The Bible records that humans were made in God’s image and however we try to describe what that “looks” like, there can only be one image. God is not fragmented or divided into two “equal but different” parts. God is one God and we have been created to be like God. This surely is a clear statement which shows that all humans are intrinsically the same. There is no mention of a female image and a male image – a female sinfulness and male sinfulness or a female salvation and male salvation.
It seems then to be ludicrous to suggest that some human beings were not created in God’s image in quite the same way that others were made. Such a speculation makes way for all kinds of prejudice and discrimination which transgresses God’s second commandment which is to love our neighbour as we love ourselves. If we can see other human beings as made in God’s image in the same way that we are, then we can say as Adam did “here is someone just like me.” Maybe some of our discrimination comes because we “judge people after the flesh” instead of in the spirit. God looks on the heart of people which is surely a good practice for us as well.
Outward appearances can be deceptive and lead to all kinds of judgments and classifications of people. Maybe when we accept that we are all made in the image of God and in the same way, then we will begin to “see” that image in each other.
