What does it mean, man was made in the Image of God?

[reddogs]

Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Is mankind immortal, all powerful, all knowing, self-existing, present throughout the universe, No. So what attributes did man received when he was created? God is omnipotent, omniscient with other attributes which man does not have, and never did have. Now these characteristics only are of God, even though man was made in God's image. When man was created, he was made in the image of God in outward resemblance and in character, which would include what we consider able to discern, to know good from bad.

 

[Josef]

Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Is mankind immortal, all powerful, all knowing, self-existing, present throughout the universe, No. So what attributes did man received when he was created? God is omnipotent, omniscient with other attributes which man does not have, and never did have. Now these characteristics only are of God, even though man was made in God's image. When man was created, he was made in the image of God in outward resemblance and in character, which would include what we consider able to discern, to know good from bad.

Hey All,
We have the ability to create. Now God can create from nothing. We need something to start. But we can take the basic material God has given us, and make it something more.

We can take a tree and make a house from it.
We can take leaves and roots, and make medicine from them.
We can mine metals from the earth, and take them to the moon.
Look at how many breeds of dogs and cats there are. Breeds are the result of man's design.

But most importantly, we have the ability to love each other.

So there are two of God's attributes.

Keep walking everybody.
May God bless,
Taz

 

[Tenchi]

Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Is mankind immortal, all powerful, all knowing, self-existing, present throughout the universe, No. So what attributes did man received when he was created? God is omnipotent, omniscient with other attributes which man does not have, and never did have. Now these characteristics only are of God, even though man was made in God's image. When man was created, he was made in the image of God in outward resemblance and in character, which would include what we consider able to discern, to know good from bad.

In what ways is Man uniquely distinct from the other living creatures populating the earth? Humans are the only creatures on the planet that are capable of complex invention, that can moralize, that can plan for the future, or appreciate beauty, humor, or the skillful execution of some capacity; humans alone philosophize, calculate in highly-involved ways, and experience wonder and awe; humans are the sole possessors of a conscience and an awareness of God. And so on. In these sorts of ways (and many others), Man reflects the imago dei.

 

[for_his_glory]

Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.

We are made in the image of His love that we love one another and bring glory and honor to His name in all we do and say.

 

[donadams]

Image and likeness

Intellect and will!

 

[tdidymas]

Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Is mankind immortal, all powerful, all knowing, self-existing, present throughout the universe, No. So what attributes did man received when he was created? God is omnipotent, omniscient with other attributes which man does not have, and never did have. Now these characteristics only are of God, even though man was made in God's image. When man was created, he was made in the image of God in outward resemblance and in character, which would include what we consider able to discern, to know good from bad.

There are incommunicable attributes of God, such as omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence, which man doesn't have. Other attributes of God, such as sense of justice, intelligent reasoning, compassion, etc. are communicable attributes of God - that is, attributes that God instilled in the human nature.

 

[Ezekiel]

Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Is mankind immortal, all powerful, all knowing, self-existing, present throughout the universe, No. So what attributes did man received when he was created? God is omnipotent, omniscient with other attributes which man does not have, and never did have. Now these characteristics only are of God, even though man was made in God's image. When man was created, he was made in the image of God in outward resemblance and in character, which would include what we consider able to discern, to know good from bad.

Just thinking that we are made in the likeness of Jesus the Christ but limited being Christ unlimited. Like the mind we have. Flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.

Understanding, Grace, Perception, and Consideration.]

Grace
Truth
Form
T
Conceptualization (Epinoia)
Perception
Memory

Understanding
Love
Idea


Perfection
Peace
Wisdom
John 3
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

 

[Vinny37]

Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Is mankind immortal, all powerful, all knowing, self-existing, present throughout the universe, No. So what attributes did man received when he was created? God is omnipotent, omniscient with other attributes which man does not have, and never did have. Now these characteristics only are of God, even though man was made in God's image. When man was created, he was made in the image of God in outward resemblance and in character, which would include what we consider able to discern, to know good from bad.

[What does it mean, man was made in the Image of God?]

