What does God created mankind in his own image mean

It seems you can look at the statement two ways, either we are in Gods image (or dream) or are we Godlike?

But from our perspective being Godlike sounds ridiculous. So what is God. If God has a threefold nature (Father, Son & Holy Ghost) are the scriptures saying that we the son are like the father, or to put it differently, our singular mind is part of a greater universal mind.

I would like to hear thoughts from those from all religions or even those that aren't religious.

Are we like God. If so what is God.

Probably that the men that wrote it thought it a good strategy for getting followers, just like making them think of themselves as ''the chosen ones'' ''special'' ''children of God''.

a reply to: glend

It means he made us as he thought we should be.

Just like "man will create himself in his own image" means man will change himself to what he thinks he should be, not what god wanted us to be.

Hence transhumanism, altering genes, cyborgs...etc...

a reply to: glend

Many Christian out there take the Bible literally. Let think about this...
From that literal perspective one might think that God is a transexual.
Think about it. He created man, then from man he created woman.
God must be both male and female, if we are formed in "His" image.

So much for being literal =)

a reply to: theabsolutetruth

I have always been a die hard atheist who would laugh at religion before I experienced something of a spiritual nature that didn't fit into my belief system and that was a visit from my mother before I realized she had died. The communication was somewhat like of a typhoon of pure love and concern that I will never forget.

So without experiencing something similar I can totally understand your viewpoint, you need more than words, and that is a perfectly reasonable way to view life.

a reply to: glend

It ought to be noted that there are similarities between the Genesis account and other Ancient Near Eastern histories. We learn from a number of ancient Oriental myths that a god makes a man in his likeness. It is also particularly significant that in ancient Egypt the Pharaoh was regarded as ‘the image of God living on earth’.

Of exemplary note is the teaching of the Egyptian Merikare (circa 2100 BC), which claims that men are “images” of “the god”: “Well directed are men, the cattle of the god. He has made heaven and earth for their sake. He has driven away the water monster. He made the air for their nostrils to live. They are his images, who have come forth from his body.”

Ancient Near Eastern mythic histories tend to tell of a king (or, in one instance, a priest) being in the image of a god, rather than mankind in general; they also tend to imply such a figure as having divine characteristics.

You were a part of the thread I made earlier today so you already know my view, but for the sake of others I'll repost some of my thoughts.

Being made in God's image is equivalent to looking in a mirror at yourself. The image you see of yourself is you being made in God's image.

Colossians 1
17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

This is of course talking about Jesus, the image of God. What else besides Jesus the man does everything hold together within? The image you see. It is what gives form to everything and in it the world is held together.

John 1
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

This is again speaking of Jesus. Through what else is everything made? The image you see. The double-slit experiment proves that when we are not observing something, it does not act as it should, hence everything being "made" through the act of observation. What is the world observed through? The window or image of your eyes. Without the image you see, nothing is made that has been made.

Mankind (our bodies) is created in the image of God, the image we see with our eyes.

This is the secret those in power are hiding from us, we are the eternal image of God. If they allowed us to know this, they would have no control over us and could not make us fear death and their threats and schemes. If we fear death, they can manipulate us through that fear. They have done a brilliant job so far.

originally posted by: glend
It seems you can look at the statement two ways, either we are in Gods image (or dream) or are we Godlike?

But from our perspective being Godlike sounds ridiculous. So what is God. If God has a threefold nature (Father, Son & Holy Ghost) are the scriptures saying that we the son are like the father, or to put it differently, our singular mind is part of a greater universal mind.

I would like to hear thoughts from those from all religions or even those that aren't religious.

Are we like God. If so what is God.

Genesis1-26 & 1-27

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Following 1-26 it appears there are more then one, whose images man was made in...
Following 1-27 it says he Created him? male and female. Is this associated with him being a androgynous male / female creation that eventually was genetically split? 1 is not sure OP, but it could account for the various genders associated with mankind...
Is part of the image and them also Soul/Spirit/Internal Energy as is the flesh?

NAMASTE*******

Maybe it is best if we throw this theoretical knowledge overboard, as a matter of fact, not only the idea of a god, but everything we think we know.
Emptiness all around, a dark unwitting space, same as before we started to fill this space with all kinds of theoretical knowledge and toyed with them.
But after throwing it all overboard there is space again and above all, energy because it is not wasted on theoretical beliefs.
Energy, space and all the time to observe, to see and to see clearly without the screen of our background which would blur our vision because we threw that away.
Maybe now we can see the true importance in life, survival, for that we need to work, grow our food, make clothes, build houses, cherish life with each other as human beings with our fellow earthlings which we name animals.
Cherish the great mother who feeds us and fulfills all our needs, care for nature and let our kids inherit a beautiful blue planet.

Let us first accomplish this, this is already quite difficult for humanity, as it stands now, even to difficult.
But if we have succeeded in doing so, maybe than we should see if we must bother about the concept of a god.
Maybe we like to celebrate life instead of wasting it with thinking and contemplating about theoretical questions which has absolutely no value in life whatsoever.

God is good and he made us in his image. Simple right?

God made it so, and it was good!

