What does the Bible say about mankind and womankind? What is the image of God? The Bible has the best revelation on the sexes, clearer and superior than any postmodern worldview.
Let’s begin with the Old Testament.
I.. Old Testament
A.. Man
The noun ’adam basically means “man” (used 558 times). It describes humanity as a whole (men, women, children as a collective). Only 12 times does it seem to mean the proper name Adam (Gen. 3:17; 3:20-21 [2x]; 4:1, 25; 5:1-5 [4x]; 1 Chron. 1:1 and Hos. 6:7). So it should be translated as “people,” “mankind” “human,” or “humankind.”
The noun ’ish is pronounced eesh or ihsh and stands in contrast to ’adam. ’Ish means “man,” but also “male.” It can also mean “husband.” It is used 2188 times.
The noun geber is pronounced geh-behr and is also translated as “man”; it is used 66 times. It is related to the verb “to be strong, mighty,” so physical strength is implied (in contrast to women and children), and so is spiritual strength.
The noun zakar is pronounced zah-kahr and specifically means “male” in contrast to the generic “man.” It can refer to male humans and animals and the male offspring of men and animals. It is used 82 times.
B.. Woman
The noun ishsha is pronounced (eesh-shah or ihsh-shah. It means “woman” or “wife.” It is used 781 times.
The noun bat is pronounced baht and is the common word for “daughter,” with additional nuances of “girl,” “granddaughter,” and “woman.” It is used 587 times.
II.. New Testament
A.. Man
The noun anēr is pronounced ah-nair and means “man” or “male” or “husband.” We build our name Andrew (courageous) from the stem andr-, which also comes from anēr. It is used 216 times.
The noun anthrōpos is pronounced ahn-throw-poss, and we get our word anthropology from it. It is broader than anēr and means “man,” “human being,” “mankind” or “humankind.” Anthrōpos is used 550 times. New translations correctly translate mostly as “person” (singular) or “people” (plural.). Older translations consistently get it wrong when they almost always translate it as “man” or men.”
Let me be more specific about the correct translation. Let’s see how BDAG, a thick Greek lexicon, defines the noun anthrōpos. (I edit the formatting.) Since the noun is used so many times, I cannot supply all the references but only the complete number under the third definition. It is important to go into detail with this word because it is often mistranslated in the more conservative or restrictive translations. They often go with “man” or “men.” In turn, this mistranslation hurts women’s place in ministry.
1.. “A person of either sex, with focus on participation in the human race, a human being.” Then they list sub-contexts: (a) with the word “born”; (b) in contrast to animals and plants; (c) in plural with general meaning; Jesus Christ is the anthrōpos who identifies with humanity or people.
2.. “A member of the human race with focus on limitations and weaknesses, a human being“; (a) of a physical aspect, subject to death; (b) according to status, “in a human way, from a human standpoint, from a human standpoint, implying the inferiority of human beings in contrast with God.”
3.. “A male person, man.” (a) “adult male, man.” In contrast to woman. Then BDAG offers only these references: Matt. 11:8; Luke 7:25; Matt. 25:24; Luke 19:21f; Matt. 19:5; probably Luke 13:19; Eph. 5:31; 1 Cor. 7:1; (b) married person, husband (Matt. 19:10); (c) an immediate descendant, son (Matt. 10:35); a person owned and therefore under the control of another, slave (Luke 12:36; John 6:7). The twelve (or so) references fill out the complete list, according to BDAG. (I think there are more references but not by much.)
4.. “[P]ractically equivalent to the indefinite pronoun with the basic meaning anthrōpos greatly weakened, someone, one, a person.”
5.. “A being in conflict at a transcendent level” […] (a) the outer being […] the inner being; (b) in contrast with old being and new being. By my observation, conservative translations say “old man” and “new man,” but “old being” or “new being” or “old person” and “new person” are better.
6.. “A person who has just been mentioned in the narrative, with the article the person.”
7.. “A person perceived to be contemptible, a certain person.”
