Mankind Is Unique—We Are Not Animals

During Lent we Christians urge one another to take a long, hard look at ourselves in the light of God's revealed Word. That Word, of course, is divided into the Law of God that serves primarily to reveal our sins and the Gospel, the gracious Word of forgiveness won for us by the life and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. The recent edition of The Lutheran Witness has a fine article on "Natural Law, Lutheranism and the Public Good," only partly reproduced by this link.

My friend and fellow-pastor, Rick, writes me again, this time about the above article:

What do you think of the article in Lutheran Witness concerning the Natural Law?  He has a point, but I think he goes too far with the very last statement "whom our Lord has created in His own image." The fact is the natural law in conscience in our culture has been "seared as with a hot iron." I Tim 4:2. and the "image of God" has been broken in the human heart and can only be restored in Christ "to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."  Eph. 4:24.. Question for you, "Is the moral law and conscience part of the "broken image of God" in natural man?"

 I gather that Rick wants to discuss the original image of God as it was in Adam and the image being restored in the hearts of those of us called to faith in the Second Adam, Jesus Christ. Beyond that, it seems from the referenced article that the answer to Rick's question is at least alluded to by the comment, ". . . appeals to natural law may be perceived as elevations of pagan philosophy over Christian theology, reason over revelation and Law over Gospel."

Best place to start is to review again what the image of God is—or was. Our source is Genesis 1:27:

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

This image persists even after Adam's fall into disobedience and sin:

"This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God." - Gen 5:1 ESV

"Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image." - Gen 9:6 ESV

The Hebrew word for likeness in Genesis 5 is demuwth. The prophet Isaiah says you cannot create a likeness of God. He is incomparable, unique, one of a kind. There is nothing in all creation like Him. He is the Creator and Ruler over all things created. No idol of stone or metal can be made like Him. He is above and beyond all creation. "To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One" (Isaiah 40:25). How then can Adam and the sinful children of Adam be considered to be "made in God's own image"? Hold that question in your mind.

The other Hebrew word is tselem which we translate as image (Genesis 1:27; 9:6). The pagans made images of Baal (2 Kings 11:18). Images of men were portrayed on walls (Ezekiel 23:14). The forms and people we see in our dreams are called tselem (Psalm 73:20). When we awake we realize these are not real. They are but dreams (chalowm). 

And yet Adam's son Seth was brought forth in Adam's image (Genesis 5:3). Did that mean he looked like Adam? I suppose he did, but is that all Moses wants to say? Obviously not, because he starts the chapter by saying that man was originally created (Hebrew bara) in God's likeness (demuwth), both male and female.  Then he goes on the tell us that Seth was brought forth in Adam's likeness (demuwth), after his image (tselem).

Confused? Let's review where we are.

1. Adam and Eve were originally created in the image and likeness of God. No other creature was created in God's image and likeness. In that sense, mankind is unique. We are not animals. 
2. God cannot be portrayed by any creation of man, i.e. image, likeness, idol, painting, etc. 
3. Even after the fall into sin the image and likeness of God remains in mankind. 
4. This image and likeness of God is God's continued creation in the hearts and lives of mankind. This, above all else, is what distinguishes us from all other creatures. Like God, we are unique.
5. Yet, Adam's son Seth—and all of us children of Adam—are brought forth in Adam's image and likeness.
6. Conclusion: we children of Adam and Eve bear both the image or likeness of God and the image or likeness of Adam. 

How can this be? What does this mean? Let's look at the process of birth through which Seth inherited the image or likeness of Adam. Here is what the Spirit reveals. 

"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me."           —Psalm 51:5

"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good. God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one." —Psalm 53:1-3 

"The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies."—Psalm 58:3

"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned?" — Romans 5:12

From this we gather that the likeness or image of Adam is sin and that we children of Adam and Eve are sinful and estranged from God from the moment of conception. This is why our Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. . . unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:3-7).

From this brief study we can conclude that Pastor Rick refers to the image of Adam when he speaks about the "broken image of God". We humans still retain the image of God in certain matters. We are able to reason and to have dominion over the creatures of land and sea. We still multiply and are about the task of subduing the earth and using the plants for food (Genesis 1:26-30). And in the hearts of men there is still some of the image of God that we call the natural law and conscience. But we are in rebellion. We are sinners who bear also the image of Adam. Our only hope is that we might be born again by the work of the Spirit in the Word and remade into the image of the Second Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45-57). This process begins already in our baptism into Christ. It will be completed on the Day of the Great Resurrection.

These are weighty matters, well worth meditating upon during these 40 days of Lent.