[tracie1052]

What does it mean to be in the “Image of God”?

[galveston]

The Bible says in God's "image", applies to bodily form. The Bible speaks of various features of God; arms, hands, feet, face, etc. in many places.

"Likeness" applies to character. Man is a "living" soul, and will never cease to exist. The body will die, but the soul and spirit will live.

Man is also creative and able to have fellowship with his Creator. Man is also not a singular (to coin a term), that is, man is a soul (seat of emotions) has a spirit (the driving, guiding force of his life) all housed in a body.

When man broke with God, his spirit no longer controlled, but the soul became the motivating force in his life. That is, SELF became supreme, and the same is true of all unsaved people today.

[arcura]

tracie1052,
I believe that when that was written in Genesis that the writer was speaking of God who was known to be a spirit.
A spirit has no parts and seldom can be seen.
So the image of God we were created in were of some of God's attributes.
God is a creator. Man had the ability to create.
God can imagine things. Man can imagine.
God has free will. We have free will.
God is perfect, Before Adam and Eve fell into sin they were created perfect.
When Mankind was created mankind has a spirit of life as God does.
We have a soul as God does.
Etc...
When Jesus was born a man the bible tells us that Jesus was the living image of the invisible God.
This tells us that before that God was a spirit.
But often the writers of the Old Testament used terms like the hand of God as a way to illustrate the working of God with us.
Thus we have terms like the eye of God and other human body parts that the spirit of God really did not have before Jesus was born a man.
But God cou,d appear as a man when he wanted to such as when God appeared before Abraham and dined with him.
I hope that that helps you understand.
Peace and kindness,
Fred,

[abobora]

It does not mean we are phisically in the same image. It does mean we are created to fulfill His porpouse and to be like Him in the same spirit. Spirit os love and kindness, forgiveness and care for others.

[galveston]

When God appeared to Abraham and Joshua, for example, it is clear that He appeared as a man. Often referred to as "The Angel of the Lord", He is the ONLY angel that will accept worship, thus identifying Himself as God, either the Father or Son. At any rate, he looked like man. We are in His IMAGE.

[dwashbur]

Being a spirit, he could take any form he wants to. But the New Testament especially makes it very clear that God is spirit, not flesh. Yes, the Old Testament uses figurative language such as hands, arms, ears, and all that. Psalm 91 also gives him feathers. He's described as a consuming fire. The list goes on and on. Anthropomorphic imagery, or temporary taking on of a human-like form, says nothing about God's true essence or anything else.

Tracie, Arcura's response is the best and most biblical so far.

[njab1]

Whereas references to images in the Bible frequently relate to idolatry, this is not always the case. God, in creating man, said first, “Let us make man in our image [or, shadow, semblance], according to our likeness.” (Ge 1:26, 27) Since God’s Son stated that his Father is “a Spirit,” this rules out any physical likeness between God and man. (Joh 4:24) Rather, man has qualities reflecting, or mirroring, those of his heavenly Maker, qualities that positively distinguish man from the animal creation. Though in the image of his Creator, man was not made to be an object of worship, or veneration.
Even as Adam’s own son Seth (born to him in his imperfection, however) was in Adam’s “likeness, in his image” (Ge 5:3), Adam’s likeness to God originally identified him as God’s earthly son. (Lu 3:38)
“God proceeded to create the man in his image, in God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27) Our being formed “in God’s image” means that even though we have been tarnished by sin and imperfection, we have the ability to mirror certain qualities of God. (Romans 5:12) For example, we can be creative. We also have a measure of wisdom, a sense of justice, and the ability to show self-sacrificing love for one another. Furthermore, we can reflect on the past and plan for the future.—Proverbs 4:7; Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11; Micah 6:8; John 13:34; 1 John 4:8.
Our spiritual capacity is most clearly demonstrated in our innate desire to worship God. Unless we properly satisfy the need to be in touch with our Creator, we cannot find true and lasting happiness. “Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need,” Jesus said. (Matthew 5:3) We must be careful, however, to satisfy that need with spiritual truth—facts about God, his standards, and his purpose for mankind. Where can we find spiritual truth? In the Bible.