The image of God

For long we have heard that Adam was created in the image of God and that gives place for almost every religion in the world to claim that they too are created in the image of God.

But looking into the awesome WORD of GOD – through GRACE things are not what we were told they were, like for example that Adam was created in the image of God.

Genesis 1:26 God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth.

1:27 So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.

1:28 And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth.

1:29 And God said, See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the land and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.

1:30 And to all the animals on the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the ground-to everything in which there is the breath of life-I have given every green plant for food. And it was so.

1:31 And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good (suitable, pleasant) and He approved it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

So taking these few verses so many have made it the foundation of saying that God created Adam in His image. God cannot lie and neither does His word lie. The above verses say that God created “man” in His own image and likeness, notice it also says that He gave them “dominion” and also that this was on the “sixth day”.

Let’s take this up one at a time.

1. So “if” God created “Adam” on the sixth day, then how do we explain these verses??

Genesis 2:3 And God blessed (spoke good of) the seventh day, set it apart as His own, and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all His work which He had created and done.

2:4 This is the history of the heavens and of the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens-

2:5 When no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not [yet] caused it to rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the ground, On day 7 God rested from all that He had created.

On day 7 there was still no man to “till” the ground. So where was “Adam”?

2. In the next verse we actually find God creating Adam.

Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath or spirit of life, and man became a living being.

It clearly says that “man” became a “LIVING SOUL” Also in the next verse it says that God planted a garden and there he put “man” whom He had formed. So Adam was CREATED & put in the garden of Eden – ON THE 7th DAY.

Notice that we do not find any place where the Word says that Adam had any “Dominion or Authority”.

3. Now to the most interesting part. Was Adam created in the Image of God?

Let’s take a look at the Word of God.

Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath or spirit of life, and man became a living being.

The verse is very clear that “man”- Adam was made from the dust and he became a “LIVING SOUL”, it does not say that Adam was created in the image of God. Let’s look at the Word.

Hebrews 1:1 IN MANY separate revelations [each of which set forth a portion of the Truth] and in different ways God spoke of old to [our] forefathers in and by the prophets,

1:2 [But] in the last of these days He has spoken to us in [the person of a] Son, Whom He appointed Heir and lawful Owner of all things, also by and through Whom He created the worlds and the reaches of space and the ages of time [He made, produced, built, operated, and arranged them in order].

1:3 He is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God's] nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power. When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high,

Look at verse 3, “He is the SOLE EXPRESSION , the PERFECT IMPRINT, VERY IMAGE of God’s nature,” it is very clear who Paul is talking about, it is about Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was the ONLY ONE created in the IMAGE of GOD, this is what God had in mind when He spoke in Genesis, saying “Let us make man in our own IMAGE & LIKENESS”.

Further, God did say that they (the ones created in the Image of God) should have “DOMINION,” and when we see the life of Jesus it is very clear that He had “DOMINION” and He ministered in that “dominion & authority”. When God said “let them have dominion” He had us in mind. Through us believing in Jesus as Lord & Savior we have now become the children of God.

John 1:12 But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name-

4:4 But when the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to [the regulations of] the Law,

4:5 To purchase the freedom of (to ransom, to redeem, to atone for) those who were subject to the Law, that we might be adopted and have sonship conferred upon us [and be recognized as God's sons].

4:6 And because you [really] are [His] sons, God has sent the [Holy] Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba (Father)! Father!

4:7 Therefore, you are no longer a slave (bond servant) but a son; and if a son, then [it follows that you are] an heir by the aid of God, through Christ.

Romans 8:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Romans 8:19 For [even the whole] creation (all nature) waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God’s sons to be made known [waits for the revealing, the disclosing of their sonship].

Philippians 2:15 That you may show yourselves to be blameless and guileless, innocent and uncontaminated, children of God without blemish (faultless, unrebukable) in the midst of a crooked and wicked generation [spiritually perverted and perverse], among whom you are seen as bright lights (stars or beacons shining out clearly) in the [dark] world,

1 John 3:1 SEE WHAT [an incredible] quality of love the Father has given (shown, bestowed on) us, that we should [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! The reason that the world does not know (recognize, acknowledge) us is that it does not know (recognize, acknowledge) Him.

It is clear from the WORD, over & over we find that “WE” are the sons of God. Because we have received, accepted & believed in Jesus we are born again through the immortal seed of the Word of God.

1Peter 1:23 You have been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm), but from one that is immortal by the ever living and lasting Word of God. Jesus Christ is the Word of God.

John 1:1 IN THE beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.

John 1:14 And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth.

So if we believe in Jesus then-

John 1:12 But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name-

1:13 Who owe their birth neither to bloods nor to the will of the flesh [that of physical impulse] nor to the will of man [that of a natural father], but to God. [They are born of God!]

-We are born of God, we have the seed of the Word of God in our lives, we have the DNA that is in the SEED, the seed is the Word of God – Jesus – The Father. So we bear the image of God through Jesus. Adam was just a living soul made out of dust.

We are the Children of God, Sons of God – created in the IMAGE of God. Adam was NOT created in the image of God – WE ARE CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD.

Be Blessed.