Whose image are we in?

More and more you will here that “we are all made in the image of God” and this is why we should come together. This will be their calling card to try to bring everyone together as one people. No different than what happened at the tower of Babel with Nimrod. Adam was made in the image and likeness of God. Adam disobeyed God and sinned. This broke covenant with God and sin entered into creation. That spiritual tie was gone. Seth was then made in the likeness and image of Adam, the first man. Can you see how this became inverted from Adam being created to Seth being born?

Adam: image and likeness of God.
Seth: likeness and image of Seth.

The truth is this. We are all in fact made in the image of God and in the image of Adam. When Adam sinned against God he had his first taste of death. Before that moment he would never have to face the reality of death but that all changed due to disobedience. Adam knew he was naked because of his sin and knew he needed to cover himself. God showed Adam how important it was that he then needed redemption and atonement back to Him and this could only happen through the work of Jesus on the cross and His blood being shed. Blood being the crucial element here for our redemption and atonement, to have that relationship leading back to God.

The first thing God did was slaughter an animal so that the skins could cover their nakedness which was their sin. Blood had to be shed in order for their sins to be covered. We see this motif throughout scripture with the Passover lamb being killed for the sins of a nation. The blood was symbolic of the blood of Jesus. Jesus was our lamb slain from the foundation of the world so that we could have that bridge back to a Holy God.

Adam and Eve was shown this and they them understood redemption. This is why Cain killed Abel. It was over the sacrifice. They both understood what God wanted from them. The blood of redemption. Abel brought the prefect sacrifice and Cain brought something from the ground. Cain then killed Abel over it. My point being, They all knew after sin came into the world and their lives. They needed atonement and redemption through His blood.

But are we in the image of God or Adam at this point? Adam or the first man was created in God’s image but something happened after the fall from God’s grace. After sin, scripture tells us that Adam had a son in his own image. Seth was in this “fallen state” due to sin and disobedience. Now stay with me here. In Genesis 1, the word for image in Hebrew is tselem. It comes from a root word for “shadow or phantom”. It literally means “An outline or representation of an original as a shadow is the outline of the original. Also an image or form of something as the shadow of the original.”

The best example is looking at the shadow of a tree on the ground and not being able to see the actual tree. You know it is in the image of the tree because of its shape. The shadow tells you this much. This is how God created Adam. He was a outline or shadow of God’s image.

Now the word for likeness in this same verse is demûth. It is the resemblance or similitude of something. It is “like” it. Now when looking at this word a little deeper, it is connected to blood, silent and red.

When Adam (meaning ruddy) was created from the ruddy red dirt from the ground, God breathed the breath of life in him and literally gave Adam His blood. This blood gave Adam life as we know it. But when Adam sinned beefier God, shooting happened and changed in Adam. This blood now became tainted because of sin. This blood that pumped his heart would eventually deteriorate over time and Adam would eventually succumb to death. Scripture tells us that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23). That should explain everything to you about what is gong on here.

Adams wage or price he had to pay for that one sin from eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil was death. It was not only that spiritual death that happened instantly but ot would be physical death in due time. This is why Jesus had to die on this same symbolic tree in order that we could have a path and way back to God. He paid the price for us on the cross with His blood and our down payment is the pouring out of His Holy Spirit in us, the comforter or paraklete that is leading our life.

Now back to the difference of Adam and Seth’s image and likeness of God. At this point, humanity is in the image and likeness of either Seth or Cain. Cain could be debatable but even if we are solely in Seth’s image through his father Adam, that is still in the fallen state of grace from God. I mentioned how in Genesis 5:3, Adam had a son in his likeness and image. Why is the order now switched from when God created Adam originally in Genesis 1:26? Because the tides have changed at that point. The problem here was the blood. Seth had that sinful blood of Adam and from then on needed that redemption through the symbolic slaying of an animal’s blood.

The only way tp come back truly to the image of a Holy God is through Jesus Christ. He paid the price through His blood so that you can find your way back to God. Not only that, Jesus is your eternal security. He is your way back into the garden and Paradise to once again eat from the tree of life. Don’t let anyway tell you that we are all made in both the image and likeness of God. We are in Seth’s likeness and image of a fallen man through his father Adam. We need Jesus to bring us back, the first born of all creation.

Sidenote: When Adam was created, he was created in the image and likeness of the Creator, GOD. When he disobeyed through the eating of the fruit, Adam lost the likeness of GOD. Seth, his 3rd son was burn in his own father’s (Adam) image. Jesus came so that we can obtain the likeness of GOD through Him. We are in the image of Adam, fallen man, at this point and we are in dire need of the redeemer, Jesus Christ. We should be in His likeness. Being in the image of GOD is compared to a tree casting a shadow on the ground and you can see the silhouette or “image” of that tree through the shadow. Adam lost this through disobedience and brought sin into Creation. The picture here is beautiful…a tree casts a shadow on the ground only because it has a light source. GOD has no sin in Him so the light of this world was no longer on Adam. He removed Himself (likeness and image) from man because of sin. No light source, no shadow. Jesus is the light of the world. Can you now see how we need to be in the likeness of Jesus.