Created in God’s image

Humans were created by God in His image. (Genesis 1:26, 27) “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. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Since God is a trinity, there must be a trinity in humans, as well. That would be body, soul, and spirit. When Adam and Eve sinned, some part of them died. God had said, (Genesis 2:6-7) “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Since their bodies did not die on that day, and their souls did not die on that day, it must have been their spirit that died. That spirit is what is born anew when a person comes to Jesus Christ for salvation. That is what being born again means.

Consider (Hebrews 4:12) “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

The soul of man contains his mind, will and spirit. For an unbeliever, his spirit is dead in sin. The Greek word for death in the Bible is thanatos. It simply means to separate. An unbeliever’s spirit is separated from God. When an unbeliever dies, his physical body dies, but his soul and spirit are sent to Hades, the place of soul torment. Our verse in Hebrews states that God is able to separate the soul of a man from his spirit. While God can indeed do this, there is nowhere in the Bible where this actually takes place. Man’s spirit and soul are always united. When a person dies, his body is placed in the grave and his soul/spirit departs either for Heaven or Hades. Believers will be resurrected at the Rapture to receive their immortal bodies. Even then they will be in God’s image as a triune being.

For more on the topic see: 0803 Creation