Alma: Receiving God’s Image

Abinadi and Jacob emphasized our inherent worth as children of God. Alma, in contrast, spoke of Imago Dei as something involving human volition, as a gift which we must choose to receive.

Alma’s concern that led him to speak to church members in Zarahemla was the same as Jacob’s: inequality. He saw people “lifting themselves up with their pride, despising others, turning their backs upon the needy and the naked and those who were hungry, and those who were athirst, and those who were sick and afflicted” (Alma 4:12). In his sermon, he reminded the people that God had changed the hearts of his father and those who followed him after they heard the words of the prophet Abinadi. Then, he asked this challenging question:

Have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?

Alma 5:14

Instead of emphasizing the inherent equality of people because of Imago Dei, Alma is suggesting a reason for the inequality he sees: people have failed to receive the gift given them at the Creation. God may have created man in His image, but in Alma’s telling, that event is not entirely in the past. Instead, each person participates in their own ongoing creation. Consider how he turns their thoughts to the distant future, by asking them to visualize their reunion with God after death:

Can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances?

Alma 5:19

The word “engraven” is telling. Alma is describing a process which happens over time, yielding a permanent and durable change. Just as his father was saved by believing the words of Abinadi and staying true to them throughout his life, Alma’s listeners could think of their discipleship as a process of creation, an extension of the original creation of Adam and Eve, a journey of gradually receiving the gift promised in Genesis 1:27—the image of God.

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Today, I will strive to receive God’s image by letting Him change my heart. I will remember that He created me in His image and that He invites me to participate in the ongoing process of my creation.