You and I were made to be a reflection. Genesis tells us the Lord instilled all humanity with this purpose when he formed them in his image and after his likeness (Gen. 2:28). When we think of our role as image bearers, we likely might connect it to our holiness. We consider God’s communicable attributes and how we can demonstrate his love to a friend or his faithfulness to a spouse. We understand that we should strive to display his mercy to our neighbor or his patience towards our children. While these are good examples, they aren’t the only ones. God’s image in us can stretch into every area of our life, showing up even in the ways we love to play.
Made to Be an Image Bearer
The text in Genesis notes that God created us “in his image” (Gen. 2:28). This phrase shows us that God’s image wasn’t something added onto us like a coat to take on and off. It was what we were fashioned into. Theologian Herman Bavinck helpfully noted the difference, explaining that the image of God is not something we have, but instead something we are. Humanity’s sin may have dimmed this image, but it couldn’t erase it, and that continuing existence of the image of God is reiterated throughout Scripture even after the fall (Gen. 5:1–3; Gen. 9:6; Acts 17:28).
If the image of God is who we are, then it makes sense it could be seen in many different facets of our lives. It would show up not only in the way we speak or act towards others with holiness, but even in the very desires that guide how we want to spend our time. We would find glimpses of the imprint of God within our callings and vocations, but we would also find it spring up within our play. Unfortunately, because of the often dismissive way we view our hobbies, we overlook the beauty of the image of God within our participation in them.
Imaging God Through Play
One of the easiest places we can see God’s image is in our creative hobbies. The urge we feel to create a blanket with yarn and needles comes from the God who wove the grasses across the earth. The delight we feel to carve a piece of furniture from wood came from the God who chiseled the clefts of the mountain ranges. We feel compelled to move a paintbrush across a page because we are made in the image of the God who painted the hydrangeas blooming in the field and the sunset blazing across the horizon. We gravitate to the arts, to the woodshop, or even the 3d printer because our hearts want to mimic their Father.
Yet we can display far more than just the Lord’s creativity through our play. As we bend down to nurture the herb garden outside our back door, we reflect an image of the sustainer who gives food in due season to every creature (Ps. 104:27). The muffins and bread we spend a free evening making in the kitchen reflect the ultimate nourisher who provides “wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s hearts” (Ps. 104:15). The ways we play with and care for the pets in our homes or the livestock in our backyard can display the tender care of the God who gently provides places for the birds to build their nests and who keeps track of every sparrow that falls (Ps. 104:17, Matt. 10:29). Even the joy we feel in a game of basketball or a card game with friends mimic the delight the Lord feels in fellowshipping with his people. Scattered throughout our play sit tiny pictures of our Lord if we would only pause and behold them.
Playing in Awe
The fact that we can reflect the image of God through our favorite hobbies imbues these activities with even greater purpose. They aren’t meaningless. Our play can be the avenue through which we live as testimonies of God to the world around us. Moreover, these hobbies can be opportunities for us to grow ourselves in awe and love of the God who made us. We can be encouraged as we pick up our sandpaper or garden shovel and meditate on the beauty of the God who formed us along after him. As we write a story or play the piano, we can cultivate a heart of wonder in our Creator whose own masterpieces declare his glory and handiwork (Ps. 19:1–2). While we tend to the succulents on our window, we can grip hold of the comfort of knowing our God will tend to our specific worries and needs far better than we ever could (Matt. 6:25–34).
Our Lord has graciously placed his image within our humble frames. We won’t be able to realize its full perfection until he comes again when the dead are raised with imperishable bodies (1 Cor. 15:51–55), but in the meantime we can find glimpses. Yes, we’ll find it through our sanctification as we grow in love, patience, grace, and holiness. But, when we look closer, we’ll also find it as we dig in the dirt of the garden, knead the flour in the mixing bowl, or smudge our fingers with paint. Our participation in our hobbies will sing a song to our own hearts and the world of the awesome God in whose image we’re made.
