Let us make man in our image...

[YosefHayim]

Typically, this is believed to be a trinity reference. God is saying "our" revealing his triune essence.

So in addition to that, he is saying our image.

So if we are made in his image, we are made in their image.

So does that mean our body, soul, and spirit are representative of the trinity, though we are not three persons like God?

 

[Kathi]

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Having the "image" or "likeness" of God means that we were made to resemble God.The image of God refers to the immaterial part of man.This sets man apart from the animal world.It is a likeness mentally,morally and socially.

 

[YosefHayim]

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Having the "image" or "likeness" of God means that we were made to resemble God.The image of God refers to the immaterial part of man.This sets man apart from the animal world.It is a likeness mentally,morally and socially.

You don't think there's any connection?
Father - Soul
Son - Body
Holy Spirit - Spirit

No?

 

[r3alink]

Another question to ask, is god also a female since he made both man and woman in his and (her) image.

 

[reba]

No He is God the Father.

 

[Malachi]

Another question to ask, is god also a female since he made both man and woman in his and (her) image.

The feminists would like to think so, and the New Agers (Neo Pagans) have turned away to the worship of the Great Mother Goddess (who shows up in every false religion since Babylon came into existence). It is noteworthy that all false religions replace the one true living God with a female deity.

Those who unreservedly accept the Bible as God's revelation of Himself to mankind also accept the fact that the Godhead consists of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and each one is "HE" because YHWH is "HE". So the one true eternal God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is definitely NOT female.

Coming back to the OP, it is unfortunate that the next verse was not included: "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them" (Gen 1:27). That word "image" is from the Hebrew tselem (Strong's 6754) which has the root meaning of "to shade", and means resemblance, or image, or a shadowing forth of anything. So the question is, in what regard does man (and woman) resemble God, who is essentially Spirit (Jn 4:24)?

God has a mind, and so does man.
God has a heart, and so does man
God has a will, and so does man.
God is triune Godhead, and man is a tripartite being
God is absolutely perfect, and man was created perfect.

But above and beyond this, we need to be aware that God already knew before He created man that Adam would sin and mankind would fall. Therefore He did not limit Himself to fallen man, but looked beyond Adam to the second Adam -- the Lord from Heaven. So whatever applied to man at creation will ultimately apply to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Man Christ Jesus, who is the one Mediator between God and man. Since Adam forfeited dominion over the earth through his own disobedience, the Man Christ Jesus will have dominion over the earth instead (Heb 2:5-8).

And when Scripture says "male and female created He them", God already saw Christ as the Divine Husband, and the Church as the Wife of the Lamb (Rev 19:7). And this is a "great" Divine Mystery (Eph 5:32).

 

[JLB]

Another question to ask, is god also a female since he made both man and woman in his and (her) image.

Yes.

Or Eve wasn't created in the image of God.


JLB

 

[jasonc]

You don't think there's any connection?
Father - Soul
Son - Body
Holy Spirit - Spirit

No?

no,
the Father didn't make our soul. the soul is our body, mind and spirit. here the Hebrew for those are. body, nephesh, spirit, ruach, mind? nephesh Chaya, yechida, nephesh, and ruach.

our body is a flesh covering for the invisible element of us. by the flesh we see and smell and articulate what is in the natural.

 

[Malachi]

Yes.
Or Eve wasn't created in the image of God. JLB

Since Eve had a heart, mind and will (just like Adam), and since Eve had a body, soul, and spirit (just like Adam), and since she was created perfect (just like Adam), Eve was indeed created in the image of God.

While men and women have different functions and different responsibilities, both are indeed created in the image of God (which has been marred by sin since the Fall).

 

[Malachi]

no,
the Father didn't make our soul. the soul is our body, mind and spirit. here the Hebrew for those are. body, nephesh, spirit, ruach, mind? nephesh Chaya, yechida, nephesh, and ruach. our body is a flesh covering for the invisible element of us. by the flesh we see and smell and articulate what is in the natural.

