(Romans 8:29) For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (NIV)

(1 Corinthians 15:47-49) The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

(Colossians 3:9-10) Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (NIV)

Man’s first breath was a breath from God. He was far more than a created creature …he was a living soul! The clear distinction between this final product of God’s creation and all the creatures which preceded him was made in God’s image!

What is the image of God: what is the likeness of God; why two separate words; are you today still in God’s image; are you still in God’s likeness; How’s all these scriptures about being renewed in his image and transformed into his likeness fit into the picture

A) The Image of God: outward form…outward characteristics

1) For man to be made in the image of God it meant that immediate fellowship would have to be possible…

a) There was immediate affinity between the two personalities, there was perfect communication- untaught and unlearned!……

b) Since man had the clear, unspoiled image of God in him he would have had instant, accurate, and intense communion with his Creator.

2) For man to be made in the image of God it meant that the capacity for authority would have to be possible

a) God had authority and He conveyed this characteristic to his highest creation and only his highest creation!

(Genesis 1:28) God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." (NIV)

1) While man was to be in authority over every other created thing; he was to always be in subjection to the authority over him…God…. Should man ever try to act on an equal level with God it would be a violation of the laws of creation.

3) For man to be made in the image of God it meant that intellectual power and the capacity for knowledge would have to be possible.

a) Adam didn’t have to learn to communicate, he already knew how; he didn’t have to learn how to be a scientist, he automatically was one. What must have been the instant level of intellect that Adam possessed and what would he have been able to do with it?……. Adam has it all; these three characteristics and many, many more, some beyond our fallen understanding plus:

B) The Likeness of God: “a representation of the inner qualities of a person or thing…inner characteristics.”

1) Mankind’s “likeness” to God means we were created like him morally.

2) The basis of God’s moral attributes is his volition or free choice; He is not

forced to act like he does; He consistently functions based on self-chosen laws.

3) God is never tempted to do wrong (break one of his own laws) because his perfect knowledge of the outcome makes such a choice repulsive to him.

He chooses to act by his own principles of perfection but at the same time he is

perfectly free to act any way he chooses.

a) He has never once acted in conflict with his own principles of perfection just to see what the results would be. Why?___________________________

b) To act according to such Divine, intuitive knowledge, rather than from a desire to experiment and experience the results, is the very foundation of faith.

4) In order for mankind to be made in the likeness of God he had to be invested with the power of free choice; it is basic to all moral character!

5) For mankind to be a free, volitional, creation (unlike all other creation) his similarity to God’s likeness had to be put to the test of choice. He was made in the image and likeness of God but that fact was nothing to his moral credit until he chose to continue in that image and likeness.

a) Man was made for the test! He was created on probation.. His choice would be decisive…By his choice he could break his likeness to God and at the same time wreck the image of God in him thus destroying the communication, knowledge, and authority God had invested in him.

(Ephesians 4:22-24) You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

1) righteous- credited with right action unless his choice proved otherwise..

2) holiness- absence of that which is defiling unless brought in by choice..

E) Man’s relation to the physical world.. Man was given sovereign control over the physical world…God would be supreme in the spiritual world, man would be supreme in the physical world. The Creator Sovereign and the created sovereign would commune together, fellowship in spirit and mind, the awesome-ness of the Creator would flow through the created as they shaped this world together….. If man passed the necessary test!

a) Crown #1; glory: the primary importance of the spiritual; Adam relationship with God was more real to Adam than the earth he presided over… The flesh was only important in that it contributed to the spirit…

b) Crown #2; honor; man’s elevated position within the creature realm of the earth, “fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

1) Animals moved at Adams command, the elements obeyed his voice, as long as he didn’t lose the crown of “honor” these things would remain true…

Remember, there had to be a test…mankind had to chose moral over immoral.

Here is the way God set up the test.

