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:

Genesis 1:26

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

74 AD Epistle of Barnabas: "For the Scripture says concerning us, while He speaks to the Son, "Let Us make man after Our image, and after Our likeness" (Epistle of Barnabas, Chapter VI.)

Origen: "it was to Him that God said regarding the creation of man, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness." (Origen Against Celsus, Book V, Chapter XXXVII)

1. 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). Dr Henry Morris writes: ‘There is something about the human body therefore, which is uniquely appropriate to God’ manifestation of Himself, and(since God knows all His works from the beginning of the world—Acts 15:18), He must have designed man’ 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.

2.God is Sovereign and man is made sovereign .

The almighty power of God rules over all things, and in His Name all our movements are directed, Himself being our governor. ~ t.Columcille

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’ work on earth—to be His regent and govern the creation in co-operation with his Creator.

Man only, of all God’s creatures, has a spirit or God-consciousness.

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). Note God did not give animals His likeness. To give animals the same “rights” as other humans is out of God’s will. We are to have dominion over them which means we are to take care of them as all of God’s creation.

Man’s intellectual gifts are further seen in his ability to design things and then create 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.

3.It was a moral likeness.

God has implanted in every person the capacity to attain the very highest level of virtue. ~ St. Morgan

Man only, of all God’ creatures, has a spirit or God-consciousness or God’s spark, 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.13

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 everthing He had made (including man) was ‘very good’, which would not have been true if man had been morally imperfect.

4. It was a social likeness.14

God’ 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).15

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’ image (Genesis 9:6; 1 Corinthians 11:7) and likeness (James 3:9). However, this image was defiled by man’ rebellion at the Fall, and all aspects of God’ 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.

Psalm 82 A Psalm of lAsaph.

1  mGod nhas taken his place in the divine council;

in the midst of pthe gods he qholds judgment:

2  “How long will you judge unjustly

and rshow partiality to sthe wicked? Selah

3  tGive justice to uthe weak and the fatherless;

vmaintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.

4  wRescue the weak and the needy;

xdeliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

5  yThey have neither knowledge nor understanding,

zthey walk about in darkness;

aall the foundations of the earth are bshaken.

6  cI said, “You are gods,

sons of the Most High, all of you;

7  nevertheless, like men dyou shall die,

and fall like any prince.”1

8  eArise, O God, judge the earth;

for you shall finherit all the nations!

Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 160-200)

It [the instruction and preparation] leads us to the endless and perfect end, teaching us beforehand the future life that we shall lead, according to God, and with gods; after we are freed from all punishment and penalty which we undergo.... After which redemption the reward and the honours are assigned to those who have become perfect; when they have got done with purification ... they are called by the appellation of gods, being destined to sit on thrones with the other gods that have been first put in their places by the Saviour. (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 2:539)

Hippolytus (A.D. 170-236)

And thou shalt be a companion of the Deity, and a co-heir with Christ, no longer enslaved by lusts or passions, and never again wasted by disease. For thou has become God ... thou has been deified, and begotten unto immortality. This constitutes the import of the proverb, "Know thyself;" ie., discover God within thyself, for He has formed thee after His own image. (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 5:153)

Origen (A.D. 185-255)

And thus the first-born of all creation, who is the first to be with God, and to attract to Himself divinity, is a being of more exalted rank than the other gods beside Him, of whom God is the God.... The true God, then, is "The God," and those who are formed after Him are gods, images, as it were, of Him the prototype. (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 10:323)

... other beings beside the true God, who have become gods by having a share of God. They may fear that the glory of Him who surpasses all creation may be lowered to the level of those other beings [ie., exalted man] called gods. (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 10:323)

Let’s look at Psalm 82, the psalm that Jesus quotes in John 10:34. The Hebrew word translated “gods” in Psalm 82:6 is Elohim. It usually refers to the one true God, but it does have other uses. Psalm 82:1 says, “God presides in the great assembly; he gives judgment among the gods.” It is clear from the next three verses that the word “gods” refers to magistrates, judges, and other people who hold positions of authority and rule. Calling a human magistrate a “god” indicates three things: 1) he has authority over other human beings, 2) the power he wields as a civil authority is to be feared, and 3) he derives his power and authority from God Himself, who is pictured as judging the whole earth in verse 8.

This use of the word “gods” to refer to humans is rare, but it is found elsewhere in the Old Testament. For example, when God sent Moses to Pharaoh, He said, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh” (Exodus 7:1). This simply means that Moses, as the messenger of God, was speaking God’s words and would therefore be God’s representative to the king. The Hebrew word Elohim is translated “judges” in Exodus 21:6 and 22:8, 9, and 28.

The whole point of Psalm 82 is that earthly judges must act with impartiality and true justice, because even judges must stand someday before the Judge.

Matthew 7:1-3 (ESV)

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.  Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

Verses 6 and 7 of Psalm 82 warn human magistrates that they, too, must be judged: “I said, `You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High.' But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler.” This passage is saying that God has appointed men to positions of authority in which they are considered as gods among the people. They are to remember that, even though they are representing God in this world, they are mortal and must eventually give an account to God for how they used that authority.