8.. In direct address, ranging from a familiar tone to an informal one.
9.. “A heavenly being that looked like a person, a human figure.”
And so the vast majority of Scripture references indicate that anthrōpos means a person or human being. The third definition (men only) has very few references out of the 550.
B.. Woman
The noun gunē is pronounced goo-nay, and we get our word gynecology from it. It means “woman” or “wife.” It is used 215 times. In the biblical worldview, she fits within humankind and the image of God.
C.. Summary
Humankind was made of dust. In Genesis 2:7, God created man from dust, and this reflects his mammal origins—science unambiguously demonstrates and our personal experience proves that we are mammals. The word ’adam is probably related to the Hebrew word ’adamah or “ground.” We do not have a spark of divinity in us, as some liberal theologians teach, but when we repent and receive saving faith in Christ and exercise this saving faith in Christ, he sends his Holy Spirit into our hearts; at that moment we partake of God’s divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4).
The next truth from this “dusty” passage is that we are a corporeal being, and God made us into one. Though we share a mammal body with all other mammals (a biological fact), God created us like this for a very important purpose. The body is good and important. In the New Covenant, our bodies are members of Christ, so we are to glorify God in our bodies (1 Cor. 6:15, 19-20). We must not indulge in sex outside of marriage and gluttony and other selfish appetites.
III.. Image of God in Hebrew and Greek
A.. Old Testament
The Hebrew noun tselem for image is relevant to this post. It is pronounced tseh-lehm, and the -ts- is pronounced like the -ts- in bits. Human beings are created in God’s image, including man and woman (Gen. 1:26-27). Seth, Adam and Eve’s son, was made in Adam’s image (Gen. 5:6). Now humans, male and female, can create people in their image (Gen. 1:28). But this likeness is not physical, but moral and spiritual. “In contrast to animals, human beings can develop a relationship with God and can worship him” (Mounce, p. 352).
B.. New Testament
The noun eikon is pronounced ay-cone, like the “a” in acorn, and it means image in the broader sense, like an image on a coin (Matt. 22:20) or images of birds and reptiles (Rom. 1:23), where pagan humanity degraded God in making him in those images. Most importantly, it can refer to humankind made in the image of God (1 Cor. 11:7; Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18).
C. Digression to discuss a video on the image of God
This discussion at Biola, Talbot Seminary, puts a fresh perspective on the image of God:
The image of God is a status, so it does not change, when the fall happened. (so says the video link).
1. Error
But warning! Dr. Imes seems to believe that the blind and deaf and lame and those with Downs syndrome will keep their disabilities in new creation.
So in my college classroom the Christian girl who had a leg shorter than the other and atrophied will not be able to walk upright in new creation without the intense limp.
Wow. No. All genetic defects and disabilities will be healed. Then they will be free and truly understand who they were.
2. Exodus 4:11
Dr. Imes then quotes this verse. God is talking to Moses during God’s call on him to go back to Egypt, though Moses comes up with excuses:
11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” (Ex. 4:11)
God is speaking from the point of view of the Fall. We have to do battle against those disabilities. So maybe we can say that in the Hebrew Bible what God is said to cause he actually allows. If that interpretation is not true, then we must not fight against God’s will, for he himself imposed those disabilities on people Never pray for healing or seek medical care. No. It is obvious that something is wrong with this conclusion.
In his day, Jesus was in the process of reversing those disabilities. John the Baptist is in prison, and he sends his disciples to ask whether Jesus is the one, the Messiah:
4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. (Matt. 11:4-5)
One sign of the Messianic Age was the healing of diseases and broken bodies. Isaiah 35 describes this age. After God comes with a vengeance to rescue his people, these things will happen:
“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy” (Is. 35:5-6).
Isaiah 26:19 says of the Messianic Age: “But your dead will live, LORD, their bodies will rise—let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout with joy” (Is. 26:19).
The phrase “in that day” refers to the age that the Messiah ushers in: “In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll and out of gloom and darkness the eyes will see” (Is. 29:1).
