Chapter 1. 12
Image of God
Imago Dei; His Spiritual Likeness;
GOOD AND HOLY
His
Natural Image;
REASON AND WILL
First
Word
Wikipedia:
Philosophers and Theologians for millennia have debated the exact meaning of
the phrase Imago Dei, Image of God. “The Image” or “Likeness” asserts that human
beings are created in the image and likeness of God. Ancient Jewish scholars argued that being made
in the Image of God does not mean that God possesses human-like features, but
rather the statement is figurative language for God bestowing special honor
unto humankind, which He did not confer unto the rest of Creation. [1]
Being in the Image of God is the faculty
of reason that enables one to become most God-like when that person develops
the capacity to partially grasp the nature of God’s ultimate reality. The Book tells
us right away that Adam was made in the LIKENESS and IMAGE of God and then moves on to tell us that Seth
was made in the image and likeness of Adam.
I think that is something to ponder, as neither Cain nor Able are
mentioned.[2]
As we move through the Book
we find that it is the Godly line of Seth that is followed and will
eventually be the line thorough whom our Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ will
come; so it is Seth’s line that we should study to discern the image and
likeness of God, not Cain’s.[3]
Was Satan the Father of Cain? - Many believe that
he was and there are teachings out there with scripture from The Book that is used to support it. I will leave that up to you to decide. It is
called the SERPENT
SEED DOCTRINE which will be
covered in another study.
Apocrypha
The Apocrypha contains
books that may or may not be written by the author as its title might suggest;
as many were just outright FAKES, therefore most were left out of our
Bible, but I find they shed a lot of light on what the people were thinking
during that time.
God’s
Image or Likeness is His attributes; like that of COMPASSION; with examples of reaching out to others
with physical and financial help; having the desire to lift others up. This is His image of LOVE.
Man
was made in God’s Image to be able to SEE,
HEAR, SPEAK and with His COUNSEL to be able to REASON
and have KNOWLEDGE and understanding of what is GOOD
and what is EVIL. We were made in His likeness to UNDERSTAND, ADMINISTER, RULE and
JUDGE concerning
His commandments and “The Law of Life”.
Mortal man differs from all other
creatures because of his self-reflective, RATIONAL
nature of thought processes; his capacity for abstract, symbolic as well as
concrete deliberation and decision-making, this is truly being made in God’s
image, no other creature on earth has been given this likeness.
Before we go any further, you must get this; God in His awesome mercy created and
surrounded man with everything he could possible need before He created him and
then set him smack dab down in the middle of it.[4] This Image of God is LOVE, MERCY and COMPASSION. Man
was created to have “the hope of
eternal life”; to be ETERNAL just like God and that attribute comes by
the way of “FREE WILL”. God did not create Death nor does He take
pleasure in it, however man’s Free Will can
reject the spiritual and moral likeness of God.
Even though Adam and Eve were MORTAL, they would still have lived forever in
the Garden of Eden had they not sinned. It is sin that caused death.
I am including scripture from the APOCRYPHA, because most folks do not have a copy in their
library and it adds so much to see the thinking in their day.
2 Enoch 65:1-2 –
God created the physical and the spiritual
1
And Enoch answered all his people saying: Hear, my children, before
that all creatures were created, the Lord created the visible (physical) and invisible (spiritual) things.
2 And
as much time as there was and went past, understand that after all that he
created man in the likeness of his own form, and put into him eyes to SEE,
and ears to HEAR, and heart to reflect (THINK), and intellect wherewith to deliberate. (REASON)
2 Enoch 44:1-
God created man in His likeness
1 The Lord with
his hands having created man, in the LIKENESS of his own
face, the Lord made him small and great.
2 Enoch 44:3 -
Compassion to lift up, help and give to the needy
3 Blessed is the man who does not
direct his heart with malice against any man, and HELPS the
injured and condemned, and RAISES the broken down, and shall do CHARITY to the
needy, because on the day of the great judgment every weight, every measure and
every makeweight (will be) as in the
market, … and according to his measure shall take his reward.
Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-14 – Created all things, but not death
13 For God made NOT DEATH:
neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the living. For he
created all things,
14 that
they might HAVE THEIR
BEING: and the generations of the world were
healthful; and there is no poison of destruction in them, nor the kingdom of
death upon the earth:
Wisdom of
Solomon 2:23 – Created with the hope of eternal life
23 For
God created man TO BE IMMORTAL, (full hope of eternal life) and made him to be an image of his own
eternity.
Sirach 17:4 –
God made man ACCORDING
to His Image
1 The Lord created man of the earth, and turned him into
it again.
2 He
gave them few days, and a short time, and power also over the things therein.
3 He
endued them with strength by themselves, and made them
ACCORDING to His image,
4 And
put the fear of man upon all flesh, and gave him dominion over beasts and
fowls.
Sirach 17:5 –
Gave man Understanding and Speech
5 They received the use of the five operations of the
Lord, and in the sixth place he imparted them UNDERSTANDING, and in the seventh SPEECH,
an interpreter of the cogitations thereof.
Sirach 17:6 –
Gave Counsel to speak, see, hear and understand
6 COUNSEL,
and a tongue, and eyes, ears, and a heart, gave he them to understand.
Sirach 17:7-10 –
Filled man with knowledge of Good and Evil
7 Withal
he filled them with the KNOWLEDGE of understanding, and shewed them GOOD and EVIL.
