Created in God's Image

[Rdr. Arsenios]

If there is no one like God (Isaiah 40:18), then what does it mean to say that man was created in God's image and according to His likeness?

Gen_1:26 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,
and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

"To whom should we liken the Lord?
And to which likeness should we liken Him?"

We were created in the image and likeness of God to have dominion over the earth...
Adam named the animals, giving him dominion over them...

Adam sinned and fell and lost the likeness of God...
He did not lose the image of God...

Creation fell with Adam, thereby reflecting his fall...
For the creation of God is very good...

The image of God is the term EIKON = Icon
As created, man is an icon of God - He icons God...

God is an icon maker, and image maker...
He made man in His image...

He cannot be compared to anyone or anything...
But man can be compared to Him...

Adam, clothed in the Light of Grace and the Righteousness of God...
Sinned and was given a garment of sensual bodily skin...

Christ entered creation, suffered in the flesh, died and was Resurrected...
Christians follow Christ...

Arsenios

[Peter Nyikos]

There also might be some implications relating to free will, but that's just speculation on my part.

In fact, I think free will is one of the most important aspects of the Genesis verse. God, as depicted in the Bible, repeatedly chooses between alternative courses of action. Jesus even prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that his Father take away the cup he was faced with, and the Father certainly could have chosen to take it away, but did not.

Perhaps God could have put every creature into a heaven where there is no suffering, but still given them choices. These choices, however, would have been far more limited than they are now, since there would not have been even the possibility of choosing suffering. And Jesus did choose that, not just in Gethsemane but after the forty days of fasting, when the devil tempted him to turn stones into bread. It would not have been morally wrong for Jesus to choose otherwise at that point; yet he chose the harder way.

[seanD]

In fact, I think free will is one of the most important aspects of the Genesis verse. God, as depicted in the Bible, repeatedly chooses between alternative courses of action. Jesus even prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that his Father take away the cup he was faced with, and the Father certainly could have chosen to take it away, but did not.

Perhaps God could have put every creature into a heaven where there is no suffering, but still given them choices. These choices, however, would have been far more limited than they are now, since there would not have been even the possibility of choosing suffering. And Jesus did choose that, not just in Gethsemane but after the forty days of fasting, when the devil tempted him to turn stones into bread. It would not have been morally wrong for Jesus to choose otherwise at that point; yet he chose the harder way.

I think you just answered the age old question of why God allows suffering. The angels were created in a perfect state and environment, where they (presumably) had limited choice, yet they were still unfaithful. So the opposite of that -- or starting from the top and ending up on the bottom -- is to start from the bottom and end up at the top. There's no greater love and loyalty expressed by someone who retains his reverence and trust in someone else -- who is capable of stopping the suffering -- in spite of the suffering. A person with that endurance, who can retain their faith while they're suffering at the bottom, will more than likely keep that faith when they're not suffering at the top.

[apostoli]

I would like to add that animals act according to their instincts. They don't appear to reflect on their own behavior to see if it is right or wrong.

I suspect you have never raised a pup to maturity or even a tortoise...animals do have ethics at least (on average) to the same extent as a 5 year old human child in my experence...and in my experience some dog breeds have better ethics than an average 25 year old human male...

[siliconwafer]

I suspect you have never raised a pup to maturity or even a tortoise...animals do have ethics at least (on average) to the same extent as a 5 year old human child in my experence...and in my experience some dog breeds have better ethics than an average 25 year old human male...

I didn't know that. I thought they only act according to instinct.

[siliconwafer]

Does "image of God" mean "every way that man is like God even if it is not explicitly stated in the Bible" or "man is like God only in the way that the Bible explicitly states?"

[apostoli]

I suspect you have never raised a pup to maturity or even a tortoise...animals do have ethics at least (on average) to the same extent as a 5 year old human child in my experence...and in my experience some dog breeds have better ethics than an average 25 year old human male...

I didn't know that. I thought they only act according to instinct.

It is a fine call...when I was six I was given a snake neck tortoise, at first he was shy but over time he use to follow me everywhere, and didn't hibernate in winter as he should, but would curl up near the fire place...bit like a dog. The instinct part of him kicked in when I was about 20yo. He had a fettish about leather shoes and would hump them...

When my kids were teenages the eldest decided he wanted a dog, and to my displeasure my then wife and he got one. Misha, a German sheperd pup. Now my son was her master, but she (somehow) knew I was superior to him, so even when I was absent for long periods, I could countermand any command he gave her. Likewise, I taught her (as I did my kids) to look left and right, and make sure it was clear of traffic before crossing the street. But the funniest thing was when my youngest son's cat had kittens. As much as they annoyed her, climbing all over her, she tolerated it! (When she got frustrated she'd growl, and all I had to say was "Misha!") Mind you she would still playfully chase the mother (who when she got tired of the game would usually run up a tree ;-).

Another example is when my eldest son was a baby, we had a "blue" (blue male budgie) that we allowed to fly around the house. Anyone he didn't recognise that went near the baby he would attack, unless either me or my then wife were in their company...

Well thats my experience with animals...

[apostoli]

Does "image of God" mean "every way that man is like God even if it is not explicitly stated in the Bible" or "man is like God only in the way that the Bible explicitly states?"

Hmm! Good question. What does it mean to be God like? Whose perspective are we talking about, man's or God's?

[Pilgrim]

If there is no one like God (Isaiah 40:18), then what does it mean to say that man was created in God's image and according to His likeness?

One interesting take on that question is that the Hebrew word we translate as "image" can also be (and in fact in other places is) translated as "idol." So "we are created as an idol of God" has been posited as a possible translation. I find merit in this argument that was posed by a Gordon-Conwell graduate and Harvard PhD in Hebrew. She argued that it fit well with and pointed to the ANE idea that an idol was the place where that culture thought the spirit of a God resided. So to be an idol of God is to say that in some sense we are the resting places of the Spirit of God which is further explained in the New Testament when we are exhorted to remember that our bodies are the temple of God. So, it's not that we're like God in some physical sense, rather it's more of the new testament idea that the Spirit of God resides in us.

[37818]

. . . further explained in the New Testament when we are exhorted to remember that our bodies are the temple of God. So, it's not that we're like God in some physical sense, rather it's more of the new testament idea that the Spirit of God resides in us.

That argument does not apply. Since all men saved and lost being human are made in Gods' image.