Mans nature

Created in the image of God

Students of the Bible have debated the precise meaning of Gen. 1:26-27. Just
what does the scripture mean when it says that man is made in the image of God? We
arent exactly sure, but we do have some ideas. The obvious place to look for an answer
is to try to discover the ways in which man, through his created nature, reflects God. So,
how does mans nature reflect God? Several things come to mind. First of all, man is
intelligent and self-aware. Of course animals exhibit a level of intelligence too, but they
dont build spaceships or nuclear reactors, and they dont write encyclopedias, or novels;
and so far as we know, they dont contemplate the nature of their own existence, or
Gods existence. Incidentally, no animals (other than man) are known to be atheists!
Man is also emotive, capable of experiencing a range of emotions. Some have
suggested that the ascribing of emotions to God in the Bible are simply examples of
anthropopathisms (a figure of speech in which a human emotion is ascribed to
something incapable of emotion), but there is no biblical basis for such a position. Why
would we think that God has no capacity for emotion? If God has no capacity for
emotion, then how do we explain that he created man with such a capacity?
Psychologists tell us that people with little or no emotional capacity are seriously
handicapped. They are generally unable to develop healthy relationships with others,
and they are far more likely to engage in sociopathic behavior. Emotions are an
important part of our created nature. Of course like everything else, mans emotions
have been impacted by the fall, and are further impacted by personal experience. Man is
also volitional, in that he was created with the capacity to do good or evil. In other
words, Adam and Eve originally had the capacity to originate righteousness by choosing
to love God more than self. While the fall has rendered man in his present state of sin
unable to exercise this capacity, it was part of the original constitution of man; and in this
present intermediate state (between regeneration and the complete redemption of our
nature) enabled only by the work of the Holy Spirit within the believer.