What Does it Mean to be Human? | Carmen Joy Imes

What if every human being is the image of God? What would that change about how we view ourselves and others?

In the episode, Carmen Joy Imes, author of Being God’s Image: Why Creation Still Matters, helps us unpack this critical question.  

Carmen Joy Imes is an associate professor of Old Testament at Biola University. A graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, she is the author of Bearing YHWH's Name at Sinai, Bearing God's Name: Why Sinai Still Matters, and the editor of Praying the Psalms with Augustine and Friends.

Some highlights from our conversation:

• Carmen shares the distinction between being God’s image and bearing God’s image – and why she thinks it’s critical we understand that we don’t just bear the image of God, but we are the image of God.
• We discuss the creation story found in Genesis 1 and how God creates and fills. She helps us see God’s pattern of creation.
• Carmen shares how the Lord led her in her time meditation on Genesis 1. I love that Carmen has pretty much written an entire book on the creation account, yet God still had something new for her in this passage.
• We discuss how, when you read the creation account closely, God didn’t create a hierarchy between male and female.
• Carmen shares the implication for why being God’s image is so important – and how that gives every human inherent dignity and worth.
• Carmen and I talk about why the creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2 are different.
• Carmen shares her research on what it means for a woman in Genesis 2:18 to be called a “suitable helper” or an “ezer.”
• Carmen has profound insight into why she believes a woman was the first to see Jesus after his resurrection. Don’t miss this. It’s so good.
• Does creation care and stewarding matter today? Carmen believes so. Listen as she unpacks why our earthly home and bodies still matter.
• Finally, Carmen encourages us to base our identity in Genesis 1 and 2, as people created by God and in his image, versus Genesis 3, as people marked by the fall and in need of grace. Both are true, but where we start matters.

GREAT NEWS! IVP is giving So Much More listeners 30% off and free shipping until June 21, 2023, with the code MUCHMORE at https://www.ivpress.com/being-god-s-image

You can connect with and read her blog at carmenjoyimes.blogspot.com.

Follow her on Twitter: @carmenjoyimes

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carmen.imes.7

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Facebook @JodieGNiznik

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If you're looking for the podcast interview I did with Dr. Nijay Gupta you can find it here:

https://omny.fm/shows/so-much-more/surprising-ways-women-served-in-the-early-church-n

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