According to Scripture man is spirit, soul and body (1 Thess 5:23), with the spirit being first in order of importance for those who are "spiritual" (having the Holy Spirit and controlled by the Spirit). The mind, the emotions, the desires, and the will are all in the soul (also called "heart" in Scripture), while the Holy Spirit resides in the spirit.

 

[JLB]

Since Eve had a heart, mind and will (just like Adam), and since Eve had a body, soul, and spirit (just like Adam), and since she was created perfect (just like Adam), Eve was indeed created in the image of God.

While men and women have different functions and different responsibilities, both are indeed created in the image of God (which has been marred by sin since the Fall).

My point exactly.

Which is why the scripture says -

For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. 1 John 5:7


or as Paul says -


31 "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Ephesians 5:31-32



JLB

 

[YosefHayim]

God said let us make man in "our" image.

So God made man in "their image", the single plurality of the trinity. 1 as 3.

So if the triune God made man in his image, why could he not make a female in a triune likeness of himself? In his image doesn't have to mean his "gender". But scripture shows that we have body, soul, and spirit: 3 parts.

Gnostics believe in a heavenly mother. But that is wrong. Their is only a father, son, and holy spirit.

That is not to say we are gods. Nor are we little gods as Prosperity preachers and TBN would want us to believe. That's also what the serpent in Genesis 3 wanted us to believe.

Psalm 100:3 - Yahweh is God. God made us, not we ourselves.

 

[JLB]

God said let us make man in "our" image.

So God made man in "their image", the single plurality of the trinity. 1 as 3.

So if the triune God made man in his image, why could he not make a female in a triune likeness of himself? In his image doesn't have to mean his "gender". But scripture shows that we have body, soul, and spirit: 3 parts.

Gnostics believe in a heavenly mother. But that is wrong. Their is only a father, son, and holy spirit.

That is not to say we are gods. Nor are we little gods as Prosperity preachers and TBN would want us to believe. That's also what the serpent in Genesis 3 wanted us to believe.

Psalm 100:3 - Yahweh is God. God made us, not we ourselves.

In his image doesn't have to mean his "gender".

Let's discuss this statement, since the scripture doesn't only say "in His image".

26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;

27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.


What was the purpose of creating Eve, as a female, in the image and likeness of God?



JLB

 

[YosefHayim]

Let's discuss this statement, since the scripture doesn't only say "in His image".

26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;

27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.


What was the purpose of creating Eve, as a female, in the image and likeness of God?



JLB

And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. Genesis 2:18

 

[Malachi]

What was the purpose of creating Eve, as a female, in the image and likeness of God?JLB

Eve was taken out of Adam's side (bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh), and given in marriage so that they could be "one flesh" (Gen 2:23-25). Eve was a type of the Church (1 Tim 2:13), Adam a type of Christ (1 Cor 15:45-47; Heb 2:6-8). And every believer will one day be "conformed to the image of His Son" (Rom 8:29). Christ Himself is the "brightness of His [God's] glory and the express image of His [God's] person" (Heb 1:3).

The union of Adam and Eve is symbolic of the eternal union of Christ and His Church, and is a "great mystery" (Eph 5:22-33). That is why the Church is called the Body, the Bride and the Building of Christ, and will one day become "the wife of the Lamb" (Rev 19:7,8). That is also why God commands a monogamous, heterosexual and permanent union in marriage, since Christian marriage symbolizes Christ's eternal union with His Church.

 

[ReginaForbes]

Typically, this is believed to be a trinity reference. God is saying "our" revealing his triune essence.
So in addition to that, he is saying our image.
So if we are made in his image, we are made in their image.
So does that mean our body, soul, and spirit are representative of the trinity, though we are not three persons like God?

Didn't think of it that way! Cool idea! I'm going to use that to illustrate the trinity to my sunday school kids and some people I know who are having trouble understanding the concept.

