What does it mean to be created in the image of God?

What does it mean to be created in the image of God? Many people believe that our ability to reason, or our ability to be spiritual, affords us the image of God. Careful consideration of the Bible will show that isn't really what is meant by the phrase. For example, our ability to reason, our intelligence, and our emotions all originate from a specific part of our make-up that we actually share with the animals. Men and animals both have souls. Now before you cry foul, let's look at what the Bible has to say about the matter.

Genesis 1:21 states:

"And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good."

Genesis 2:7 states:

"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."

In both passages the blue word is the same. It is the word nephesh which means "soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, or passion." The soul is the seat of our appetites, our minds, our emotions, and our will. Anyone that has owned a dog or a cat knows that they are capable of love and hate. It is also common knowledge that gorillas and chimpanzees have both been taught to use sign language. Their abilities are more than just mimicry. They truly know what they are saying. This is because these creatures are more than bodies with electrical impulses swirling around them. They have a soul (a mind) and a body.

Well, that leaves the other argument that people are created in the image of God because of their ability to be spiritual.

Hebrews 1:13 - 14 states:

"But to which of the angels said He at any time, Sit on My right hand, until I make thine enemies Thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"

The word "spirit" is the word pneuma which means "breath." The Hebrew equivalent, neshamah, is found in Genesis 2:7 and is translated "the breath." It is obvious from these two passages that men and angels both possess spirits. The spirit is lacking in animals, but present in both creatures that have the ability to commune with God. It is the spirit that imparts this ability to both men and angels.

Then what distinguishes men from both animals and angels? Animals have a soul and a body. Angels have a spirit and sometimes a body. They are both dualities. Men are trinities, just like God. Men consist of spirit, soul, and body. To further the point, 1 Thessalonians 5:23 states:

"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ."

Why would God distinguish between spirit and soul in this passage if they were the same thing? Again, in Hebrews 4:12 we read:

"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

One of the old time theologians, Clarence Larkin, came up with the following diagram to show the trinity found in man. It is as good an illustration as I have seen on the subject. This illustration is from Larkin's book Dispensational Truth.

Genesis 1:26 states:

"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."

The word for God in this passage is Eloyhim, which is a plural word. Does this not, along with the words Us and Our in the passage, suggest the Trinity, the one God consisting of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Man is a trinity, and God is the Trinity. God made men in His likeness by imparting to him a three-part unity. Each part of the man is fully him, just like each part of the God-head is fully God.

One of the biggest mistakes that is made in biblical interpretation is equating the spirit and the soul of man. It leads to major problems in interpreting passages concerning salvation, eternal security, and rewards. Later studies will help us see the importance of making a distinction between the two.