The very first two humans were made in the image of God. But what does that really mean?
Made in the “image of God” simply means that people are spiritually like Yahweh God Almighty to some extent. He has given humans some of the spiritual aspects He has: the ability to think and reason, an innate knowledge of right and wrong, a conscience, a full spectrum of emotions, and the need for spiritual things in order to be truly happy. On top of all that, Yahweh has also graciously granted us free will, the power to make moral decisions on our own.
Beyond this, humans are not in the exact image of God. If we were exactly in Yahweh’s image, we would be like His clones or something of a similar nature. If we were exactly in His image, we would not have fallen into sin, for “God cannot be tempted by evil.” (James 1:13, ASV) The first woman, Eve, was tempted by evil, so she fell into imperfection from perfection. Her husband Adam followed in her footsteps. As they reproduced to populate Earth, their children were born in their own corrupted image; this is how the entire human line has inherited a sinful nature. Instead of being more in the image of God, we are now more in the image of our first ancestors.
Therefore, any claims that say “Since we’re made in God’s image, and some of us are liars, murderers, cheaters, homosexuals, and fornicators; it thereby means that He must be all of these Himself” are not only invalid but greatly profanes and distorts Yahweh’s nature and glory. Yahweh is an absolute holy God who forbids people to become these sinners. To say He has these very attributes He prohibits is using His name in vain, thus breaking one of the Ten Commandments: “You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7, WEB) And to say God created us to be sinners when He will punish unrepentant sinners is accusing Him of being unfair and unjust, contrary to His true nature: “He loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of the loving kindness of Yahweh.” (Psalm 33:5)
In conclusion, we are in the image of Yahweh because we can think and reason, make moral decisions, possess love, express happiness and sadness, among other spiritual traits. Other than this, we, as mere creations, stand far below are Creator. How can we possibly compare to the most supreme Being of the universe?
After God created humans, He examined His creations and proclaimed that they were “very good.” We were made in perfection, but we have abused our free will to go against God’s wishes for us. Yahweh always uses His free will to do good; we have used our free will to do evil. This is one main reason why we have fallen short of God’s glorious image. May we return to Yahweh in humility and obedience to repossess what is rightfully ours; let us wisely use our free will to regain the image of God!