G. Lee Southard August 15, 2026
Traditionally, Christians have understood that Adam, the first man, was created in God’s image and that this image has been passed down to all humanity over time.
Scientific evidence concerning human origins indicates that Adam was not the first man created. Anatomically modern humans appeared thousands of years before the historical period traditionally associated with Adam. This evidence has led this writer to believe that Adam should be understood as the first biological human specially created by God for His redemptive purposes. However, one could argue that people before Adam were also created in God’s image, but it was an incomplete image and in need of perfection.
The Hebrew word tselem (“image”) denotes a representation or likeness and often conveys the idea of reflecting rather than duplicating the original. The New Testament uses the Greek word eikōn, which carries the same essential meaning of image or representation. In the New Testament, however, the emphasis shifts from humanity bearing God’s image by creation to believers being progressively transformed into the image of Christ through redemption (Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 3:10).
It is important to remember that in the context of New Testament scripture we are discussing a nonphysical image an image that is capable of being in relationship with God.
Being made in the image of God also must be viewed in the context of Ephesians 1: 4-10 that before the creation of the world God had predestined that man would be found holy and blameless in his sight through Jesus Christ our Lord. Evidence shows that the first humans were not holy and blameless. This means that before there was an earth, people, evil and sin that God had a plan for the salvation of man.
Collectively evidence and scripture seem to present a case argued that the image of God is a progressive one that in God’s timing and purpose man is prepared to have an image that spends eternity with Him.
Image of Dominion – Humanity created in God’s likeness to rule creation (Genesis 1:26–28).
Genesis tells us that mankind was created in God’s image and likeness for a purpose: to multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and exercise dominion over it (Genesis 1:26–28). If the scientific evidence is taken into account, Genesis 1 may reasonably be understood as describing humanity before Adam, leaving Genesis 2 to describe the special creation of Adam for God’s covenantal purpose.
The image of God present in humanity before Adam included those capacities that uniquely distinguished human beings from the animal kingdom—intelligence, creativity, reason, morality, spirituality, and the capacity to have dominion over the earth, a characteristic taught in Genesis 1:26-28. Also, man was created with a soul, defined as the immaterial part of man regarded as immortal.
Yet the evidence suggests that the people before Adam had for thousands of years committed acts of evil without any understanding that it was a sin against God the creator. They had not received direct revelation from God because they were polytheistic and did not know of God.
Image of Innocence – Adam’s unique fellowship with God before the Fall (Genesis 2).
Unlike those before him, Adam was purposefully and specially created by God who revealed Himself directly to him. He was the first man to know God and lived in fellowship with Him.
Adam knew no evil through personal experience. In this sense Adam’s image differed from that of those who preceded him. Adam possessed an innocence and goodness that had not previously existed among humanity.
Image of Moral Accountability – Adam’s disobedience introducing accountable sin into human history (Genesis 3; Romans 5).
Everything changed for Adam and for mankind when Adam knowingly disobeyed God, disobedience to God being the very definition of sin.
In response to Adam’s action Genesis 3:22 records God as saying, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil” indicating that Adam acquired an experiential knowledge of both good and evil through his disobedience. This distinguished Adam’s experience from that of humanity described in Genesis 1 and provides a basis for understanding why Adam occupies a unique place in redemptive history.
Adam’s disobedience was a sin because it was an act of evil by rebelling against God’s revealed command. This was something that the people before him did not know regarding their evil acts that the evidence shows had been committed for thousands of years because they did not know God.
As Paul writes, “where there is no law there is no transgression” (Romans 4:15) and “for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law” (Romans 5:13).
In this verse, the apostle Paul seems to be supporting the evidence that humanity committed evil throughout the thousands of years before God gave the law, but it would not be accounted for as sin.
Thus, Adam introduced accountable sin into the human story because he knowingly violated God’s command and for this, he was banished from the garden by God.
As Adam would interact with people outside of the garden humanity would take on an image that understood both good and evil, but humanity would remain separated from God by sin.
Thus, pre-Adamic humanity may have committed acts that were evil in their effects while lacking direct divine revelation but after Adam’s disobedience to God, He would make them accountable for transgression in the same way Adam was.
Through Adam the knowledge of God entered the world and all history created since then would be influenced by it.
Image of Redemption – Believers conformed to the image of Christ through faith and the Holy Spirit.
However, knowing good and evil is not sufficient for fellowship with a holy God. God is holy, and only the holy can dwell in His presence.
The Old Testament records humanity’s struggle to deal with sin through sacrifice and atonement. Yet man cannot make himself holy. Holiness must come from God. Before creation itself, God’s purpose was that humanity would ultimately be found holy and blameless in His sight through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:4–5).
Scripture teaches that those who place their faith in Christ are transformed into His image. 1
This is the image that believers in Christ as savior possess today. It is the image being renewed and transformed through the work of the Holy Spirit in preparation for eternity.
The Image of Glory — The perfected image believers receive in the resurrection and eternal fellowship with God.
The final image awaits believers beyond physical death.
When our earthly bodies die, God transforms us into a perfected image fit for eternity in His presence. The image of God that began with creation, was damaged by sin, and renewed through Christ will be completed in glory.
This is the goal of God’s plan of redemption conceived before the creation of the world—that redeemed humanity might be holy, blameless, and conformed to the image of His Son forever.
Conclusion
The biblical story of the image of God may be understood as a progressive revelation of God’s purpose for humanity. Humanity was first created in God’s image to exercise dominion over creation. Adam was then specially created and placed in a unique relationship with God characterized by innocence and fellowship. Through disobedience Adam acquired the knowledge of good and evil and introduced accountable sin into the human story. Through Christ, God began restoring humanity to the image He intended from the beginning, transforming believers through the work of the Holy Spirit. Finally, in eternity, redeemed humanity will be fully conformed to the image of Christ and dwell forever in God’s presence.
The contrast between Adam and Christ is therefore profound. Adam was created sinless, faced temptation, succumbed to it, and brought condemnation. Jesus was born sinless, faced temptation, resisted it perfectly, and through His death and resurrection brought redemption. The first Adam brought death; the last Adam brings life. The sinless Adam became the source of condemnation. The sinless Christ became the source of redemption.
Viewed in this way, the man made in the image of God is not merely a description of humanity’s origin but the unfolding story of God’s eternal purpose. From creation to redemption to glorification, Scripture reveals that God’s intention has always been to prepare a people who will bear the image of His Son and dwell with Him forever.
Footnotes:
- Romans 8:29; Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4:22–24; 1 John 3:2
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