 

[YosefHayim]

Didn't think of it that way! Cool idea! I'm going to use that to illustrate the trinity to my sunday school kids and some people I know who are having trouble understanding the concept.

I think the trinity is still pretty trippy and hard to understand even looking at it like this. I mean, scripture clearly shows God in three persons. But as for me I see it more as 1 as 3 rather than 3 in one. Is that wrong to look at it like that? I mean I would imagine that it's the three ways God manifests himself. It isn't a division, or three thirds. God divided into 3 parts. And it's not 1+1+1, because that would be three Gods. Perhaps it's 1x1x1, but then what is really being multiplied? Is it 3 characteristics transcending eternity in one essence? But what can be conceived from that attempt too explain? Maybe this is one mystery we will never know?

I think this is an interesting excerpt from William Lane Craig. Full Transcript and Audio at http://www.reasonablefaith.org/islam.

Kevin Harris: We have a big fancy term for that – the hypostatic union.

Dr. Craig: Yes, I think it is a good term. The idea of a hypostasis in Greek – hypo means “under” like in, say, for example a hypodermic needle. Hypodermic means under the skin. “Dermic” like dermatology – that’s the skin. So hypodermic is under the skin. So this means “under.” Then stasis is the Greek word for “stand.” So a hypostasis is something that “stands under” – it is the Greek equivalent really of the Latin word “substance.” A substance is “sub” (under) and “stance” (stand). So a hypostasis or substance is something that stands under and bears properties. It is a property bearer. So when we say that in Christ there are two natures in one substance what we mean is that there is one property bearer who has both divine properties and human properties. He has all the properties that go to make up a divine nature and he has all the properties that go to make up a human nature. So this hypostasis or individual is a property bearer that has a divine and a human nature and is therefore truly human and truly divine. So the idea of the hypostatic union is that these two are united in one person.

Kevin Harris: Two natures in one person.

Dr. Craig: Right. A rational hypostasis is a person. A hypostasis is in a sense an individual – a property bearer. A rational hypostasis is what we would call a person.

Kevin Harris: When I hear dialogues between Muslims and Christians, the issue comes up of the divinity of Christ quite often. If he were God then who was he praying to in the garden? Who was he crying out to from the cross, which we will get into in just a moment? And why did he not know all things and so forth?

Dr. Craig: It has been said that doing Muslim evangelism is a crash course in Christian doctrine. I think that is quite right. Muslims don’t understand the doctrine of the two natures of Christ. So they think that in proving that Christ had these human attributes like limited knowledge, praying to God the Father, growing in moral perfection, being weak and physically exhausted, even being limited in time and space – Christians agree with all of those because we think Jesus was truly human. He had a truly human nature. That doesn’t prove that he didn’t also have a truly divine nature in addition to that.[2] So the Christian is unmoved by all of these proof texts that the Muslim brings from the Gospels to show that Jesus was a limited human in all these ways because we recognize that. What the Muslim doesn’t understand is that we believe that Christ had two natures. So in addition to these human properties he also had properties like omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, and so forth.

Kevin Harris: Paul seems to shed some real light on this in his second chapter of his letter to the Philippians. He talks about Jesus, who being in the very nature of God, did not grasp after that equality with God but became a servant. He became obedient. It was like he limited his rights as God and perhaps allowed them to be, what? Veiled?

Dr. Craig: I think that would be fair. What we don’t want to say is that he gave up his divine attributes. Because if he gave up his essential divine properties he would cease to be God and that would not be the doctrine of the incarnation which is that Jesus is simultaneously God and man, not that he was first God, and then became man, and then became God again so that he was sequentially God and man. The doctrine of the incarnation is that Jesus is simultaneously God and man. But certainly in this state of emptying that Paul talks about – this state of humiliation – Christ did not draw upon and display all of his divine attributes openly. As you say, he was ignorant of certain facts like the date of the second coming. I think he actually knew those insofar as he was divine, but insofar as he had a human conscious life he didn’t have that knowledge at his disposal. This was, as you say, veiled or restrained in some way.