The ministry of Jesus in his day corresponds to the already and not yet. The Messianic Age was introduced while he was here on earth. It was already here in him. But it will be revealed in its fullness at new creation.
3. Entering life maimed and blind?
Jesus is telling his disciples to deal ruthlessly with sin. Note the comparison (“it is better”):
8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. (Matt. 18:8-10)
Jesus is describing two scenarios and pressing home the point of the seriousness of sin. In the Torah, the severity of punishment indicates how serious the crime is. It was not often applied in real life. And so it is in Matthew 18:8-10. If you had to choose between two scenarios–entering life with disabilities or hell fire with all body parts, it is better to choose disabilities. But it is a blessing that we do not have to choose either one because both scenarios are hypothetical–if.
4. Misunderstanding many and all
And just because Jesus did not heal everyone who came to him (he did because the word “many” confuses people) does not mean that not everyone will be healed at new creation.
Here is my exegesis of Mark 3:7-12, which says Jesus healed “many”:
It is interesting that the verse does not say “all,” but the word “many” in Greek can be ambiguous, so that it could mean all, if we stretch out its meaning. In their comments on 1:34, these commentators write: “The term ‘many,’ in the statement that Jesus healed ‘many that were sick,’ is used inclusively and is equivalent to the ‘all’ of v. 32; it reflects upon the large number of those who came for healing” (Lane). Garland agrees: “The ‘many’ is a Semitism for the ‘all’ (see 10:45: cf. Matt. 8:16; Luke 4:40)” (p. 73, note 13). That is also inclusive, meaning “all.” But literally it reads many. If it is unclear why Jesus may not have healed all of them, read Mark 6:5-6. They denied he was the Messiah.
Source (at this website):
And here is my exegesis of Mark 1:32-34, which says “all” were brought and “many” were healed and had demons expelled from them:
“many”: “The term ‘many,’ in the statement that Jesus healed ‘many that were sick,’ is used inclusively and is equivalent to the ‘all’ of v. 32; it reflects upon the large number of those who came for healing” (Lane). Garland agrees: “The ‘many’ is a Semitism for the ‘all’ (see 10:45: cf. Matt. 8:16; Luke 4:40)” (p. 73, note 13). Note that Jesus expelled “many” demons. That is also inclusive, meaning “all.” It is not likely that some demons were not expelled, just “many” were. No. He expelled them all.
Source (at this website):
Jesus Heals Peter’s Mother-in-Law and Many Others
Here’s is Matthew’s parallel summary passage (my translation):
14 When Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw (Peter’s) mother-in-law laid up and having a fever. 15 Then he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him. 16 When evening came, they brought to him many demonized people, and he expelled the spirits with a word, and he healed all those having sicknesses, 17 so that the word spoken through the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled:
He took our diseases,
And he carried our sicknesses [Is. 53:4] (Matthew 8:14-17)
In v. 16, he expelled demons from “many” but healed “all” those having diseases. The “all” and “many” are parallels or synonyms, unless we believe that he did not expel demons from everyone and left some people demonized, a terrible thought. But it is clear that he expelled (all of them) them with a word.
Source (at this website):
(I now see my title should have read “Jesus Heals Everyone.”)
Also see: Is the Atonement for ‘Many’ or ‘All’ People?
5. Summary
So “many” means “all” in those passages. He healed everyone who came to him. This is a foretaste of new creation.
In short, segments of the Carmen Imes video are misguided. New creation includes new creation of the body, too, all of it, even all genetic defects and all disabilities. No wheelchairs in heaven and none in new creation. No Downs syndrome, no limps, no palsy, no blind or deaf or mute people. No cancer or leprosy. No soldiers with missing limbs and prosthetics. Everyone will be made whole.
The logic:
1.. Old Creation in Genesis will be transformed and re-created and made brand-new.
2. Our bodies, both the healthy and the broken, are part of Old Creation.
3. Therefore, our bodies will be transformed and re-created and made brand-new.
Dr. Imes needs to reconsider her teaching.
