Made in His Image
Genesis 1 and 2
When I was 15, I attended a Vacation Bible School held by a church in the nearby town. We were all gathered in the church auditorium for a message, and the speaker, a man who appeared to be in his 40's, told us that we were made in the image of God, which is why we had two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. I didn't say anything, but even at that age, I knew that was not what the Bible meant by the image of God. God is spirit although the Bible describes him as taking human form at times, and Christ was incarnated as a human and resurrected as human. Some years ago, I was driving on Amnicola Highway in Chattanooga when I saw a billboard posted by a local Chattanooga church. The billboard included a depiction of God. The image looked like an extremely aged version of Ozzy Osbourne. In the Bible, the image of God is terrible and cannot be endured by humans. When Moses asks to see God, he is told "Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live" (Exodus 33:20). John declares in his gospel that "No man hath seen God at any time" (John 1:18). When Philip asks Christ to show the disciples the Father, he is told "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14: 8-9), indicating, not that Christ physically looks like God, but that Christ represents the manner and nature of God.
Genesis describes the creation of man in the image of God although the text does not include an explanation of what that means.
Genesis 1:26 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.
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
The Hebrew words for image and likeness imply a resemblance and similarity. Most scholars suggest that the image of God represents the nature and quality of God in his personhood. One thing, however, that is telling in the description is that God created humanity as male and female, which suggests that the qualities of being male and female are qualities that reflect the image of God.
Christianity has removed the feminine aspects of God from translations of the Bible. C. I. Scofield in his reference notes for Genesis 17: 1 points out that the name for God El Shaddai, which is translated in the Bible as "Almighty God" is a misrepresentation:
(1) The etymological signification of Almighty God (El Shaddai) is both interesting and touching. God (El) signifies the "Strong One" (See Scofield "Genesis 1:1"). The qualifying word Shaddai is formed from the Hebrew word "shad," the breast, invariably used in Scripture for a woman's breast; e.g. Genesis 49:25; Job 3:12; Psalms 22:9; Song of Solomon 1:13; Song of Solomon 4:5; Sonong of Solomon 7:3; Song of Solomon 7:7; Song of Solomon 7:8; Song of Solomon 8:1; Song of Solomon 8:8; Song of Solomon 8:10; Isaiah 28:9; Ezekiel 16:7. Shaddai therefore means primarily "the breasted." God is "Shaddai," because He is the Nourisher, the Strength-giver, and so, in a secondary sense, the Satisfier, who pours himself into believing lives. As a fretful, unsatisfied babe is not only strengthened and nourished from the mother's breast, but also is quieted, rested, satisfied, so El Shaddai is that name of God which sets Him forth as the Strength-giver and Satisfier of His people. It is on every account to be regretted that "Shaddai" was translated "Almighty." The primary name El or Elohim sufficiently signifies almightiness. "All-sufficient" would far better express both the Hebrew meaning and the characteristic use of the name in Scripture.
(2) Almighty God (El Shaddai) not only enriches, but makes fruitful. This is nowhere better illustrated than in the first occurrence of the name Genesis 17:1-8. To a man ninety-nine years of age, and "as good as dead" Heb 11:12. He said: "I am the Almighty God El Shaddai. . . . I will . . . multiply thee exceedingly." To the same purport is the use of the name in Genesis 28:3; Genesis 28:4.
(3) As Giver of fruitfulness, Almighty God (El Shaddai) chastens His people. For the moral connection of chastening with fruit bearing, see John 15:2; Hebrews 12:10; Ruth 1:20. Hence, Almighty is the characteristic name of God in Job, occurring thirty-one times in that book. The hand of El Shaddai falls upon Job, the best man of his time, not in judgment, but in purifying unto greater fruitfulness Job 5:17-25.
In his condemnation of the spiritual failures of the Jews in Matthew 23, Christ proclaims "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (Matthew 23:37). Again, the image here is feminine rather than masculine (See also, Luke 13:34). Other passages in the Bible also compare God's nature to that of a woman (Isaiah 66: 9,13; Isaiah 49: 15; Deuteronomy 32:11; Luke 15: 8-10; Psalms 22:9-10; Psalms 71: 6; Hosea 13: 8) (Naus). Wisdom as a quality of God is also portrayed in the Bible and the Apocrypha as feminine (Morrell).
The Feminine Completing the Masculine
Man is created first. Woman is created as companion, a help suited to him (The actual phrase means a counterpart, partner, opposite, that is, an equal). Eve was not created as a subject of Adam but as his co-equal partner. Without Eve, Adam was incomplete.
Genesis 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Genesis 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Genesis 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Genesis 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Adam was an incomplete reflection of God until Eve was created, and the joining of Adam and Eve reflects the unity of God, and the image of the yin/yang. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary says this:
[ 'aadaam (H120), "man."] The word is used here collectively for 'the human race,' as is evident from the plural verb [wªyirduw (H7287)], "let them have dominion."
Adam and Eve together represent all that is humanity, and the image of God in humanity.
Sources
King James Bible. eSword. Software. Rick Meyers. 14.1.0. 2000-2024.
Morrell, Mike. "'Biblical Proofs' for the Feminine Face of God in Scripture." Mike Morrell: Opti-Mystic Medications on Spirit, Culture, and Permaculture. 30 May 2012. 5 Dec. 2024. <https://mikemorrell.org/2012/05/biblical-proofs-for-the-feminine-face-of-god-in-scripture/>
Naus, Eric. "God's Feminine Attributes." The Moody Church. 5 July 2011. 5 Dec. 2024. <https://www.moodychurch.org/gods-feminine-attributes/>