“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Gen 1:27
Secular society tells us many things about Self, but what is a Christian perspective on Self?
Should we love it or hate it? Should it be treated with compassion or condemnation? Is it purely sinful or is it who we truly are?
Before we even begin to try to answer these questions, it is helpful to see the different kinds of self. I would argue that there are at least three definitions of Self that we can gather from Scripture; definitions I will call The Sinful Self, the Personal Self and the Imaged Self.
While these "Selves" are sure to overlap, I believe this framework can assist us in understanding our inner most being better and more clearly.
The Sinful Self
The Sinful Self is not really our self at all but rather our sin nature (translated from the Greek sarx). English translations sometimes call it ‘the flesh’; not our physical bodies but rather a nature within us that we inherited from Adam and Eve and choose to use on a daily basis. As we read through Romans, we see this clearly:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…” Romans 5:12
We are not to love this Self.
The Personal Self
This Self is simply our practical everyday self with needs and wants that may or may not align with God’s will. Tellingly, Jesus commands us to deny ourself and take up our cross.
Yet we know that it is correct to love this Self because we see that we are to love our neighbours as ourselves and that a husband should love his wife as himself.
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Leviticus 19:18, Mark 12:31, Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14 and James 2:8)
The problem with this Personal Self is that it is also prone to listen to the Sinful Self. When we become overly selfish or self-absorbed we are in sin. We are instead to follow the example of Jesus and live a life of self-sacrifice out of love for God and neighbour.
The Imaged Self
I call this the Imaged Self for the simple reason that God made us in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:27). Sin has marred this perfect image (Genesis 3) yet the image still remains.
While original sin may have been with us since our first parents, before that they were unsullied human beings created in God’s image. When God looked upon this particular creation, He said not only that it was good, but that it was very good. The Imaged Self is still within all humans and is the truest and deepest Self.
As Christians we tend to have the first two definitions drilled into us at an early age but often lose sight of the third, and arguably most important, one.
I’ve struggled with self-esteem and self acceptance since early childhood; never knowing quite how to deal with these issues from a godly perspective. In fact, I’ve all too often hated my whole self because of my sin or the sins committed against me.
I’m still working in these issues but it has been tremendously freeing to learn to separate my Sinful Self from my Imaged Self. I realize that I am freely and deeply loved by God as he originally made me – no catches, no ‘buts’, unconditional.
It’s not just that He loves everyone else, its that He loves me, personally. It's not just that he loves me in spite of my sin (God hates sin, but not self), he loves me because he made me in his image. And if He loves me, how could it be that I’m not allowed to love my Imaged Self too?
But it gets even better. We learn that not only did God love us enough to create us in His image and likeness, he also loved us enough to redeem our entire self.
“…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
So, being rooted and grounded in this love (Ephesians 3:14-19), we can say fully, freely and joyfully with Paul:
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
This, perhaps, is the ultimate definition of Self – what we could aptly call the Redeemed Self. By acknowledging the ugliness of our Sinful Self and even Personal Self, and repenting and believing in Jesus’ redemption, we are brought ever closer to our truest, deepest, original Self.
In this perspective, Jesus redeems all of our “Selves" and begins to fully restore the Imaged Self. We will still battle with our Sinful Self of course, but the Holy Spirit will be working in us, as we cooperate with him, until we are fully perfected one day in Heaven.
Loved and accepted by God on both levels (creation and redemption), we can fully love and accept our Imaged Self as He does.
“The gospel is that I am so sinful that Jesus had to die for me, yet so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. I can’t feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone.” Tim Keller