Also see: Is the Atonement for ‘Many’ or ‘All’ People?
IV.. Who Is Humankind?
A.. Expanding on the theology of the Image of God
Here is what this means in a fuller teaching from Scripture.
1.. Humankind is made in the image of God.
Genesis 1:26-27 says that God announced that he (“let us”) make ’adam in our image … so God created humankind (’adam) in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.” So what does this imaging mean in life?
2.. Humankind is called to reflect God’s being.
Humankind is created male and female. Humankind should not exist in singularity, but they are a duality. “The creation of man and woman in this ontological relationship is thus a creaturely reflection of the being of God, whose inner life is one of relationship and mutuality” (Williams, vol. 1, p. 204). In other words, God exists as three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), who share the same essence (trinitarian monotheism). The analogy is imperfect, but as man and woman complement each other, the three persons in the Triunity are complementary. “It follows from this that man’s relationship to his fellow-man is sacred, for it images the triune God” (ibid. p. 205). This interrelatedness (imperfectly) reflects God’s (perfect) communal being.
3.. But there is to be no blurring of the sexes.
God exists in perfect tri-personal unity, but the three persons are not confused together or blurred. Distinctions exist. In the same way man and woman differ in reflecting God’s character, by being distinct in their sexuality and persons.
4.. Humankind is called to be in relationship with God.
In Genesis 2, humankind is aware of God’s presence and care, and this implies that humankind should be in relationship with God. But as the story goes, he broke the close fellowship and relationship with God. Now God calls humankind throughout his life to be in relationship with God. This relationship is best expressed in the New Covenant and union with Christ.
5.. Humankind is called to reflect God’s character.
God is holy and righteous Therefore, humankind must be holy and righteous (Eph. 4:23-24). In the New Covenant, this can only be done best (though not sinlessly perfect!) in Christ. But humankind outside of any covenant, old or new, can maintain a certain kind of social righteousness and holiness (separate from common and profane things). He or she does not have to live a profane life.
God is love (1 John 4:8, 16). Humankind must show love for God and his fellow-humans (1 John 4:16-21). Of course this love is best expressed in the New Covenant and in union with Christ, but any person can (imperfectly) reflect God’s (perfect) love by common grace
God is also the God of truth. So we must reflect his truth. Colossians 3:9-10 says that we should not lie to one another. Why not? Because we have put off the old nature and have put on the new nature, “which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” When Eve believed the lie of the serpent, all hell broke loose, in terms of a degraded human existence.
6.. Humankind is called to be viceregent over the earth.
A viceregent “stands in place of” (vice) of the king or regent. We are his deputy regents. When humankind fell, God commissioned them to have this rulership over nature and the earth (Gen. 1:27-30). It was declared good in God’s sight (Gen. 1). This does not mean abuse the earth and larger nature, but to take care of it.
Psalm 8, presented here in its entirety, lays out humankind’s relation with and authority over nature, particularly vv. 4-8:
1 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?
5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8)
And this one:
The highest heavens belong to the Lord,
but the earth he has given to mankind. (Ps. 115:16)
7.. Humankind has the breath of life in him.
The Hebrew word for soul is nephesh and encompasses the entire person, body and soul (Lev. 4:2; Ezek. 18:20; Ps. 7:2) (Mounce, p. 670). It also expresses the relationship between God and humankind (Is. 26:9; Ps. 42:1, 5, 11; 63:1). It is interchangeable with “spirit.” Prov. 20:27 says that the spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, which means our spirit offers us guidance, once we are in relationship with God and in covenant with him, a covenant that he initiated and sustains. In the New Covenant, our spirit, indwelled by the Holy Spirit, cries Abba, Father! (Rom. 8:15-16). When a believer prays in the Spirit (commonly called ‘tongues’), his spirit prays, though his understanding is unfruitful (1 Cor. 14:14).
8.. Humankind is a living being.
