In the beginning of man it was so... that they were in his image, but do you not believe that their image was changed, marred, scarred when they disobeyed God and by and for all of those who followed until Jesus opened a better possibility?
God was never dead and men without the Life that Jesus brought were dead. What kind of an image is that? Certainly not the image of God!
"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10