God:  Are we created in His image?

Throughout Christendom today you’ll find people believing we are all created in God’s image.  Is that true? The Bible tells us it was when man was first created that he was made in God’s image.

Genesis 1:26-27

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.

²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. [Emphasis added]

Then we find that sometime later Adam and Eve had a family.  What is said of them about this?

Genesis 5:3

³ And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in HIS own likeness, and after HIS image; and called his name Seth: [Emphasis added]

Please note that it says Adam’s son was born in HIS image, not God’s.  Is that different from being born in God’s image? Of course! Adam’s son was born a sinner, as all his heritage has been since then.

Isaiah 64:6

⁶ But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. [Emphasis added]

Romans 3:23

²³ For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; [Emphasis added]

Romans 5:12

¹² Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: [Emphasis added]

This work God would do to provide man with a solution through His Son was even prophesied, even though at the time it was given no one knew what he was talking about.

Isaiah 53:5-7

⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions [speaking of Christ on the cross], he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. [Emphasis added]

Nearly all Christendom believes man today still functions in God’s image.  Hopefully you’re already beginning to see that there’s a problem with that belief.  Certainly, man was originally created in God’s image, but does He still function in accordance with God’s image? Are people today born in God’s image?

Again, Genesis 5:3

³ And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in HIS own likeness [DEMUTH = likeness], and after HIS image [TSELEM = image]; and called his name Seth: [Emphasis added]

As you can see here, it says Seth was born in his father’s image, not God’s.  And what does that tell us? Unlike Adam, Seth was born a sinner.  The entrance of sin into the world changed so much, including man’s makeup and his status before God.  It was then that he became a sinner in desperate need of a Savior.  Man needed his righteous status restored.  We find in the apostle Paul’s writings what God ultimately did to make that possible for anyone.

2 Corinthians 5:19-21

¹⁹ To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

²⁰ Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

²¹ For he [God the Father] hath made him [Jesus Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. [Emphasis added]

But even long before the apostle Paul and the present dispensation of the grace of God, believers were credited with the righteousness of God by faith in what God then told them to believe.

Romans 4:2-5

² For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.

³ For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

⁴ Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

⁵ But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. [Emphasis added]

Galatians 3:6

⁶ Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. [Emphasis added]

Even James talks about this, even though for salvation he was required to manifest his faith by his works of obedience to God.

James 2:23

²³ And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. [Emphasis added]

Man needs this same righteousness today, but he fails when he strives to get it on his own and by his own merit.  Gaining the righteousness God demands of us for salvation is a gift He gives us when we put our faith in His provisions for it.

Ephesians 2:8-9

⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. [Emphasis added]

All Adam’s progeny needs this righteousness of God for salvation because he has inherited a sinful nature that he allows to affect his decision-making.  The work of Christ through His death, burial, and resurrection has made it possible for all of us to gain that righteousness.

Romans 6:6

⁶ Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. [Emphasis added]

Instead of being born after God’s image, we are all born after Adam’s fallen and sinful image.  Yes, we are all born in a sinful state with a need for help we can’t provide for ourselves.  Here’s a passage that describes the manner in which we as believers were changed.

Ephesians 2:1-5

¹ And you hath he quickened [made alive], who were dead in trespasses and sins;

² Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

³ Among whom also we all had our conversation [ANASTROPHE = manner of life] in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. [Emphasis added]

⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

When a person is saved today there’s a significant change that’s made in them.

⁵ Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with [SUZOOPOIEO = made us alive with] Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) [Emphasis added]

It was then that the most important of all changes in us occurred. We were then given spiritual life and made a new creation.

2 Corinthians 5:16-17

¹⁶ Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

¹⁷ Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [KTISIS = creation]: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. [Emphasis added]

When people come into the world today, rather than being in God’s image, they all come in Adam’s image who is the federal head of the human race.  If man today was born in God’s image he would reflect His righteousness.  Sinful man is by no means born into the world as a representation of God and His righteousness.  However, Jesus Christ is a perfect representation of God.  Many verses of Scripture affirm this—

John 14:9

⁹ Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? [Emphasis added]

Hebrews 1:3

³ Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high: [Emphasis added]

2 Corinthians 4:4

⁴ In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. [Emphasis added]

Colossians 1:15

¹⁵ Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: [Emphasis added]

If all this wasn’t important for us to know, it wouldn’t be mentioned in the Bible so many times.

Colossians 2:9

⁹ For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. [Emphasis added]

James 3:9

⁹ Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude [HOMOIOMA = likeness] of God. [Emphasis added]

It is God’s will that all believers will be ultimately conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ completely.

Romans 8:29

²⁹ For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image [EIKON = similar representation or manifestation] of his Son, that he might be the firstborn [PROTOTOKOS = from PROTOS = first & TIKTO = to beget] among many brethren. [Emphasis added]

As believers we’re positionally already conformed to the image of His Son, but ultimately, when we’re in our resurrection body, we’ll be like Christ in that we’ll share in His attributes.  As believers, we are His brothers and sisters spiritually.  This was true for believing Israelites.

John 1:12

¹² But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: [Emphasis added]

To understand more about believing in “his name” please see my article about it—

Jesus Christ:  What does it mean to believe in His NAME?

But this is also true for us today.  As believers, we also have become children of God.

Galatians 3:26

²⁶ For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. [Emphasis added]

We are then made into the image of God.

1 Corinthians 11:7

⁷ For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. [Emphasis added]

What a glorious day it will be when we take on all these attributes!

