Image of God

By - Deacon J. Michael Talbot, National Capital Bible Church

Since the early church, many theologians have struggled with the meaning of the creation verses Genesis 1:26-27, which state,

“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.” (NKJV)

The creation of man in Genesis is God’s crowning achievement in the creation week. In six days, God created the heavens and the earth, but at the end of His creative work, God made man in His own image and likeness. No other physical creature is described in this way. But what does it mean that man was made in the image and likeness of God? Was man, in his form, created in the physical form of God or is scripture referring to the spiritual essence of God? 

Analysis of the Image and Likeness

In Genesis 1:26, the Hebrew word for image is tselem while the Hebrew word for likeness is demūth. The Hebrew text does not have a conjunction between tselem and demūth.  However, Anthony A. Hoekema states in his book Created in God’s Image, “Both the Septuagint and the Vulgate insert an and between the two expressions, giving the impression that image and likeness refer to different things.”[1] A more accurate translation of Genesis 1:26 is: “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” In Genesis 5:3, the two words are in a different order, “in his own likeness, after his image.” Because the words image and likeness are used interchangeably, one would have to conclude that the words are generally synonyms. Since the Bible teaches that God is spirit in John 4:24, image and likeness must refer to the immaterial – the spirit.

 Interpretation of Genesis 1:26-27

If image and likeness refer to the spirit of God, then how does this relate to Adam who was created by God? As God’s final act of creation, Adam was made distinct from God’s other creations. Adam was created with righteousness and endowed with intellect and the ability to commune with God. Lewis Chafer in his eight-volume series, Systematic Theology, states the following about the creation of Adam, “No divine creation or production could be inaugurated on a higher plane than that the thing thus formed should be conformed to the image and likeness of God.”[2]

The meaning of “Let Us make man in Our image” is that Adam was created in a state of righteousness and innocence. He was a reflection of God’s holiness. In His creative act, God gave Adam with a superior intellect, giving him the ability to have dominion over the earth on his first day. Hoekema writes, “Early in Christian theology, man’s intellectual and rational powers were singled out as one of the most important … features of the image of God in this broader sense.”[3]

Conclusion

When reading Genesis, we are often puzzled over the phrase “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” This may be due to an over focus on the material aspects of image and likeness rather than the true aspects of God, or perhaps we forget that Adam was perfect in his creation, innocent and able to commune with God. In an effort to be clear on this subject, Hoekema states, “Thus, the image of God in the narrower sense means man’s proper functioning in harmony with God’s will for him.”[4]

This post was written by Deacon J. Michael Talbot of National Capital Bible Church. If you have questions about this post or Christianity in general, please contact us today!

[1] Hoekema, Anthony, A, Created in God’s Image (Grand Rapids, MI: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1986), 13.

[2] Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, vol 2, Angelology, Anthropology, Hamartiology (Dallas, TX:  Dallas Seminary Press, 1947), 161.

[3] Hoekema, 70.

[4] Ibid, 72.