Are We Really Made In God’s Image?
WE have heard and read that the human animal is the only creature made in the Creator’s image. If this is true we must give space for this truth to shine with all its radiance through understanding. Logic teaches that growth can only happen within a specific context. The contextual prerequisite here is an alignment. If the human is to grasp this truth and allow it to move from knowledge to experience, then there must be a commonality between He and us which we can discern. As we see Him, so must others see Him, in us. We are His reflection even though we are muddied and fragmented. This is why it is written, “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light (Ps 36). And again we read, “For In him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17)”. Plainly the alignment we seek is attractively taught by A.W. Pink:
THERE ARE THREE THINGS TOLD US IN SCRIPTURE concerning the nature of God. First, “God is spirit” (John 4:24). In the Greek there is no indefinite article, and to say “God is a spirit” is most objectionable, for it places Him in a class with others. God is “spirit” in the highest sense. Because He is “spirit” He is incorporeal, having no visible substance. Had God a tangible body, He would not be omnipresent, He would be limited to one place; because He is “spirit” He fills heaven and earth. Secondly, “God is light” (I John 1:5), which is the opposite of darkness. In Scripture “darkness” stands for sin, evil, death, and “light” for holiness, goodness, life. “God is light” means that He is the sum of all excellency. Thirdly, “God is love” (I John 4:8). It is not simply that God “loves,” but that He is Love itself. Love is not merely one of His attributes, but His very nature.
By now we should know that humans made in the image of God does not have a scintilla of correlation with the physical appearance, because the only God, reigns as Creator of all. Therefore, He has no use or need of organs like eyes or a tongue to speak. His physical appearance goes beyond our human comprehension. To be made in God’s image means we possess an identical nature. Just as all animals eat and sleep and die, because of their identical nature. The nature between He and us, is the treasure and blessing and our pride. Some have said it is our image which sent Lucifer spiralling into the envious Satan he is today. We must toil and sweat and kill our flesh so that we can ensure our attainment of our Godlike nature. This nature is waiting like a rock, to be found by us, for its purpose lies in being found.
So what does all this mean for the reader and writer? The LORD desires no man’s subjection to ignorance. Since we now have access to knowledge and wisdom we must use that knowledge to feed our Spirit, oil our light, and love in a way so nothing is loved, except what should be loved. The LORD, who cannot lie, promises that if we conform to His image, we will live a good life—one that is beyond our greatest pleasures and desires and imaginations. The answer to the question posed above is yes, generally, however, to understand the answer specifically will come not through the intellect but through a birth conceived of consistent feeding, oiling, and loving.
“Our salvation was framed by the providence of God that we might know this truth and be able to act upon it.”
