Lesson 2. The Image of God

The 2nd Commandment: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments” (Exodus 20:4-6).
“Mommy, Daddy, what does God look like?” Many children have asked their parents this question and many parents have been perplexed as to how to answer. After all, the Bible does speak of the “face of God” and the “hand of the Lord.” But these terms are understood to be metaphorical (word pictures); they do not mean that we can understand what God actually looks like. The pagan nations that lived around the nation of Israel had many gods, which they worshiped in the form of statues and totem poles. But the Israelites were instructed to worship only the one true God.
Read John 4:24
Jesus tells us that the one true God is “Spirit.” How do you draw a picture of Spirit? Jesus described the Spirit as being like the wind (John 3:8). The pagan nations carved images of people and animals to represent their gods, but how do you carve an image of the wind?
Read John 1:18
No one has ever seen God as the Spirit. But Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, has declared Him—that is, Jesus is the only visible identity we have of the one true God.
Colossians 1:15
The word translated “image” in this verse can also refer to the portrayal of the “invisible God”. This is just like I cannot see the actual “you”, the person behind your eyes, except I see your physical being and hear your voice. This is what Jesus meant in - John 14:8-9, 2Cor 5:19 & 1Ti 3:16.
Read Isaiah 40:18
Read Romans 1:20-23
Nothing else in the entire universe is like the one true God. He is unique. And the only image we have of Him is Jesus. Therefore, any other image is false and is not the Truth. When God made man in His own image, He was revealing His intent for our lives—that we would speak and act like Him, that we would be like Jesus. Praying to something other than God Himself, is actually denying God, and we do not feel we need to change from our sinful ways. But when we worship the true God, we are challenged to become better people.
Read Hebrews 11:6
God wants us to have a personal relationship with Him. Since God made us, then there is no way we can make anything to pray to that will replace God.



The 2nd Commandment teaches us that God made us and cares for us, and wants to have a personal relationship with each of us. Anything we pray to other than God is telling Him that we do not need Him, and that we don’t feel it important to have a personal relationship with Him.