Humanity – From Scripture

Humanity – Who are you? 

Genesis 1:27 – “So God created man in his own image,
    in the image of God he created him;
    male and female he created them.”

What does the triple-parallelism in Genesis 1:27 emphasize?

What significance does “male and female he created them” have for us in our current social setting? 

The end of each day of creation ends with the work of God’s hand being labeled “good.” What is the created world finally called after the appearance of humanity? Genesis 1:31

The Crown of Creation

Humanity has been labeled the “crown of creation.”  How do the following verses justify this title for humanity: Genesis 1:26-28, Genesis 2:15?

How was the creation of mankind different than the rest of creation? Genesis 2:7-9, 22.

Is human life more valuable than that of the animals? 

The Image of God

What was humanity created in the image of that the rest of creation was not?

Where is the first mention of God’s image found?

Are the words “image” and “likeness” used synonymously? Genesis 1:16

Were both Adam and Eve created in God’s image, or only Adam?  Genesis 2:27, 5:1-2. 

What is the Image of God?

We can make some discernment about the image of God by looking at the unique traits of man when he was created. 

Man was created as an intelligent moral being.  He spoke, made decisions, and displayed an understanding of right and wrong.  (Genesis 2:17, 23) Man was also created to be relational, and even immortal, without death. (Genesis 2:17-18) Does humanity still possess all of these attributes?

God is not sinful and Adam was not created in sin.  In light of this it becomes increasingly apparent that the nature of the divine image is not simply morality, but faultless and sinless morality, pure holiness and righteousness.  Man’s relationship with God and his creation was perfect. 

If one were to conclude that man did not lose the image of God with the first sin, then what is not part of the divine image?

The Loss of God’s Image after the Fall into Sin

After the Fall, in whose image did Adam bear a son? Genesis 5:3.

What does Paul say about the loss of God’s image and its restoration? 1 Corinthians 15:49, Ephesians 4:24, and Colossians 3:10. 

So has God’s image been lost?  What does Genesis 9:6 and James 3:9 indicate? 

Scripture indicates that humanity has lost God’s image and yet at the same time retained God’s image To understand these two apparently contradictory conclusions a distinction must be made between the narrow sense and wide sense of God’s image. 

What is the image of God in the narrow sense?

What is the image of God in the wide sense?

Is being created in the image of God what makes us human? Why?

Human – An intelligent and moral being created in the image of God, consisting of a body and soul, which are united in one complete person. 

Body – Genesis 2:7, Daniel 12:2, Genesis 15:40. 

Soul (Spirit) – Scripture uses soul and spirit in parallel phrases (1 Samuel 1:15, Job 7:11, Isaiah 26:9, and Luke 1:46-47). 

Spirits do not have bodies. (Luke 24:39)

Human souls reside in human bodies.  (1 Corinthians 2:11)

At physical death, the human spirit returns to God and the body returns to the dirt.  (Ecclesiastes 12:7)