In our image..

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Dropship

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As a matter of interest is this verse open to some interpretation?-
"Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.." (Genesis 1:26)

The standard belief among Christians seems to be that God made us to look like him physically, i.e. he had a human body, y
et Jesus said-
"God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24)
So how can a spirit have fleshly human form?
Perhaps we can therefore speculate that "in our image and our likeness" means something non-physical, and he made us to be like him spiritually, so that we have some of his attributes such as honour, decency, compassion etc?
PS- Incidentally why did God use the plural "our" in Gen 1:26, why didn't he say "in my image"?



 
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Tommy Cool

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As a matter of interest is this verse open to some interpretation?-
"Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.." (Genesis 1:26)

The standard belief among Christians seems to be that God made us to look like him physically, i.e. he had a human body, y
et Jesus said-
"God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24)
So how can a spirit have fleshly human form?
Perhaps we can therefore speculate that "in our image and our likeness" means something non-physical, and he made us to be like him spiritually, so that we have some of his attributes such as honour, decency, compassion etc?
PS- Incidentally why did God use the plural "our" in Gen 1:26, why didn't he say "in my image"?

I have always thought of the image as being what you brought up “spirit” And like you stated a spirit has no form…so what was created? I believe it was the same thing that died…………. → spirit.

This is pure conjecture …no verse outright states that. But when you consider that God told them in Gen 2:17 that if they ate of the tree… that, in that daythou shalt surely die” or dying ye shall die.

Physically they went on to live for hundreds of years… but spiritually they died. And from that point on until Pentecost, for God to communicate with man He had to come in some form of concretion or give His spirit "conditionally" upon believers who were walking in His precepts.

When Adam had offspring they were after the image of Adam, a natural person of body and soul.

Gen 5:3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:
 
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BARNEY BRIGHT

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As a matter of interest is this verse open to some interpretation?-
"Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.." (Genesis 1:26)

The standard belief among Christians seems to be that God made us to look like him physically, i.e. he had a human body, y
et Jesus said-
"God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24)
So how can a spirit have fleshly human form?
Perhaps we can therefore speculate that "in our image and our likeness" means something non-physical, and he made us to be like him spiritually, so that we have some of his attributes such as honour, decency, compassion etc?
PS- Incidentally why did God use the plural "our" in Gen 1:26, why didn't he say "in my image"?

It reasonable to me that humans were created in God’s image, with the ability to cultivate and manifest qualities that God possesses, such as love, empathy, and justice. That explains why humans can actually imitate God’s personality.

When scripture says let us make man in our image the True God was speaking to his only begotten son. Before YHWH God made anyone or anything else, he created a powerful spirit being who later became known as Jesus. By means of Jesus, “all other things were created in the heavens and on the earth.” (Colossians 1:16) Jesus reflects YHWH God personality, “he is the image of the invisible God.” (Colossians 1:15) Fittingly, then, God could say to his only begotten son: “Let us make man in our image.”
 

Aunty Jane

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So how can a spirit have fleshly human form?
Spirits can manifest in fleshly form. Angels are spirit creatures but when they came to earth to deliver messages from God, they appeared in physical form. When three angels appeared to Abraham at Mamre, (Genesis 18) to tell him about the son that he and Sarah would produce in their old age, the three ate the food that was prepared for them. Two of them went on to Sodom to rescue Lot and his family and also ate the meal prepared by their host.
Gabriel appeared to Daniel some 500 years before he appeared to Mary. Both times he was in human form.

Jesus too when God raised him from the dead, he appeared to his disciples in a fleshly body and showed them that he was alive, though not always in a body that they recognized. On one occasion when he was dining with them, he vanished before their eyes. (Luke 24:31)

Spirit beings can materialize....in Genesis 6 we see that rebel angels took on human form to co-habit with human women....they produced freakish offspring who brought civilization down and forced God to flood the world to remove them and to send their errant fathers back to the spirit realm where he apparently took away their ability to materialize. Thereafter they had to inhabit or possess the bodies of others to do their evil deeds.

PS- Incidentally why did God use the plural "our" in Gen 1:26, why didn't he say "in my image"?
Several scriptures tell us that Yahweh was not alone when he performed his creative works.
Genesis 1:26 as well as Colossians 1:15-17, and John 1:2-3 tell us that God created "through" his son. This is agency or the means by which God created. Proverbs 8:30-31 also tell us that the son was a Master workman at his Father's side in the creative process.
 
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Earburner

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It reasonable to me that humans were created in God’s image, with the ability to cultivate and manifest qualities that God possesses, such as love, empathy, and justice. That explains why humans can actually imitate God’s personality.

