The Image of God in Humanity
The Image of God in Humanity
God has no physical aspect, therefore Adam and Eve were not created to “look like” God in the flesh. (As Hebrews explains, when Christ came, God entered into a body “prepared for Me” that was created after the image of man. (Phil 2:6-8; Jn 1:14; Heb 2:17-18) Prior to Christ’s incarnation, God had no physical aspect whatsoever.)
Moreover, the writer stated: “So God created humankind in His own image; in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” Genesis 1:27. God created humanity as an whole, in the image of God. Male and female humanity is created in the image of God; the entirety of the species, in the maleness and femaleness as an whole, is created “in the image of God”, making a physical context of that image impossible. Adam was not exclusively created in God’s image, but humanity was created in God’s image.
In what aspect did they then bear God’s image? A clue is found in Romans 8:29, in which Paul reminds the Roman saints that God’s purpose for those He knew would trust Christ, was to “be conformed to the image of His Son.” The image of God in man, tarnished and obscured by sin, is to be restored in every person who, by humble faith in Christ, comes to God in repentance and is “born of the Spirit” as a new creation in Him. (John 3:6,8; 2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15)
Scripture provides many statements concerning the nature and character of God. Since humanity cannot share God’s nature, being fleshly and mortal ourselves, we look at other aspects of God for the revealing of our being “in God’s image”.
Human beings possess flesh, soul – which is our mind and “personality”- and spirit. God is spirit (John 4:24; 2 Cor 3:17; cf 1 Tim 1:17; Isaiah 57:15) Spirit is transcendent, immortal, and invisible. As John records Jesus’ words, “God is Spirit; those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” We are a spirit and soul, enlivening a physical body. Our “who” is spiritual, unlike animals which do not have an “who”. The soul is the natural animus of any creature. The spirit of man, on the other hand, is a higher order of being, and is that part which is “in the image of God”.
Our spirit, once created, will live forever. This is a critical fact to apprehend. Every unbeliever who denies the existence of God, or the relevance of God, or His right to be God, will live forever. Believing in God, or believing what God has said, does not change the outcome for an human being; while our bodies will die and decay, unless we are alive when Christ calls His church away in preparation for the final judgement, every spirit will continue eternally. Eternity is a confusing concept for some to understand. We are aware of the passage of time, and events to us are tied to a place in time. Humanity came into existence inside of time, and will live physically within time.
Time is the measurement of transition related to material reality; the movement and action of matter and its experience of space and energy, is measured by time. But God existed prior to the creation of time. A day will come, upon which God will eliminate time. (Rev 10:6) The heavenly bodies will cease; the sun, moon, and stars will cease – the markers of days, months, years, and seasons. (Gen 1: ) In our earthly experience and physical bodies, we anticipate what has yet to occur, remember what has already been and ceased to be, and contemplate what may transpire but has not been realized. Everything we experience in this present condition, has a beginning and an end; a beginning implies time – a measurement of the relationship of material to space and energy – and an end requires time. But when we die, or are raptured to Christ, we leave the realm of “time” permanently, and enter a realm that had no beginning and will have no end. While we can, to a degree, intellectually understand such a fact, the concept becomes overwhelming, and even frightening, to creatures which ourselves had a beginning – we entered time from non-existence – and who are exclusively experiencing events in time. What we tend to forget is that God’s original intention for His creation was that, once having been created for His pleasure (Rev 4:11) and humanity for intimate relationship with God, we would continue in that relationship forever, without end. We were created to be eternal beings, in the future direction. Our spirit is that aspect of humanity that will necessarily remain forever, beyond time, without end, just as God, Which is Spirit, exists forever, beyond time, without end. We differ in that God existed before time, without beginning, whereas we are created, and began our lives by entering time, but we, like God, are now eternal. We will either enjoy eternity as children of God, in His restored heavens and earth, or spend it in everlasting torment, separated from God, in Whom is all love, joy, peace, goodness, light, truth, power, and all other positive and beneficial attributes.
We see differences in the way in which humans both perceive and interact with their environment, circumstances, and other creatures, as compared to animals of any order. Whereas we do see elements of personality, thought, and emotion among the animals, with differences between major types of creatures, only in human beings do we find the higher-order thoughts and emotions which are also displayed by God. A list of these includes:
ability to honour
ability to plan
ability to self-sacrifice
abstract thought
aesthetic awareness
altruism
anticipation
awareness of relative time, and the existence of past & future
calculation
comparison
compassion
comprehension
complex thoughts & reactions
concentration (on an object or subject)
concept
consideration: of facts, influences, variables, and implications
decision
deliberation
empathy
estimation
evaluation
intention
intuition
invention
justice
moral application
moral awareness
philanthropy
purposefulness
reason
reflection
righteousness
self-awareness
self-reflection
volition
In all of these attributes, and likely others not thought of, we share with God what does not exist in any other living thing. Therefore, in these attributes also, we bear the image of God.
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