Humankind is a qualitative higher order than non-human mammals because he has a spirit. This spirit and soul is his essence. Some theologians see them as distinct, others as one thing. The two terms are used interchangeably. Hebrews 4:12 says the word of God is living and active and sharper than a two-edged sword, able to pierce and divide soul and spirit. “Division is possible; for even if they are not different substances, they do signify profoundly different dimensions of human nature, because the spirit is that in which the soul is grounded (J. Rodman Williams, vol. 1, pp. 213-14).
Whatever side one favors (spirit and soul are distinct or one and the same), the point is that God gave him an essence, which flies in the face of Postmodernism, which says humans must make their essence over a lifetime and may never find or know it.
14 The Church and Postmodernism
9.. Humankind is made free.
Freedom is positive, without negation. He was free to walk in the garden (Gen. 3:8-9). The best positive freedom is to be in relationship with God, without estrangement, no evil, no sin. He is able to walk with God. His only restriction was not to eat of the knowledge of the tree of good and evil.
As the story goes, humankind broke this fellowship with God. He broke the one prohibition. Now this freedom is best expressed in the New Covenant and union with Christ.
Humankind is also free to work productively. He was called to tend the garden. Even after the ground was cursed (Gen. 3:17-19), God granted him the ability and liberty, mental and physical, to work.
Humankind is also free to enjoy the world God created. He can enjoy the outdoors, for example, though sports and fishing and hiking.
Humankind was free to obey God’s will. His liberty was structured or oriented towards God. Without this structure, humankind can get lost. This is the point of the Fall. He chose to disobey God, and misery resulted, over time. Some may object that structured freedom is not true freedom, but they are wrong. Whenever humankind goes his own way and follows his appetites, he gets into trouble. Moral law does not guide him, so he catches STD’s and has self-afflicted heartache and broken relationships. But when humankind follows God’s ways, life goes much more smoothly, and self-afflicted addictions and heartache are minimal, morally speaking.
Freedom must contain the freedom to choose in a genuine decision. If there is no choice or free decision, freedom is an imaginary word without substance. Originally, he had a free choice to obey or disobey God. Freedom of decision is essential to humankind, the creature of God (Williams, vol. 3, pp. 217-18). Humankind is not a preprogrammed android that has to act only one way.
10.. Character is the result of a long series of good decisions,
He makes good decisions for the truth, righteousness, and holiness. Though God’s original intention was for humankind to choose the good, there was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Humankind chose that tree, and now he can choose the positive commands in moral law (“Do good, be kind!”), or he can also choose the negative commands (“Don’t do this or that!”). His freedom is structured or oriented, before and after the Fall. It is always best to choose God’s ways. That’s how we are made.
11.. God calls us to live higher.
He calls us to the image of God that was partially lost. The whole redemptive for all of humanity is to restore his image in us through Christ. But first humanity has to surrender to his Lordship.
B.. Millard Erickson
He has six implications about the image of God, in his chapter 22 (pp. 472-74).
1.. We belong to God.
Some of his attributes are applied to us. Commitment, devotion, love, loyalty and service to God can be ours.
2.. Let’s follow Jesus to be in his image.
He lived the surrendered life. He prayed in the garden that if it were possible to take the cup of suffering away from him. But he surrendered his will to his Father. But he also worked for the kingdom and his Father, while it was still day (John 9:4). Be willing to lay down your life for another (John 15:13).
3.. We experience full humanity in right relationship with God.
The only way for redemption. So this, according to Erickson, is a Christian humanism. God will restore the damaged image (2 Cor. 3:18)
4.. Education and work are good.
We have to take dominion over our jurisdiction—the earth. We can do this by getting educated in various sciences and businesses. Hard work is how the world works. Students and others who work hard get ahead, in the proper way, without stealing or mooching off others. Laziness leads to failure and corruption and degradation of the planet and businesses. Recall that Adam was called to work the Garden of Eden before he and Eve disobeyed the command.
5. The human is valuable.
I add: This may be the most important implication of all. If the Nazis had seen the Jews and others as made in the image of God, the evil ideologues would not have persecuted them. If the slave traders and buyers had believed that other races are made in the image of God and were valuable in his sight, the slave trade would have never started in the first place.
