteristics, so we as children of God created in the image of God inherit his physical features and charicteristics. We have within us the divine potential to grow and progress to become as he is in every way.

To arrive at this exalted destiny depends upon our choices.

Prophets' statement concerning our being 'created in the image of God'

“All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.” 3

Questions about 'We are Created in the Image of God'

• Is 'created in the image of God' a literal statement?



• Why was our being created in the image of God an act of love? How does knowing that he loves us help us have confidence in him?



• Where is the earliest reference to man's being created in the image of God?



• How does 'created in the image of God' relate to eternally determined gender? Where is scriptural support for that principle?



• How does 'created in the image of God' relate to our divine nature and potential?



• As literal children of God do we have the inherent potential within us to become like him by our choices?



• What have the modern-day prophet and apostles said about our being created in the image of God?

References for 'We are Created in the Image of God'

1. Genesis 1:26
2. Genesis 1:27
3. The Family: A Proclamation to the World