"‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

There are individuals who call themselves atheists who try as hard as possible to drive God away from His own creation but I believe that God in His omnipotence by the power of his word alone created the world Ex Nihilo, from nothing. God created the heavens, the waters and the land with all the magnificent creatures and saw that His creation was good.
At the crown of His creation God mad man in His image. The Bible does not tell us precisely what this image is. However, one essential meaning of the statement that humanity was created 'in the image of God' is that humans are in some way and in some degree like God. The concept of the image of God affirms the dignity and worth of humanity, and elevates humans of all races and colour to the highest status conceivable.

This concept of the 'image' also in a way gives a slight hint of the limitation of the status of humankind, in that the image is not itself the thing it represents and that the copy must in some respects be unlike its original. Despite this limitation it is worth searching in what respect humanity is like God.

Of all God’s creation, man stands out as extraordinary. Animals and other forms of life are described as living creatures. Man on the other hand is a living being. God also makes a noteworthy distinction between man and animals by creating man in the image of God.

Therefore the image of God cannot possibly contain anything physical or physiological which is common to man and to animal. God’s image, therefore, seems to have nothing to do with the anatomy or activities such as eating, sleeping, or any other survival processes that both man and animals do. The image of God cannot refer to bodily, biological form since God is a Spirit and man is earthly.

The Bible makes it clear in Deuteronomy 4: 15-18 that God had no form when he spoke to the Israelites on mount Horeb and so they should be careful not to make any image of any shape. Physiologically and anatomically man is an animal. He even shares the genetic code with them. It appears to me, therefore, that the image of God has first of all in a strict sense to do with mankind’s special relationship to his creator.
Saint Augustine, influenced by the trinitarian dogma, considers “the image of God” as the triune faculties of the soul: memoria, intellectus, amor

Some of the concepts that have been proposed by theologians as this image of God include the following:
Thomas Aquinas located the image in the human ability to think and reason, to use language and art, far surpassing the abilities of any animals. Humans have an insatiable desire to be creative. Animals are not creative. They endlessly reproduce a stereotyped design. A particular spider constructs a web of constant pattern. The song of a bird is species specific, or mimicry of another bird or human.

A widely accepted interpretation is that the image is man’s ability to make moral decisions, which involve self-awareness and social awareness.
Emil Brunner says that it is our ability to have a relationship with God, reflected in the tendency of all societies to have forms of worship.

From all the above it appears that there are God-like qualities that man is privileged to share and that make man share the image of God. These qualities are in the main language, creativity, love which is the quintessence of God’s character, holiness freedom and immortality. All can be summed up by saying that man, like God, has intelligence, a mind.

Man has a memory, a will, and a mind, but this hardly completes the picture that the Bible gives us of the image of God. All people, irrespective of race color or creed still possess these three qualities. The Fall of man into sin damaged but did not destroy man’s ability to think. We see this difference in our mental capabilities most readily in Adam’s relationship to the animals.

Adam had an amazing understanding of all God’s creatures (Genesis 2:19) because he was created in innocence and righteousness. Without any new enlightenment, solely because of the excellence of his nature, he views all the animals and thus arrives at such knowledge of their nature that he can give each one a suitable name that harmonizes with its nature. On top of that knowledge man had the ability to rule over nature. God blessed Adam and Eve and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground. (Genesis 1:28). Our mental abilities resemble those of our first parents only in part.

We are made in God's image, but the potential value of this image will not be realized unless we become conformed to the image of Christ in our morality. To be living in God's image, we must be in a right (i.e., moral) relationship with God and with other humans, using our minds and our authority to serve God and our fellow humans. This is what it means to be in the image of God and conformed to the perfect image, his Son.

Most people are spiritual schizophrenics in the sense that they profess one form of religion or the other but, by and large, their religions have little or no influence on their day to day living. Their belief system does do affect their personal handling of issues and situations. If spirituality is part of the human being then dissociating spiritual things from activities of the mind and body constitutes a split in personality. This is schizophrenia.

When a person separates himself from God and the God-like qualities, such as righteousness and holiness, that person does not conform to the “image of God”. The person may be ingenious and may invent or do wonderful things but without love, morality, righteousness and holiness that person cannot be said to be the image of God and whatever he has made, invented or created may in the long run turn out for evil for humanity.

It is not surprising that dynamite discovered by Alfred Nobel, which was intended to help humanity in areas such as mining and construction has turned out to be an instrument employed in wars to destroy. The same can be said of atomic fission, which has resulted in stockpiles of nuclear bombs capable of destroying the fragile earth several times over.

If inventions are carried out without love and reverence for life of humanity, they turn out to be tools of the devil to destroy God’s creation. Any activity carried out without love, holiness and morality only serves to alienate man from God.

God made man in His image and therefore man has the capacity to exhibit images of God’s nature and capabilities. Several of man’s inventions are really images of God’s creation.
An airplane is an imperfect example of a bird. Without elaborate navigation systems airplanes cannot travel long distances safely. Migratory birds and even butterflies travel thousands of kilometers using navigation systems yet unknown to man. At any particular time about 3000 airplanes are in the air and they are guided by satellites and air traffic controllers so they can safely get to their destinations. Any breakdown of the computers controlling the air traffic systems will result in the grounding of airplanes. For ages billions of planets, solar systems, galaxies and other unknown heavenly bodies have been moving in space at tremendous speeds without any hitch.
I believe that if man will get closer to God and accept Him as the creator of all things seen and unseen and give Him honor and glory and also accept His gift of salvation in Jesus Christ then and only then shall man have the capabilities to demonstrate the “image of God” in him.
God created and still maintain the universe with precision. Any individual who recognizes this fact and goes on to believe that he was made in the image of God and also accepts God’s standard of living will also demonstrate images of God’s qualities and capabilities.

