OneYearBibleOnline Discussion

Hello OYB members,

I am writing an article to answer the following question:

I have heard that it says in the Bible that God created man in his own image. What does that really mean?


Please be kind to review the following answer I wrote and let me know if there is room for improvement (I know there is) and if there is anything that I may have left out. Your help is so appreciated.

The Bible Answers

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all of the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:26-27

The beginning of the book of Genesis beautifully describes God in the creative process of painting the universe. Working like a master artist, he works his brush up and down the canvas, adding detail here and highlights there. In the artist’s minds eye, there is a focal object or predominant subject that is the culmination of the finished picture. That foremost creative theme is man. How do we know that? We know this because the artist (God) created his masterpiece in his image like a Rembrandt self portrait. The crowning glory of all the marvelous things that God created is man, in his original condition, sinless.

The Creator created man to have fellowship with him. He desires a rich and meaningful relationship with his creation. God loves his creation and actively seeks to maintain that relationship with us at all costs.

“For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” Colossians 1:16

“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you know also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” 1 John 1:3

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

God knew that having much in common was crucial to fulfilling that desire for fellowship and to make it work both ways. We share many of the same attributes as the creator. Let’s explore what scripture reveals concerning those things that we have mutually in common.


God created man as a spirit being.

“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Genesis 1:2

“God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24

“Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 2 Peter 1:4

“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.: 1 Thessalonians 5:23

“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Romans 8:16


God created man with a moral conscience.

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:7

“Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show the requirements are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now, now even defending them, Romans 2:14-15

“So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being, I delight in God’s law, but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work in my members.” Romans 7:21-23

God created man with an intellectual and creative mind.

We see Adam exhibit the same creative flair as God when he is involved in the God’s creative process.

“Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all of the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.”

Man also tries to use his intellect and creativity independently, outside of the will of God as in the building of the Tower of Babel to reach the heavens.

“But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The Lord said, ‘If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.” Genesis 11:5-6


God created man with a purpose and authority.

“God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it…” Genesis 1:28

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandant in the Law? Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Matthew 22:36-39

“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord endures forever – do not abandon the works of your hands.” Psalm 138:8

“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” Ephesians 1: 11


God created man to live eternally.

Man has an eternal soul that will never be extinguished. It will persist beyond the age of this world into eternity. The only question is where will that eternity be spent?

Eternal Life with God in his eternal kingdom: “Then the King will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father: take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” Matthew 25:34

“I gave them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:28

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23


Eternal Death without God in eternal fire:

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew 25:41

“They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.” 2 Thessalonians 1:9

“But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those that practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the fiery lake of burning surfer. This is the second death.” Revelations 21:8

“And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever…” Revelations 14:11


Conclusion

We find throughout the Bible the words “image” and “likeness” when describing God’s personality and attributes. We are commanded to conform to the image of Jesus. He is our perfect example of what God’s original blueprint for us was meant to be.

“For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Romans 8:29

And at his second coming will once again be completely restored to our former image of perfection, perfect understanding and see the spirit of God.

“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2

We are not the result of a cosmic accident of chance. We are God’s children, made by design, in his image to have fellowship with Him forever and ever.

A Pilgrim in Progress,

Lance Muller

Hey Cartoonbug,

I think that this article is terrific. You really pulled together alot of scripture to flesh out what the Image of God truly means. Who would have thought that there was so much in that verse. I'd like to share this with my men's group this coming Saturday if that's okay with you. You can email me directly. The purpose for our meetings are modeled after Proverb 27:17

"Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another."

Thanks again and keep up the good work brother!

See ya online,

Paul

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all of the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:26-27

Who is the "us" as in "our own image"?

This is a great question and the short answer is the “Trinity” or "Godhead”. Now for the long answer as is my custom. Be sure to at least take a peek at the last portion in regards to progressive revelation. Now let’s define these two terms so we have a working knowledge of what they entail. We can use Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary for the definitions.

Godhead
(Acts 17:29; Rom. 1:20; Col. 2:9), the essential being or the nature of God.

Trinity
a word not found in Scripture, but used to express the doctrine of the unity of God as subsisting in three distinct Persons. This word is derived from the Gr. trias, first used by Theophilus (A.D. 168-183), or from the Lat. trinitas, first used by Tertullian (A.D. 220), to express this doctrine. The propositions involved in the doctrine are these: 1. That God is one, and that there is but one God (Deut. 6:4; 1 Kings 8:60; Isa. 44:6; Mark 12:29, 32; John 10:30). 2. That the Father is a distinct divine Person (hypostasis, subsistentia, persona, suppositum intellectuale), distinct from the Son and the Holy Spirit. 3. That Jesus Christ was truly God, and yet was a Person distinct from the Father and the Holy Spirit. 4. That the Holy Spirit is also a distinct divine Person.

Each member of the Godhead maintains a unique role in working out their eternal purpose. The Three Persons in the Godhead are distinct but equal (John 10:30-33; 5:18).