IMO it means that man, probably after a ton of intelligent evolution (Perry Marshall) but under the rubric of creation (and ultimately God is creator), was given a status of societal nature having a spiritual nature. In short, humanity alone, as regards Earth, has been enabled to commune with deity, to come further in and higher up. Thus, each and every human being, whether born or unborn, has a spiritual preciousness (Gen.9:6)—the filiality of man—and life which continues after death. I call this common access, the creational level, Level 1 access. I hold that a Level 2 was during the Sinai years for its people and affiliates; that Level 3 is Christian access; and that Level 4, everlasting access, is the next and final Age, increasing the likeness. Being imagodei, marriage alone has been designed and defined for common humanity by God, and objective ethics—today dying by subjectivism—is also a moral standard by which we ought to reflect deity (see C S Lewis’ On Ethics).

 

[electedbyHim]

MAN LIKE GOD

BUT NOT GOD


Then God said, "Let Us make man (adam) in Our image (tselem; see note), according to Our likeness (demut) - Let Us make is in the jussive signifying a command. Many take the us to be God speaking of Himself (and speaks of plurality within unity) and thus hinting at the Trinity (cf Ge 3:22+, Ge 11:7), but should not be used as dogmatic proof of the Trinity. A better passage would be 2Cor 13:14+ where Paul describes "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all." Man the crown of creation is the Hebrew word adam; probably so called either from the red earth of which he was formed, or from the blush or flesh-tint of the human countenance: the name is intended to designate the species. The idea of "in" the image of God means "in essence as." Man refers not just to Adam but to mankind in general and this is substantiated by the fact that in Hebrew man is in the plural form and in Ge 1:27 God identifies both male and female as man.


MacArthur - Our image. This defined man's unique relation to God. Man is a living being capable of embodying God's communicable attributes (cf. Ge 9:6; Ro 8:29; Col 3:10; Jas 3:9). In his rational life, he was like God in that he could reason and had intellect, will, and emotion. In the moral sense, he was like God because he was good and sinless. (See context in MacArthur Study Bible)


Henry Lazenby on image - "The image is found in the type of relationship that was designed to exist between male and female human beings, a relationship where the characteristics of each sex are valued and used to form a oneness in their identity and purpose. When God created human beings as male and female he formed them to exhibit a oneness in their relationship that would resemble the relationship of God and his heavenly court. "By ruling as one, male and female fulfill the purpose of God for which they were created. United as one humanity, male and female are one with God and his heavenly court. And it is this unity between male and female, and between humanity and God, that is destroyed in the Fall described in Genesis 3." (The Image of God: Masculine, Feminine, or Neuter?" JETS 30:1, 1987)


Henry Morris on let us - God is, as it were, taking counsel here with Himself, not with angels, since man was to be made in the image of God, not of angels. "Our image," therefore, implies human likeness to the triune Godhead. Plants possess a body and animals possess a body and consciousness; man was not only to have a body (of the created "earth") and a consciousness (of the created "soul"), but man was also to possess a third created entity, the image of God, an eternal spirit capable of communion and fellowship with his Creator. (Borrow the The defender's study Bible)


Thomas Constable - "Image" and "likeness" are essentially synonymous terms. Both indicate personality, moral, and spiritual qualities that God and man share (i.e., self-consciousness, God-consciousness, freedom, responsibility, speech, moral discernment, etc.) These distinguish humans from the animals. Some writers have called the image of God man's "spiritual personality." (Genesis 1)

 

[reddogs]

Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.

We are made in the image of His love that we love one another and bring glory and honor to His name in all we do and say.

That is very true..

 

[Beetow]

.
● Gen 2:7 . . And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

The Hebrew word for soul isn't unique to human life. Nephesh first appears in
the Bible at Gen 1:20 as aqua creatures and winged creatures; again in Gen 1:24
as terra creatures; viz: cattle, creepy crawlies, and wild beasts; and again in Gen
2:7 as the human creature; and yet again in Gen 9:10 to classify every living
creature aboard Noah's ark.

God has a soul too. (Lev 26:11, Lev 26:30, Judg 10:16, Isa 42:1, Jer 32:41, Zec
11:8)

Seeing as how soul pertains to such a wide variety of life, then we probably shouldn't
try to shoehorn it into an explanation of the meaning of the image and likeness of God.

I propose that the image and likeness of God isn't literal, rather, it's a figure of
speech pertaining to seniority. In other words; God designated man to be the
natural world's supreme being, so to speak.