When scripture says let us make man in our image the True God was speaking to his only begotten son. Before YHWH God made anyone or anything else, he created a powerful spirit being who later became known as Jesus. By means of Jesus, “all other things were created in the heavens and on the earth.” (Colossians 1:16) Jesus reflects YHWH God personality, “he is the image of the invisible God.” (Colossians 1:15) Fittingly, then, God could say to his only begotten son: “Let us make man in our image.”
I do not perceive that God created the Spirit of Jesus, but rather that He was "brought forth", as always having eternal existence in Himself WITH the Father, but now to be drawn forward for the purposes of God the Father's plan of salvation, which was orchestrated before the world was.

As a result, at the precise time of their plan to be manifested in the world, God DID "prepare Him a body" for His Eternal Son to infill, so that He could become flesh, and therefore in His physical manifestation, He was the "express [exact] image" of God the Father.
KJV Proverbs 8:24-31, Hebrews 10:5, Hebrews 1:3,
John 17:1, 5.
 
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BARNEY BRIGHT

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I do not perceive that God created the Spirit of Jesus, but rather that He was "brought forth", as always having eternal existence in Himself WITH the Father, but now to be drawn forward for the purposes of God the Father's plan of salvation, which was orchestrated before the world was.

As a result, at the precise time of their plan to be manifested in the world, God DID "prepare Him a body" for His Eternal Son to infill, so that He could become flesh, and therefore in His physical manifestation, He was the "express [exact] image" of God the Father.
KJV Proverbs 8:24-31, Hebrews 10:5, Hebrews 1:3,
John 17:1,5.

We know that God Isn't begotten, the word begotten means, to produce, to bring into existence. Humans produce by procreation God produces or brings into existence by creating. The angels are spirit beings and God begot them by creating each one into existence.
We also know that no one produced God or brought him into existence.YHWH God is the only True God and is the creator of all things.
In scripture the apostle John repeatedly describes the Lord Jesus Christ as the only-begotten Son of God. (John 1:14; 3:16, 18; 1John 4:9) This is not referring to his human birth or to him as just the man Jesus. As the Logos, or Word, “this one was in the beginning with God,” even “before the world was.” (John 1:1, 2; 17:5, 24) At that time while in his prehuman state of existence, he is described as the “only-begotten Son” whom his Father sent “into the world" at 1John 4:9.
 
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Desire Of All Nations

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You can speculate all you want, but the OT is pretty plain about the fact that God has hair, legs, feet, eyes, hands, arms, a mouth, a nose, and a mind like we do. Jesus became a Spirit when He was resurrected, but did that mean He stopped having the body parts that were listed? No. The Gospel accounts says His disciples were able to touch His hands and feet, and Rev. 1 describes Jesus as still having human hair, feet, hands, and a chest.

The fact that God is a Spirit Being doesn't change the fact that we were made to look like Him. The only difference is that we can see these features on other people because we're all physical beings. God has the same exact features, only we can't see Him since He is a Spirit.

The whole reason why God prohibited people from physically portraying Him with the use of animal, lizard, or insect images is because He does not possess the features of an animal, insect, or lizard. Out of all of the life forms God created, human beings were the only ones who were made to physically resemble Himself. Gen. 1:26 is pretty straightforward about this where it shows Elohim saying "let Us make mankind after Our own kind". God Himself was the model for our appearance.
 
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Jack

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Isaiah 43
11 I, even I, am the LORD, And besides Me there is no savior.

Amen LORD! You are my Savior Jesus.
 
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face2face

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As a matter of interest is this verse open to some interpretation?-
"Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.." (Genesis 1:26)

The standard belief among Christians seems to be that God made us to look like him physically, i.e. he had a human body, y
et Jesus said-
"God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24)
So how can a spirit have fleshly human form?
Perhaps we can therefore speculate that "in our image and our likeness" means something non-physical, and he made us to be like him spiritually, so that we have some of his attributes such as honour, decency, compassion etc?
PS- Incidentally why did God use the plural "our" in Gen 1:26, why didn't he say "in my image"?
Because man was made in the image of the Elohim...rather easy really.
For example, the Elohim declared of Adam and Eve after they had sinned, that they had become like the angels once were: "to know good and evil" (Genesis 3:22).
It's all there but Christians have the Trinity running through their minds making them senseless.
Image and likeness is in form and moral propensity.
We look like angels and have the ability to reason like them!
It makes me laugh when the three headed god is forced on Genesis 1-3.
 