John 10:30-33 (New International Version)
30 “I and the Father are one.”
31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"
33 "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."

John 5:18 (New International Version)
18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

However, these Three Persons are united in will and purpose (John 17:21).

John 17:21 (New International Version)
21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

But, They each have Their Own unique function. Thus, the Godhead may work through only One of its members in order to accomplish Their collective will and purpose.

These roles are reflected throughout the Scriptures. For example, in the Creation of the world the Father planned and directed the creation week (Genesis 1:1-2; Jeremiah 51:14-15; Psalms 33:9)

Genesis 1:1-2 (New International Version)
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Jeremiah 51:14-15 (New International Version)
14 The LORD Almighty has sworn by himself:
I will surely fill you with men, as with a swarm of locusts,
and they will shout in triumph over you.
15 "He made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his wisdom
and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

Psalm 33:9 (New International Version)
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

But the Word (Jesus) executed that plan (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:1-2)

John 1:1-3 (New International Version)
The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was with God in the beginning.
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Colossians 1:16 (New International Version)
16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.

Hebrews 1:1-2 (New International Version)
The Son Superior to Angels
1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.

With the Holy Spirit bringing it to completion or perfection (Genesis 1:2; Job 26:13; Psalms 104:30; Genesis 2:7).

Genesis 1:2 (New International Version)
2 Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Job 26:13 (New International Version)
13 By his breath (spirit) the skies became fair;
his hand pierced the gliding serpent.
Psalm 104:30 (New International Version)
30 When you send your Spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.

Genesis 2:6-7 (New International Version)
7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed (spirit) into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Now here is our verse where we first hear God refer to his image in the plural:

Genesis 1:26 (New International Version)
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

God Uses Plural References to Himself
Recently I finished a detailed study of plural references to God. By looking at the original languages, you find plural pronouns used of God and that is helpful in proving the trinity.

God uses three plural pronouns, (We, Us, Our), 6 different times in four different passages. You must remember that the word God (elohim) is also plural every time it is used in the Old Testament. Gen 11:7 also includes a plural verb (confuse) which even further, through grammar reinforces the plural "elohim" and the plural pronoun US.

"Our" Gen 1:26
"Us" Gen 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; Isa 6:8
"We" Isa 6:8

In the following four passages, we see God speaks for Himself and uses plural pronouns:

"Then God [plural elohim] said, "Let Us [plural pronoun] make man in Our [plural pronoun] image, according to Our [plural pronoun] likeness" Genesis 1:26

"Then Yahweh God [plural elohim] said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us [plural pronoun], knowing good and evil" Genesis 3:22

"Come, let Us [plural pronoun] go down and there confuse [plural form of balal] their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech." Genesis 11:7

"Then I heard the voice of the Lord [plural elohim], saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us [plural pronoun]?"" Isaiah 6:8

Apostolic Fathers Also Taught the Trinity
To add further weight to this doctrine, we can turn to church tradition. Church tradition is extremely helpful to go back in time, to get closer to the source material and the earlier understanding of the church’s essential doctrines by those of that day. The apostolic Fathers unanimously taught that the "we" in Gen 1:26, refers to the trinity:

74 AD Epistle of Barnabas: "For the Scripture says concerning us, while He speaks to the Son, "Let Us make man after Our image, and after Our likeness" (Epistle of Barnabas, Chapter VI.—The Sufferings of Christ, and the New Covenant, Were Announced by the Prophets.)

150 AD Justin Martyr: Speaking of Jewish theologians Justin calls the Jewish teaching that God spoke to angels a hersey: "In saying, therefore, ‘as one of us, ’[Moses] has declared that [there is a certain] number of persons associated with one another, and that they are at least two. For I would not say that the dogma of that heresy which is said to be among you (The Jews had their own heresies which supplied many things to the Christian heresies) is true, or that the teachers of it can prove that [God] spoke to angels, or that the human frame was the workmanship of angels. But this Offspring, which was truly brought forth from the Father, was with the Father before all the creatures." Dialogue of Justin Martyr, with Trypho, a Jew: Chapter LXII.—The Words "Let Us Make Man"

180 AD Irenaeus "It was not angels, therefore, who made us, nor who formed us, neither had angels power to make an image of God, nor any one else, except the Word of the Lord, nor any Power remotely distant from the Father of all things. For God did not stand in need of these [beings], in order to the accomplishing of what He had Himself determined with Himself beforehand should be done, as if He did not possess His own hands. For with Him were always present the Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, by whom and in whom, freely and spontaneously, He made all things, to whom also He speaks, saying, "Let Us make man after Our image and likeness; " [Gen. 1:26]" (Against Heresies 4:20:1).

