Made in God’s Image and Likeness: Meaning & Implications

Made in God’s Image and Likeness: Meaning and Implications

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

26 Then God said, “Let us make manh in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27) This is an astonishing text in which the trinitarian God purposes to make a different kind of being than had been created thus far—one that would image Him. Not be Him, but be His image and likeness.

Who are we and what are we? Why questions, as opposed to how questions, have haunted the landscape of my heart and brain ever since I can remember. What is our identity? God answers that for us, very clearly. Since we are made in God’s image, then we cannot know who we are or what we are without knowing who/what God is first. That is one reason why we looked at Him first in our study. As Calvin noted in the first pages of the Institutes—the knowledge of God and of ourselves are inextricably connected at a thousand different points.

There is a crisis today in our culture re purpose and identity. Think about: ask the average person on the street what they would say if you asked the purpose of life, and who they are? If we jettison the living God, then it comes at a very high price; human dignity and purpose. So our country is becoming increasingly barbarous—slaughtering the unborn.

Perhaps the hardest book I ever read was Jean-Paul Sartre’s book ‘Being and Nothingness.” In it he stated that existence precedes essence. Think about that term for a moment…..(you, me, chair, all facts are brute meaningless facts—non-interpreted). We are meaningless. All facts are meaningless intrinsically—until we choose, in act of courage, to give them meaning or essence. In other words, there is nothing outside of us to give essence or meaning to our lives. On the other hand you have the other existentialist Albert Camus asserting that the only question remaining is should we commit suicide? So, the credo of the secular humanist or pagan is this: I originated in meaninglessness and am destined for meaninglessness, but in-between these 2 poles of meaninglessness, my life it is magically imbued with essence or meaning. Talk about leap of faith, and absurd. That is the sad situation of modern man. If we are but cosmic accidents, personal warts on the face of an impersonal universe, then our origin and destiny are equally insignificant. No basis for human dignity or worth. The 20th century is a murderous testimony to the inevitable fruit of that kind of thinking: man is the measure of all things. We have become zeros-less than zeroes.

Our origin, destiny and meaning are tied to God. He declares that we have essence or meaning-value and dignity. God alone has intrinsic dignity and value, but He has assigned us extrinsic value and dignity; we are made in His image. What does that mean?

Some have suggested (some RC theologians) that image and likeness refer to different things but the structure of the Hebrew indicates that they are synonymous, and the bible uses them often interchangeably. What does imago dei mean? Tons of ink has been spilt over this issue!

The short answer, but I think still profound, of what it means to be made in God’s image is that we image Him! Isn’t that what images do? Images express likeness to something or someone else—it mirrors or expresses what the original is like. 100 yards away from my apartment is a national Military Park commemorating the battle of Guilford Courthouse, and especially General Greene, whom our city of Greensboro was named after. Greene was Washingtons brilliant leader of southern campaign of revolutionary War. Ever since I was a kid we used to go see this enormous image of him on horseback—still there. This image of Greene is meant to portray or represent Greene…his dignity and honor and brilliance a military strategist. Images of all kinds of people that are important are all over the place.

So, as God’s image we are to image Him to the world. We were created with that express intent or purpose—at heart of our humanness and identity/purpose. We are to mirror to the world what God is like—His holiness and love. Walking and talking images, and in our behavior and words we are to express His character to all the rest of His creation. So that we adorn the gospel—people look at us and can say: that is what God is like. We mirror to the animals, the angels, other people-- God.

We do not exist for ourselves but for God—and He designed us with unique and incredible dignity.

Since we are Gods image bearers may be one reason for second commandment—there is already one image of Him, and that is us, and to be only us—which shows our dignity!

Be more specific: We are like Him in some ways or analogous. Though He is Creator and we are creatures, we alone are made in His image. God is holy, creative, rational, communicative, gregarious (relational), a will. We are to mirror to the world His holiness, for example. Likewise, though we cannot create from nothing, as His image bearers we can create beauty—whether in home, garden, or on canvas, we mirror Gods creativity when we create and this pleases Him.. All the traits I mentioned we share with Him which make up our image bearing.

