Four Ways We’re All Made in the Creator’s Image

The Baha’i teachings say that true spiritual awakening starts with the knowledge of God – but how do we understand a Being so exalted, Whom no one has ever seen with the naked eye? 

How do we gain knowledge about our Creator, Whose knowledge is spread out like the most beautiful tapestry throughout His creation? 

We certainly don’t learn about God the way we normally learn in class, through textbooks or lectures. At least four channels exist – open to any soul, regardless of one’s beliefs – to gain access to God. 

RELATED: 3 Reasons We Cannot See the Creator

A Sign of His Knowledge

One of the ways to receive the “merciful gifts and powers” of God is through knowing Him. According to Baha’u’llah, the knowledge of God spans the entire creation, just like the sense of touch covers the whole body. The Baha’i teachings say that every object, seen or unseen, large or small, reflects one or more of God’s attributes. Baha’u’llah wrote: “From the exalted source, and out of the essence of His favor and bounty He hath entrusted every created thing with a sign of His knowledge …”

Learning is the gateway to knowledge, which we achieve through the faculty of understanding. One of the first lessons a newborn learns is how to take milk from his mother’s breast. After this crucial moment, life continues as our appetite to understand translates into an endless discovery of this world. Young children can’t stop asking questions, sometimes driving their parents crazy. This shows how gaining knowledge becomes an essential part of human development; without it we face many challenges, some of them big enough to make living unbearably difficult.

Of all knowledge, discovering the purpose of life has been an age-old human quest. We all ask “Why was I created?” Baha’is say a short daily prayer, which begins like this: “I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee.” In this sentence, one testifies to God’s existence, acknowledging the awareness that springs from spiritual birth – and one accepts that knowing God is the prime purpose of existence.

A Creator We Cannot See 

This answer to an age-old question may not necessarily sit well with some thinkers of our time, as they find it hard to accept a Creator Whom no one has ever observed. Many of them – intelligent professionals with superb credentials and awe-inspiring capacities to probe the workings of the universe – have not perceived the presence of a Creator among creation. At the same time billions of others attest to the existence of a Divine Being. Why do some “see” an invisible God, and others don’t?

The gift of understanding is given to everyone, regardless of one’s belief system. This gift, the Baha’i writings say, “… is none other except to enable His creature to know and recognize the one true God.” However, the approach we take sometimes makes the difference between “seeing” the spiritual realm and being completely shut out from it. 

That’s because we have two kinds of understanding: one acquired through the mind, and the other acquired through the heart. Through the mind we gradually accumulate the knowledge of the material world. But to probe into the invisible realm, both mind and the heart become necessary. In his mystical book The Hidden Words, Baha’u’llah’s message to every human soul is: “Thy heart is My home; sanctify it for My descent.” 

The human heart, once cleansed, will be led to the Kingdom of God.

RELATED: A Holistic View of the Creator – and All Religions

Discovering Our True Nature

In addition to the knowledge of the purpose of creation, we also need to discover our true inner nature. According to the Bible, God created man to be immortal, and made him to be an image of his own. In Genesis, God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” This same idea, reiterated in many of Baha’u’llah’s writings, explains that when the Scriptures speak of God’s image being engraved upon us, they mean that the names and attributes of God are a part of our innermost being. The following four ideas explain this reality in greater depth:

1. The spheres in which God and humanity exist are distinct and separate. God the Creator cannot be part of His own creation. For example, an artist is distinctly separate from her artwork. Though paintings reflect many of the painter’s attributes, they never live in each other’s domain. A portrait will never become its painter.

2. Though we are created in God’s image, one should not conclude that God has a physical form like humans. It is our spirit that is made in God’s image. Our powers are limited, yet God’s powers have no constraints. 

3. When born, the goodness we inherit is in potential, just as a mighty tree is latent in a seed. We are not born in sin or degradation, the Baha’i teachings say – we are noble beings: within us is enshrined the capacity and responsibility to reflect the beauty of God. This does not happen automatically, as we all know too well. Blossoming into a beautiful, fulfilled spirit requires the right education and environment, as well as constant effort. This is a goal within everyone’s reach. 

4. God endows each of us with free will – which means the choices we make can sometimes lead us astray from God’s plan to know and worship Him. Some commit crimes, murders, and other atrocious acts. Yet the image of God remains stamped upon their beings. For them there is always hope of change, if only they make the effort. Free will holds us accountable for our actions.