THE STORY OF MAN FROM THE BIBLE

God determined to make man like Himself, “in His own image and likeness.” (Genesis 1:26-27) What would that likeness be? What could it be? God is an invisible spirit, and man has a very visible body of flesh and bones. It is hard to imagine that any similarity would be possible, but God can do all things. He made the first man like Himself just as He said He would.

Christians have disagreed sharply as to the nature of this likeness, although most of them, by far, the great majority of them, follow the teaching of a fourth century theologian named Augustine; they are sure that man’s original likeness to God was his holiness. God was — and still is -- holy; the man-creature would also be holy; he would be absolutely sinless. Moreover, God intended that man remain holy, but, alas! he sinned, so they believe that he lost his likeness to God. He was no longer “in God’s image” but became a fallen creature, a sinner by birth and, was, therefore, unable to obey God’s commandments.

A correct interpretation of every portion of God’s

word is important, but for this account it is especially crucial; it affects the interpretation of many important passages which follow, and it introduces the reader to both God and man. If God’s design of man allowed His principal creature to fail immediately, we must doubt His wisdom. His creative work was faulty. If man is as weak as most Christians believe he is, then constant failure must be expected. Obedience ceases to be important, for everybody will sin constantly. And, finally, God must be a very indulgent Being, for He apparently overlooks their failings, or they would not be Christians – and they rarely doubt that they are.

I have come to believe that man’s likeness to God is not his original holiness. There is no statement in the Bible declaring it. The idea originated with a theologian, not God. God’s holiness is unique. All that He does is right. Man is righteous only when he obeys God word. God is above His commandments. He says, for example, in Deuteronomy 32:39, “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal.” No man can choose to do such things.

We will all be transformed to be just like Yeshua. We will not be He, but just like He is. We do not know exactly what this will be, but that is just part of the wonder to be revealed.

IMO:

This is fairly simple, and is the FIRST REVELATION of the Holy Trinity.

Let US make MAN in OUR image..............

Paul shows this in 1 Thessalonians, Chapter 5:

23) And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is a Triune being......and, in His image, man is a triune being.........

That likeness would be both physical, spiritual, and moral. The Son of God took human form in the Old Testament as "the Angel of the LORD" as well as "the Son of Man". He took human form as Jesus of Nazareth in the New Testament. And we are to resemble Him.

At the same time, even though God the Father is Spirit, He is shown as having the "likeness" of a Man in the books of Ezekiel and Daniel. And in fact He resembles the Son in His glorified state in those visions.

That likeness would be both physical, spiritual, and moral. The Son of God took human form in the Old Testament as "the Angel of the LORD" as well as "the Son of Man". He took human form as Jesus of Nazareth in the New Testament. And we are to resemble Him.
My comment:
True, we are to seek to be righteous like Him as much as is possible, always! I Peter 1:16. And in the matter of comparing our appearances with that of God, it is at least it is clear to me that God made us in many ways like Himself. But I wouldn't say in His exact likeness, at least morally, since God can't sin, while humans and angels have been capable of sinning. It also appears to me that God doesn't have a fleshly body, as we humans have. Though we may look much like how He looks.
John 4:24
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
KJV
Luke 24:39
39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
KJV
I don't know what scripture you are thinking of, that calls God by the word, "angel' - though I know vaguely that there are some in the scriptures. I could look it up later more.
The Open Bible online, is a handy site I often use to look up Bible verses on subjects. Here's some from there on the subject of God's sinlessness and inability to sin;
1 John 3:5 ESV
You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.
Romans 8:3 ESV / 84 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
My comment: Notice how "flesh" here is shown to be weak against resisting sin?
James 1:13 ESV
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
Romans 3:23 ESV / 55 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
You said:
At the same time, even though God the Father is Spirit, He is shown as having the "likeness" of a Man in the books of Ezekiel and Daniel. And in fact He resembles the Son in His glorified state in those visions.
My reply;
Maybe you mean Ezekiel, chapters 10, 41 & 47, and Daniel
Dan 8:15
15 And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.
KJV
Dan 10:5-6
5 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:
6 His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.
KJV

I agree with you! That passage in Genesis is one good one to use to explain how though God is one being, He has parts. And the passage in I Thessalonians, shows that each human being also has parts to himself: body, soul and spirit.

That's true! We won't be Him, and He is the only God there is. But yes, the scriptures indicate we will be much like Him in the hereafter - that is in heaven.

It goes so far to say we will be just as He but not He.

True, but it can't mean to be like God in all respects, strictly speaking. Since we can't be Gods - and there is only one God. And God can't sin, while angels and humans have shown themselves to be capable of sinning. However, it's true that we will be helped to keep free of all sin when we get to heaven. And in fact, no one who sins will be allowed to stay in heaven.

Image of God is likeness.... inside qualities not mirror image. God is not a man .

The faithless world turns that upside down and make men as gods in form of man. God has no form .

Acts14: 11 When the people saw what Paul did, they shouted in their own Lycaonian language. They said, “The gods have come down to us in the form of humans!”

With all due respect, this is what I have always derived from what is written. I would never presume to be just like He, and never ever think of myself as being as He in the Godhead. That would be the work of the enemy, for that is what he thought he would be.

There is one throne in heaven, and one who sits on that throne, which is the throne of God and the Lamb, God in the glorified body of the man Christ Jesus.

Jesus at the right hand of God means that He exalted the man Christ Jesus to exercise the throne of power for He is our mediator until His enemies are conquered, then the Son shall cease being at the right hand that God may be all in all.

Jesus told Philip if he has seen Him, he has seen the Father, and the words that He speaks are not His own, but the Father that dwells in Him, He does the works.

The only person we will see in heaven is Jesus, and if you have seen Him then you have seen the Father.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and without Him was not anything made that was made.