Kevin Harris: It would be incoherent to say that Jesus somehow emptied himself of divinity because God is not something that can be emptied.

Dr. Craig: That’s right. It would be like saying God could cease to exist, which is logically impossible because God is a necessary and eternal being. So it is logically impossible for God to cease to be God. Therefore, the notion that Jesus somehow gave up his divinity when he became man is a pagan idea, frankly. It is similar to Zeus in Greco-Roman mythology turning himself into a swan or turning himself into a bull for a temporary period of time. That kind of metamorphosis is really a pagan idea that is completely foreign to the Christian doctrine of the incarnation.

Kevin Harris: We need to chase the incarnation here for just a moment. Awesome, wonderful doctrine of the Bible. Incarnation. Let’s spell some of the things out there for it, Bill, because often we find ourselves talking about what it is not as well as what it is.

Dr. Craig: Right. I think that the proper way to think of the incarnation is not as some kind of subtraction. It is not as though the second person of the Trinity subtracted, or gave up, some of his attributes and turned himself into a human being. That is a completely foreign idea to Christianity. The way to think of the incarnation is as a matter of addition. In addition to the divine nature that he already had, the second person of the Trinity took on a human nature as well. So that now, instead of one nature which was divine, he had two natures – one of which was divine that he had from eternity and a human nature which he assumed at the moment of the virginal conception in Mary’s womb.

Kevin Harris: So not the subtraction of deity but the addition of humanity.
​

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCBC5Wn5a0Y

 

[jasonc]

so why did god use Hebrew in the tanach and then greek? the words for souls are just what I posted. if I were to use the greek translated name for God its literally Master as in slave owner. the other names would have that in it with either theos being either singular or plural and also the other word with it.

THE YHWH literal translated means being. being and the greek is kyrios which is lord or god. being differences without any commentary to know the difference. I will respond to the challenge. im talking to one that knows more.

 

[Malachi]

so why did god use Hebrew in the tanach and then greek? the words for souls are just what I posted. if I were to use the greek translated name for God its literally Master as in slave owner. the other names would have that in it with either theos being either singular or plural and also the other word with it.

Not sure why you brought this up. "Soul" can apply to the immaterial part of man, or is another word for "person" in the OT, but also includes the "spirit". When Scripture says "man became a LIVING soul" (Gen 2:7) it means that Adam had spiritual life when he was created. His spirit was alive, and he could communicate with God. That reinforces the truth that man (humans) are spirit, soul, and body. The day Adam sinned, His spirit died (Gen 2:17). His body and soul lived for hundreds of years after that (Gen 5:5). All men are now born spiritually dead (Rom 5:12), therefore Christ said "Ye MUST be born again" (Jn 3:7).

THE YHWH literal translated means being. being and the greek is kyrios which is lord or god. being differences without any commentary to know the difference. I will respond to the challenge. im talking to one that knows more.

Because of the 3rd commandment (Exod 20:7) the Jews would not pronounce the sacred name of YHWH. Instead they said "Adonai" or "Adonay", which means "Lord" (Master). Therefore in the KJV YHWH = LORD (small capitals). When the Septuagint was translated by the Jews into Greek, they again avoided writing YHWH and inserted "Kurios". Perhaps it would have been better to transliterate and have YHWH in those place.

 

[jasonc]

uhm its the word nephesh Chaya. it means living body literally. and he became a living soul. he had a body that was animated. acutally jews no longer by large use adonai. its more the Heshem. which means the name. they would recite the shema and use the pronounciation of the name.

the jews didn't say all the names either , not even the Lord in genesis one. Elohim isn't said either. its all revered. They will say when the Eternal One did this or that.