Murder is wrong.
6.. The image is universal.
This even goes for those with mental illness. We should work to help them in any way we can. All humans have inherent dignity and worth. We should not encroach on another person’s exercise of his legitimate business. Erickson does not say this but I include communism and socialism. No government should take over a man’s liberty to learn and expand. Don’t deprive liberty by intimidation, or manipulation or government coercion.
Erickson’s concluding comments:
Every human being is God’s creature made in God’s own image. God ordained each of us with the powers of personality that makes it possible for us to worship and serve him. When using those powers to those ends, we are more fully what God intended us to be, and then are most completely human. (p. 474)
V.. Original Creation and Disobedience Enters
A.. Humankind was created in God image.
In Genesis 1:26-27, the inspired author of those verses repeats emphatically that God created male and female in his image, without evil or sin.
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them. (Gen. 1:26-27)
There is a defective teaching going around that claims that the word “us” refers to ancient Near Eastern gods, like Baal and Molek. However, it is better to say that the “us” refers to the Father and the Son. We are not made in the image of demonic beings, but in God’s image.
Genesis 5:1-2 repeats the ideal condition of humankind. God created them in his image, and it says specifically “humankind” or ’adam, which literally means “humankind.”.
When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind” when they were created. (Gen. 5:1-2)
Even though it is a biological fact that humans have a mammal nature, where the sin nature resides, they used to be able to relate to God in their innocence. He was still knowable.
B.. Humankind broke fellowship with God.
In humankind’s primitive state, God was humankind’s conscience and guide (Gen. 2). Humankind did not yet know the difference between good and evil, at least according to Scripture.
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Gen. 2:15-17)
In Genesis 3:1-13, the serpent, which tradition reinterprets as Satan, tempted the woman to eat of the tree knowledge of good and evil (or moral law). She did, and their eyes were open. They then had a human conscience built on knowledge of the moral law, without the same intimacy with God in a permanent, open lifeline to their Creator. Yes, God searched for them, but they were kicked out of the garden, which came to symbolize this intimacy, where God visited often.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Gen. 3:1-13)
Not said here, but the woman did not hear God directly not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but Adam heard. (Gen. 2:15-17). So she must have heard the command from Adam, second hand, indirectly. For this reason, it was easier for the serpent to trick Eve. The serpent told a bald faced lie when he claimed humankind would not die. Eve liked the idea of knowing good and evil and being like God. She saw the tree was pleasing to her. This reminds me of this passage in the small epistle written by John, who also wrote the fourth Gospel.
16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:16-17)
Eve also had the lust of the flesh, for the tree was nourishment, or so she thought. Then she had lust of the eyes, for the tree was a pleasure to look at. The pride of life is to become like the highest of all–to be like God, knowing good and evil. Knowing good and evil means your innocence is taken away, for Man and Woman sewed fig leaves together. We can see that fellowship with God was broken because they heard God walk in the Garden in the cool of the day. When God said where are you, he had not lost his omniscience, but was asking the man, come out and tell me what happened. Man did and blamed his wife. So he broke fellowship with her. Strife entered the proto-temple.
God had to cast judgment on the creatures who broke God’s command and lied.
VI.. Result of Broken Communion with God
A.. The image of God was partly retained.
You can break a mirror and say it is broken. You don’t need to shatter it to only then claim it is broken.
Paul speaks before the Aeropagus Council in Athens and quotes a pagan poet who said that we are God’s offspring.
27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ (Acts 17:27-28)
The above verses reflect a true statement, which speaks of God’s immanence, or his connection to the universe and humanity, without being part of it, as if the universe owns him. No, he owns it.
B.. Society is wrong; something is off.
We live in a society that degrades humankind with cursing people, promiscuously sharing our bodies with various partners, doing drugs, and other dehumanizing acts. God calls us to something higher.