In the beginning was the plan of God to come in the future in flesh, and that plan was with God before He laid down the foundation of the world, and that plan was God manifest in flesh, and without that plan God would of not created anything that He created, for Jesus is the reason creation is successful, eternal life, and to judge the angels and saints.

Jesus is the beginning of creation although He was not born until 4000 years later.

All things were created from God, but created by Jesus Christ for God had the plan to come in the future in flesh before He started creation.

Adam was made in the image of God.

Adam was made in the figure of Him to come who is Christ.

The image of God is the image of Christ, an innocent nature in flesh, which Adam and Eve fell out of that image, but it was restored by Christ, and all who have the Spirit are in that image.

The saints are in the image of God like the man Christ Jesus is in the image of God, but Jesus is the express image of God for He is the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and it pleased the Father that in Him all fulness should dwell, where the saints have partial attributes.

The man Christ Jesus has a glorified body now, and God will shine out of the glorified body of the man Christ Jesus and light the New Jerusalem.

And all saints will have a glorified body like the man Christ Jesus.

Jesus will be the visible relationship to the saints for all eternity.

Myrtle trees said

God determined to make man like Himself, “in His own image and likeness.” (Genesis 1:26-27) What would that likeness be? What could it be? God is an invisible spirit, and man has a very visible body of flesh and bones. It is hard to imagine that any similarity would be possible, but God can do all things. He made the first man like Himself just as He said He would.


In Gen 1: 26-27 we read, And God said, "Let us make man in our own 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. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them." (old KJV). We can deduce from this that:

1. Man has a nature similar to God's nature
2. Man is a reflection of God
3. God is our substance.

Jesus tells us in John 4:24 that God is a Spirit. He is invisible, immortal, eternal, infinite, unchangeable, infallible, Limitless as the bible tells us.
John 3:6 tells us that those born of the Spirit is spirit. It follows then that, as God's offspring, we are "spirit". If you observe in John 3:6, the first Spirit is in capital letter "S" while the latter is in small letter "s" signifying that though we are spirit, we are not God but his children with his nature and characteristics which we have in measure until we grow into the measure of the stature of Christ. ---- until we become Christ like and reflect his fullness on earth as Jesus exemplified to us.

God's nature is not different from his character, attitude, and behavior. He lives and manifests his nature. God is holy and therefore there is no falsehood in him. He dwells only in holiness and manifests only perfection. 1 John tells us that God is light and therefore there is no darkness in him. As his image and likeness, we are made of this light. We dwell in it, therefore, it is in our nature to daily portray or reflect this light as his children. Jesus tells us that we are the light of the world. Sin is an aberration to this light and to our nature as children of God. Everyone that does righteousness dwells in this light. To walk in it, we must rise above the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life.

God is Love. And we are made in this love. we dwell in it. It is our primary duty to demonstrate it in our character. As St John said, love is more than words. it is in actions. it is giving and not getting. it is unconditional and neither knows any enemy nor offense. God gave us example of this brand of love by sending his only begotten son into the world to die for us so that we can live. And his son exemplified this love by his life of sacrifice and service. It is making sacrifice for the other person , irrespective of our perception of the person. It calls for humility and meekness. Jesus says learn of me for I am lowly and meek.

God is life and the source of all life. Remove God as our substance or essence, we are nothing. Therefore, life in God is the measure of the quality of our life on earth. Jesus gave us an understanding of God's quality of life and showed us by example how to live this life on earth.
We are God's reflection on earth. Jesus says of himself, the son can do nothing of himself but what he sees the father do, for what things so ever he does, these also does the son likewise. The same applies to us as God's offspring. Our life on earth should be a true reflection of God's quality of life, love and the light which he radiates and made us with.

As God's image and likeness, our nature lies in spiritual qualities that cannot be seen with the physical eyes or touched with hands but can only be felt when manifested and our duty is to ensure that this nature is in congruence with our personality, character and behavior all the time. Jesus confirms this by telling us to call no man on earth our father for one is our father which is in heaven for our spiritual heritage is our only true identity. In other words, our true nature consists of the God qualities we are made of which are invisible, immortal, eternal infinite and unchangeable.

I will conclude this in my next post. Meanwhile, if anyone wants, you can get the following book at Amazon.com . The book gave a detailed analyses of the nature of man from the background of the scripture among other subjects.. It has both the digital and paperback.

Tittle,--- SOLVING THE MATRIX OF BEING (UNDERSTANDING WHO WE ARE IN RELATION TO GOD ALMIGHTY)
AUTHOR: EUCHARIA NONYELUM UNEGBU

You can search the book either by the tittle or author's name.

I agreed with all you said, except that I believe the scriptures indicate that we will see God in His fullness (Father & Son) too.

Matt 5:8

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
KJV

Jude 24-25

24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen
KJV
Exodus 33:14 ESV / 1,636 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful
And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Gen 5:22

22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
KJV

Heb 4:16

16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
KJV

Rev 4:9-11

9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,

10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
KJV

Rev 7:9

9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
KJV

Rev 14:3

3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
KJV

True, i have noticed that too in scripture. Nowhere does it say that God has a body. Except for Jesus' body, which was used by God to do all did for the world in His lifetime on earth.

Luke 24:39

39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
KJV

John 4:24

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
KJV

The likeness refers to God character and nature, not his supernatural attributes, or his Godhood. Funny enough we will rule over angels and all have the similar authority to Jesus himself, and that is what i get out of bed for. To be with people that love Jesus and God as i do. Heaven is nice and all, but the best thing is who i spend it with and not necessarily the surroundings.

Yes, the Bible says we will rule over others, as you say! But the source of that power, as always comes from God, and what He allows us to do with that power!