● Gen 1:28 . . And God blessed them, and said unto them: Subdue the earth: and
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every
living thing that moveth upon the earth.
_

 

[Fastfredy0]

What does it mean, man was made in the Image of God?​

Maybe one of the most abused statements in the Bible that men use to justify all sorts of contingencies. That being said ...

Q. 10. How did God create man? (Westminster Shorter Catechism)
A. God created man male and female, after his own image [a], in knowledge , righteousness, and holiness [c], with dominion over the creatures [d].
[a] Genesis 1:27; Colossians 3:10; [c] Ephesians 4:24; [d] Genesis 1:28; see Psalm 8

The Heidelberg Catechism asks and answers the question:
Did God create man thus wicked and perverse? No; but God created man good, and after his own image—that is, in righteousness and true holiness.

The Belgic Confession limits the image of God in the same fashion:
We believe that God created man out of the dust of the earth, and made and formed him after his own image and likeness, good, righteous, and holy, capable in all things to will agreeably to the will of God.

The Canons of Dordt say this about the subject:
Man was originally formed after the image of God. His understanding was adorned with a true and saving knowledge of his Creator, and of spiritual things; his heart and will were upright, all his affections pure, and the whole Man was holy.

Being made after the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness; having the law of God written in their hearts, and power to fulfill it, and yet under a possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will, which was subject to change.” (The Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, Chapter 4, Section. 2

 

[electedbyHim]

Man Created Directly by God

Man’s existence is wholly a result of divine creation. Such recognition leads to a biblical anthropology that addresses three aspects of man’s existence: (1) man’s ontology or essence, (2) man’s relationships, and (3) man’s function.

Genesis 1:1 declares, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” God is the eternal transcendent cause of everything. In six literal twenty-four-hour days, God made all things material and immaterial (see Col. 1:16). Genesis 1 is structured to highlight the creation of man on day six. Being created last highlights man’s significance. Also, for the first five days and the beginning of day six, the phrases “Let there be …” or “Let there …” are used to describe God’s creative acts (Gen. 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24). Yet with the creation of man, a different phrase is used: “Let us make man …” (Gen. 1:26). This shift stresses that man is unique within God’s creation. In addition, the word “then” in Genesis 1:26—“Then God said, ‘Let us make man …’ ”—marks the creation of man as special.

The purpose of man is also highlighted in Genesis 1–2. Only passing reference is made to the creation of the sun, moon, stars, plants, and living creatures in Genesis 1. Yet Genesis 2 is wholly devoted to the creation of mankind, including how the first man and woman were made. Also, various terms such as “make”/“made,” “create,” and “form” emphasize God’s active involvement in the creation of man:

1. “Make”/“Made” (Heb. ‘asah)

Then God said, “Let us make man.” (Gen. 1:26)

And God saw everything that he had made. (Gen. 1:31)

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” (Gen. 2:18)

This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. (Gen. 5:1)

p 408 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” (Gen. 6:7)

2. “Create” (Heb. bara’)

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them. (Gen. 1:27)

This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. (Gen. 5:1–2)

3. “Formed” (Heb. yatsar)

Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground. (Gen. 2:7)

And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. (Gen. 2:8)

God’s direct creation of man is affirmed throughout Scripture. Psalm 100:3 states, “Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his.” Jesus said, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning [i.e., God] made them male and female?” (Matt. 19:4). James referred to “people who are made in the likeness of God” (James 3:9).

Man’s creation by God carries significant implications. First, humans do not exist in a vacuum. The precondition for man is God, and man can only be understood from the starting point of the Creator. While addressing pagan philosophers at Athens, Paul started with creation, namely, “the God who made the world and everything in it” (Acts 17:24). He then said that people only exist and function because of God: “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). The only reason we are alive is because God exists, created us, and sustains our lives. Some people try to imagine that there is no God, but in reality, there would be no act of imagining and no people to do the imagining if God did not exist. Something cannot come from nothing. No one times nothing does not equal everything. Persons do not come from the impersonal. To imagine no heaven and no God is to imagine nothing at all. God is the precondition for everything.

Second, direct creation means that man is not God. Man is neither divine nor the highest being in existence. A metaphysical or ontological gap exists between God and man. Man can never be God, nor should he seek to be God. The Mormon leader Lorenzo Snow stated, “As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be.”7 This is false. God was never man (Christ’s incarnation as the God-man being the one unique exception), and man can never be God. Hosea 11:9 declares, p 409 “For I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst.” Creatures will always be under the eternal Creator who made them.