In a word, God is personal—Infinite/Personal God. We may not be able to verbally express what person is, but we know instinctively what a person or personality is. And we are finite/personal….infinite/personal.

Immediately after the verses describing our being made in God’s image we are said to be His under-shepherds in ruling and caring for this earth. We are to reflect God’s righteous rule over the cosmos in how we build culture. That is crucial aspect of our image-of-Godness.

This view of the image of God is contrary to a platonic view of spirituality that is common in bible believing churches in which there is a spiritual compartment and a non-spiritual compartment. Plato taught that the soul was all that counted and the body was the prison house of the soul. Matter was inferior to spirit. We must resist this super spirituality, platonic tendencies which dehumanizes the whole man. But true spirituality sees Christ as King and Lord over the totality of life: the arts, government, academics, every day life. It also means that of all people, Christians should be the most sensitive to environmental issues; the most excited about the humanities and sciences. Knowing that we do have dominion over it as the secular environemntlaists deny, we are still to not recklessly rape Gods good earth in advancing culture.

That we shall live forever is perhaps another way we image God, though he alone is immortal. Our soul is not intrinsally immortal as Plato taught—we live forever only bc God decreed so. Our soul is not made of intrinsically immortal stuff.

Notice that it is the intra trinitarian communication in which we are discussed as being made in “our” image. So, as a communicative triune God, what we say, and how say it, is a salient aspect of our image of Godness. Language and the ability to communicate is an expression of it.

Like God, we are rational, creative, communicators, have spiritual side—so our image of Godness is rich. Some have also suggested that since were created with bodies and will have bodies forever, then they in some sense reflect God’s image as well—though God is spiritual…but the glorified Incarnate Christ has body. Fearfully and wonderfully made—images God’s wisdom in our bodies.

Note too, that the male and female comprise God’s image—we need both to complete this image. This further enriches the beauty and multi-faceted nature of God’s image.

We are told that God Himself brought Eve to Adam and in the garden chapel it was like the Father walked his daughter down the holy aisle to join hands with her husband. Marriage officiated by God Himself.

Last segment we talked about the consequences of the Fall, in which ghastly things happened. The image of God in us was severely tarnished. Our ability to mirror God’s holiness has been greatly affected; our hearts, minds, and wills have all been adversely affected. The mirror is fogged.

I had mentioned that the Fall has much explanatory power re the world and ourselves. A powerful example is how the Creation, image of God, and the Fall alone can adequately explain the paradox of mankind; the simultaneous Majesty and misery of mankind. The history of the world bears this out over and over: breathtaking expressions of our singular nobility/potential for such beauty on every level, including relationally. At the same time, we are capable of the most horrendous inhumanity to man..or on every day level, just our pettiness and selfishness. We are a study in contrasts: majesty and misery!! When we say the bible is true we mean that not just in spiritual matters but it alone expresses and explains the complexities of the world we live in-including ourselves. The bible is really true.

Note that biblically, though we are the pinnacle of creation, we are not the goal of creation. The last and most sacred day is the 7th day which focuses on God. The sixth day is penultimate, but the ultimate day is the seventh. Perhaps that explains, at least in part, the meaning of 666. It elevates part of creation/man as the ultimate, raised to third power, which in Jewish thought is highest way of accenting something. Holy, holy, holy…God is dethroned in this antichrist scheme and mankind is elevated as the measure of all things. Imaging not God but Satan. I think that is the essence of 666 perhaps. And some person will come that personifies this satanic scheme. But we must remember we don’t exist for ourselves but to mirror God.

There are 2 extremes regarding the results of the fall and the image of God in us: some virtually deny that it affected us at all (like modern day Pelagians or paganism), and others say that the image was totally destroyed. We shall deal the first error in depth later, but re the latter the bible is clear that we are still made in His image—Gen. 9:6; 1 Cor. 11:7; James 3:9
6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image. (Gen. 9:6)
9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. (James 3:17)
We are still humans, and the goal of redemption is to restore our true humanity—in all its earthy, lovely splendor.The goal of salvation is degree by degree restore God’s image in us.

