The image of God

What does the Bible mean when it says that we're made in the image of God (see Genesis 1:26-28)? I'm thinking through that (very slowly), but a friend sent me the following post from Shannon Lewis which was really insightful. I'm cutting and pasting some of it here:

"Moses wrote the book of Genesis. In ancient times – in Egypt and the other surrounding areas where Moses lived, they had Pharaohs and Emperors who ruled over huge territories. They didn't have TV's, nor Billboards, so to remind the people of who was "Boss" – who was "Head Honcho" – who owned all of 'this' – you had IMAGES (little statues) on every street corner, and in front of important places of business. In fact, just about anywhere you went, who ever your King was – he'd have his Face & Shoulders carved into wood, or stone, shaped from gold or some other expensive metal. And EVERY PLACE you saw an image of the Emperor – it was as good as if the Emperor had been standing there saying "THIS IS MINE" – it stood as a constant reminder of who he was, and who you were in relationship to him – it represented his sovereignty, power, and authority over you, and whatever you did to that image, you might as well have done it to him. Yet, this image was replaceable, because it was normally just clay or stone – on rare occasion they were made of more valuable metals and such, but even then…it wasn't what the images were MADE OF themselves that made them valuable, it was who the represented that determined their worth.

And THAT is what Moses is referring to when he calls you the "image of God"…you were created for one primary reason, to spread God's kingdom by simply "being" like God to people. When you look upon another person, they are to act as a reminder of God – that they are His, that THIS is ALL HIS – to you. As much as you may not like me - no matter how you feel about me – I am a reminder, an image, of God to you…and you are to me the same!

But here's the real tricky part – do you know what that means? If you attack me physically – God takes it as if you are attacking Him. It's just like you taking a beautiful statue of your ruling Pharaoh, Emperor, King, or President, and bashing it to pieces right before his eyes. And when you make fun of or speak badly about others, you might as well take that beautiful statue of God, and paint graffiti all over it – deface it for the entire world to see. You don't think it's true?"

He takes the Genesis passage further and concludes that "The meaning of Life: to be like God, to represent God to those who don't see Him yet, to recognize God in people and place who can't believe that they might be His, and to SPREAD that IMAGE, so that others will recognize their need to be like God, to represent God, and to see Him places that they may have never recognized Him before! In one short phrase – the meaning of your life is to GLORIFY GOD!"

Wow, that's the last time I'm kicking my brother.