MAN   MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD
Devotion #5 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 FALL AND THE IMAGE
Opposing views of man
     Christian theology, for want of a better term, is divided into two opposing views of humanity. Variant doctrines have been developed around these views, requiring that we have an understanding of them. Some have elected to identify these perspectives with the individuals that championed them: Calvinism and Armenianism. Actually, the views exist independently of these men. They only developed and systematized them. I choose to refer to them as Determinism and Free will. The men that developed these lines of thought
attached peculiarities to them that I do not wish to develop at this time. It is only the relation of these views to the image of God that is relevant in this study.

     Determinism sees the image of God as totally destroyed in the Adamic fall. The likeness of God was lost when fellowship with God was lost. Calvin called this "total depravity." Briefly stated, the view is that man is incapable of hearing God, or responding to Him. Consequently, the Lord must produce spiritual life in man independently of his involvement, and prior to his response. Thus, the corrupted view of predestination; i.e., God chose some to be saved, then caused it to occur in spite of the will of the chosen ones. This view is slightly modified in the charismatic community. These brethren view the filling of the Spirit as an overpowering of the individual. The ultimate blessing in this case is when he Lord overrides our natural capacities. This notion is absurd, contradicting the very concept of salvation.

     When sin "entered" the human race, did it lose the capacity to respond to God? Determinism thinks so. The corrupted view of election was developed because of this misconception. Theologically speaking, the term "total depravity" connotes this thought. Being "dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1) is thus equated with total insensitivity to God. Consequently, the individual is incapable of responding to God. 

     This is the root that is thought to support the erroneous teaching of being "slain in the Spirit." Here, the individual is overpowered, thereby being forced into a state of involvement with God. Because this is nowhere taught in the Word of God, it contradicts the Word of the Spirit.

     When Adam fell from the glory of God, he still heard the voice of the Lord, walking in the cool of the day (Gen. 3:8). Both Adam and Eve were still able to respond to God, and even reason with Him (Gen. Gen. 3:8-12). Cain, the first murderer, did not become incapable of sensing and hearing God. He was acutely aware of what God said, though clothed with guilt.

     In the fall, the divine image was thus retained. Yet guilt kept the sinner from coming to God. He did not lose the ability to will what is good; he did lose the ability to DO what is good through human effort alone. Being "dead in trespasses and sins" speaks of alienation, not incapacity. 

-- TOMORROW: NEVER AGAIN, From one of our readers --