Created in the Image of God is a core Christian doctrine. Humanity is distinct among the entire created order, man and woman was framed by God clearly in His own image and after His own likeness (Genesis 1:26-27).
First let's have a review of Creation. God created:
- the water covered earthly mass and created light and darkness (day 1)
- the firmament was established which separated the waters above and below (day 2)
- the waters below the firmament are gathered together and the land appears along with the creation of grasses, fruit trees, and see-yielding herbs (day 3)
- the luminaries were created so that the firmament could be divided - the day from the night - and they were to rule in their domain, and be for signs, seasons, days, and years...the preparing is finished. (day 4)
- God now begins to fill the earth. Fills the sea with marine animals and the firmament with fowl. They were blessed and told to multiply to fill the earth. (day 5)
- every land animal and creeping things was created and they were to multiply. Then He made man in His own Image and likeness – male and female, God blessed them and instructed them to multiply to replenish the earth, man was to subdue the earth and was given complete dominion over earth (land, animals, creeping things, fowls, sea creatures). God gave instruction regarding their diet, every herb bearing seed and fruit trees yielding seed. The land animals, fowl, and creeping thing were given the green herb. All is “very good”, the heavens and the earth were finished along with the entire host.
- the final day...the seventh day, God ended / completed His work. God blessed and sanctified the day. Note: More on this in upcoming blogs.
Focusing on the Sixth Day
When the human race was created - there is a different approach with God. The inspired record reads: ‘And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.... So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them’ (Genesis 1:26-27). Before He spoke and it was so, but with His human creation he used His hands, came close and breathed the breath of life in our nostrils.
Man is not a close cousin of an animal, nor a distant relative of primitive plant life, nor a product of slime. Rather, he is someone great, wonderful and different, the most excellent of all God’s works, and a special expression of the divine nature, created by God’s own personal activity. God introduces him with solemnity, dignity, and the honor of an intimate deliberation on the part of the Godhead.
Although man was formed from the dust of the ground, God personally ‘breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul’ (Genesis 2:7). Man’s life is thus not the result of spontaneous reorganization of molecules within his body, nor is it derived by evolution from any animal or ‘lower hominid’ (as theistic evolutionists teach), but is a direct gift from God. This is further emphasized in the Bible by Luke’s genealogy of Adam, where he designates Adam as being not the son of an anthropoid ape, but ‘the son of God’ (Luke 3:38).
In the Image of God
When God created man in His own image, He purposed that mankind (both man and woman) would resemble God in certain ways, and share certain of the divine prerogatives. Concerning this we note:
- It was not a physical likeness, but… Although God is spirit (John 4:24) and does not have a body like a man, when He appeared visibly to men according to the Old Testament record, He did so in the form of a human body (e.g .Genesis 18:1-2; 32:24, 28, 30). The Plain Word note: In the OT, God visibly manifested himself on earth among His people Exodus 19:16-18; Exodus 40:34-38; I Kings 6:13), dwelled in the Temple (2 Chronicles 7:1), dwelled in the mountain (Psalm 68.16-18; Joel 3:17), as depicted as a cloud (Exodus 24:16-18; Exodus33:9; 1 Kings 8:10-13), a pillar of smoke and fire (Exodus 13:21-22), and as fired and a burning bush (Zechariah 2:5; Exodus 3:2). This is commonly referred to as Shekinah Glory. This term is used to describe the visible manifestation of God on earth, whose presence is portrayed through a natural occurrence. The word shekinah is a Hebrew name meaning “dwelling” or “one who dwells.” Shekinah Glory means “He caused to dwell,” referring to the divine presence of God. This term in not found in the Bible. Dr. Henry Morris writes: ‘There is something about the human body therefore, which is uniquely appropriate to God’s manifestation of Himself, and (since God knows all His works from the beginning of the world—Acts 15:18), He must have designed man’s body with this in mind. Accordingly, He designed it, not like the animals, but with an erect posture, with an upward gazing countenance, capable of facial expressions corresponding with emotional feelings, and with a brain and tongue capable of articulate, symbolic speech. Furthermore, the human body was the form in which God the Son would be incarnated or ‘made in the likeness of men’ (Philippians 2:7). Thus, God made man in that bodily form which He Himself would one day assume—the form in which He wished to reveal Himself.