The restoration of the fullness of the image of God in us is being accomplished by Christ. He is as Hebrews 1:3 says :”the brightness of His glory and the express image of His Person.”

Sanctiifcation is the restoration of our true humanness; as His image in all its rich fullness is restored degree by degree.

1. God created human beings—both male and female—in His image and likeness
2. There is some analogy between God and mankind that makes communication between them possible
3. Human beings, like God, are moral agents with the faculties of mind and will and creativity.
4. Humans are called to have dominion over the earth-subdue and build culture but not rape it.
5. In the fall, the image of God in us was marred
6. Christ is the perfect image of God, and he is restoring us to the fullness of the image of God.

Mark Hunnemann is the author of Seeing Ghosts Through God's Eyes: A Worldview Analysis of Earthbound Spirits. It's also available in eBook format.

Demons vs. You -- You Don't Stand a Chance, Part 1

In this five part series blog I will cover and inform all of the readers on an important aspect in the realm of spiritual warfare.  In part one I will layout the fundamental aspects of having a balanced aspect when it comes to demons.  So here we jump into this important view that Christians should attain is a balanced view of demons and how to defeat them.

Those of you who are not Christians or don’t accept God stand ZERO chance of defeating a demon. Therefore a balanced view of demons is necessary for good spiritual warfare.  Now one might expect this blog to deviate over into an in-depth discussion of spiritual warfare and how we as Christians need not be afraid of the devil.

It is a dangerous lack of fear which is causing many souls to unwisely deviate into very terrible traps of torment. Therefore to start one needs to be afraid of demons—very afraid.  On another level a person needs to be fearless as well.  Now both of these mentalities need to exist at the same time and for different reasons. If you drop either one of these mentalities, you will become spiritually vulnerable.  So let’s start with why you need to be afraid of demons.

Demons are not human and have never been a living being.   People however do not understand exactly what they are as no human does.  Yet demons are experts on the subject of humans, including you the reader.  Demons have had a much further head start against you and me.  They have been studying, testing and defeating the human race since the beginning of Creation.  This sober fact should hit you like a freight train that most souls end up in Hell when they die.

So therefore what does this tell you the reader?  This should scream to you from the mountain tops about how confident demons are when it comes to defeating humans.  They are quite cocky, and with good reason they have a right to be!  Every demon is much like a military general who hardly ever lose a battle.  Therefore these large mega churches give a Christian attendee a false sense of confidence.  Just know that the unsaved far outnumber the saved in this world.  Even within the high ranks of Christianity, demons have many souls in their service.

As the reader of this blog you need to get an understanding of demonic power in perspective that you can fathom. Imagine if you can trying to stand on the surface of the sun which is liquid molten.  Now I know that is hard to do but try to imagine this for a second.  How long do you think you would be able to last on liquid molten?  What if you were suited up in some protective special equipment before you got shoved out of the spacecraft how do you think you would fare?  Can you think of any man made material that can possibly protect you from 9,000 degrees plus of heat?

Now even if you could stand on the surface for a few seconds, you would drop down below the surface where the estimated temperature would be about a cool 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. Now when it comes to dealing with demons, we as Christians suit ourselves up with special prayers, proper bible verses, special blessed oil, holy water and we carry large blessed crucifixes.  At that point people think they are ready to take on the powers of Hell and those people are delusional.

It is God and only God, the Alpha and Omega who can and will protect a person from demons.  It is God alone, not God along with our assistance and certainly not you with God’s assistance.  In our minds we feel that we can see pictures of ourselves prodding the Holy Spirit into action with our faith filled prayers.

Let me state this, God is not a donkey that we must poke into motion with sticks.  God does what God wants to do and how God wants to do it, end of story.  So let me be crystal clear, no human being helps God exorcise demons out of an afflicted person. It is God who drives them out all by his will.  All the anointed oil and fervent praying is totally powerless because it is God who does this act.