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Jack

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Because man was made in the image of the Elohim...rather easy really.
For example, the Elohim declared of Adam and Eve after they had sinned, that they had become like the angels once were: "to know good and evil" (Genesis 3:22).
It's all there but Christians have the Trinity running through their minds making them senseless.
Image and likeness is in form and moral propensity.
We look like angels and have the ability to reason like them!
It makes me laugh when the three headed god is forced on Genesis 1-3.
If God isn't your Savior you don't have a Savior.
Hosea 13
4 You shall know no God but Me; For there is no Savior besides Me.
 
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Aunty Jane

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The fact that God is a Spirit Being doesn't change the fact that we were made to look like Him. The only difference is that we can see these features on other people because we're all physical beings. God has the same exact features, only we can't see Him since He is a Spirit.
There are many things ‘personified’ in the Bible that have nothing to do with being a human. So being “made in God’s image” does not have to mean physical characteristics because spirits do not possess them, but being endowed with God’s moral attributes and qualities makes us “like” him in so many ways. When we see the difference between us and the animal kingdom in the way we express these qualities, there is a huge gulf.

Language is an amazing thing among humankind. It can be spoken or written and thoughts and concepts can be conveyed accurately, as well as seeing an action performed and being taught visually how to do something. God speaks to us in ways that he does not speak to animals.....he doesn’t have to, because they accomplish all that he created them to be and to do, without any further interference from him.

Our senses too are shared by those in the animal kingdom, but not in the same way that humans experience them....
For example when do we ever see animals admiring a sunset or a beautiful vista?
They are programmed for survival and the senses they need are heightened to facilitate that.

But when we see the maternal nurturing instincts in mother animals and feel the love they express for their young, we can be moved emotionally.....yet some of these will kill and consume the young of other species to feed their own.

We see the industriousness of bees and ants who work tirelessly for the well-being of their hive or colony, taking extreme care in whatever their role is in that environment...they have no choice but to follow their programmed instincts....but so many humans need self-discipline to fight off laziness. These “hangers on” contribute nothing to others but are rather a drain on them.

Most animals are born with their instincts fully programmed, but not us. We have to learn from nurture and inherited nature in order to become productive members of human society......Our parents and grandparents were meant to be our instructors, teaching us to be the kind of people we should be....and yet so many in the world do not have that nurturing to guide them and end up emulating parents who were never taught themselves how to be productive citizens and active members of a community.

This is why I believe that God presents himself to us in terms we can understand and identify with.....as a loving Father, so that we can identify with him, more so than if he was to present himself as what he really is....a glorious supernatural Being beyond our limited comprehension.

He brings himself closer to us by giving us mental images that are more human.....we cannot even come into his presence without physical harm. He has closed that distance by describing himself in human terms. Does that seem reasonable to you?
 
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Jack

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JW's don't have a Savior.
Hosea 13
4 You shall know no God but Me; For there is no Savior besides Me.
 

face2face

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I wonder how many people have Jack on ignore? Be interesting to run a survey - rather embarrassing really. I would feel some pity for him if it wasn't for his obsession with JW's. Why not the Mormons - now that would make more sense!
 

Enoch111

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Perhaps we can therefore speculate that "in our image and our likeness" means something non-physical, and he made us to be like him spiritually, so that we have some of his attributes such as honour, decency, compassion etc?
Interestingly enough God the Father -- who is a Spirit -- is shown in "the likeness" or resemblance of man in both Daniel and Revelation. Also Christ appeared as a man throughout the Old Testament, perhaps even to Adam. So when God said "let us make man in our image and in our likeness" it would have applied to both the physical and spiritual. That is why Christ -- who is God -- continues for eternity in human form. As to the use of "our" it is further evidence that God is three in one -- the triune Godhead or the Trinity. And the Hebrew word for God -- Elohim -- is in fact a plural word. All Hebrew nouns which end in "-im" indicate plurality such as seraph (singular) and seraphim (plural).
 

face2face

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There are many things ‘personified’ in the Bible that have nothing to do with being a human. So being “made in God’s image” does not have to mean physical characteristics because spirits do not possess them, but being endowed with God’s moral attributes and qualities makes us “like” him in so many ways. When we see the difference between us and the animal kingdom in the way we express these qualities, there is a huge gulf.
I would agree with this.
God uses the imagery of our bodies to draw us closer to Him i.e. finger of God; hand of God etc.
God being all powerful can adapt to any physical world as He want to draw us closer to Him and His purpose.
F2F
 

face2face

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Only for Anti-Trinitarians. So why did you fail to explain why God is in the plural form. Because the minute you would explain it honestly, you would have to admit to the truth of the Trinity.
No it was explained - our - plural - how many angels are there? Matthew 26:53
Get your mind in the Word not in the creeds of men!