Almighty God permits only one image of Himself on this earth: the original that He created, which Adam and Eve reproduced. God is a Spirit, so for Him to be visible to the rest of His creation the image had to be also. It had to be able to listen and to speak — a living image because its Creator was The Living God.
In writing that the Son is “the image of God” the Apostle Paul is linking “the last Adam” to the first Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45). It follows that if we would know who Jesus is, we need to take a close look at who Adam was. When we do, we will find that the only two men in the Bible referred to as “the [definite article] son of God” are “the first Adam” and “the last Adam”.
The difference between the two is that Adam was God’s created son, whereas Jesus was God’s firstborn Son. Adam was God’s only created image (Eve was created from the DNA in Adam’s rib). The descendants of Adam and Eve — and that’s all of us — are not creations but reproductions. (There can be an innumerable numbered reprints of a painting, but there is only one original.)
When God breathed “the breath of life” into the image He created, it became a living man rather than just a divinely sculpted figure. He was the only image of God on earth. The practice of idolatry “changes the truth of God into a lie” by portraying the Almighty God in god-man forms, and by debasing God’s image in man to that of birds, animals and reptiles (Romans 1:28). The last things listed are listed beneath those of coldblooded, reptilian creatures.
Michael Angelo’s painting of God on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is idolatrous. God is a Spirit and as such is visible only in the Person of His only-begotten Son. Christians are being changed into the image of Christ, and as such may be seen in our character, our nature, and our behaviour. The next step for us will be in the Resurrection!
No wonder the Apostle John spoke of Jesus in so dearly, as “that…which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled…” (1 John 1:1) John was remembering Jesus as the image of the firstborn Son of God in a way not unlike the way creation would have viewed the first Adam, created from the dust of the earth and given life by the Spirit of God.
Who is Jesus? He is the answer to every question your heart is asking and the answer to every question you could ever ask! But you must surrender your life to the Lord Jesus to receive God’s forgiveness for your sins, and be baptised in water to ‘bury’ your old life. He will then impart to your spirit everlasting life and fill you with His Holy Spirit. Do not miss out on what may be your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be saved – made safe — forever!
Manmade images detract from God’s singular image. God is “The Most High God” because He is higher than any god imaginable by the human heart, or any carved or human-related idol – and He is so far beyond the sum of any AI digital image, or imaginative concept possible AI is no more than the sum of human knowledge gained throughout the history of mankind but beyond waits eternity: timeless, everlasting life filled with things that He is yet to reveal.
Elon Musk would like to live on Mars, but Christians are waiting for “new heavens and a new earth”. Why move to a planet that is a part of the old one? Come on, Elon, you can do better!