Many Christians who have done deliverances or exorcisms have become quite delusional when it comes to spiritual warfare. Too often these Christians view themselves as leading the charge against the armies of Satan while the Holy Spirit brings up the rear.  What extremely flawed reasoning is occurring as this puts those Christians in line for brutal defeat.

In reality, it is God who must lead every battle against demons.  If we fail to allow God first there is no battle, there’s only the Christians who get mowed down by the demons.  Now how hard is it for a person to win an arm wrestling contest with an infant?

That type of contest is not a challenge that is a joke. So when Christians try to come against demons on their own, the demons are laughing at our senselessness. The only reason this person could walk away in one piece would be due to the Holy Spirit rushing in.  It is the Holy Spirit that snatches people from dangers of demons much like a mother snatching her child out of the path of a speeding car on a road.  Sadly, many of us refuse to witness God’s intervening hand and thus we walk away thinking “we sure showed those demons a thing or two.”

Understand that you are no match for demons.  This is step one in learning proper spiritual warfare skills.  So then should you be afraid of the power they possess? Absolutely.  Any person should be afraid of demons as much as being afraid of a rabid lion which just surged into your afternoon picnic.  A demon can destroy a person to shreds without even trying. Thus a person is no match for them so you need to stay away.   Therefore don’t go playing around demonic strongholds and think you won’t be hurt!

In our next blog we will further discuss demons vs. you and how you don’t stand a chance! Here's the link to part 2.

Rev. Bradley Luoma

The Lordship Attributes in a Biblical Worldview

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

"Turn fuzzy and dull into clear and bright..... no matter what conditions you are in, you will see clearer." Such are the words advertising some "night-glasses" in an email I received today. This reminds me of the purpose of pursuing a biblical worldview. A worldview is the framework from which we view reality and make sense of life and the world. The more your worldview beliefs align with the Word of God, the more the distortions, fuzziness, and dullness in your perception of reality will give way to a clearer and brighter perception of reality AS IT REALLY IS! A worldview is like spectacles through which we view God, the universe, and our relationship to both. Clear and bright spectacles which illumines the entire landscape.

We live in a post-Christian culture...one in which there has been a radical paradigm shift, which is just another way of saying that our culture has experienced a radical change at the worldview level. George Barna discovered through polls that very few  bible-believing Christians have even an inkling of a biblical worldview. What we are doing in this series is extremely important and will equip you with a tool for discernment that very few pastors have. This series can and should change your life...and I find that exciting!

Last time I mentioned that our beliefs about God (Ultimate Reality) is by far the most crucial aspect of our worldview...it  effects everything else. Let me put it this way: suppose there is a house in which there is extreme paranormal activity. Two people investigate, at different times,this "paranormally alive" house. They see basically the same phenomena but one believes FIRMLY that Ultimate Reality is the God of the bible, and the other believes that Ultimate Reality is matter/energy. As Thomas Kuhn pointed out in his ground-breaking book, "The Structure off Scientific Revolution" (1962)....how one CONCEIVES reality will affect how they PERCEIVE that reality. According to Kuhn (and Scripture) these two investigators are steeped in two radically different theories of reality, which will cause them to view the same phenomena differently...THEY WILL SEE DIFFERENTLY. If this is not taken into consideration, the two investigators (and us) will end up talking past each other. In addition, the two will have radically different expectations of what they will encounter once inside.

One way of summarizing the bible is thus--the OT teaches that God (Yahweh) is Lord, and the NT teaches that Jesus is Lord. Since the nature of God is so crucial to laying the foundation for a biblical worldview, let us look at THREE LORDSHIP ATTRIBUTES. (control, authority, and presence). When we say that God/Jesus is Lord, these three attributes help us to understand the richness of what that pregnant phrase means...."Jesus is Lord!"

God is Lord--control. The bible sees God as Absolute or Infinite Personality. His tri-personality sets Him apart from other false monotheistic religions. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have been in loving communication for backwards eternity, and will be forever. Hence, God did not need to create due to lonliness. But the Trinity is absolutely sovereign over every molecule in His cosmos...the Earth being the palace of the Great King.

