Creation of Man in the Image of God
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In the book of Genesis, God completes his handiwork on earth with the proclamation: "Let us make man after our own image, after our likeness; and let them have dominionà" (Genesis 1: 26). The implications concerning a human creation that embodies the image of God are many. What does it mean for man to have been created in the image of God? Has God endowed man with some of His divine attributes, thereby separating him and making him different from the beasts? If so, what might these divine characteristics be, and why has man been permitted to share them? The most obvious answer is that man, like God, possesses a self-conscious mind, a unique intelligence and a sensibility that is exalted above those intellectual faculties possessed by other creatures (Rendle-Short, 1981, pp. 22). The reasons why human beings have been selected to embody these divine traits on earth are not so obvious. An examination of the image of man as a reflection of God's own image will reveal certain facets of this conundrum that clarify, and others that confound. Invariably, an examination of man's relationship with the Christ Jesus will cast some light on the special relationship mankind is, in spite of the Fall, perhaps destined to share with God, in whose image we toil and struggle on earth. First, however, it is prudent to note that the only man to have been created ex nihilo, that is, from nothing, was Adam (Rendle-Short, 1981, pp. 21). Thus, it is only Adam that may be said to hav
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ed lose the image of God, settling now for the image of a man once God-like, but no longer.
However, a reading of other Biblical passages forces this rationale to founder. In the New Testament, I Corinthians tells us that we are the image of God: "For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God" (I Corinthians 11: 7). James echoes this when he states that men are "made in the likeness of God" (James 3: 9). Paul's statement in I Corinthians 11: 7 is troubling, however, in that it emphasizes that "the woman is the glory of man" (I Corinthians 11: 7) and that "man was not made from woman, but woman from man", therefore, woman was essentially "created for man" (I Corinthians 11: 8).
What then, of the image of God? John M. Frame asserts that woman's subordination to man does not detract from her ability or capacity to image God. Subordination, after all, is a theme throughout the Bible, affecting all individuals. Even Jesus Christ, subordinate to the Holy Father above all else, was nonetheless subordinate also to human authority structures. For this, it is understood that though woman in the Bible is subordinate, even subservient to man, she is no less a creation in God's image. As Frame su
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Jesus Christ, God God, Christ Christians, Holy Father, Seth Genesis, Christ Jesus, God James, Doebler Adam, Garden Eden, Genesis God, image god, jesus christ, god's image, created image, corinthians 11, human race, corinthians 11 7, own image, adam eve, 11 7, created image god, image jesus christ, frame 1997, rendle-short 1981 pp,
Approximate Word count = 1331
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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