The first time the word “man” is mentioned in the Scriptures, it is said in relation to the image of God. What does this mean, to be made in God’s image? The word image is defined as an “exact likeness” or “alike-ness” (Merriam-Webster). So in other words, we were created to be like God, or godlike, both in the spirit and in the physical appearance of our creator. When Yeshua was accused by the Pharisees to be blaspheming, when He said that He was the Son of God, He answered them by quoting Psalms 82:6, “You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High (John 10:34-35, NKJV). The word “god” is defined as, “the being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshipped as creator and who is ruler of the universe; it is also defined as a “powerful ruler” (Merriam-Webster), which is a good interpretation for Psalms 82:6, “You are gods”. Another word for “god” is “mighty one” or “el” (Strong’s H410). The pagan gods were also known as “mighty men of old” (Genesis 6:4) that is, the gods.
God is the Supreme Creator, who gives life and takes away life, who orders and by whose power the universe and everything in it is held together. To be “god” is to have the power to create. Are we not also creative? We build, we destroy, we improve, and we were meant to be powerful rulers. Furthermore, we have other noticeable godlike traits. God has nine traits that describes Him: He is omnipresent (Proverbs 15:3, Jeremiah 23:23-24), He knows everything (Isaiah 40:8, Psalms 147:5, Job 37:16), He creates and is all-powerful (Job 42:2, Romans 11:6, Ephesians 1:11), He is Holy (Psalms 99:2-3,9; Isaiah 6:1-6), God is Sovereign (Genesis 14:19, 1 Peter 1:17), but also He is love (1 John 4, Deuteronomy 7:7-8, John 14:31), He gets jealous (Exodus 20:5, 34:14, Deuteronomy 6:15, 9:20), He is just or righteous (Psalms 116:5, Romans 9:14-33), and He is merciful (Ephesians 2:4). We share six of those traits with Him to some degree – we have the capacity to love, hate, be jealous, just, merciful, creative, we rule and are sovereign over our environment and we have a small portion of godlike intelligence. We may not be all-knowing, but we can certainly can make judgements, predict, order, manipulate, problem-solve, make plans, create and search for meaning. We are independent and have a need for control (of our own lives, of other person’s or of the environment). We may not be the Almighty God, but we are no doubt godlike, we look like Him and we have most of his Godly traits. Additionally, to be a “god” we must have knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:5), which we do.
We were created to be like Him, as a son is born and grows to be the image of his father, and we were created to enjoy His company and to share His world very much in the way we want our children to share in our lives and our achievements: “For thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created (Revelation 4:11). We certainly do not have children so that they will serve us – at least I hope none of us do. Our duty to our children is to sacrifice our whole lives, our dreams, and our finances to meet their needs. Parents who deeply love their children do this. Our children on the other hand, owe us nothing but their respect (Ephesians 6:1, Colossians 3:20). They are not here to help us pay our bills or take up our responsibilities, unless we are unable to do so due to old age or exceptional circumstances, and even so, it is voluntary. We do not have children so that they will serve us; we have children so that we can have a relationship with them, and so we can have a child in our image. Is it any different for God?
The Scriptures say that we are His children; He loves us deeply and wishes only to dwell with us and to commune with us. He created us for relationships – with humans, animals and with Himself. He made us because He wants to have a relationship with us, not so we can serve Him. Also just like parents have a deeper love for their children than for those of others, it is the same with God. He is our Father; we have His breath within us, and He loves us more dearly than all of creation, so much so that He made us rulers (kings) over everything He created (Ephesians 2:10, Psalms 8:5, John 3:16), and even over the angels (Hebrews 2:6-8, Psalms 8:5-9).
"You are gods, and you are children of the Most High" Psalms 82:6.
Sources:
The Holy Bible (NKJV)
Merriam-Webster English Dictionary
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