He has sovereignly decreed everything that has occurred and is in control of all things.. (Eph.1:11; Acts 17:26) We cannot break His sovereign will (which is  enshrouded in mystery) but we can and do break His moral and affective will all the time.

God is so much in absolute control that He can bend the wicked actions of wicked men (or demons) to accomplish His will. The most obscene, unjust, and evil act in history was the murder of the sinless Lord Jesus, and yet the Lord used it to bring about the most wondrous display of His love and holiness. "...this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men."(Acts 2:23; cf  4:27-28) His control establishes human responsibility...Astronomers estimate that there are 10 billion trillion stars in the universe. In Isaiah 40:25-26 the Lord is said to have created every one and has a name for each.."...because of the greatness of His might not one is missing." Behold your God!

God has infinite power and knowledge. He controls and sustains every inch of the natural and the supernatural realms.(Col. 1:16-17) From the smallest sub-atomic particle to the  nations and  entire universe, God ordained from all eternity all the has or will occur. If He merely "permitted" some things, then He could not deliver on Romans 8:28. In SOME SENSE God is in control of everything. Every thought of Satan was decreed from eternity past...just as the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world. The Lord is particularly concerned that we know that He created the heavens and the earth, and is in control of the flow of human history--which can be summarized...Creation--Fall--Redemption. God is infinitely more powerful than Satan and in absolute control over his every action. He is a consuming fire....Our God reigns!

Lordship as authority--when Jesus ascended and sat down at the right hand of the Father, He did not sit in a lounge chair; He sits upon the throne. As Lord, that means He has full authority over all aspects of His creation. In what we call the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus says, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me...." His Person to person communication in the bible has divine authority that creates absolute ethical obligation in us. His Word has normative authority, which must be recognized by individuals and nations alike (Psalms 1, 2). We prevail over the demonic in Jesus' name because He is the Divine Messiah who wrought our redemption in order that the captives might be set free. Darkness flees from the name of Jesus because His name entails all of who Jesus IS and DID. Behold your God!

Lordship as presence--the movement of the drama of redemption is towards "dancing Adam's steps backwards." (Rom. 5; 1 Cor.15) As Adam walked with the Lord in the Garden, the goal of redemption was Immanuel--God with us. In the Incarnation, God the Son took on our humanity, forever. To say that God is Lord, means that He dwells intimately with us.In the same text regarding the Great Commission, Jesus tell us, "And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." The Holy Spirit indwells all true believers. As His beloved sons and daughters, He has promised to never leave or forsake us. (Heb. 13:5)  In heaven we shall see Him face-to-face, and all tears shall be wiped away. Behold your God!            

What does God as Lord mean for our understanding of the paranormal and "trapped spirits"? Consider our two investigators. The one with a worldview with matter/energy as Ultimate Reality will expect to see "residual energy" displays as well as intelligent human spirits. With his blurred glasses, that is precisely what he will "see". (what we conceive is what we will perceive) However, the investigator who fears the Lord, will know that "residual energy" is utterly repugnant to God's laws of science (please see my series on this topic), and his clear spectacles will enable him to discern the presence of supernatural evil in the form of demons mimicking the dead. He will know that the notion of trapped spirits does violence to a biblical worldview in a thousand different ways. It vandalizes the control, authority, and presence of the Lord, and diminishes the perfection of the singular honor and dignity of the Person and Work of Christ.

He will know that Jesus is Lord--His power, authority, and presence. The notion of trapped spirits is an insult and dishonoring to the absolute control of God over all His creation. His authority, as expressed in His normative Word, commands him not to attempt necromancy..and to realize that all supernatural events are not from God. Lastly, the Lordship of God in His presence, reminds this investigator that God is our ultimate environment, and not a host of foul spirits. Wherever he goes, God IS...and in Jesus name, the miserable shadow figures shrink back into the shadows. This investigator realizes that God is God....that Jesus is Lord in His control, authority, and presence. He is comforted and emboldened by the fact that God is nearer and dearer to us than our own breath.