Response to “Ridderbos on the Glory and the Image of God”

Brian Collins recently pointed out a connection between the words “glory” and “image” in the NT – a relationship between God’s glory and his image.  I posted a comment on his blog, since it’s somewhat long, I thought I’d post it here.

Brian listed these passages in the article: I Cor. 11.7; II Cor. 3.18; Rom. 8.29-30; II Cor. 4.4-6; Rom. 1.23; 3.23.

Here’s my comment:

My thought on the relationship stems from the definitions Jaeggli gives for “holiness” and “glory,” namely, that God’s holiness is the sum of his attributes, his unique character, and that God’s glory is what men see of his holiness, when they interact with that holiness (unique character).

To bring that into this question, it struck me that God’s image in man (men being, in some way, like God) has much to do with God’s holy character reflected in us. That was the primary change after the Fall – redemption history tells the story of God restoring his image in us – making us more like him. Moral character is the foremost component of that restoration.

Ideally, no redeemed person displays God’s holiness in a vacuum – people see God’s likeness in believers. That display of God’s likeness/image is glory – God is glorified in us, we glorify him, etc. His image is displayed to men.

In the verses above, we find references to “beholding” God’s glory and to that glory shining like sunlight. Our interaction with God’s holy image results in his glory reflected in us.

I could describe it in three steps:

  1. God is holy – his nature/characteristics are unique.
  2. We see (interact with and respond to) God’s holiness: glory.
  3. This produces a second glory when others see the first glory (his likeness in us).

There is a fair bit of overlap of terms in this idea, but I think that’s approriate – the two words are used almost synonymously in I Cor 11.7.

This is just a tentative suggestion – there is something to God’s image/likeness that’s more than just moral (as is evidenced by the general statement in I Cor. 11.7 above).

If anyone has thoughts or responses to this suggestion, I’d love to get your feedback in a comment.