8 He
set his eye upon their hearts, that he might shew them the greatness of his
works.
9 He
gave them to glory in his marvelous acts forever, that they might declare his
works with understanding.
10 And
the elect shall praise his holy name.
Sirach 17:11 -
Gave them the law of life
11 Beside
this he gave them knowledge, and THE LAW OF LIFE for a heritage.
Sirach 17:12 –
Gave them His judgments and commandments
12 He
made an everlasting covenant with them, and shewed them his JUDGMENTS.
13 Their
eyes saw the majesty of his glory, and their ears heard his glorious voice.
14 And
he said unto them, Beware of all unrighteousness; and he gave every man COMMANDMENT concerning his neighbor.
2 Esdras 8:44 –
Gods’ mercy surrounded man; all his needs met
44 Even
so perishes MAN also, which is formed with thy hands, and
is called thine own image, because thou art like unto him,
FOR WHOSE SAKE
YOU HAVE MADE ALL THINGS,
and likened him unto the husbandman's seed
Satan
Is
Satan made in the Image of God? Well if the definition is that the Image
is wisdom, knowledge, reasoning, speaking and ruling, then the answer would be YES. But if you look at the CROWN
CREATION of
God which is man created out of DIRT, then the answer is NO.
The Book tells us that there is
something intrinsically different about mortal man as he has promises that
“angelic beings” DO NOT HAVE and man alone is touted as
being created in the Image of God, however I must still leave that
door open recognizing God’s Sovereignty.
Image
- Likeness
Moses
is the writer of Genesis, if you didn’t already know that, and it is he
that tells us that God created man in His own image after His likeness. Some theologians make a distinction between Image of
God and Likeness of God. The image of God and the likeness are similar,
but at the same time they are different.[5]
The Image refers
to the human's natural resemblance to God, it involves the “natural attributes” of God; the power
of REASON
and WILL.[6]
The Likeness referred
to a natural, innate resemblance to God and consists of the “spiritual attribute” of the MORAL QUALITIES of God.
When Adam fell, he lost the likeness, but
the image remained fully. Humanity as
humanity is still complete, but the good and holy was spoiled and lost in the
fall. HOLD THAT
THOUGHT
I have another thought; the New Testament
seems to consider the “Image” and the “Likeness” as the same and focuses on
putting off the “OLD NATURE” and putting on the “NEW NATURE”. It’s not the Old Nature that is being renewed, it’s the New Nature that is being brought one degree to another into
the glory of the image of God.[7]
– SELAH –
Jesus
is the fullness of the Image of God and we share in that when we strive to
be like Him and in our efforts try to reflect His knowledge, righteousness and
Holiness.
The Book says WE SHALL BE LIKE
HIM.[8]
The
Take Away
Even after the fall of man,
mankind still reflects the Imago Dei,
the Image of God. The Hebrew word for
Image is “selem”
which translates shadow, resemblance or reflection. Imago Dei, the image of God is not a quality that
we possess as mankind, but rather a condition in which man lives. Man reflects
God, he is not a little god as taught by the Word of Faith Movement
If we want to know what the image of God
looks like, we need to look no further than God’s only begotten Son; Jesus the
Christ who is the exact imprint of the Image of the invisible God.
“The Believer” is predestined and is NOW
being transformed one
degree at a time into that very same image.[9] It’s in the Book
2
Corinthians 3:18 – We are transformed into the same image
18 And WE all,
with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, ARE BEING TRANSFORMED INTO THE SAME IMAGE from one degree
of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (ESV)
We all get to pick where we will spend
eternity while on this side of life. You
must elect to be in the Kingdom of God on EARTH in this nasty
now and now in order to be
able to enter into the Kingdom of God in HEAVEN in the sweet
by and by. The Penitent
Thief on the Cross made his decision very late in life, having only about an
hour to enjoy our Lord’s presence, whereas I have enjoyed Him for over 70 years
and shortly for eternity. As a side note; the penitent Thief will
get the same reward as I do, Eternal life, whereas the other thief on the
cross will get Eternal
Torment.
[1] Genesis 9:6 - Man was made in God’s
very own image
[2] Genesis 5:1-3 – Seth was created in the
image of Adam
[3] Genesis 1:26-28 – Adam was created in the
likeness of God
[4] Acts 17:28 – In God we live, move and have our being
[5] Genesis 1:26 – Man made in the Image and
Likeness of God
[6] Colossians 1:9 –Wisdom and Understanding of His will -- Colossians 2:2-3
– Wisdom & Knowledge of God’s Mystery Jesus
[7] Colossians 3:9-10 – The new nature is after the image of God -- Ephesians
4:22-24 – Then new nature is the likeness of God
[8] 1 John 3:2 – We shall be like Him -- 2
Corinthians 3:18 – We are being transformed into
His Image
[9] Romans 8:29 – The believer predestined to the
Image of the Son -- 2 Corinthians 3:18 – We
are transformed into the same image -- 2 Corinthians 4:4-7 – Jesus
Christ is the Image of God -- Hebrews 1:3 – Jesus is the exact image of
God’s person. -- Colossians 1:13-15 – Jesus is the image of the Invisible God
-- 1 Corinthians 11:7 – MAN is the Image of the glory of God
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