What does it mean to be human?

This timeless question proves critical as we seek to understand our purpose, identity, and significance. Amidst the many voices clamoring to shape our understanding of humanity, the Bible reveals important truths related to our human identity and vocation that are critical to the flourishing of all of creation.

Carmen Joy Imes seeks to recover the theologically rich message of the creation narratives starting in the book of Genesisas they illuminate what it means to be human. Every human being is created as God's image. Imago Dei is our human identity, and God appointed humans to rule on God's behalf. Being God's Image explores the implications of this kinship relationship with God and considers what it means for our work, our gender relations, our care for creation, and our eternal destiny. The Bible invites us into a dramatically different quality of life: a beloved community in which we can know God and one another as we are truly known.

In Being God's Image, you'll find:



- Imes's clear, insightful exploration of our deepest questions: what it means to be human,

- A discussion guide for personal reflection or group study,

- Additional links to related video material through the BibleProject.



Carmen Joy Imes (PhD, Wheaton) is associate professor of Old Testament at Biola University. She is the author of Bearing God's Name: Why Sinai Still Matters, Being God's Image: Why Creation Still Matters, and Becoming God's Family: Why the Church Still Matters.







J. Richard Middleton is Professor of Biblical Worldview and Exegesis at Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan College, Rochester, New York.



Foreword

Introduction



Part 1: Humans in God's World

1. Pattern of Creation

2. Crown of Creation

3. Shoe Leather

4. The Human Project

Interlude: Being the Image and Bearing the Name

Part 2: The Way of Wisdom

5. The Human Quest

6. Human Suffering

Part 3: Human in God's New World

7. Jesus, the Human

8. A New Humanity

9. The Beloved Community

10. From Creation to New Creation



Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Discussion Questions

Bible Project Videos

Index

Endnotes