Created in Gods Image

God created man in His image (Gen. 1:26-27). What does it mean to be
created in the image of God? Finding the right answer to this question
requires our clear understanding of what Gods image is or what is the
likeness of God.
The statement Let Us make man (Gen. 1:26a) refers only to the body
of man, while In our image, after our likeness (Gen. 1:26b) refers to his
soul. (Clarke, p.48) We can possibly say that the image of God pertained in
Gen. 1:26 does not mean the physical form of the body since God is Spirit
(John 4:24a) rather, it refers to the nature and perfections of God. (Clarke,
p.48)Mans image and likeness to God must necessarily be intellectual in
mind and soul.
Man was created complete (doesnt need to undergo evolution) and
unique (different from other forms of life that God created). God is the true
original and man is the copy. (ISBE, p.803) Man and woman was Gods
representative on earth. (NBC, p.61) Mans physical body was given life
through Gods breath. (Gen. 2:7)

Man was created with a purpose and is to be obedient of his Creators

commands if he wants to be blessed. He is to work for God, to have dominion
on His other creations and to rule over all the earth. (NBC, p.61)
Man was created wise in his mind, holy in his heart, and righteous in
his actions because Gods nature is good. (Clarke, p.48) Man was also
created with a mind, heart and soul which define his personality. Man has
free-will but he wasnt able to keep the one commandment God gave him
and chose sin. As a result, the image of God was shattered by sin and was
carried through to this day.
Now, it is only through Jesus Christ that mans nature can be restored
to Gods image again. (COT, vol. 1, p.64) Thus, let us make every effort to be
restored to the image and likeness of God through His grace and mercy by
believing in the only one He has sent who could help us achieve it Jesus
Christ.
Notes:
A mind thinks, therefore God is the ultimate mind because He is the
reason behind all created things and that includes humans. This means that
man has a spirit or a personality like their Creator, God.
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God is the true original and that image is here given the sense of copy.
This statement has 3 important implications 1. That man is not to create God
in his own image. 2. That he is to learn his true nature from God and not vice
versa. 3. That Christ, who is the express image of God, is the true original of
man, so that even apart from the fall and restoration man would still have
borne the image of Christ.
Geoffrey W. Bromiley, The International Standard Bible
Encyclopedia, 1982
Man is the image of God by virtue of his spiritual nature, of the breath of God
by which the being, formed from the dust of the earth, became a living soul.
The image of God consists, therefore, in the spiritual personality of man,
though not merely in unity of self-consciousness and self-determination, or in
the fact that man was created a consciously free Ego; for personality is
merely the basis and form of the divine likeness, not its real essence. This
consists rather in the fact, that the man endowed with free self-conscious
personality possess, in his spiritual as well as corporeal nature, a creaturely
copy of the holiness and blessedness of the divine life.
**This concrete essence of the divine likeness was shattered by sin; and it is
only through Christ, the brightness of the glory of God and the expression of
His essence, that our nature is transformed into the image of God again.
Keil & Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, 1986
It is evident that God intends to impress the mind of man with a sense
of something extraordinary in the formation of his body and soul, when he
introduces the account of his creation thus; Now, as the Divine Being is
infinite, he is neither limited by parts, nor definable by passions; therefore he
can have no corporeal image after which he made the body of man. God was
now producing a spirit, and a spirit, too, formed after the perfections of his
own nature. God is the fountain whence this spirit issued, hence the stream
must resemble the spring which produced it.
Adam Clarke, Clarkes Commentary

Bibliography:
D A Carson, R T France, J A Motyer, G J Wenham, New Bible
Commentary-21st Century Edition, 1998
World Video Bible School, Genesis Lesson 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=cnbds6lcDL0&index=3&list=PLziUyIPw8DfvPJ7EiI90cNoHKg7PAHG
bJ
World Video Bible School, Who is God?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=hovU6JOAvQ0&index=2&list=PLziUyIPw8DfsAc9c3Hgg5m4TkWgm
xXuLI

World Video Bible School, What is God?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=EJ25mKZqvBA&index=5&list=PLziUyIPw8DfsAc9c3Hgg5m4TkWg
mxXuLI