1. What does the Bible tell us about the creation of man?
Genesis 1:26-28: Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 2:7: And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Genesis 2:18-25: And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
The Bible teaches that God created man – both male and female – in His image. He formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. God created woman as a helper and companion for man, comparable to him. God placed man over the rest of His earthly creation.
2. What does it mean when the Bible says that man was created in the image of God?
Colossians 3:9-10: Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him….
Ephesians 4:22-24: That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Matthew 22:37-40: Jesus said to him, “’You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
When the Bible tells us that God created man in His own image, it means that when God created Adam and Eve, they knew God and His will and loved God with all their heart, soul and mind and were perfect and without sin.
3. Do people as they are by birth still bear the image of God?
Genesis 5:3: And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. Cf. Genesis 3:1ff.
Genesis 6:5: Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Genesis 8:21: Then the LORD said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.
Psalm 51:5: Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.
When Adam and Eve fell into sin (Genesis 3), they lost the image of God. They were no longer holy and righteous. They no longer knew God and His perfect will, trusted God, loved Him with all their heart and soul or sought to honor Him. And, in the image of Adam after the fall, all of us are born into this world as fallen sinners, spiritually dead to God, blind, and turned in upon ourselves.
4. Do believers in Christ Jesus bear the image of God?
2 Peter 1:2-4: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2 Corinthians 3:18: But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Romans 8:29: For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Romans 12:1-2: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Read Philippians 3:7-16.
In believers, the image of God is being restored. The Holy Spirit is at work in each believer’s heart to make him more and more like Christ Jesus. But believers in this world are still sinners and have their old sinful nature. Thus, Christians in this world still come short and are not yet fully restored to the image of their Maker.
5. When will the image of God be fully restored?
1 John 3:2: Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
1 Corinthians 15:50-53: Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed — in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
Psalm 17:15: As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.
On the Last Day, sin and evil will be abolished and true believers will be changed into the perfect image of Christ. They will then, once again, truly know God, love Him, trust Him and seek to honor and glorify Him. They will be like Christ Jesus, holy and righteous forever.