Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one. – 1 Corinthians 15:49
Imagine an artist creates a clay sculpture of a person. It bears a striking resemblance to the model it was sculpted after. Now imagine that the sculpture was damaged in an earthquake. It toppled and fell to the floor. It was not entirely broken, for it still bears resemblance to the model. But it is disfigured, in need of repair. The artist and the model must come together to restore it.
God created Adam out of the clay (Genesis 2:7), but God also made Adam in His “image and likeness” (Genesis 1:26). Adam was the work of God’s hands and bore His likeness, but the imago Dei (image of God) in his soul was damaged after he and Eve sinned—the earthquake that was the Fall of Man. Adam still resembled God, but his nature—and with it the collective nature of all of humankind—needed to be repaired so it once again bore the image and likeness of the Father.
The Creator, God the Father through His Word, and the self-same model, God the Son, came to Earth to reinstate humanity to our dignity as sons and daughters of God. Through Mary’s fiat, Christ the Word became flesh (Luke 1:38, John 1:14). He saved us and restored our fallen human nature in His image, the imago Dei.
St. Athanasius wrote, “The Word of God came in His own Person, because it was He alone, the Image of the Father Who could recreate man made after the Image” (On the Incarnation). Christ did not restore our nature in God’s image so that we can recklessly go about racking up personal sins through our own disobedience. Instead, we are called to conform ourselves to Him (cf. Romans 8:29). We can do this by striving to imitate Christ in all our thoughts, words, and actions. We can seek to be detached from sin and practice virtue. When we imitate Jesus, we can bring the image of His love, mercy, peace, and justice to our hurting world.