MAN MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD Devotion #4 of 17

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle , and over all the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them"

(Genesis 1:26-27)

THE MEANING

What does it mean to be in the "image of God?" First, this is not an external image, or bodily form. God "is a Spirit," and does not have a corporal form. The Father is described as "Him that is invisible" (Heb. 11:27). The term "invisible is frequently ascribed to God (Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17). He is transcendent to the natural order. References to the "eyes of the Lord," the "hand of the Lord," His "feet," and His "face" are accommodations to our frailties. They convey the thought of the Lord beholding, working, going, and having favor toward His offspring. God is "not a man," as is affirmed in (Num. 23:19). This being the case, the divine imagery is not found in man's appearance. It goes deeper than that. It is a moral image or likeness. Man is like a shadow of God: a personality in which divine qualities, though corrupted by sin, are found. The ability to choose, purpose, deliberate, and create are reflective of God Himself. We must be alert to any religious emphasis that minimizes these aspects of humanity. A religion, for example, which depends upon God overriding our choice is not valid. Without elaborating on this point, there are a phenomenal number of religious approaches that depend upon people emptying their minds, or operating in a spiritual realm that cannot be discerned: a kind of intellectual vacuum. Such dogmas are out of synch with the purpose of God and the nature of man, and are thus to be rejected. Nowhere in all of Scripture did God promise a Savior that would bring people into a state of unconsciousness, uninvolvement, and sterile minds. Such views have been spawned by Eastern mysticism, and must be forthrightly rejected by those in Christ. They are contaminated and contaminating!

Affinity with God

In God's kingdom, the reason for likeness is fellowship. Mankind has affinity with God! That is more than the ability to fellowship with God, it is a tendency, or propensity, in that direction. Some theologians have correctly said there is a void in man that only God can fill. This is the affinity of which I speak, and it is marvelous. Men, all men, have the capacity to become one with God. It is true that this cannot be accomplished independently of divine influence. But, this does not diminish the power of this truth. Salvation is the reclamation of the whole person for fellowship with God. We have been "called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Cor. 1:9). That fellowship is possible because of the affinity we have with Deity.

Resemblance

It is obvious that the brute creation does not have this resemblance: the capacity to think and purpose with objectivity. At the root of resemblance is the fact of man's personality. Light, air, land, sea, sun, moon, stars were all things. Plants, fishes, fowls, animals were living things. Man was a "person." A person capable of moral purity, spiritual power, and divine communication. Duly considered, this will challenge the individual to seek spiritual excellence.

Representation of God

Man was made to have "dominion" over the works of God's hands. This required that he represent God; not merely as a hired slave, but as someone knowing the objectives of God. A representative by choice! Originally, Adam was the visible embodiment of divine qualities--a spectacle to angels. In Christ, the image and restored and enhanced in fallen man. In this world, humanity is the highest representation of God, and in the world to come, it will be accentuated. We are appropriately called "stewards of God" and of the "manifold grace of God" (1 Cor. 4:1; 1 Pet. 4:10).