To answer the crucial question, “Whose image are we born in—God’s or Adam’s?” we must first clarify the meaning of the term “image” as used in the Bible. Are we talking about something physical, such as outward appearance, or something spiritual in nature?
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In Genesis 1:26 and Genesis 5:3, the terms “image” and “likeness” are used interchangeably. To better understand the nature of God’s image and what he is like, we turn to the words of the Apostle John in John 4:24: “God is Spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 3:8 further explains that the Spirit of God is invisible, stating, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
This indicates that God’s nature is invisible to our physical eyes—His form and likeness are spiritual, not physical. Therefore, when the Bible speaks of being made in the “image of God,” it refers to a spiritual likeness rather than a physical one.
With this foundational understanding in mind, we can then approach the question: “Whose image are we made in—God’s or Adam’s?”
A Closer Look at Adam and Eve
The story of the first man, Adam, has been discussed since the beginning of time. Nearly everyone has heard it, but it is crucial to carefully examine the story and understand its deeper meaning.
When God created Adam, He made him in His own image and likeness. As it says in Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…’” In this verse, the words “image” and “likeness” are used interchangeably.
(Note the “us” in Genesis 1:26—God was not alone in the creation. Jesus was there with Him, as we see in John 1:1-2: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” The best commentary on Scripture is often found in other parts of Scripture.)
On the day Adam was created, God made him both physically and spiritually alive. Genesis 2:7 illustrates Adam’s physical life when God breathed into him: “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
It is clear that the breath of life God breathed into Adam’s lungs was physical in nature. Even though we cannot see oxygen, it is a tangible, physical substance. What may be less obvious is that Adam was also created with the Spirit of God dwelling within him. To fully grasp this, we must look at other scriptures and observe how the story unfolds.
The Departure of God’s Image and Likeness: The Spirit of God Leaving Adam and Eve
After Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s one command and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the immediate consequence was their spiritual death. Genesis 3:6-7 shows us that their eyes were opened, but they did not gain the wisdom they had hoped for. Instead, they became aware of their nakedness and felt shame, symbolizing the deep, spiritual separation that occurred.
When the Bible speaks of Adam and Eve losing the image and likeness of God, it refers to the loss of their spiritual connection to God—the very Spirit of God that had once dwelled in them. On that fateful day, when they disobeyed, the Spirit of God, which had breathed life into Adam and was also within Eve, departed from them. This is what is meant by the departure of God’s image and likeness. Though they remained physically alive, they were no longer spiritually alive as they once were. They became spiritually dead, cut off from God’s presence, and separated from the eternal life and communion with Him that they had enjoyed.
Genesis 3:23-24 further describes their fate:
“So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After He drove the man out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.”
Thus, the fall of Adam and Eve resulted in spiritual death, and they were forever separated from the life that God had originally intended for them. This event not only affected them but set the stage for all of humanity to be born in the image of Adam, living with the consequences of their disobedience.
Born into Spiritual Death: The Inherited Consequence of Adam’s Fall
For the past 35 years, I’ve found that most Christians, when asked, “Whose image were you born in?” would confidently say, “I was born in the image of God.” However, this is a critical misunderstanding that leads to a distorted view of the Gospel.
Since Adam, every person born into this world is spiritually dead, in need of life. We are all born condemned to hell, “objects of wrath,” as the Bible describes. To understand this, we must look at the story of Adam and Eve’s third son, Seth, who was born after the tragic events involving Cain and Abel.
After Cain murdered Abel, Adam and Eve were given another son, Seth. Genesis 5:3 tells us, “When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth.” Seth, like all children born after Adam, was not born in the image of God, but in the image of Adam. This means he inherited Adam’s God-absent nature and was spiritually dead, just as Adam became after his fall. He was marred by sin and born into a condition of spiritual death.
This leads to a critical question: How were you born into this world? Are you in the image of God, or were you born in Adam’s image?
The Apostle Paul addresses this directly in Romans 5:12: “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned…”
The Need for a Proper Spiritual Diagnosis
Just as going to a doctor requires an accurate diagnosis for proper treatment, so too does our spiritual condition require a proper diagnosis. Imagine visiting a doctor with an unknown ailment. If the doctor misdiagnoses you and prescribes the wrong treatment, it could lead to worse outcomes, possibly even death. In the same way, many people in the church misdiagnose their true spiritual condition, assuming they are spiritually alive because they have prayed a prayer, followed religious practices, and still experience emptiness. Could it be that they haven’t fully grasped the reality of their spiritual death?
Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in John 3 are critical: “You must be born again.” Without this new birth, the old condition remains — a life devoid of the Spirit of God. This is where many believers fall short. They may not recognize their need for a spiritual rebirth and thus miss the fullness of the Gospel.
Paul also reiterates this in 1 Corinthians 15:22: “For as in Adam all die.” But there’s hope: “And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man” (1 Corinthians 15:49). Though born spiritually dead in Adam’s image, we can be transformed into the image of the heavenly man—Jesus Christ.
Before we can fully embrace that hope, we must first understand our dire condition: we are not just sinners in need of forgiveness; we are spiritually dead and in desperate need of life. This is why the “born again” experience is at the very heart of the Gospel — the opportunity to be reborn into life through Jesus Christ.
The Urgency of the Human Condition: A Need for Life, Not Just Forgiveness
As Jesus said in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Who needs life? Dead people. Spiritual death is the condition of humanity, and Jesus came to address that very need.
I have been amazed at how little we hear about spiritual death in sermons and podcasts. The main Christian message often focuses mostly on the forgiveness of sins, which is absolutely crucial. But we are more than just sinners in need of forgiveness—we are dead and in need of life. That is what salvation is. As John 5:24 says, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” Salvation is not just about being forgiven; it’s about being given life, crossing over from death to life through Jesus.
The weight and gravity of man’s condition has been on my heart ever since I first heard about it, and it rocked my world. When a person comes to faith in the resurrected life of Jesus, they are born again and written into the Book of Life. Their ultimate destination is heaven one day. Without this transformation, a person will not be written into the Book of Life, as recorded in Revelation 20:15: “Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”
As Romans 10:9 says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” This is the essence of crossing over from death to life.
Jesus: The First Human to Be Born Spiritually Alive
Jesus was the first human to be born spiritually alive, with the Spirit of God dwelling within Him. As Colossians 1:18 says, “He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy.”
But why does it say “from among the dead”? This may surprise some, but it’s because Jesus’s mother, Mary, was also born spiritually dead, created in the image of Adam. Yet, God used Mary to bear Jesus, the one who would be different.
Jesus, filled with the Spirit of God, was born in the image and likeness of God, as Colossians 1:15 says, “The Son is the image of the invisible God.” Hebrews 1:3 emphasizes this further: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.”
Jesus was not only indwelt by God (2 Corinthians 5:18-19, Colossians 2:9), but He also claimed to be God (John 5:30, 10:30, 14:9, Revelation 22:13). For many, this teaching can be challenging, but it is what the Scriptures reveal. How can a human be indwelt by the Spirit of God and yet be God in the flesh? This is the mystery and beauty of who Jesus is.
If you are not 100% sure you are born-again of the Spirit and have crossed over from spiritual death to new life in Christ, then here’s a suggested prayer:
Jesus, I need you.
Thank you for taking away my sins once and for all on the cross.
I now realize that I was born spiritually dead and in need of Your life.
I ask that You come into my heart and give me Your life, so that I can be born again.
Thank you for coming inside me and giving me your life.
Amen.
“But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:16-18
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