This question has been the center of disagreement in my Bible study for a long time. And it’s time I did something about it. In order to answer this question I will need to do four things: define “image”, list my points, prove them using verses in the Bible, and show why other verses that look like contradictions to my argument are not.
So, what does it mean to be created in God’s image?
My first choice will be to debate the issue based on the definition of image being “sinless.” God is sinless, therefore, God’s image could also be sinless. When Adam was created, he was made sinless. Now, being made sinless is different from having the potential to sin. Adam obviously had the potential to sin, and he ended up sinning, but before that he was sinless. Once Adam sinned, I believe the sinful nature entered humans and therefore abolished God’s image in us. Now, let’s look at a very interesting verse: Genesis 5:1-2 says “1This is the list of the descendants of Adam. When God created humankind (Heb Adam) he made them (Heb him) in the likeness of God. 2Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them “Humankind” (Heb Adam) when they were created. 3When Adam had lived 130 years, he became the father of a son in his likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.”
Verse one is self explanatory and no one can find anything to criticize. Verse 2, on the other hand, brings up something to talk about. God named Adam and Eve “Humankind.” This makes one think that if God refers to “Humankind” then he could definitely be talking about just Adam and Eve. Now, verse 3, it directly says that Seth was born in Adam’s image. Why doesn’t it say Seth was made in God’s image? It seems verse 1 and 3 were written the way they were for a reason. The Bible has already told us, back in chapter 1:27, that Adam was created in God’s image, so why bring it up unless Moses is trying to prove a point and bring some differences to light? This leads me to believe that the image of God and the image of Adam are not the same thing. This would make perfect sense if the image of God referred to sinless and the image of Adam referrers to sinful. Are we now all born sinners? It would seem so according to Genesis 8:21 “21And when the Lord smelled the pleasing odor, the Lord said in his heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done.” God says that the heart is evil from youth, which can be taken as since we were born. Also, Romans 5:18-19 says “18Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. 19For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” Because of Adam’s sin, we were all made sinners, which can also be taken as born sinners.
Now that I have shown we are born sinners, I must continue on proving that we are no longer in God’s image. My first argument would be that since all of us are born sinners, we are all sinful, and therefore born in Adam’s image. For my accompanying reason I will take you to some verses. 1 Corinthians 15:49 says “49And just as we have bourne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man." This book, and consequently this verse, was written to Gentile believers. And what Paul is saying is that everyone has bourne the image of the earthly man, but only the believers in Christ will bear the image of the heavenly man. So, is God an earthly or heavenly man? Is Adam an earthly or heavenly man? It seems clear that we boar the image of the earthly man, and that means we boar the image of Adam and not God. My second verse comes from 2 Corinthians 3:18 “18And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord.” What this verse is trying to say, using clues from the verse in 1 Corinthians, is that we are being transformed from the image of the earthly man into the image of the heavenly man. You might now be wondering how this fits in with sinful/sinless. It would seem that this verse is implying that we started out as sinful but are transforming into something sinless. This fits with what Jesus has done for us. We all started out sinful and our objective is to become sinless so that we may be found righteous in his sight. But can we ever become totally sinless? No. So how do we get into heaven? We get our sins taken away and in effect become sinless. That is where Jesus and his work on the cross comes in, but I don’t have to tell you that.
Now, when trying to say that we still are born in God’s image, people usually refer to certain verses. The main one being Genesis 9:6 which says “6Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person’s blood be shed; for in his own image God made humankind.” Now, I’ll show you three reasons why when it says God made humankind in his image it is not talking about us. 1- humankind is a type of race, and therefore is only made once. When you or I are born, do we start a new race? Is humankind made again? A human being is made again, but not humankind. 2- Look back up at the top and read Genesis 5:2, better yet, I’ll re-type it: “2Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them ‘Humankind’ when they were created.” God specifically named Adam and Eve Humankind; just like you would call Mr. and Mrs. Johnson the Johnsons. So when God says humankind in 9:6 he is specifically talking about Adam and Eve. 3- We know what Genesis 9:6 says, but what does the next verse (Genesis 9:7) say? [To make my point clear I will put verse 6 & 7 together] “6Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person’s blood be shed; for in his own image God made humankind. 7And you, be fruitful and multiply, abound on the earth and multiply in it.” Why is that “And you” there? The reason it is there is to show that God was talking about someone else when he mentioned ‘mankind’ and now he wants to put the attention back on the person he was talking to in the first place (Noah).
But I must now digress to a previous question. What does it mean to be created in the image of God? I already gave one possibility, sinlessness. But, what else could it be? Two things that it is NOT are same physical feature as the creator or physical features imagined by the creator. Let me explain further. One might say that to be created in the image of God must mean to look like him, physically. But this cannot be so because God has no physical body or shape. Then another might say that to be created in the image of God means to be created in the way that God imagined us. God imagined a being with two legs and 2 eyes and 2 arms and so on… This could be true for Adam; but it also says that Adam “gave birth” to Seth in his own image. And it stands to reason that Adam did not have the power to create a human that looked the way he wanted it to. So both definitions concerning physical features are void. So, what else is there? It could be an intangible 3rd eye that allows humans to see God. We assume that Adam was able to see God as he was walking around in the garden and that is because he had the 3rd eye. But once sin entered the world, the 3rd eye died, and therefore Seth was born in Adam’s image without the 3rd eye. This holds true throughout the rest of the Bible because we know that if someone where to look at God, from Seth- on, they would surly die. But how does the 3rd eye correspond to “being transformed”? Easy, the unbeliever cannot see God and cannot form a relationship with him. But, when we accept Jesus into our lives we can then form a relationship with God and see him working in our lives and other’s lives.
Any other opinions as to what image means? A friend of mine brought up the opinion of the image of God being qualities of God, such as: feelings, thinking, rationalization, unconditional love, perfect peace, and the like. He suggests that Adam started off with 100% of these things, but when he made the wrong choice and sin entered then all of these qualities were watered down. We know longer have perfect rationalizing skills, our thinking, especially in terms of spiritual secrets is permanently flawed and there is no way of achieving perfect peace or showing unconditional love. This also coincides with transformation verse in that once we accept Jesus into our hearts he allows us to interpret the Bible, to have a greater peace and to love abundantly.
So, which of the three is the correct answer? I’m not sure yet…
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