What does the image of God mean?
In the case of man, the image of God ( tzelem elohim) ( Gen. 1:27) communicates this sense of God's holiness and denotes that the essence of man -- his spirit -- is also to be set apart as sacred and uncommon. In God's world, no human being is considered "common" or ordinary.
Why was man created?
Man was created to reflect the truth about Who God is. But the Fall of man distorted the image of God and corrupted the ability of man to reflect this truth. When we confess Jesus as our Lord and are born again, the power of the Holy Spirit begins to conform us to the image of Mashiach ( see 2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 8:29 ).