What Does It Really Mean To Be Made In The Image And Likeness Of God?

Genesis 1:27

27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

To me, were created in the image and likeness of God, which means, that he created us on the inside as well as the outside. God created us to love one another as He has loved us. God is Love.

1 John 4:7 & 11

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

This love can only come about through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. He is the perfect example of the image and likeness of God.

Colossians 1:15

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

We can achieve this love by receiving Christ as our Savior and Lord.

Revelation 3:20

20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

Anybody can say the sinners prayer but not everybody opens their hearts to Him.

God is a gentleman and will not force His will on anybody. If we are to receive Christ as Savior and Lord, we must first unlock the doors of our hearts and open them up to let Him in.

Philippians 1:6

6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Let Jesus work in you.

LadyGrace · Best Comment

This is an important and knowledgeable post and I love the way you backed it up with scripture. This topic needed to be discussed so we could expand our knowledge of what certain scriptures mean. Thank you for writing it.

I was just thinking how God made man, meaning everyone, in His image. That doesn't mean everyone reflects His image, as you've mentioned. Like a mirror, His Image cannot be reflected in us, until we receive Him and His Holy Spirit into our hearts and lives. He gave us the same "spiritual tools" .... a measure of faith, so we were conscious of Him. Like Him, He made us aware of morality, how to reason right from wrong, a sense of justice, our rationality; our ability to reason, our ability to relate to God; our aesthetic sense, and a spirit inside us...above animal's abilities. That spirit is dead, until we receive Christ and His Holy Spirit inside us, which unites with our Spirit, transforming us so we can reflect God's image/characteristics. When we are saved, we'll reflect His characteristics in ourselves, as we are then "one" with Him and His Spirit.

GodSpeed63 · 61-69, M

@LadyGrace [quote]I was just thinking how God made man, meaning everyone, in His image.[/quote]

Thank you for that beautiful comment, sister.

Diotrephes · 70-79, M

The biblical God character was simply the series of emperors, chief priests, kings, and warlords who ruled the dominant Middle Eastern empires in ancient times. The last one croaked around 530 B.C. when the Babylonian emperor bit the dust and the empire collapsed. That is why he hasn't been seen since.

As far as being made in God's image, Moses did that when he forced the Israelites to adopt all of his rules under penalty of death. Everyone had to conform or he killed them. There was no celestial deity involved and there has never been one.