Third, as a creature, man is obligated to submit to God. Man is not free to do whatever he desires, as if his actions have no consequences with God (cf. Eccles. 11:9). Everything man does must be viewed in light of God’s will for him. According to Romans 1, the primary problem with fallen man is that he acts independently from his Creator. He does not give God glory, and he serves creatures rather than the Creator. Paul said that unbelieving people “exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Rom. 1:25).

To show that people cannot act independently of God, Jesus told the parable of the foolish rich man, who lived for himself only to find that God would hold him accountable that night: “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ ” (Luke 12:20). People often act independently and convince themselves that they can live apart from and in defiance of God, but without repentance and saving faith they are accumulating wrath for themselves. Paul warns people not to take God’s patience and kindness lightly (Rom. 2:4), since doing so means “you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Rom. 2:5). Even with perfect conditions on the coming new earth, the people of God will serve God; they do not become God. Revelation 22:3 states, “The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it [the New Jerusalem], and his servants will worship him.” Even in the paradise of eternity, sinless human beings will joyfully serve and worship God.

Fourth, man has a unique role in God’s creation. Genesis 1:26–28 reveals that man is called to multiply, to fill the earth, and to subdue it. The psalmist declared, “The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man” (Ps. 115:16). Even in eternity, man will reign forever on the new earth (see Rev. 21:1; 22:5).

Fifth, man was created to give God glory. Isaiah 43:6–7 describes God calling his “sons” and “daughters” to come to him, “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Here God says that his people are created for his glory. Paul declares that Christians have been “predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph. 1:11). Everything man does should be for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31).
Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth

 

[electedbyHim]

Continued......

Man as Image of God (Imago Dei)

Understanding mankind involves grasping the fact that man is God’s “image” and “likeness.” As Beck and Demarest state, “The implications of human persons created in the image of God are immense for theology, psychology, ministry, and Christian living. Ramifications of the imago embrace issues of human dignity and value, personal and social ethics, relations between the sexes, the solidarity of the human family … p 410 and racial justice.”8 Passages that explicitly refer to the “image” (Heb. tselem) or “likeness” (Heb. demuth) of God include the following:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” (Gen. 1:26)

God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Gen. 1:27)

This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created. (Gen. 5:1–2)

Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. (Gen. 9:6)

For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God. (1 Cor. 11:7)

With it [the tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God. (James 3:9 NASB)

The Hebrew term for “image” signifies a “copy” but also carries the idea of “representation.” In the ancient world, a king or ruler would place an image or idol of himself in his realm to symbolize his sovereignty there. When others saw the image, they knew who had control. Likewise, God’s image bearers represent God in the world. But unlike lifeless statues, God’s image bearers are alive. They should operate as God’s representatives and mediators on the earth. Thus, “image” has implications for kingship. While God is the King, God created man as a king, a vice-regent and mediator over the creation on God’s behalf.

Complementing this word, the Hebrew term for “likeness” (demuth) can refer to “pattern,” “shape,” or “form.” It signifies something patterned after an original. Its use in Genesis 1:26 indicates that man is patterned after God; he is a son of God. This understanding is supported by Genesis 5:3, which reveals that Seth was a son in the “likeness” of his father, Adam. To join these two meanings together, we can conclude that because he is a son of God, man may function as God’s representative.

IMPLICATIONS OF HUMANS BEING MADE IN GOD’S IMAGE

Though human beings are not divine, the fact that they are created in the “image” and “likeness” of God carries significant truths. First, the image of God is affirmed for all persons—male and female alike. Genesis 1:27 states, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” While distinct genders, both male and female are equal as persons and equal in value.

Second, even after the fall (see Genesis 3) all people still possess the image and likeness of God. This is affirmed in Genesis 5:1–3 for both male and female and for the offspring of Adam and Eve:

This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.

Genesis 9:6 says that capital punishment is the appropriate penalty for murder since man is still the image of God: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” After the flood humans are still the image of God. Similarly, James 3:9 condemns cursing people since they are “made in the likeness of God.” This also affirms that people after the fall still bear something of God’s likeness. God’s image bearers were certainly marred with the curse, but the image and likeness of God, though distorted, was not obliterated.

