.- Good question. This question, however, generates a few others. Is everyone a sinner? Or just people worse than me? Are all created in the image of God?
So how can a serial killer, terrorist, or rapist be made in the image of God? Who is a sinner and who is not?
How can people be sinful and still be made in the image of God? More importantly, how can I be like God and worthy of eternal damnation?
Created in the image of God
In the first chapter of Genesis, God says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” Then God forms Adam from the ground and gives him life (Genesis 2:7). ).
This act of creation differs from God’s creation of all other living things, which came into existence through God’s speech. God blew on nothing else. He didn’t say he made monkeys or squirrels or tulips look like him.
He only made man and woman in his image. In Latin, the term “image of God” is imago dei. Paul uses this same description to explain the miracle of Jesus’ humanity and deity in 2 Corinthians 4:4.
Jesus is human, “image of God”, but he is also deity: Peter affirms that Jesus is the Son of God ( John 6:68 , Matthew 16:14-16 ).
Although Genesis 1:26-27 functions as the last day of God’s creation, these two verses about God’s image reinforce God’s love and longing for us.
Furthermore, they explain the reason why he went to such extravagant measures to reconcile mankind to himself after Adam and Eve’s sins in the garden.
Created in the image of Adam
Genesis 3 records the temptation of the serpent and the deception of Eve. She and Adam chose to disobey God’s instructions, and although he forgave them, she led them out of the Garden of Eden.
The curse of sin took effect (spiritual and physical death), but fortunately, God promised in Genesis 3:15 that God would send someone to crush the curse and redeem mankind, who would counteract Adam’s sin (1 Corinthians 5: 21-23). ).
Because of Adam’s humanity, we have inherited Adam’s physical and spiritual attributes:
– We bear the likeness of Adam (Genesis 5:3).
– We have a sinful nature ( Romans 5:12-14 ).
– Our sin begins in our heart/soul and mind ( Genesis 6:5 , Jeremiah 17:9 ).
the cosmic fight
If you are a follower of Christ, you have two natures, a sinful nature and a holy nature. The Holy Spirit lives within you, convicting ( John 16:8 ), filling ( Ephesians 5:18 ), teaching ( John 16:12-15 ), guiding ( Romans 8:14 ), and other actions.
When you choose to sin, you grieve the Holy Spirit within you ( Ephesians 4:30 ). This will make your life uncomfortable. As Paul said, “ye have been bought with a price; therefore honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
Romans 7:15-25 explains the cosmic struggle going on inside of you. Your spirit wants to obey and serve God because the Holy Spirit produces good qualities in you.
But the enemy of God uses your natural sinful and selfish tendencies to oppose the work God is trying to do in you; your sinful nature produces bad qualities every time you give in to temptation (Galatians 5:22-23). You have a war inside of you.
Which nature is going to win?
The entire message of the Bible is that God sent his Son to take upon the sins of the whole world, to die for them, and then to rise again in glory where he would act as an intercessor for every sinful person who calls on his name (Acts 2). :23-25).
Logic demands that I must be a sinner since Jesus died for my sins. Consequently, I must face the reality that I am a sinner, even though I try not to be (Romans 3:23, 6:23) because the Bible says that all humans have sinned.
Paul tells the Galatians that God’s grace would be meaningless, and that Jesus would have died needlessly if they were able to save themselves (Galatians 2:20-21).
But there is good news: God promises that even though we inherited Adam’s sinful nature, a second “Adam” (Jesus) came to replace our sins with his grace and forgiveness ( Romans 5:15-18 ).
“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).
It makes no sense that the God who created the universe would become human and allow himself to be tortured and executed unless absolutely necessary to preserve what he loved most: us.
How does God solve the problem of sin?
Eternal death is not a punishment for being human. It is the punishment for rejecting God’s authority, a punishment that was created for the devil, not for us.
Every time we give in to our sinful nature, we follow the devil ( John 8:44 ), and therefore reap the punishment intended for him.
But God made a way of escape ( 1 Corinthians 10:13 ): He sent his Son to pay the death penalty so that we could live in the eternal kingdom that God created for all of us from the beginning of time.
Jesus’ mission on earth revolved around the re-establishment of the “kingdom of heaven” where He intended all of us to live at all times.
Do you remember the Garden of Eden? God is about relationship, not punishment. The Bible, with its instructions and warnings, is a light that directs us towards the search for God (Psalm 119:105).
Sure, God could have prevented Adam and Eve from making a bad decision. He could have retained free will. They could have blindly obeyed everything he said. But that’s not a relationship. That is not freedom. That’s not love.
So, we all have two options, as well as two natures. We can choose to believe that God loves us, died for us, and will forgive our sins. Or we can choose to deny that God loves us, died for us, and can forgive our sins. We will all live and die with the results of those beliefs.
Written by: sue schlesman..
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