In Genesis, when God created man in the beginning, He did so in a unique manner. God formed humans in His image and likeness. He did this with the term bara, ברא .[1]
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. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them (Genesis 1:26-27, bold emphasis added).
So this verb is only used with God as the subject. God alone creates in this unique way. Humans are unique in that they have a direct connection with God through the image and likeness. The Hebrew terms are tselem and demuth. There have been numerous studies on the exact nature of the terms.[2] Some see variation and difference, or at least a distinction, between the words. Others view them as in Hebrew parallelism, thus considering them virtually synonymous. This is essentially correct. The question about the meaning and manner in which we exhibit the image is paramount.
What becomes increasingly clear as one takes in both the wide scope of the creation account of Genesis one, and the zeroing in on the creation of man in Genesis two is the contrast between man and the rest of the Created Order. Especially, in comparison to the animals, Man alone is made in God’s image and likeness. So what distinguishes mankind from the lesser forms of life (animals and plant life) ought to reveal that uniqueness. If this procedure is correct, then man’s rationality and ability for abstract thinking, man’s spiritual knowledge of the Creator, and his created gifts of righteousness, holiness, and integrity form the foundational components of the image of God. In the fall, man loses the essential likeness of the image, and as such becomes an enemy of God. Hereafter, people outside of Christ are characterized by corruption, injustice, and perverseness. They remain human (created beings) as they still have rationality and the capability of self-reflection, etc. Yet even these capacities are skewed by the noetic effects of the fall. The result is that man is now guilty and depraved from conception.[3] The full image of God is restored only in Christ, who is the image par excellence. We will exhibit this experientially only after the resurrection of the just.
The immaterial soul in Man is different from the soul in animals. Animals or brutes can infer only from the instincts provided in their created nature, in addition to their immediate experiences. Yet Humans are a cut above, we could say. There are passages in the Bible that show similarities between animals and humans, such as:
I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. 19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. 20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. 21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? 22 Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him? (Ecclesiastes 3:18-22).
But we see a contrast within the same book. He concludes the book with these penetrating words:
Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; 2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: 3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, 4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low; 5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: 6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. 7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. . . . Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil (12:1-7, 13-14, bold emphasis added).
Man must fear God. It is the man that is warned [?] throughout this book [and the entire Bible). It is man that is addressed and exhorted to live well before the watching world and especially before the gaze of the Almighty, who will render every person their rightful due. Animals are individual entities, but they are not persons. Animals have life that consists of the following: inferring from the environment, instinct in behavior, innate emotions and feelings, and the ingenious ability to mimic. But they are devoid of rationality, of linguistic potential, of abstract thought, of self-reflection, of thinking about non-entities, and of the knowledge of right and wrong. In short, animals are not made in the image and likeness of God. So, animals will not be judged by God for actions or motives. They are derived from God, but they are not accountable to God. Only men and angels are held responsible for their beliefs and behavior.
Man is made up of body and soul [or spirit] and is thereby a unified and composite being. There is a material and immaterial reality in the human makeup. Jesus made this clear when he spoke of not fearing the one who can kill only the external person. The text is as follows:
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows (Matthew 10:28-31, bold emphasis added).
According to Jesus, mankind is a dualistic being.[4] This entity is of more value than sparrows. This reinforces the discussion about the distinctness of humanity from everything else that God had made. Man is the crown jewel of God’s created activity.
Man alone has the privilege of being made after the image and likeness of God. But at present, as fallen beings, humans are devoid of the spiritual likeness of God’s image. Sin has reduced humans to totally depraved and guilty creatures. God intended to send Jesus Christ, His Son, who in His humanity is the perfection of the image of God, to undertake a wonderful redeeming work to restore God’s elect to the pristine position of once again reflecting the glories of our God and King. Only in Christ will the image and likeness of God be fully restored to the elect upon their resurrection from the dead.
[1] “בָּרָא vb. shape, create — Qal shape, fashion, create, always of divine activity, with acc. rei. 1. obj. heaven and earth; mankind; the host of heaven; heavens; ends of the earth; north and south; wind. 2. the individual man; the smith and the waster; Israel as a nation; the seed of Israel. 3. new conditions and circumstances: righteousness and salvation; darkess and evil; fruit of the lips; a new thing הֲדָשָׁה (a woman encompassing a man); cloud and flame over Zion. 4. of tranformations: a clean heart; new heaven and earth (in place of old); transformation of nature; with double acc. בורא ירושׁלם גילה transform Jerusalem into rejoicing.” Francis Brown, S.R. Driver, and Charles Briggs, Eds., The Abridged Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Based on the Lexicon of William Gesenius, Ed., Richard Whitaker (Princeton Theological Seminary, electronic edition).
[2] A helpful overview of these options is found in R. Larry Overstreet, “Man in the Image of God: A Reappraisal.” Paper Presented to the Evangelical Theological Society Meeting, San Antonio, TX (November 18, 2004), 1-21. Studies dealing with this subject include Anthony A. Hoekema, Created in God’s Image (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1994 [1986]), who sees the image retained by fallen man, and Herman Hoeksema, Knowing God and Man (Jenison, MI: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 2006), who believes that fallen man has completely lost the image of God in the Fall. However, Hoeksema affirms that “Even in his fallen condition, in which man possesses the image of God no more, he still reveals vestiges of that original image, traces of it that plainly testify he ought to know God rightly, to love him, and to serve him with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength. All of this plainly shows that man was originally created after the image of God.”
Herman Hoeksema. Knowing God and Man (Kindle Locations 1162-1165). Reformed Free Publishing Association. Kindle Edition, italics added).
[3] As Hoeksema noted: “Man no longer has, by his fallen nature, the life of fellowship with God. He is dead because the indispensable requisite for the possession and enjoyment of that true life is having the image of God: the knowledge of God, the living, spiritual knowledge of love, righteousness, and holiness. These qualities man lost in the fall. What is worse, they were corrupted in man into their very opposites: darkness, rebellion, iniquity, corruption, and enmity against God.” Herman Hoeksema, Knowing God and Man (Kindle Locations 1226-1229). Reformed Free Publishing Association. Kindle Edition. I am very sympathetic with Hoeksema’s position. Where I differ with him is in my conviction that rationality and abstract thought, even about non-existing entities, constitute an element of the image of God. See Ric Machuga, In Defense of the Soul: What it Means to be Human (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2002), 40-41, 64-79.
[4] James makes a similar observation in his letter: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26). Of course, James is dealing with a different issue here. But his analogy with the nature of humans as body and soul is clear, as the separation of the two at physical death shows that they are, indeed, necessarily united for life to exist. Once the spirit is gone from the body, the person is physically dead. Hence, the body sleeps. The spirit of a Christian goes to be with the Lord at physical death until it is reunited with the resurrected body on the last day.
Theodore Zachariades
