Contacting Your Higher Mind
Posted: Saturday, August 13, 2011
by David Wilcox
What does it mean to say that human beings are made in the image and likeness of God? This is a difficult question to answer because in order to answer it properly one has to know what image of God is being reflected in the human person. Some would say for this reason it is an impossible question to answer. I disagree, and I believe that the answer to this question can provide great spiritual knowledge to the one who understands it. The answer can be trans-formative.
We can then conclude that since we all desire these things, then human beings were made to reflect infinite goodness, mercy, love, compassion, forgiveness, happiness, life, health, etc; that is, we were made to reflect any positive idea or attribute you can think of. These attributes are what God IS, and therefore this is what humans SEEK, and thus comprises the image we were made to REFLECT. However, our errors, lack of faith, fear, encounters with evil, and other problems of life cause us to reflect other things into the world, bringing trouble, pain, suffering, death, and other negative experiences to ourselves and others. This happens because humans have freedom, which is attribute of God, and as a result they can choose things which they believe are good and will make them happy, but these choices are made in error. For example, the modern world is in obsessed with material prosperity, because they believe, in error, that it will make them happy, provide them access to love, fame, adoration, etc. What it brings, however, is a deeper slide into error, and pain, and unhappiness.
The unfortunate side effect of the human propensity to choose that which appears good, is that people begin to believe that life is a mixture of good and evil, joy and pain, which is symbolized wonderfully in the story of the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The reason God warns Adam and Eve not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is because we were not made to reflect good and evil, we were made to reflect good and as a result, experience God’s infinite life. Through freedom, human beings choose both good and evil, and through this error leave themselves outside the garden, cut off from the Tree of Life, trapped in a world of struggle, frustration, pain, and lack.
The path back to the Garden, the Way to the Tree of Life lies in realizing the central, foundational truth of the Bible which calls us to become images of the infinite and invisible God. We can do this because Jesus has shown us the Way, through Love, Works of Charity, Service, and Prayer. We can train our mind to depend on God alone, and to think and act on thoughts of infinite love, happiness, joy, health, and know that the more we think these thoughts and act on them, the more we become transformed into the image of the Infinite God. And if God is with us, then truly who can stand against us?
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Im curious why human beings are called mankind with the word Man.
Man meaning males, men
And if were made in his image,,his image is also Male.
So why isnt females mentioned in this picture.
Life creates life and needs female and male energy and image,,not just male or
mankind. Mankind and human beings I believe may come from seperate origins.
Mankind being more negative and human beings being more loving and more spiritual.
Adam and Eve however cannot populate the entire world without incest.
How did they do this?Hi Kellie,
Females are mentioned on the sixth day of creation as being made in God's image, however as you rightly point out the word hu-man is exclusive.
Adam and Eve are metaphors, types. Not enough space to explain, but they represent the failed hu-man experiment to live in a world of good and evil-duality, represented by the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God created us to be single minded, only focused on good, to be reflections of infinite love. When we do, we are images of God.
Mr. David, I have long believed that "man made in the image of God" refers to our spirits. In thinking about the Spirit of God as revealed through Biblical Passages I begin to understand that we are capable of more than we wish to believeThanks for responding again Suzi,
If we trust the Lord, then anything is possible. And please call me Dave (lol).
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