Philippians 3:20-21

²⁰ For our conversation [POLITEUMA = citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

²¹ Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. [Emphasis added]

Before man’s fall into sin that’s recorded in Genesis 3, Adam was a perfect representation of God and His righteousness.  But when Adam sinned, however, death passed upon all men.

Romans 5:12

¹² Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: [Emphasis added]

This all changes when we accept the gospel message first revealed to us through the writings of the apostle Paul.

2 Corinthians 5:21

²¹ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. [Emphasis added]

If we suppose we are born in God’s image, we completely miss the fact that we have no fellowship with God in that state.  King David describes our former situation perfectly—

Psalm 51:5

⁵ Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. [Emphasis added]

From the time of our birth, we do not reflect God’s righteousness and His holiness.  That’s why we must gain a new nature to be in a position to be acceptable to God and to have the potential for pleasing Him by our thinking and our resultant manner of life.

As I mentioned, God originally created man in His own image.

Again, Genesis 1:26-27

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.

²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. [Emphasis added]

This informs us that man was originally as perfect as God but when Adam and Eve disobeyed by eating the forbidden fruit, God’s righteousness left their bodies. They were then caused to be sinners.  God’s light no longer covered them.  Adam and Eve were then physically and spiritually naked, so they gathered fig leaves and covered themselves.

Genesis 3:7

7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. [Emphasis added]

This is the pattern of what now tends to follow in every generation—man trying to solve his spiritual problem by his own means.  Sewing fig leaves for a covering is like unto man’s religious works of today, being totally inadequate to solve man’s spiritual problem. 

Genesis 3:8

⁸ And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. [Emphasis added]

God then, because of His love and grace pursued these lost souls, desiring to save them from the consequences of their sin.  Even today God pursues man and desires to save him from his foolishness.

2 Peter 3:9

⁹ The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing [BOUOMAI = not predetermining] that any should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance. [Emphasis added]

But God in His brilliance devised a plan by which to restore them, providing a way for God’s righteousness and everlasting salvation to be gained.  In the Garden of Eden this involved the slaying of an animal and using his skin to clothe the man and the woman.  This is a picture of the application of God’s righteousness to the individual who accepts the salvation He provides by grace through faith in Christ’s redemptive work—the cross, burial, and resurrection.

Genesis 3:21

²¹ Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them. [Emphasis added]

The shedding of the blood and death of the blemish less sacrifice represented the payment for the sins committed and the skins for covering represented the application of divine righteousness for salvation.

Again, 2 Corinthians 5:19-21

¹⁹ To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

²⁰ Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

²¹ For he [God the Father] hath made him [Jesus Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. [Emphasis added]

In theological terms this is called justification by faith.  No works on man’s [the believer’s] part are involved at all.  Just believing in what God provided is not a work.

Romans 3:27-28

²⁷ Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law [or principle]? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

²⁸ Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. [Emphasis added]

It is by this one work of Christ that we are saved: not by any works of our own.

Again, Ephesians 2:8-9

⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. [Emphasis added]

Even though our physical bodies are still tied to Adam, the day is coming when we’re going to get a new and perfect resurrection body in which to dwell forever.

Again, Philippians 3:20-21

²⁰ For our conversation [POLITEUMA = citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

²¹ Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. [Emphasis added]

The Apostle Paul tells us about the transformation of our present body into this glorious body in which every believer will one day have in which to dwell forever.

1 Corinthians 15:42-50

⁴² So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

⁴³ It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

⁴⁵ And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

⁴⁶ Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

⁴⁷ The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.

⁴⁸ As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

⁴⁹ And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

⁵⁰ Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. [Emphasis added]

For believers who live and remain on this earth now, this radical change of the body in which we now reside occurs at what is called the Rapture, an event that believers of former times knew nothing about.  It is said to have been a mystery, that is, a secret held in the mind of God until it was revealed through the teachings and writings of the Apostle Paul.

1 Corinthians 15: 51-58

⁵¹ Behold, I shew you a mystery [a secret]; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

There will come a generation in which believers will not die [“sleep”], but will suddenly be changed by their resurrection.

⁵² In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

⁵³ For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

⁵⁴ So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

⁵⁵ O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

What a glorious day that will be for us all! Meanwhile we all need to be  serving up this message and more to all those we possibly can.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. [Emphasis added]

Our reward for this will be beyond anything we ever imagined.  I now close this article with the words of a well-known song you may be familiar with.

I can only imagine
What it will be like
When I walk by Your side
I can only imagine
What my eyes would see
When Your face is before me
I can only imagine
Yeah

Surrounded by Your glory
What will my heart feel?
Will I dance for You Jesus
Or in awe of You be still?
Will I stand in Your presence
Or to my knees, will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah?
Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

I can only imagine
When that day comes
And I find myself
Standing in the Son
I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever, forever worship You
I can only imagine, yeah
I can only imagine

Surrounded by Your glory
What will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you Jesus
Or in awe of You be still?
Will I stand in your presence
Or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah?
Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine, yeah
I can only imagine

Surrounded by Your glory
What will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you Jesus
Or in awe of You be still?
Will I stand in your presence
Or to my knees, will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah?
Will I be able to speak at all?

I can only imagine, yeah
I can only imagine
I can only imagine, yeah-yeah
I can only imagine
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever, forever worship You
I can only imagine

Songwriter: Bart Millard