200 AD Tertullian: "If the number of the Trinity also offends you, as if it were not connected in the simple Unity, I ask you how it is possible for a Being who is merely and absolutely One and Singular, to speak in plural phrase, saying, "Let us make man in our own image, and after our own likeness; " whereas He ought to have said, "Let me make man in my own image, and after my own likeness," as being a unique and singular Being? In the following passage, however, "Behold the man is become as one of us," He is either deceiving or amusing us in speaking plurally, if He is One only and singular. Or was it to the angels that He spoke, as the Jews interpret the passage, because these also acknowledge not the Son? Or was it because He was at once the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, that He spoke to Himself in plural terms, making Himself plural on that very account? Nay, it was because He had already His Son close at His side, as a second Person, His own Word, and a third Person also, the Spirit in the Word, that He purposely adopted the plural phrase, "Let us make; "and, "in our image; "and, "become as one of us." (Tertullian, Against Praxeas, Chapter XII. Other Quotations from Holy Scripture Adduced in Proof of the Plurality of Persons in the Godhead.)

200 AD Tertullian: Tertullian rejects the idea that God was speaking to Angels because our head is the creator, not a creature: "Since then he is the image of the Creator for He, when looking on Christ His Word, who was to become man, said, "Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness", how can I possibly have another head but Him whose image I am? For if I am the image of the Creator there is no room in me for another head" (Tertullian, Book V, Elucidations, Chapter VIII.—Man the Image of the Creator, and Christ the Head of the Man.)

200 AD Tertullian: "In the first place, because all things were made by the Word of God, and without Him was nothing made. Now the flesh, too, had its existence from the Word of God, because of the principle, that here should be nothing without that Word. "Let us make man," said He, before He created him, and added, "with our hand," for the sake of his pre-eminence, that so he might not be compared with the rest of creation." (Tertullian: On the Resurrection of the Flesh, Elucidations, Chapter V.—Some Considerations in Reply Eulogistic of the Flesh. It Was Created by God.)

Origen: "it was to Him that God said regarding the creation of man, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness." (Origen Against Celsus, Book V, Chapter XXXVII)

Novatian: "For who does not acknowledge that the person of the Son is second after the Father, when he reads that it was said by the Father, consequently to the Son, "Let us make man in our image and our likeness; " and that after this it was related, "And God made man, in the image of God made He him? "Or when he holds in his hands: "The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah fire and brimstone from the Lord from heaven? " (A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity, Chapter XXVI. Argument.—Moreover, Against the Sabellians He Proves that the Father is One, the Son Another.)

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles: "the divine Scripture testifies that God said to Christ, His only-begotten, "Let us make man after our image, and after our likeness. And God made man: after the image of God made He him; male and female made He them."(Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, Book V., VII)

The Concept of Progressive Revelation
God has revealed His truth in history, in progressively more detail and expansiveness over time. We do not know why he has chosen to do this, but it is there none the less. There were aspects of His revelation that were not available to Abraham that were available to Moses.

The reality of progressive revelation is obvious even to those only had the OT. It is highly unlikely that Moses was shown Malachi's prophecy that YHWH would come to His temple someday(!)...especially since there was no temple (nor talk of a temple) in Moses time. This prophecy was a later revelation of God to Israel. The birthplace of the Messiah in Micah 5.2 was probably not known to Abraham.

Now what is extremely interesting is how God sprinkled clues and hints thru out the Old Testament that would allow it’s early readers to 'suspect' that the Trinity was true. This was necessary so that when God became explicit about the concept of the Trinity in later years with Jesus coming unto the scene, there would be harmony between the Old and New Testament evidence. This really illustrates the divine natural of scripture and how God articulates to us in progressive revelation.

Pilgrim in Progress,

Lance Muller "Cartoonbug"

Each member of the Godhead maintains a unique role in working out their eternal purpose. The Three Persons in the Godhead are distinct but equal (John 10:30-33; 5:18).

THE CREATOR HAS AN ETERNAL PURPOSE? NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE! AS CREATOR GOD, IS DESIRE THEN THE SAME AS "PURPOSE"? ["PURPOSE" TO ME MEANS I AM "SUPPOSED" TO FOLLOW A PATH.] ARE GOD'S MERE THOUGHTS SYNONYMOUS WITH HIS "PURPOSE", "DESIRE", "WILL" AND "LOVE"?


John 17:21 (New International Version)
21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

IN JOHN ORTBERG'S "EVERYBODY'S NORMAL TILL YOU GET TO KNOW THEM", THERE IS A QUOTE THAT GIVES ME A GREAT DEAL OF HOPE: "THE LOGIC OF MATHEMATICS - WHERE TWO IS ALWAYS TWO AND CAN NEVER BE ONE - WAS TRANSCENDED BY THE LOGIC OF LOVE. GOD CREATES HUMAN BEINGS MALE AND FEMALE - AND THE TWO ARE ONE. IN THE TRINITY, GOD IS THREE AND YET ONE. JESUS PRAYS FOR HIS FOLLOWERS, FOR THE CHURCH, FOR ALL REDEEMED HUMANITY TO BECOME ONE. THIS IS THE 'NEW MATH' OF GOD: EVERYTHING EQUALS ONE."