1.. After the Flood
Humankind is still made in the image of God. God still proclaims that humankind should not be murdered, and murderers should be executed, because humankind is still made in God’s image. The moral and spiritual image was broken, but not obliterated, nor did it disappear.
6 “Whoever sheds human blood,
by humans shall their blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made mankind. (Gen. 9:6)
And we should not curse humans because they are still made in the image of God
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. (James 3:9)
2.. We are still spirit and soul.
Despite the Fall, we still have a soul and spirit, and morality and conscience, so the image of God is still alive in us but we are broken.
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thess. 5:23)
12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Heb. 4:12)
3.. Illustration: broken mirror
Let’s build on this image. Think of a cracked mirror. Sometimes people live such a degrades life that they image is broken in many places, multiple fractures on the soul. But God can still save and restore them as well as he does the “good girl” or “good boy.”
C.. Husbands and wives and the image of God.
Paul says that womankind is the glory of mankind, so she should wear a head covering. This is a matter of culture and theology mixed together.
7 A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. (1 Cor. 11:7)
D.. This husband-wife imagery.
1.. Further, this reinterpretation of the image of God is built on the Fall.
Recall from the long quotation from Genesis 3 that strife entered the Garden, between man and woman.
2.. After the Fall it is stated a husband shall rule over his wife.
16 To the woman he said,
“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.” (Gen. 3:16).
In Christ, however, the full image of God is being restored for both mankind and womankind, so customs such as commands from the first century, like head coverings, are not universal (see 1 Cor. 11:2-16).
E.. Sexual confusion now dominates society.
People are currently confused. The LGBQT+ believe that their sexual attraction toward the same sex or non-conformist views on gender and sex (transgender) need our love and kindness, yes, but not our affirmation. Instead of affirmation of their confusion and sin, they need healing and restoration towards God’s design: one man and one woman, attracted to each other only and sex only within marriage. We must not break apart the binary of man and woman and separate the terms “gender” and “sex.” In God’s eyes, they are one definition, by his design.
E.. Restoration is possible in Christ and life in the Spirit
The good news is that many of these confused individuals are being restored to opposite-sex attraction, after new birth, empowerment of the Spirit, and wholesome, opposite-sex friendships. God is restoring their brokenness. We must not abandon them by affirming the sexually broken, as if they are the norm. No, God sets the norm.
VII.. God’s Solution to Our Brokenness
A.. The image is being restored in Christ and his salvation.
In Romans 8:29 believers are predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. (Rom. 8:29)
Second Corinthians 3:18 teaches us that when we contemplate with unveiled faces the Lord’s glory, we are being transformed into the image with ever-increasing glory.
18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18)
Colossians 3:10 says that when we are saved, we are called to put on the new self, the new creation, which is being renewed in the knowledge of his of the Creator. As we come to know the Creator through Scripture and prayer, we look more like him.
10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Col. 3:10)
Ephesians 4:24, which parallels Colossians 3:10, says that the best way to grow in his image is to walk in holiness and righteousness. God has those attributes or characteristics, so should we, but only by the power of the Spirit.
24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Eph. 4:24)
For now, we will never experience the image of God fully restored, but we are in a process.
B.. Look to Jesus for the image of God fully restored.
The Bible teaches that he is the highest image of God. Colossians 1:15-17 says that the Son of God is the image of the invisible God. This means that we see God in Christ.
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Col. 1:15-17)
Second Corinthians 4:4 says that Satan, the god of this world, has blinded the minds of unbelievers from seeing the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Cor. 4:4)
The next series of verses in the Gospel of John teach us that Jesus reflects his Father.
18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. (John 1:18)
44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. (John 12:44-46)
9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? (John 14:9)
Hebrews 1:3 proclaims that the Son is the exact radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.
3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Heb. 1:3)
When we contemplate Jesus, we become more like him and reflect God’s image more clearly.
C.. In heaven and then new creation the image of God will be fully restored.
First Corinthians 15:39-44 teaches us that as we bear the image of humanity in Adam, so we shall bear the image of the heavenly one, Christ Jesus. The tense is in the future.
