God created man in His image but after Cain killed his brother and sin was rampant mankind was commanded by God to see the same image in others including our enemies also.
Image of God in Others
God made man in
His ‘image and likeness’ but the glory of this image was covered by the
darkness of our sins. Lord Jesus as Son of God is in exact similarity with God
the Father and His coming as man revealed the lost glory of mankind. The
indwelling Holy Spirit was then sent by the Father to guide and help us in
getting transformed into His image through the everyday process of repentance,
forgiveness and understanding of His Word. But what is man’s original shape and
form, both physically and spiritually, that is being changed?
Meaning of ‘image and likeness of God’ – The word image is translated from the Hebrew word ‘tselem’ and the word
likeness from another word ‘demuth’ (Genesis 1:26). But in Genesis 5:1 ‘demuth’
is translated as likeness. Hebrew word ‘tselem’ is used in Old Testament except
the above two instances to refer to physical likeness of a person or a thing
and almost always for something repulsive. King David cries out to God, ‘You
have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before You.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Surely a man goes about as a tselem
or shadow!( Psalm 39:5-6). Thus a shadow cannot be a physical thing and man
does not reflect a physical image of God. Then Asaph writes about the rich
heathen as, ‘Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when You rouse yourself, you
despise them as ‘tselem’ or shadow’ (Psalm 73:20).
The second word ‘demuth’ is translated as likeness or to resemble which could
be in a physical form. But is there any serious distinction in these two words?
The second word ‘demuth’ is omitted in Genesis 1:27, but the message is still
clear. The two words are used to mean the same word (Genesis 5:1 & 9:6). In
Hebrew pottery repetitions of words for emphasis, variety and rhythm are common
as in Psalm 59:1-2. Thus image and likeness are meant to communicate the same
message.
Do the words ‘in our image, after our likeness’ mean that man is created not as
‘the image of God’ but only ‘in the image’ or as an image of the image of God?
Does man thus correspond to the image of God and not to Him? ‘Adam begot a son
in his own likeness, after his image and named him Seth’ (Genesis 5:3). It does
not mean that there was an image of Adam in which Seth was made but that one
person is like the other and man is at some level a copy of His Creator.
From
this it emerges that first, man is the final creation or the crown of creation;
second, only man is stated as being in the image of God but it is not about a
physical state but may be spiritual but no further information is provided;
third, only man is given dominion over all the earth. This is the essence of
the image which is then manifested in this exercise of dominion and lordship.
Thus from the limited information in the text it emerges that the image is not
about God’s nature but more about the task. Fourth, prior to the creation of
man alone there was Divine counsel, ‘Let us make man’, but it may not be about
the consultation process but about self deliberation for the Holy Trinity is
One in every way. Fifth, only man is stated to be created as male and female
but this bisexuality of man is in no way related to his being in God’s image
and likeness.
After the fall God did not affect any change in the original status of mankind
in relation to God as expressed in Genesis 9:6. Thus even as a sinner, man
retains his dominion rights to live and rule over the earth. What does it mean
for us? We are given intellect, emotions and will by God by being made in His
image. We make choices and decisions; we are sad, hurt, angry or joyful as God
is described in the Bible and we are given our capacity to think and reason.
Further, we are not impersonal like its but I and you.
As a result we display certain characteristics – first, aesthetic sense –
we like and need beautiful things and our stories have heroes, villains and
drama. We love good music and natural beauty around us because we see the hand
of the the Creator of beauty in all creation. God declared beauty in all
creation and all was very good. Second, we are moral, ‘Be holy for
I am holy’ and being moral is the essential ingredient of all communication from
God (1 Peter 1:16). Third, we are relational, God’s statement ‘Let
Us make’ defines us that we like company and relationships with others. We make
friends for ‘God said, it is not good for man to be alone’. God is love and it
is not about His having or giving love but love is God’s essence displayed in
all of creation and again manifested in His Son (John 3:16). We seek and
develop relationships of love and moral values with others. Our being in God’s
image is about who we are and not what we are.
Difference between Adam’s and Noah’s generation – Noah’s flood was a result of another evaluation of the earthly
residents conduct and it was found that the ‘wickedness of man was great in the
earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually’ (Genesis 6:5). Noah’s flood brought the earth back to its state of
the beginning of creation process when ‘the earth was waste and void, darkness
was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the
waters’ (Genesis 1:1-2). After this destruction, God then decided ‘in His
heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the
imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth’ (Genesis 8:21). But in this
God did not promise that mankind would not destroy everything on its own.
God then decided to start again with the story of creation where Genesis 9 is
parallel to Genesis 1 with two major differences. In both cases there is a
keyword repeated seven times – in the first case it is ‘tov’ or good but later
it is ‘brit/berith’ or covenant. The second is about man being made in God’s
image and likeness though a bit differently. In the first instance it is ‘Let
us make man in our image, according to our likeness… So God created man in His
image. In the image of God He created him, Male and Female He created them’
(Genesis 1:26-27). This same statement is repeated in the genealogy 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’
(Genesis 5:1-3). However, this was stated differently about man after the flood
in the form of a command, ‘whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his
blood be shed; for in the image of God, He made man’ (Genesis
9:6). In these two statements the difference is fundamental since in the first
case I am in the image of God while in the second the other person is in the
image of God. Secondly, Genesis 1 is about domination of mankind over the rest
of creation while later is about sanctity of life and the prohibition of
killing someone. Thirdly, the change is from the potential power and authority
of human beings to moral limits of that power for the vested power must not be
used to deprive another person of his life.
