Gen. 1:26--"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness." 9:6--"For in the image of God made he man." What is
meant by the terms _image_ and _likeness_? _Image_
means the shadow or outline of a figure, while _likeness_
denotes the resemblance of that shadow to the figure. The two
words, however, are practically synonymous. That man was made in
the image and likeness of God is fundamental in all God's dealings
with man (1 Cor. 11:7; Eph. 4:21-24; Col. 3:10; James 3:9). We
may express the language as follows: Let us make man in our image
to be our likeness.
a) The Image of God Does Not Denote Physical Likeness.
God is Spirit; He does not have parts and passions as a man.
(See under Doctrine of God; The Spirituality of God, pp. 19, 20).
Consequently Mormon and Swedenborgian views of God as a great
human are wrong. Deut. 4:15 contradicts such a physical view of
God (see p. 19, b, c). Some would infer from Psa. 17:15--"I shall
be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness," that in some remote
way, a physical likeness is suggested. The R. V., however, changes
somewhat the sense of this verse, and reads: "I shall be satisfied,
when I awake, with _beholding_ thy form." See also Num. 12:8,
R. V. It is fair to believe, however, that erectness of posture,
intelligence of countenance, and a quick, glancing eye characterized
the first man. We should also remember that the manifestations in
the Old Testament, and the incarnation must throw some light upon
this subject (see p. 20).
b) Nor Are the Expressions "Image" and "Likeness" Exhausted When
We Say That They Consisted in Man's Dominion Over Nature, and the
Creation of God in General.
Indeed the supremacy conferred upon man presupposed those spiritual
endowments, and was justified by his fitness, through them, to
exercise it.
c) Positively, We Learn from Certain Scriptures in What This Image
and Likeness Consisted.
Eph. 4:23, 24--"And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that
ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness
and true holiness (B. V., holiness of truth)." Col. 3:10--"And have
put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image
of him that created him." It is clear from these passages that the
image of God consists in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness;
moral, not physical likeness.
d) The Original Man Was Endowed with Intellectual Faculties.
He had sufficient intelligence to give names to the animals as
they were presented before him (Gen. 2:19, 20). Adam had not only
the power of speech, but the power of reasoning and thought in
connection with speech. He could attach words to ideas. This is not
the picture, as evolution would have us believe, of an infantile
savage slowly groping his way towards articulate speech by imitation
of the sounds of animals.
e) The Original Man Possessed Moral and Spiritual Faculties.
Consider the moral test in Genesis 3. Adam had power to resist or
to yield to moral evil. Sin was a volitional thing. Christ, the
second Adam, endured a similar test (Matt. 4).
From all this it is evident that man's original state was not one
of savagery. Indeed there is abundant evidence to show that man
has been degraded from a very much higher stage. Both the Bible
and science agree in making man the crowning work of God, and that
there will be no higher order of beings here on the earth than man.
We must not forget that while man, from one side of his nature,
is linked to the animal creation, he is yet supra-natural--a being
of a higher order and more splendid nature; he is in the image
and likeness of God. Man has developed not _from_ the ape,
but _away from_ it. He never was anything but potential man.
"No single instance has yet been adduced of the transformation of
one animal species into another, either by natural or artificial
selection; much less has it been demonstrated that the body of the
brute has ever been developed into that of the man. The links that
should bind man to the monkey have not been found. Not a single
one can be shown. None have been found that stood nearer the monkey
than the man of today."--_Agassiz_.