- It was a mental likeness. God endowed man with intellectual ability which was and is far superior to that of any animal. Thus, man was given a mind capable of hearing and understanding God’s communication with him, emotions capable of responding to God in love and devotion, and a will which enabled him to choose whether or not to obey God. Man was thus equipped, not only to ‘love God and obey Him for ever’, but also to do God’s work on earth—to be His regent and govern the creation in co-operation with his Creator. This is seen in God’s command to Adam and Eve, that they exercise dominion over the earth and its animals (Genesis 1:26,28), in Adam’s task of cultivating the garden (Genesis 2:15), and in the statement that Adam gave names to certain of the animals on the earth (Genesis 2:19-20). Man’s intellectual gifts are further seen in his ability to design things and then make them, to appreciate beauty, to compose glorious music, to paint pictures, to write, to count to large numbers and do mathematics, to control and use energy for his own benefit (e.g. fire, electricity, nuclear power), to organize, to reason, to make decisions, to be self-conscious, to laugh at himself, and to think abstractly. All this behavior is non-instinctive, as distinct from animal behavior, and as such it is of unlimited variety.
- It was a moral likeness. Man only, of all God’s creatures, has a spirit or God-consciousness, that is, a capacity for knowing God and holding spiritual communion with Him through prayer, praise, and worship. Since the Fall (Genesis chapter 3), man has had inborn moral awareness of good and evil, or conscience, which he perceives in his spirit. Man was made not only negatively innocent (that is, without sin), but positively holy, otherwise Adam could not have had communion with God, who cannot look upon iniquity (Habakkuk 1:13). This is further confirmed by Genesis 1:31, when God affirms that everything He had made (including man) was ‘very good’, which would not have been true if man had been morally imperfect.
- It was a social likeness. God’s social nature and intrinsic love is seen in the doctrine of the Trinity. God—who is love—created man with a social nature and a need for love. The statement in Genesis 3:8 that ‘they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day’ suggests that Adam and Eve enjoyed fellowship and communion with God, perhaps on a daily basis. God also provided for human fellowship and love in a very special and intimate way. Before He created Eve He said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him’ (Genesis 2:18). He then made Eve out of a bone taken from Adam (Genesis 2:21-24), a fact which Jesus used in His debate with the Pharisees to uphold the sanctity of marriage and the intimacy of love within the marriage relationship (Matthew 19:4-6; Mark 10:6-8).
Conclusion
When God created the vegetation and the animals, He made them all ‘after its/their kind’ (the phrase occurs ten times in Genesis 1:11-25. When He created Adam, He made him after the God-kind — in the image and likeness of God (cf. Acts 17:28). After the Fall, man is still said to be in God’s image (Genesis 9:6; 1 Corinthians 11:7) and likeness (James 3:9). However, this image was defiled by man’s rebellion at the Fall, and all aspects of God’s image were tarnished. Nevertheless, these aspects were perfect in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was and is ‘the image of the invisible God’ (Colossians 1:15), and ‘the express image’ of God (Hebrews 1:3), both in His life on earth and in Heaven.
The Apostle Paul says that we are transformed or renewed into the image of God by the Gospel, and that this image is then ‘in righteousness and true holiness’ (Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4:24). This is not something that the natural man can bring about by his own efforts, but is the result of our ‘receiving Christ’ in faith and repentance (John 1:12; Galatians 2:20). It is accomplished by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5; Romans 8:28-29), who takes up His abode within God’ children (1 Corinthians 3:1; 6:19). ‘God is long-suffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance’ (2 Peter 3:9).
Referenced Article
Made in the image of God. By: Russell M. Grigg. www.creation.com
For Further Study
Journal of Research on Christian Education Summer 2001, Vol.10, Special Edition pp. 227-257. The Image of God and Educational Philosophy A Biblical Construct? Jon Paulien. Andrews University.
Disclaimer: THE PLAIN WORD provides references to articles that contain credible information and insight on this specific topic, this does not necessarily mean that we endorse other content which they publish. 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”