That is why the change in the two keywords since calling something good is
about its own essence but a covenant is about relationships and a moral bond
between two or more beings. This change is due to the change in human condition
from their nature to do good to ‘every inclination of the human heart is evil
from childhood’ (Genesis 8:21). This is despite our being created in God’s
image which was covered but not removed. King David acknowledges this state of
mankind ‘I was brought forth in inequity, and in sin my mother conceived me’
(Psalm 51:5). In this changed state God no longer expects people to do good.
God decided ‘it is not good for man to be alone’ and also to ‘be fruitful and
multiply’ thus developing communities of people. In this anyone feeling he
being in God’s image and only he has godlike powers then becomes dangerous for
others resulting in violence.
Thus God changed the equation in the second part of creation and Noah was
taught to think of all humanity by thinking not of self but the other in the
image of God to save mankind from violence and self destruction. The
change is for me to see God’s image in others who are not like me in color,
class, culture or belief. Generally people fear others who are not
like them, the stranger, the foreigner; the outsider is almost always seen as a
threat. But in the changed equation, what if we see others as enlarging and not
endangering our world. God allowed deficiencies in us to make us dependant on
others for otherwise we will never need anyone else to bond with them. Our
deficiencies and differences bring us together for mutual good and it is the
beauty of difference for all are created in God’s image and likeness yet
different. Adam knew he was in the image and likeness of God but Noah and
his descendants were commanded to remember that the other person is in the
image of God and this is the basic change in creation in the Garden and
recreation outside the Garden.
After committing the sin of disobedience did Adam and Eve lose the image
and likeness of God? –
Apostle Paul declared that ‘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, just as by the Spirit of the Lord’ (2 Corinthians
3:18). In the New Testament Messiah is the image of
God, ‘He (Lord Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all
creation’ (Colossians 1:15).– ‘In Him was life and the life was the light of
men’ and ‘That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into
the world’ (John 1:4 & 9). Thus man received light from Lord Jesus the True
Light and came into being but after sin the image in us was covered and Lord
Jesus’ coming is the unveiling of that Divine image, to reveal to us what we
were and are now supposed to be. Again he says, ‘the light of the gospel of the
glory of Christ, who is the image of God’ and ‘the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’ (2 Corinthians 4:4 & 6). Men
in their present state are not fully in God’s image but are in the process of
being transformed into His image through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The process of renewal is continuous and the command is ‘do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old
self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in
knowledge after the image of its Creator’ (Colossians 3:9-10). The image is
linked to moral abomination, it is not the old nature nut the new that is being
renewed. It is renewed in knowledge while wisdom and knowledge are gifts of the
Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:8). The Savior revealed that the Holy
Spirit will teach us everything and will remind us of Lord Jesus’ commands
(John 14:26). Scripture means therefore that we are not fully in God’s image at
present but are being changed gradually.
Revealing God’s role in this Apostle Paul states, ‘For those He
foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order
that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. (In terms of John 1:12 all
believers are given the right to be God’s children). And those whom He
predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified (through
forgiveness of sins), and those whom He justified He also glorified’ (Romans
8:29-30). It is about being confirmed to Lord Jesus’ image and that is the
final destination for us to be partakers of His glory. Lord Jesus’ prayer to
the Father, ‘the glory that You gave Me I have given to them’ meaning the
believers (John 17:22). Manifestation of that glory is through being confirmed
to Lord Jesus’ image and this is the refining and polishing work of the Holy
Spirit in us through His teaching and reminding us of God’s Word. Thus the
rusted and the dead inner self in each believer is renewed and the Holy Spirit
continues to transform us into Lord Jesus’ image.
Therefore in the New Testament teaching, first, that all men retain the
image of God given in creation, though it is obscured and hidden in the
darkness of sin; two, in regeneration men receive the image of God; three, Lord
Jesus is the image and fullness of God and men receive the image of God by
sharing in what Lord Jesus is; four, the image of God which the believers
receive is only partially possessed in this life; five, to receive the image of
God in the Lord is to begin to share in His glory, knowledge, righteousness and
holiness by becoming like Him; six, a believer’s life is a continuous process
of attaining these virtues and seventh, the image of God in its present form
and future fullness is a gift of God worked in each one of us through the light
of the Gospel of Christ.
Moses wanted to see God’s glory but was denied that (Exodus 33:20)
but later God fulfilled that request in 3 during the transfiguration of His Son
(Matthew 17:3). Finally in the new Jerusalem God the Father and the Son will
dwell with men and we shall see them face to face (Revelation 21:21). Till then
we are to seek His face in His Word and be transformed into His image on a
daily basis. This transformation process is another symbol of our being
empowered to ‘overcome’ the powers of darkness in this world. Lord Jesus’
command to ‘love your enemies also’ will only get fulfilled when we see His
image and likeness in others, even our enemies.