Third, the image of God explains mankind’s need to live in relationship with others. The triune God is three persons in one: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is the foundational definition of the essential nature of God. For all eternity, the members of the Trinity have enjoyed perfect, personal communion with one another. If God were simply a solitary, unipersonal being—like false gods—he could not be eternally loving, because prior to creation there would have been no one to love. But God is love, and that love was perfectly expressed in eternity past within the Trinity (John 5:20; 17:24, 26).

The love of God is also directed toward his creation. God loves the world (John 3:16) and especially his own children (John 13:1; 15:9; 16:27; 17:23, 26; Rom. 5:5), who are empowered by him to love their enemies (Matt. 5:42–48), fellow believers (John 13:34–35; 15:12–13), and God himself (John 14:21–24). Thus, man is designed in the image of God as a relational being, who is not only able to relate to other people and to God in a loving way but is also required to do so in order to experience fulfillment (Gen. 2:18, 22–24).

Fourth, the image of God is connected with man’s task to “rule” and “subdue” the earth on God’s behalf. Immediately after declaring that man is made in God’s image and likeness, God says, “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” (Gen. 1:26). Then God says, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:28, NASB). The Hebrew term for “rule,” used twice in Genesis 1:26–28, is radah and means “have dominion,” “rule,” or “dominate.”9 Later, in Psalm 110:2, the term refers to the Messiah’s future rule: “The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule [radah] in the midst of your enemies.” Also, the Hebrew word p 412 translated “subdue” in Genesis 1:28 is kabash, which means “bring into bondage,” even by forceful means. The term is used in 2 Samuel 8:11 concerning King David’s subduing of nations.

Both “rule” and “subdue” are linked to kingly authority and show, as Eugene Merrill observes, that “man is created to reign in a manner that demonstrates his lordship, his domination (by force if necessary) over all creation.”10 This authority is seen in man’s naming of the animals, a demonstration of dominion (see Gen. 2:19–20). Thus, there is a royal and kingly aspect to man being in the image of God.

This authority to rule over creation is not the sole possession of Adam and Eve. God says, “Let them have dominion” (Gen. 1:26). The plural “them” could refer specifically to Adam and Eve, but such a limitation is unlikely. Since Adam and Eve were to multiply and fill the earth, “them” probably includes all mankind coming from Adam. Mankind as a whole, through Adam, was given authority to rule and subdue God’s creation.

Man’s right to rule the creation is affirmed in Psalm 8:4–8:
What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?
Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!
You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
All sheep and oxen,
And also the beasts of the field,
The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. (NASB)

Hebrews 2:5–9 states that in “the world to come,” mankind will rule over the earth. Hummanity will do so through the ultimate man—Jesus the Messiah, who will also share his reign with those united to him (see 1 Cor. 15:27; Rev. 5:10). Man is God’s image bearer who functions as a mediator-king on earth. God tasks man to manage the world as his representatives.

 

[electedbyHim]

HOW IS MAN THE IMAGE OF GOD?

Three views have been offered in answer to the question of how exactly man is God’s image: substantive, functional, and relational. First. the substantive view says that the image of God is inherently structural to man. It is a characteristic within the makeup of man. The image is part of man, not just something he does. Some have asserted that the image is the physical body of man or some physical characteristic like walking upright. Some say that the image is a psychological or spiritual quality, such as reason, memory, will, or moral capacity.

Second, the functional view asserts that the image of God is something humans do. Since Genesis 1:26–28 links the image with ruling and subduing the earth, some believe that the image is man’s dominion over creation. German Protestant theologian Hans Walter Wolff (1911–1993) stated, “It is precisely in his function as ruler that he [man] is God’s image.”11

Third, the relational view claims that relationship is the image of God. Summarizing this view, Millard Erickson writes, “Humans can be said to be in the image or to display the image [of God] when standing in a particular relationship, which indeed is the image.”12 This perspective was popular with neoorthodox and existential theologians. Support for the relational view is found in the way that the image of God is closely connected with man being created male and female (Gen. 1:27). Since the concept of relationship is central to man’s connection with God and people, the image is viewed as man being in relationship.

