And God said,
"God will work on our image like us, and will control the fish of the sea, and the bird of the sky, and the beasts, and all the earth, and all the tanks that go on the earth. 27 And God created man in his image. The image of God created him. Male and female created them "(Genesis 1: 26,27).
Critics ask: What is the meaning that man was created in the image of God? What is the image of God in man? "God created man in his image and likeness," asks Leutaksel with a scorn. So what distinguishes the Jewish and Christian conception of God from that of other religions, religions whose Christian "stigma" is idolatry?
The Romans, who took their beliefs from the Greeks, did not imagine the gods except in the form of a human being, which forces us to say: It is not God who created man in His image and likeness, but man who imagined the gods in His image and likeness. To answer these questions, I say: Certainly, when God said, "We act in our image as our likeness," we did not mean the external image because we believe that God is a spirit, not a body, unlimited, eternal,
"God is spirit. And those who worship him, in spirit and truth, they should prostrate "(Jn 4:24). "Shall I fill the heavens and the earth, saith the Lord?" (Jeremiah 23:24).
And Solomon said to him,
"For does God really dwell on earth? Behold, the heavens and the heaven of heavens do not tempt you "(1 Samuel 8:27). Stephen said: "As the prophet says: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool" (Acts 7: 48-49).
Question: What is the meaning that man is created in the image of God? What is the image of God in man?
* When we read the story of creation we find that man is the only object created in the image of God. And we find that after God created the universe and everything in it, created man and created in his making, and made it a crown of creation and master of it. In the creation of all other creatures, God found the conscience of the absent individual, for example: "Let there be light", "Let there be skin in the midst of the water. Let there be a separation between water and water. "Let the earth sprout grass ...", "Let the lights shine in the skin of the sky."
As for the creation of man, he used the conscience of the speaker and said: "Let us make man in our image as our God" (Genesis 1:26).
As if the Trinity were debating how man was made. But he who reads with a check that he sees at the end of each day mentions the revelation, "God saw that it was good." But we read at the end of the sixth day after God created man. * The Hebrew word "our image" is "salam" and was mentioned in the Old Testament 17 times, meaning "representative, resemblance" "represents us, expresses us, we resemble, like us." Therefore, Aetna appears in some English translations as follows:
(CEB) "Let us make humanity in our image to resemble us.
God said: We act in our image to represent us. (MSG) "Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature. God said: We act in our image to reflect our nature. Thus, Saint Thomas Aquinas says of the image of God in man as the spiritual abilities of man, including the ability to think, seen by Origen as the eternal human soul, and there are those who see it as the ability to establish relations with God and with people and with all human beings. Man is the only being of all the creatures of God who have the ability to establish relationships. There is no doubt that we can not limit the image of God in man in several specific qualities, God unlimited and unlimited qualities and there is no doubt that God put in mind human mind and free will and conscience sensitive and ability to creativity and innovation, and the ability to learn and communicate with others, and feelings and emotions and feelings ... etc. * When we look at the words of Revelation: "And the Lord God made man dust from the earth, and breathed into his nose the breath of life. Adam became a living soul "(Genesis 2: 7). The verb (and mountain) means images or form, and the verb refers to two things: skill, and power. God with his supreme skill and absolute power, our images and form in the most beautiful image. And the verb (breathed) means before it carries the meaning of tender self and self, and indicates a warm personal relationship, God gave himself to man, gave his life, and this reminds us of what came in (John 20:22) after the resurrection of Christ blowing in the disciples and said to them accept the Holy Spirit , It is the divine grace of the new creation. The word "souls" means the divine gift that distinguishes man from the animal. The Psalmist said about man:
"And with glory and splendor shall you crown him. 6 His authority over the works of your hands. He made all things under his feet: 7 The sheep and all the oxen, and the cattle of the land also, 8 and the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea that goes in the ways of the waters "(Psalm 8: 5-8). The Apostle Paul said, "For we are His work" (Eph 2:10).
His work in Greek origin means "glory or poetry", meaning that we are a wonderful work of Creator creation. It is a beautiful system, not just an ordinary job. We are not just numbers in the flock and we are distinguished individuals. He calls his own sheep by names, he says to each one of us:
"I invited you in your name. You are mine "(Isaiah 43: 1).
The God of the Fathers does not say, but the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Finally I say: Man is created in his image which has the ability to communicate, we are created to be in a company with God himself, and with others. Man is created in the image of God, who can live the life of holiness, righteousness, and purity. This is achieved through our acceptance of God's guerilla action in Christ Jesus, so that the new man may be clothed instead of the one who is deformed by sin.
"And they shall clothe the new man created according to God in righteousness and holiness of truth" (Eph 4:24).
Man is created in the image of God, so he is eternal and eternal. He is the only person whose life will not end at the end of his life on earth, like all creatures.
"Our Lord is in the heavens" (3:20). "Make eternal in their heart" (Jn 3:11).
Man is created in the image of God, which has feelings and feelings. He loves, is happy, grieves, is angry, and distresses, so we must not deny our feelings that we are oppressed, but express, tame, and control them. ). Man is created in the image of God, which has a free will, and God himself respects that and does not force us to anything until His worship or subordination. Man is created in the image of God and this means privilege and responsibility. He is the only creature whom God has entrusted to care for the rest of the creatures.
"The Lord God took Adam and placed him in the Garden of Eden to do and keep them." (2:15)
the love. Dear reader: The animal has no role to play in this universe, while man is the one who makes events and plays roles. Man is the one who made gold valuable, if he wanted to be removed from it. It is not the first place among the assets only, but is given by the ranks and grades, which is the master, and the master. The man set up farms of chickens, sheep and cows, and fed them to slaughter and eat them, and they are ignorant of this. The universe has no value without man. Imagine that you entered a village or city without a population that would be terrified and afraid, as there was no difference between them and the desert, the forests, or the tombs. In the closing speech of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI said: "We believe in man." What a wonderful phrase !! Do you believe in yourself and your abilities that God has deposited in you? Do you reflect his image? Are you a trustee for his creation? Do you believe that every human being is created in his image? Do you treat everyone with extreme respect for a creature created in the image of God?