second commandment: the image of God

"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. - Exodus 20:4‭-‬6 ESV

What is prohibited?

There is only one true God and only He is deserving of our worship. We are always drawn to good, created things. These are meant to be enjoyed but they are not to be our ultimate desire. Sex, money, family, respect of men, etc. We are not to create images and sculptures of God.

Why is it prohibited?

The idea is that we are trying to contain or depict God. Any image or sculpture will fall to depict the fullness of God. This made sense when Israel was in the desert. God was the cloud, the pillar of fire. Israel could not create an image of the invisible God. But then Jesus came. He was the fullness of God. The object holds no power. It cannot connect us to God. It does not allow us to control God. Often idols are our attempts to conform God to our own perceptions and our ideas about God. The idol is a misrepresentation of God and an offense to Him. We are offended when we are misunderstood or misrepresented, so then what is God's reaction?

God's image redeemed

Jesus was an authorized depiction of God, but there is another. Us, humans. We are created in God's image. We reflect some of his qualities. We are broken mirrors because of sin. But Jesus was broken for us so that we would not die, but be restored. So we should strive to glorify and illuminate Jesus in every area of our lives.