The right image to bear

Made in the image of God I am an image of God. That is, when I am who I was created to be I am an image, read "idol" (the words are the same in the Bible), of God in this life I live. I am not an idol that should be worshiped, obviously, but I need to cooperate with God as he conforms me to an image of himself, or, more specifically, Christ.

Now, there are characteristics about God that I can participate in and, thus, imitate him. Things like his mercy, love, faithfulness, and holiness. These are his communicable attributes and I can make these an ever-increasing part of my life and bear his image more completely to the world around me. Basically, when I am more merciful today than I was yesterday, I am a better idol of his.

Now, there are characteristics about God that I cannot participate in imitation of him. These things are incommunicable attributes and are things like eternality, omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. I got to thinking about these attributes in relation to who I am as a creature made in his image and I realized something. When I am a particularly poor idol of his I find that I am attempting to be like him by an attempted participation in his incommunicable attributes.

This is how I see it working: If I lie to get out of a situation that I find myself in I am not addressing the situation at hand in God's strength. God tells me not to lie, but in lying I am saying that my strength is above and beyond his in a declaration of omnipotence. I am also declaring that my knowledge is more complete than his because he has told me that I need to approach a situation like this truthfully. Now, by lying, I am setting my knowledge over his and, in so doing, made myself the omniscient one.

This has to get fleshed out a bit more, but I think that it holds up to at least an eighth of an inch of scrutiny. At least the scrutiny that I am giving it.