39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, 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. (1 Cor. 15:39-44)
First John 3:2 reiterates the same truth that we don’t know exactly how we will be like in heaven. The details have not been made known. The one truth is that we shall be like Christ, again the future tense.
2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. (1 John 2:2-3)
D.. Image of God and moral law
Humankind was originally free from compulsion, unhindered by the dominion of sin and could enjoy fellowship with God, be glad in tending the garden before the curse on the ground (and afterwards), and enjoy creation, and follow God’s will in acts of free decisions.
God has built humankind to obey his moral law, which is his gift to humanity. He likes it when humans follow it, because they take one step closer away from their sinful mammal nature and bring peace and cooperation between them. The greatest example is the Ten Commandments.
E.. Ancient culture and theology are difficult to sort out sometimes
However, when we have a mixture of culture and theology, we need to be careful about transferring the verses to our modern world, which has different customs, much like not transferring every cultural verse from the Old Covenant Scriptures to the world today. Moral law is universal and is not a custom, which is local and historical (e.g. the Ancient Near East or the Roman empire)
F.. No salvation by moral law
Be warned, however. Obeying moral law is insufficient for saving knowledge of God. A human can catch a glimpse of his Creator by obedience, but he needs help from God himself. That helps comes in Jesus Christ. Only by submitting to him can humans be holy and live like him in union with him. Humankind needs salvation in Christ and regeneration (new birth) caused by God’s Spirit.
VIII. Application
A.. Three aspects
Let’s boil down the above data to substantive, relational, and functional.
1.. Substantive
This can be seen as our essence. We are image bearers, and our substance or essence is the rational soul, which is God’s gift to us.
2. Relational
The second aspect is relational. God created humankind to be in relationship with him and other humans. We function best in community.
3. Function
The third aspect is how we take dominion over God’s creation, our function. God expects us to treat his creation with care and not allow the ecosystem to dominate us. We take steps, for example, to prepare for floods and hurricanes.
B.. Jesus is the exact representation of God.
For believers, we just focus on Jesus, the exact representation of God’s being.
3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Heb. 1:3)
We follow him and are headed towards the image of Christ.
C.. Our God-given dignity
You are made in the image of God. You have dignity. You have his glory. You have free will to a significant degree. Your life matters.
D.. Treating other people with respect
How you view and behave towards other humans matter. Let’s see them in the image of God.
E.. Warning against degradation
Do not waste your life by inking yourself or sleeping around or destroying your brain with drugs or alcohol, including marijuana.
E.. Forgiveness is available
If you have or are doing any of those things, you can genuinely repent and receive forgiveness from God, who gives it gladly.
F.. Now you live a new life in Christ.
You are born again. His Spirit comes into your mind and heart, and now you have power to overcome the power of sin. You stop doing those things (if you have tattoos, you can either leave them on or take them off—your born-again conscience and the Spirit’s leading is your guide).
G.. On your repentance, you can begin to truly reflect the image of God.
Now it’s time for you to reflect the image of God with saving knowledge.
H.. Fix your gaze and mind on Jesus.
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Col. 3:1-2)
Now let’s think or consider Jesus, so we can remain strong.
3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Heb. 12:2)
I.. Walk (live) in the Spirit
You can do this by walking in the Spirit, who helps you walk in holiness and righteousness.
24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Eph. 4:24)
J.. No cursing, but blessing
You can do this by not cursing humans, but by blessing them.
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. (Jas. 3:9-12).
K.. Be careful whom or what you worship.
We must not worship any man-made image—or even a pop star, but in some cultures, like Hinduism, real images of gods. But they must not be worshipped
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. (Exod. 20:4)
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. (Acts 17:29)
22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. (Rom. 1:22-23)
Leave behind all religions that do not center around Jesus.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
In this post I depended heavily on J. Rodman Williams, Renewal Theology, vol. 1, chapter 9, and Millard Erickson, Christian Theology, chapter 22.
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 