If spiritual maturity centers on becoming more like Jesus, then grasping how Jesus reflects who God is and how we, like Jesus, are created in God’s image seems foundational. Stephen Hiemstra provides a scriptural and accessible introduction to explore these mutually illuminating dynamics for those seeking to explore these central mysteries more fully.

Meeting intellectuals where they are, this work communicates a dimension in this world that is usually beyond the reach of the natural mind, except through special revelation.

Knowing God poses a tough question. Is God in Christ more immanent or transcendent?

Hiemstra expresses God’s immanence through fleshy verbs: “Heal … feed … confront … teach … comfort … visit … pray.” God’s transcendence is more slippery because divinity is a difficult concept to those steeped in a materialistic worldview. If that weren’t enough, how do put these attributes together without creating God in our own image?

Hiemstra tackles this task by focusing on the image of God in the person of Jesus.

The Image of God in the Person of Jesus is the latest of Stephen Hiemstra's books about the image of God and is the best yet. Well-researched, the book is filled with unexpected details that add to the reader's understanding of the gospels, Paul's message, transcendence, postmodernism, etc. in relation to the Church. Undergirding Hiemstra’s scholarly assessment of Jesus as the image of God is his deep well of faith that pours out in the extraordinary prayers that conclude his chapters.

In his latest book, Image of God in the Person of Jesus, my good friend and author Stephen Hiemstra navigates the complexities of divinity within the context of our human experience. Through reflections on ancient civilizations, biblical narratives, and theological doctrines, Stephen illuminates the enduring significance of God’s transcendence in our lives. Delving into topics such as the Apostle’s Creed, forgiveness of sins, Old Testament prophecies, and the role of Jesus as both human and divine, Stephen invites us to contemplate the mysteries of our faith.

With clarity and depth, Image of God in the Person of Jesus offers a compelling exploration of the intersection between the divine and the human, inspiring Christians to reflect on their spiritual journey with the Lord.

Stephen Hiemstra, in the Image of God in the Person of Jesus, writes,“there are no paths up the mountain to God because God, having created time and space, stands outside of both. We cannot approach God; he must approach us and he did so in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.” Hiemstra’s scholarly research examines extensive sources, from the Bible to Saint Augustine and even the Greek myth of Narcissus, in this lively study of the second person of the Holy Trinity.

What captures seeker attention today is the person and work of Christ. In my seventeen trips to the Middle East, my motivation for going was to visit places where Jesus was born, where He taught, and where He performed miracles. He changed the world. Stephen Hiemstra’s work will help you understand and experience more about this Jesus, the person that we call Christ.

Dr. Hiemstra takes us on a tour of the Biblical passages that reveal the image of God shining through the person of Jesus Christ. Some of the sections will surprise you and cause you to wonder, How does this familiar passage reflect the image of God in Jesus? Yet through the author’s further explanation, you come to appreciate the breadth and profound depth of the image as it glistens in the prophecies, life and teaching of Jesus. However, it doesn’t end there. For as these truths seep into our mind and soul they provide a life-giving perspective that can transform us more and more into this image of our creator.

Image of God in the Person of Jesus is the last in Stephen Hiemstra's Image of God series and rightfully so. In Jesus we see the culmination of God's plan for humanity, His mercy and saving grace. Stephen's careful and thoughtful approach to the person of Jesus, totally human but at the same time totally divine is compelling for the believer as well as the non-believer. Stephen uses a very logical pathway to present the person of Jesus, from the prophecies in the Old Testament to His resurrection in the New Testament. Make sure you do not skip the Conclusion section where Stephen brings it all together in the topic of the Trinity.

This series lends itself to be used as a personal devotional guide or as a group study. The questions at the end of each chapter help you ensure that you pondered and understood the material presented. But my all time favorite section is the prayer. These prayers are not only profound but they put into words thoughts and doubts I have had and did not know how to express.

May the Lord richly bless you as you delve into this book and learn about who Jesus is and what He has done for you.

Is there anything less suited to our Postmodern world than the Jesus the first Christian’s encountered—a Divine rescuer, breaking through the bounds of space and time? Jesus the ancient rabbi shepherding his small flock of followers seems easier to believe and less challenging to follow. (but) What if Jesus was actually both these things? And what if this Jesus is the one we actually need? Through deep scholarship, guided prayer and introspective questions Stephen Hiemstra offers us a path back to the Jesus who was and is and will be forever.

A Christian author explores the duality of Jesus’s nature in this nonfiction theological study.

For centuries, Christians have grappled with their faith’s conception of the duality of Jesus—one who is both fully human and fully divine—and the contemporary church still struggles to articulate this central, yet mysterious, doctrine (“Postmodern people live in a materialist world,” writes Hiemstra, “where the only things thought to exist are those that we can touch, taste, smell, hear, or see.”) The final volume in a three-part series that focuses on the image of God, this book builds upon Image of God in the Parables (2023) and Image of the Holy Spirit and the Church (2023) to provide readers with a biblical study of Jesus’ humanity and divinity (referred to as “transcendence” throughout the book). Introductory chapters contextualize “The Transcendence Challenge,” highlighting, for instance, the conflicting Hebrew and Greek worldviews regarding the heart and the mind: While the Greek world, and its philosophical descendants in the West, emphasized a schism that separated the heart and mind into distinct spheres, the author suggests that the Bible’s Hebrew context saw a “unity of heart and mind,” which informed early Christian notions of a “Triune God” (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Divided into three sections, the book’s main body explores questions about the personhood and divinity of Jesus through the lenses of Old Testament prophecies, Pauline letters, and the Gospels.

While the text’s theology reads as distinctly Protestant, especially in its emphasis on the inerrancy and primacy of the Bible, its orthodoxy is balanced by an ecumenical approach that references sources across the denominational spectrum. One passage on healing, for instance, references the writings of Francis MacNutt, one of the leading figures within the Catholic Church’s Charismatic Movement. Most of the book’s teachings are conservative in nature, including warnings against sexual sins and an undefined “Cultural Marxism.” Liberal Christians may not agree with the book’s traditional takes; Catholic readers may similarly bump against the lack of engagement with their own, millennia-old theology. The omission of a discussion of transubstantiation in the presence of the Eucharist is particularly glaring, given the centrality of the body and blood of Jesus—aspects directly related to Jesus’s personhood, a focus of the book—in Catholic doctrine. This eliding of Catholic and Orthodox traditions leads to occasionally head-scratching claims, such as Hiemstra’s observation that the “transcendence problem facing postmodern people that fixates on the humanity of Christ is something new.” The existence of Ebionites—a Christian sect denounced by Irenaeus and other second-century Christians as heretical due to its preoccupation with Jesus’s humanity—points to the longevity of a debate that predates postmodernism. Doctrinal quibbles, however, are bound to occur in any work centered on Christian theology. Backed by a solid network of references and scholarly, if distinctly conservative, sources, this book offers an accessible introduction to a fundamental question of the Christian faith. While it delves deeply into complex theology, the book is written in a devotional style that includes not only biblical exegesis but also an abundance of relevant anecdotes and prayers that conclude each chapter. The text also includes questions for small group discussions and personal reflections.

An engaging study of the duality of Christ limited by its own theological biases.