It is disturbing to see that both students of the Bible and theologians as well, will repeat the same idea that all men were created in God's image. For I do not see it nor read this term in the Bible applied to all men. Let us spend some time studying the next verses found in:
Genesis Chapter One
"And God said, Let us make man in our 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, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."
"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." Genesis 1:26-28
Let us now skip ahead to Genesis, Chapter 2
"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life: and man became a living soul." Genesis 2:7
Now you may say . . .already, we have a problem! For the above verses certainly do not appear to be describing the same man! Who did God give dominion to? To the man 'formed out of the dust of the ground', or the man 'created in His image'? Sadly, more often, most will say that they are one and the same. But look again, God himself tells us he gave dominion to those He did make/create in His own image, male and female. (See Genesis 1:26-27)
From our review earlier describing the spiritual man (from water) vs. the physical man(from dust) we should realize who God gave this dominion to. It was to his spiritual children, made in his image and likeness. The term 'formed man' from the dust of the ground should show us that this is the physical man only. Taken from the dust of the ground! How much more earthly can you get? This cannot possibly be the same man that was created in God's image!
We know that regenerated man is the one born from above, who has God's living Spirit in him. He is spiritual and is led by God and walks in His Light.
Genesis 2:16
"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:"
"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Gen. 2:17
"And the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." Gen. 2:18
We should take note here in Chapter 2 that there is a lapse in time before God goes on to make him a help meet. God reveals all in His Truth and He does not sway. This is the order it was written in and we know God is a God of order. From Gen. 2:18 we go directly on to read:
"And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof." Gen. 2:19
"And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there there was not found an help meet for him." Gen. 2:20
It is in Genesis 2 verses 21-22 where we read:
"And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof:"
"And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man."
I believe God when he says he shows us all things from the beginning and so believe that these above verses are ALSO a spiritual picture of the man of the world. He is asleep to those spiritual things of God which are going on about him. Meanwhile God has started to build his church, stone by stone, as each one is brought to Christ, who is the Son of Man, the 'second Adam'. This is the reason for the break in the above scriptures. God shows us that this is the time when those in Christ are purified until she (the 'woman') is presented to Christ as 'the bride of the Lamb!
Genesis : Chapter 3
As we read on we see that doubt entered the woman after the serpent asked "Hath God said"? The serpent then told her:
"Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Gen. 3:4-5
"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." Gen. 3:6
Does this sound to you like they were created in God's image and likeness? I think not! We do know this one thing, that God knew they would eat from that tree, as nothing is hid from him.
Next we will review some verses many may quickly overlook because they do not understand them:
"And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil:"
"And now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever:"
"Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken." Genesis 3:22-23
How interesting are these above verses! We may think, but is this not what God wanted for us? To be as He is. After all, some may think, did He not say, "Let us make man in our image?" On the one hand, we are forbidden to take from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil yet God says: "Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil." But, he is then sent forth from the garden!! Does it not make you wonder why God seems to be talking in riddles? We will get back to these very important verses a little later but let us first focus on the last verse where "The Lord God sent 'him' forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence 'he' was taken." Here we must focus on the physical man, it is where God is directing us through his word. Adam is a picture of the man of the earth, not the spiritual man. It is he who is sent from the garden, while the woman will be nurtured. Adam was not deceived (we remember how easily Esau also gave up his birthright!), but the woman was. They both ate from the forbidden fruit, but it is the 'woman' (the help meet') who will be redeemed and purified to become the bride of the Lamb! She is representative of all God's elect!
"I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel." Gen. 3:15
"And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand, two hundred and threescore days." Rev 12:6
"And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." 1 Tim.2:14
We are not saved by anything we have or have not done:
"But we are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousness are as filthy rags." Isaiah 64:6
And are chosen of God before the foundations of the world:
"According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be Holy and without blame before him in love." Ephesians 1:4
"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Jeremiah 1:5
All God's children are prophets. A prophet is simply one who preaches God's truth as found in his Word, the Bible. (Today, many will mistakenly associate it with those who foretell the future, outside of God's Word, these are called false prophets!)
God will draw his elect to himself:
"No man can come to me, except the Father which has sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:44
"For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth." Rom. 9:11
Let us jump ahead now and turn to the book of Ezekiel, Chapter 28. It is important to read all the verses pertaining to this immediate study. They extend from verses 11 to 19, but we will focus on the next three verses for now, starting at Ezekiel 28: 14-15
Let us proceed very carefully as we read:
"Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created."
"Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire."
"Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." Ezekiel 28:
Whoa! Was this a description of Satan? The cherub that was described in Genesis as a serpent! Indeed it was! He must have been quite beautiful then as we see from the above description. And yes, he was clothed in all his beauty of precious stones there in that garden, set on deceiving the woman. He was the anointed cherub who walked upon the holy mountain of God, and up and down in the midst of the stones of fire! We are also told that he was perfect in all his ways from the day he was created. . .till sin was found in him! We can now understand why it was not impossible for man to sin. Man's eyes never took him to the places that an anointed cherub had seen! After all, was man not formed from the dust of the ground! We could hardly compare man to the magnificence of that cherub Lucifer, and how he must have been before sin! He was anointed and created by God himself, but even so. . .he fell!
"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!" Isaiah 14:12
Hebrews 4:13
"Nothing in all creation, is hidden from God's eyes. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."
Surely, God could not have been surprised when fragile man sinned in the garden. Could this be why each one is taught by God now, how to listen and obey Him!! With the Lord's leading and his Holy Spirit we are kept in Christ. Yes, man was formed from the dust of the ground, but the woman. . . She was born again from Christ's pierced side (both male and female).
Lucifer was created and fell. But . . . "Christ in you, the hope of Glory!" Col. 1:27
Now we can better understand, why God did things the way he did.
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, saith the Lord."
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9
Though Lucifer was created perfect by God, he was not made in God's image. God created his children in his own 'image and likeness'. Christ shed his blood for us and our sins were washed away; we are continually cleansed through the washing of water of his Word.
Paul said in Romans 8:
"For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord." Romans 8:38-39
Let us now go back to Genesis 3:22
"And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil":
"And now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever":
Now we can ALSO see . . . why God commanded us NOT
to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Just as we would not allow our very young children to cross a busy highway by themselves, God also knew that we were not properly equipped to handle more. But now, strengthened with Christ in us we know good and evil. (Yes, just as God!) We have been weaned from the milk and taught by God himself how to Listen and Obey! Through Christ and his (S)Word we are now prepared to handle ALL.
"I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths." Psalms 4:11
Surely, we know it was when God looked through time (Day 6) that He saw us and said:
"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:" Genesis 1:26"
It was as good as done.
"Thus the Heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them." Gen. 2:1
"And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reineth."
Rev. 19:6