(Genesis 2:9) And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-- trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (NIV)

We are never quite told what the purpose of having the tree of life in the garden was…we do get an explanation later of what would have happened if they had eaten from it.

(Genesis 3:22-23) And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. (NIV)

The real test came from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.. Lest you see God as mean in denying them this one fruit you must notice that their were all kinds of trees ..that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.

Here is a characteristic of God’s dealing with his children, He always places the weight of his influence on the side of right. In God’s morality there is always a choice between right and wrong and when fairly and sensibly faced there is only one right answer. This was a choice between permissible and not, a choice between one and many but it was primarily a choice between obedience and disobedience!

1) the tree of the knowledge of good and evil- the tree of morality- the tree of “likeness to God”…or not!

Man was already made in the image of God, but whether he retained the likeness was centered for a time in the fruit hanging on that tree. What did Adam have to do for the likeness of God to take root and seat in his very soul???

Nothing. Go about his day. Enjoy all that God had provided. Commune with God

Let his oversized brain expand into unbelievable horizons. Every time he walked by that tree and said in his heart, God said no so the answer is and will always be no… the strength of God likeness in him would have grown and grown and grown until his moral character would have been on a level with his intellect and authority, and communication abilities .

In order for the tree to be the tree of the knowledge of good he had to do nothing, he had to simply depend on God’s word, and without experimenting, trust that God knew best…he would never even know what evil was. Some suggest that if he passed the test he would have qualified to eat of the tree of life and would have been immortally fixed in the image and likeness of God.

Notice something here…God had given man everything including his very image And his very morality. He heaped on every blessing Adam could have ever wanted. What was the evil one offering? Nothing!! He couldn’t create anything, he couldn’t add any wisdom to what Adam already had…he offered Adam and Eve the opportunity to become like God…. For goodness sake; they already were like God in every way that mattered. The already had the knowledge of good…it was built into them along with the likeness of God. All satan was really offering them was the knowledge of evil….well woop tee doo…

When you really understand the oneness Adam had with God it is inconceivable that he would get anywhere near that tree….but he did, and he ate, and the likeness of God inside of him shriveled up until only a faint blur of the original was left. The image of God shriveled right along with the likeness and while Adam had and used a few more brain cells than most of us do today the sudden change must have been more dramatic than when Samson lost his hair and the power of God

left him.

A) Gone was the crown of glory ! (primary importance of the spiritual)

Satan had promised them:

There eyes were opened alright; they saw more than they ever had before… the problem, was they saw much more on a physical level, but the spiritual level which was all they had known before faded into murkiness in the background. They’re eyes were opened and they had become so very blind all at the same time. The naked phrase means so much more than that some part of their human anatomy was exposed. The whole world was naked; sin was naked in their eyes. The fig leaves mean so much more then that they covered the exposed body parts. They were lost in a sea of the physical while the spiritual that they were created for was strangely missing. The crown of Glory was gone and they were alone and terrified…

The test was the difference between:

1) Taking God at his word and by faith accepting his word as final

That hasn’t changed to this day!

B) Gone was the crown of Honor! (Ruler-ship over the earth)

You can see hints of what Adams crown of honor would have been like when Jesus comes to the earth. Turning water to wine, walking on the water, restoring the sick to instant health, full control over the forces of nature…. Pastor, you are saying that had Adam not fallen he would have enjoyed those same powers?? I think so…

Instead, fallen man is condemned to fight a ceaseless struggle against the very creation he one time had total power over:

(Genesis 3:17-19) … "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." (NIV)

Unfit to rule the earth, the earth now rules Adam.

(Genesis 5:3) When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. (NIV)

What does that mean to you here today?

We must understand that this life is not really about our careers, our accumulation of possessions, the building of power or fame. It’s not really about having fun or learning a great hobby. These things might come to us as part of this life but the real reality is that you are on this earth for one purpose”

To be conformed to the likeness of his Son, to be transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, we are to put off our old self with its practices and put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here’s the promise to you: And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.