So which position is correct? All three views are closely connected to the image of God, and truth can be gleaned from each of them. The best view, however, is that the image of God is substantive or structural to man. Function and relationship are the consequences of man being the image of God structurally. This view acknowledges the importance of function and relationship, yet it casts structure as the basis for accomplishing function and relationship. Since man is the image of God, he is able to exercise dominion and experience relationships. According to Genesis 1:26–28, man is made in God’s image (Gen. 1:26a), and then he is tasked with ruling and subduing the earth and being in relationship (Gen. 1:26b–28).

What is this structure that makes man the image of God? It is best not to narrow the structure to any one characteristic or quality. The image permeates man’s being. The structure probably consists of the complex qualities and attributes of man that make him human. This includes his physical and spiritual components. The image could also be linked to personhood and personality and to the powers to relate and operate. It could be connected with thinking and reasoning. Grudem may be closest when he says, “Every way in which man is like God is part of his being in the image and likeness of God.”13 All that makes one a human person is related to the image of God. The following characteristics help to further define man as an image bearer:

Ontologically, man is a living, personal, self-conscious, active being with personality. He is a complex unity of soul/spirit and body. While God is spirit (John 4:24) and grants a spirit to man, the bodily component of man is related to the image of God. Robert Culver notes, “There is something about the human body which is analogous to something in the Godhead.… It is apparent that while the human body, per se, is in no respect an image of the God of the Bible, all of man’s physical nature was originally created to bear that image.”14

Volitionally, man has a will and the ability to select between various choices. He can discern right from wrong. This volitional aspect separates man from the animals and other creatures mentioned in Genesis 1–2.

Intellectually, man has a rational mind. He is aware of himself, his environment, others, and God. He can think critically and logically. He possesses memory, imagination, creativity, and language skills for communicating and understanding the thoughts of others.

Emotionally, a human experiences a wide range of emotions and feelings, such as fear, anger, guilt, anxiety, regret, shame, happiness, and joy. He can both laugh and cry. Also, human emotionality is complex, as people can experience two or more emotions almost simultaneously. For example, parents can feel sadness, pride, nervousness, and happiness when their daughter moves out of town for college.

Relationally, man is equipped to participate in relationships with God and with other people. Jesus said that the greatest commandments are to love God and to love others (Matt. 22:36–40). Only persons can give and receive love.

Functionally, man has what he needs to fill, rule, and subdue the earth on God’s behalf for God’s glory. Males and females have bodies able to reproduce and interact with a physical environment. Humanity possesses the ingenuity to implement a successful strategy for the earth.

While not God himself, man reflects the image and likeness of God in wonderful, complex, and mysterious ways.

 

[Fastfredy0]

Second, even after the fall (see Genesis 3) all people still possess the image and likeness of God. This is affirmed in Genesis 5:1–3 for both male and female and for the offspring of Adam and Eve:

Hmm... lot of guys I read said the Image of God in men was altered when man sin to some degree.

You sure have a lot of resources.

 

[electedbyHim]

Hmm... lot of guys I read said the Image of God in men was altered when man sin to some degree.

You sure have a lot of resources.

Hmm... lot of guys I read said the Image of God in men was altered when man sin to some degree.

I tend to agree with that statement.

 

[Beetow]

.
FAQ: If humanity was created in the image and likeness of God per Gen 1:26-27;
then why did Jesus tell Nicodemus that another birth per John 3:3-8 is a must? I
should think that the image and likeness of God is about as good as it gets; so then
why the necessity of a do-over?

REPLY: In the beginning, man was immortal and capable of sinless perfection. Plus;
man's original human nature was a satisfactory impetus. Therefore God gave it all
His stamp of approval.

● Gen 1:31 . . God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.

However; due to a peculiar incident recorded in the 3rd chapter of Genesis, man
lost immortality, lost sinless perfection, and lost the satisfactory attributes of
the original human nature. On top of that, man also became a tin God.

● Gen 3:22 . . And the Lord God said: The man has now become like one of us,
knowing good and evil.

In other words; man became his own guiding light instead of seeking God's
instructions to direct his steps. Consequently, man became a disaster.

● Gen 6:5-7 . . Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the
earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in
His heart.

Ever since then, these two lights-- the real God and the tin God --have been locking
horns and butting heads over matters relative to good and evil.

● Rom 8:7-8 . .The natural mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law,
nor can it do so. Those controlled by the fallen nature cannot please God.
_