The Image of God

MEMORY SELECTION: “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 soul.” —Geneses 2:7

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Genesis 1:26, 27; 2:7, 18-25

ADAM, of course, was not created in the physical image of God, who is a great spirit being, but rather he was given mental and moral qualities that were godlike, and suited to the perfect body of flesh that was his.

It was evidently God’s purpose to create a perfect habitat for perfect man, who was the highest form of animal life.

In Genesis 1:26 we read, “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.” And in verse 28 he continues, “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish (fill, RSV) the earth, and subdue it.”

God placed the man and the woman that he had formed in the specially prepared place of the earth called the Garden of Eden. The evident plan was that Adam and Eve would propagate a perfect race of people who were capable of living forever, and as the population grew, the borders of the Garden would expand until ultimately the whole earth would be filled and subdued.

But it is God’s requirement that all of his creation must conform to set rules and laws, and man was not excepted. He was required to be obedient in order to maintain his perfection and life. In Genesis 2:17 we read, “For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” We are aware of the story, that Adam and Eve did eat of the fruit, and as a result they were no longer in the image and likeness of God. Moreover, the privilege of life was taken from them, the dying process began to work in our first parents, and the sentence of death and imperfection was passed on to all their progeny. “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.”—Rom. 5:12

God in his foreknowledge knew the results of that trial in the Garden of Eden. The Apostle Paul, in Hebrews 2:6-9,14, states the matter so very concisely and completely.

The Revelator states that Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. In other words, it was not God’s design that man should be forever cast off, but in due time he sent his Son to take Adam’s place in death that the sentence of death might be lifted from Adam and his progeny.—I Cor. 15:22; Rom. 5:6; I Tim. 2:6

But the glory of the perfection of Adam while in the Garden of Eden will not be restored to mankind simply by lifting adamic condemnation from them. So God has provided that there will be a time of restoration, a time when all of Adam’s offspring will be brought back from the grave and once again be given an opportunity to be obedient to God’s laws. This is called by the Apostle Peter “times of restitution of all things.”—Acts 3:19-26; 4:1,2

There will be two major differences between the first and the second opportunities for man to be obedient. During the times of restitution (Christ’s kingdom) mankind will have had the benefit of experience. They will know what the results of disobedience are, and they will for the first time experience the blessings of obedience. With these two alternatives fresh in mind they will for the first time be able to make an intelligent decision.

The second difference, or advantage, will be that Satan will be bound for the entire period of the thousand years of Christ’s kingdom, so that he can deceive the people no more.—Rev. 20:1-3

Those who are obedient and have God’s law written in their hearts will once again be in the image and likeness of God and will inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world.—Matt. 25:34

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