The Anthropic Principle, first suggested in a 1973 paper by the astrophysicist and cosmologist Brandon Carter from Cambridge University at a conference held in Poland to celebrate the 500th birthday of the father of modern astronomy, Nicolaus Copernicus, says: the seemingly arbitrary and unrelated constants in physics have one strange thing in common--these are precisely the values you need if you want to have a universe capable of producing life. The fundamental constants of physics and chemistry are just right or fine-tuned to allow the universe thus gives the appearance that it was designed to support life on earth.
A consideration of the constants of physics indicates that the Universe is on a knife-edge tuning. The constants of the laws of physics indicate that the universe has been finely tuned to make life on earth possible.

The fine tuning of the universe is also an indication that any complex, well organized, coordinated and beautiful structure cannot exist by accident. It takes effort to create and maintain complex systems both organic and inorganic. If the universe was not well coordinated there would be chaos, indeed there would be no life to witness the chaos.
It follows, therefore, that those who are made in the image of God cannot expect to live anyhow and still believe that the chaos will organize itself into ordered complexities. It is most unlikely that garbage will gather itself if dumped haphazardly. Drainage water will not follow a well ordered channel when there are no drains. If building codes are not adhered to and housing developments are not planned there is no way one can expect beautiful cities. Plastic wastes will not suddenly become buckets if no efforts are made to recycle them.
Any system that appears to be working flawlessly must have been well planned and efforts are constantly been exerted to maintain the state of orderliness. This includes economic systems. If a nation endowed with riches of every description cannot put things together for the good of her citizens then citizens as a whole are not demonstrating the image of God.
A look at the complexities of life and the universe as a whole tells us that God the Creator is creative. Therefore, those who are made in His image must be creative. Humans have an insatiable desire to be creative. Animals are not creative. Africans, also made in the image of God, are also creative. This was amply demonstrated in the ancient empires of Ghana, Songhai, Egypt and Ethiopia. The potential is there for us to be creative. It might have been dampened through historical accidents such as slave trade and colonialism but it is not lost.
If we recognize that we are created in the image of God then it is about time that the creative potential of Africa in released for the benefit of Africans. Most of our leaders sincerely believe that without perpetual outside we cannot survive. They are not making any serious effort to make us do things for ourselves.

God is not only creative but extremely systematic in His creation. He created the earth out of nothing. The earth was formless and covered by darkness. Because He had man in mind as the crown of creation, God the created light and water which are required for the growth of plants and other vegetation, which were next on the creation list. There after came the fish and other creatures of the sea, then animals and other land creatures and finally man, who needed all the above to survive. In other words God sets the right priorities. Over here in our part of the world wrong priorities are constantly set, projects are started and abandoned midstream and others are executed in wrong locations. We have not found a systematic way of doing things.
The creation of man at the end of the creation process indicated that God knows exactly what He is doing and why he does that. Every one seems to be talking about the use of ICT in our modern world. However, ICT is not just the PC sitting of our tables. The use of computer technology in designing, manufacturing and quality control is important but neglected in our country.
We do not seem to know why we establish institutions such as those for the study of science and technology. At the end of creation God looked at His products and concluded that they were good. Have we ever reviewed our creations and ever concluded that they were good. Can we say that our schools, universities, markets, hospitals, judiciary and many others are good?
God did not require any body to help him. In much the same way humanity is so programmed that societies can flourish if a small percentage will commit themselves to the well being of the whole.

In any population, be it insect, animals or human if about 0.0001% of the population will think and honestly work towards the well being of the whole population the community will make a head way. Projected on Ghana if just about 2000 Ghanaian leaders on waking up each morning would ask themselves what they have to do to move the nation forward, changes that will take place in the nation within two years will be phenomenal. The fact that we are where we are is a pointer to the fact that most of the leaders, not necessarily political leaders, are selfish individuals who only think about themselves, their families and friends before the nation, if at all.

God is holy and righteous and there is no darkness in Him. For the carnal man to be restored to the image of God the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians talked about the renewal in the attitude of minds and putting on of new self so that the regenerated man would be created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

There is the perception that morality does not matter when one considers leadership in Africa or Ghana to be more specific. What is often forgotten in that it is the question of God’s standard and not African standards. If we continue to accept any bad thing as African Standards we should not be surprised when our situation does not improve, after all that will then be African situation. If most of our present leaders do not change their life style the nation will not be blessed with prosperity.

Those who are made in the image of God will not condone corruption because God is not corrupt. Leaders who are made in the image of God will not kill and maim. Leaders made in the image of God will not take kick backs and deposit them in foreign affluent countries. As much as possible those who are conscious of the image of God in them will lead moral lives. Those who go to church and still lead a life of rebellion against what God stands for cannot claim to be the image of God. No person without the image of God can expect any blessing of God.

Love, as was mentioned earlier on, is the quintessence of God’s character. Here the emphasis is on love of God, fellow man and one’s country. This love should compel leaders to care for the poor, the dispossessed and the vulnerable in society. Any one who cares for the poor will have his/her wants taken care of by the Lord.

In conclusion, the missing link in the quest for development is our failure to recognize that we were made in the image of God. If we recognize that we in a way have the image of God we will lead a righteous, holy and moral lives and “rule over the beasts of the fields”, work the field and create complex well balanced institutions, cities and installations for the well being and comfort of our people.
God rules in the affairs of men. If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his knowledge the no individual or nation can flourish without His help.

From the rising of the sun to the setting down of the same may the Lord’s name be praised!