I don't really know if we are Gods, I think that we have a special perspective on the universe since we are made of flesh with emotional/rational capabilities, with the power of decision and true subjectivity to let your colors show. To rule with love, integrity, humility and patience or with wrath, anger and fear.

So since God is good and is loving and merciful, he made us in his image. That means, we must be good and loving and merciful, to speak the truth, to make decisions with our hearts. To test new ideas to make them bear fruits and hold up to his simple instructions of simplicity and to use his perfect inventions to sustain our families for generations to come.

That is how I see how we can be Gods. We've got some work to do!

This has to be a reference to Enlil and Enki.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

But what is God. If you look phrase in Gospel of Thomas it says...

"For there will be five in one house: there will be three against two and two against three,
father against son and son against father.
And they will stand as solitary ones."

If God is three aspects then we can only strive for two aspects of God.
So if God has three aspects, there can only be one God.

originally posted by: wasaka
a reply to: glend

Many Christian out there take the Bible literally. Let think about this...
From that literal perspective one might think that God is a transexual.
Think about it. He created man, then from man he created woman.
God must be both male and female, if we are formed in "His" image.

So much for being literal =)

Don't you mean asexual?

Transexual seems a little too new-age for god.

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Personally, I have a feeling that the divine feminine (Asherah) has been heavily redacted.

(Is the Star of David with two triangles embracing one another an encoded symbol for the God & Goddess?)

a reply to: wasaka

Research on the Ancient Near East does shed light on this issue and the context in which Genesis was written. In his thorough and ground-breaking study The Image of God in Man , Clines argues that “it is very likely that the Ancient Near Eastern description of the king, especially in Egypt, as the image of God, formed part of the background to the phrase in Genesis 1:26,” so that man is “described in royal terms” (1968,97). Clines develops this theme by arguing that history has shown that “powerful earthly kings, to indicate their claim to dominion, erect an image of themselves in the provinces of their empire where they do not personally appear” and that likewise “man is placed upon earth in God’s image as God’s sovereign emblem”. In an interesting Biblical example of this practice, Daniel 3 describes how King Nebuchadnezzar made a large image of gold, set on the plain of Dura in Babylon, which people were instructed to worship on certain occasions.

Whilst it may be true that man has particular physical or spiritual properties, that does not appear to be the concern of those passages where man is referred to as being in God’s image. Instead, the emphasis is on relationships– between man and God (both Adam and, in Genesis 5:3, his descendents). One consequence of man’s relationship to God is that he is appointed His representative (which is described in a typical Ancient Near East manner). In my view, the relational aspect of image or likeness seems closest to the intent of what the author of Genesis is trying to express: he stresses man’s special relationship with God in many ways in chapters 1-2, and being created in God’s image should be read in that context.

It is a universal characteristic of man that he is in God’s image, and therefore capable of relating to Him. From this, several points follow: 1. All humans should be seen as of great value since they all reflect something of their Creator. This axiom is behind the decree against taking human life in Genesis 9:6,“for in the image of God has God made man.” 2. Consequently, as being of great worth, each human deserves the opportunity to understand and develop his or her relationship with God. 3. Since all humans are created in God’s image, we ought to emphasize the unity, common origin and common purpose of mankind.

God must be both male and female

Of course,, GOD is all of that and none of that at the same time. GOD is responsible for EVERYTHING as EVERYTHING is GOD wasaka

a reply to: glend

God is everything in existence. If you really think about it, existence is the greatest miracle of all. The universe is so complex and perfect that it MUST be a part of God, if not God itself.

God having three aspects is a reference to the three aspects of existence. You have the physical/material world (Mother), the invisible Spirit our thing that animates the material world (Father), and the lens through which the Spirit observes and interacts with the physical/material world (Son).

Light is made up of three aspects, it is both particle and wave and when those two aspects meet, a ray of light is produced.

Spacetime is three aspects as well. There is space, time, and then the melding of the two, a.k.a. spacetime.

Father, Son, and Mother... not Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father IS the Holy Spirit. They left out the Mother in order to profit off of her, a.k.a. material resources.

ETA: Since you brought up the Gospel of Thomas, I'll post one of my favorite sayings from it:

5. Jesus said, "Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be disclosed to you.
For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. [And there is nothing buried that will not be raised.]"

To see what's in front of your face is to see the image. When you see the image, the one seeing the image will be disclosed to you.

originally posted by: glend
It seems you can look at the statement two ways, either we are in Gods image (or dream) or are we Godlike?

But from our perspective being Godlike sounds ridiculous. So what is God. If God has a threefold nature (Father, Son & Holy Ghost) are the scriptures saying that we the son are like the father, or to put it differently, our singular mind is part of a greater universal mind.

I would like to hear thoughts from those from all religions or even those that aren't religious.

Are we like God. If so what is God.

Personally I think we create god(s) in our image rather then the other way around.

Buddhist here - athestist - no creator god (see above) - but many enlightened soul to help one along the path (see above).

a reply to: glend

.... It's more like man created God in his image.

2nd

a reply to: glend

God created man's soul in the image of His soul...that is the emphasis of the statement, however, since body, soul, and spirit are designed to be a complete unit, it can also be assumed that we share God's actual image. After all, Christ did incarnate into human form.