Man (Created in the Image of God)

How do we know that man is a creation of God?  How do we know that God created man in His image?  Scripture states in Genesis 1:26, "Then God said, "Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness."

     Does God mean that man looks like God?  Does God stand upright, having two arms, two legs, and a torso?  Do we physically look like God?  The answer to those questions is yes and no.  We know that Jesus is God and that when He walked the earth as a man, He looked like a man.  However, we do not look like "I Am, Who I Am," the Father, nor the Holy Spirit. So, the question before us is, how are we created in His image?

     How can a man and a woman both be created in the image of God?  Is Adam the true and only image of God?  Was woman created in the image of God?  Scripture reads that God created two persons in His image.

     Genesis 1:27, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." These are a few questions we have all had regarding the statement, "Let us make man in our own image." So, let us examine this subject further.

     We know that "I Am, Who I Am" (Yahweh) is one God and that He expresses Himself through The Trinity.  God (Elohim) has three distinct presentations of Himself.  We know that God is a Trinity, and likewise, we know that God created man in the image of God as a trinity.  In 1 Thessalonians 5:23, we read, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."  Therefore, we know that man has a spirit, a soul, and a body.

     We also know that when God said, "Let us make man in our image," He was not talking about a physical image.  He was talking about the function of man.  As humans can easily recognize, God created man's and woman's bodies unique, with distinct functions and chemistry.

     Nevertheless, He said He created man in His image…male and female.  What does the created man have in common with the created female?  What makes them the same?  As written earlier, we read in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit, soul, and body be presented complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."  Both Adam and Eve had a spirit, a soul, and a body.

     According to scripture, what makes us different is evident: God created Adam from the earth, and God created Eve from the rib of Adam.  Neither of their bodies had life in them when God created them. They were not from the womb of a woman where there would be electricity, growing flesh, and life. God created Adam's body lifeless, and later made Eve's lifeless. In this, they are the same.

    Then, God breathed life into their bodies, causing life to enter them. At that moment, Adam and Eve became living souls, having spirits alive and connected to "I Am, Who I Am." The man and the woman were created equally in the image of God.  Eve was created from Adam's rib, making her body chemistry different from Adam's because she was created from a fully operational human being, not from the earth.  Her connection to the earth is Adam. Because of this marvelous way God created them, the man, Adam, and woman, Eve, are one man, created in the image of God.

     Scripture is clear that God does not differentiate between the spiritual life or closeness of man's and woman's relationships with Him. The Father promises both man and woman the fullness of Himself through belief in His Son, Jesus Christ, and Jesus' work completed on the cross. Furthermore, we follow His commands because of His love, first loving God and then loving one another.

     Man and woman are commanded equally and rewarded equally. One is not greater than the other in God's mind and heart. However, God does command us differently.  Not to divide us but to unite us and restore us as one man. God created man and woman for one another. He made a different function in our bodies, but our souls and spirits are the same.

     We can see this created difference when we examine the curse given to man and the different curse that was given to Eve as told in Genesis 3:16–19, "To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, In pain, you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, and He will rule over you." Then to Adam, He said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and eaten from the tree about which I commanded you saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil, you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face, you will eat bread, till you return to the ground because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you will return."

     God made man from the earth, so the earth would rise and fight man.  Moreover, God made a woman from a man's rib, so the curse placed on her was to want to control the man.  Except for childbirth, the curse given to Adam became Eve's curse.  The same earth on which men live is the same earth on which women live. Therefore, in toil, the woman struggles to eat and must fight the curse given to Adam to survive.

     Likewise, Adam lives under the curse given to Eve. Before, Eve was living in the fullness of God.  She neither looked to Adam for fulfillment nor tried to control him.  Before receiving punishment, Eve was whole and perfect.  After she received punishment, Adam became her focus.  Thus, man does not experience what was intended by God from a woman.  If we could have a "talk show" interview with Adam and Eve today, hearing their different perceptions of life before they disobeyed God's command and life after the punishment was given would be illuminating.

     In today's world, the battle of the sexes is prevalent in most societies.  We must now use the word "humankind," not "mankind," because the true enemy of God and man (male and female) seeks to destroy them both.  The enemy of God and man uses lies to distract from the truth, deceiving men and women into believing the two are independent of one another.  Both sexes are now taught by society to be selfish and self-centered instead of selfless and conscious of God's presence and the life He wants for them. Men are deceived into believing they rule over women by God's will. What a lie! Likewise, women are deceived into believing if they submit to a man, they forsake a fulfilling life. God’s will is that both sexes live as one under His authority.

     So, while our punishments differ and, thus, our lives, God's commandments for all are the same.  We must all receive Jesus as our redeemer sent from the Father.  And we are to pray, search scripture, and obey His commands.  We all share the same reward of eternal life for living how God has instructed us.  When our bodies die and we begin our lives in heaven, we will still be male and female but walking in the fullness of who we are: spirit, soul, and a new body.

     Some readers may have seen the following diagram explaining man's spirit, soul, and body. It is a simple depiction of something much more complex. A man can no more be separated or divided against himself than God can be separated or divided against himself.

The spirit of a man is also described as "the innermost being."  In John 7:38, Scripture reads: "The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'"

     Furthermore, many have described man and woman's spirit as the part where intuition, conscience, and communication with God operate. A man and woman's soul has been described as where the mind, will, and emotions are active.

     Many describe men's and women's body functions as experienced only through the five senses—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. All are truthful but overly simplistic explanations. There is much more to understand about a man and woman's spirit, soul, and body because men and women are created by the will of God, in God's image.

The following article will further examine the idea that man and woman are created in God's image.