"god made us in his image"..how does that account for deformities?

Question

as easy as it is for me, i'm not trying to be a smartass. if we were created in his image, how does that account for blindness, birth defects, genetically linked diseases, etc? i can't imagine him being a blind midget with lobster claws and a congenital heart defect. explain it to me? and please don't tell me it's from 'watering down' of the gene pool after so many generations removed.

don't sit there and lambast me for having my take on it. your own people can't even come to a general consensus as to what means what. i have seen *many* answers where 'christians' say that we are created in his image in flesh as well as soul, and i've seen others that say it's just the soul.

make up your minds.

isabeline-i appreciate the way you phrased your answer.

wayne-if that's the case i'm surprised more people haven't just offed themselves. i don't believe in the so-called consequences of my ancestors. unless it's monetary.

punishing the whole for the actions of a few.

born again-being a fully functional human being doesn't make you perfect. doesn't everyone deserve that?

Answer 1

OH Boy. They can not even decide if God has an image.
In Genesis God is a real person walking around and looking under shrubbery to find Adam and Eve.
In Exodus God is a flaming bush, a pillar of fire, a smoking cloud or a being that lets Moses see his backside(butt) on Mount Sinai, the point being that nobody can see his face.
In later books God becomes the amorphous invisible everywhere at once holy ghost spirit.
So what Is the Image of God, if God was real.
Try to come up with a definition of this God, you will fail, the bible and churches all recognize this and give the non-answer that God is undefinable for a variety of excuses.
I personally believe it is all just bull hockey

Answer 2

Ok, I can't read the other answers. Half of them are just ridiculous.

The answer to your fair question is simple. First, realize that most of the Bible should not be taken literally. If God isn't physical, how can He have an image? He doesn't. The "image" is another way of saying "idea," but saying "God made man in his idea," doesn't quite convey the point like it should. So - image is just a synonym of idea, here.

According the the Bible, if that is your cup of tea, we are like God in the sense that man is dominant. Man dominates nature and the world around him. Man has thought, and intelligence, and feelings, and can speak, and most importantly, is self-aware. Nothing else on this planet has all of those attributes. Thus, according to the Bible, man was made in God's image (likeness).

Answer 3

God is the universe as a whole, undefined. God is everything put into a "big ball" of nothing. God holds all possibilities. Everything is perfect to God for the very fact it is. We are the beings that label things as diseases and deformities. We created sickness and pain and allow it to exist in that way. Basically, we are making a mountain out of a mole hill, just so people can make money off of it. God is the undefined dreamer and we are the defined dream.

Answer 4

The man that was made in the image of God is the inner man, that is the soul. God is not man but spirit and this man that was created was in the image of God which is spirit form.
Gen 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 man that was created was then given a tabernacle to dwell in which was formed from the dust of the earth. This outter body that we see is just the house where you dwell (the soul, the real you) and that is why Jesus said "In my Father's house are many mansions..." and Paul said "If this earthly tabernacle be dissolved (in the dust of the earth) we have another one waiting in the heavens". This body is just temporal.
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Answer 5

GOD didn't make us in his image, he made Adam in his image. Everything since then is genetics.

As for birth defects, what do you think white and black skin is? So is our shorten life spans and ill health. All are genetic defects which have become a part of the permanent genetic code. Since the time of Adam, we have de-evolved. If you knew anything about genetics, you would realize just how many things affect it, from what we eat and drink, to the UV radiation we absorb each day. As time has passed, the defects have gotten more frequent. Eventually, when human realize they cannot rule themselves and place their complete faith in God, than we will see a reversal.

Answer 6

You fail as many others that don't think we are made in the image of God, what do you see when someone is deformed,, a body, well that is not the image of God, The SOUL is what is made in God's image, Remember God is a spirit & not a person, People get this correct, It is the soul of a person that is made in God's Image, & not the flesh.

Answer 7

It is because of all the toxins we have put in the air and water and soil that we have to use every day of our lives. Poisons are used to keep crops from insects and so on and so on. Hope you get the idea. God did not cause this tragedy man did.

Answer 8

God made us in his image mean that the creation of human is supposed to be like God. Man should not commit sin like God. He should not steal, tell a lie, should not drink liqour, should not smoke marijuana, should not use prohib ited drugs and many other sins in the world. It is not look alike God. we are human and God is spiritual in nature and nobody have seen Him to say that we look like him

Answer 9

God made us in His "Spiritual" Image, not physical one, you are getting the physical image confused with the Spiritual one.

Man is the direct creation of God. In the Garden of Eden, God made man good. He made Man as both male and female.

"Then God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" (Gen. 1:26-27; see also, 2:7,21-23).
Because Adam was made in the image of God, and we are his descendents, we are different than the animals. Adam had the breath of life breathed into him, where the animals did not (Gen. 2:7). Also, Adam was given dominion over the animals. Additionally, being made in the image of God means that we have value. All people have value because of this.

Being made in God's image means that we have a soul, that we can reason, know God, worship Him, and love Him.
Being made in God's image means that we have a soul, that we can reason, know God, worship Him, and love Him. Animals cannot. We have moral values and abstract conceptual capability. The human is a wonderful creation of God.

God is concerned with man. Man is the object of God's creative and redemptive work. God loves us (John 3:16), provides for us (Matt. 5:43-47), and has provided redemption for us through His Son (John 3:16).

However, originally Adam and Eve were pure and sinless. But, because they rebelled against God, they became sinners. As a result their offspring inherited their sinful nature. Many Christians today do not accept the teaching that we have sinful natures. But it is true. We are by nature sinners worthy of damnation (Eph. 2:3). Of course, we are not as sinful as we can be, but we are all touched by sin. Consider the following scriptures concerning human nature.

Our hearts are deceitful and desperately sick (Jer. 17:9).
We are full of evil(Mark 7:21-23).
We love darkness rather than light (John 3:19).
We are unrighteous, do not understand, do not seek for God (Rom. 3:10-12).
We are helpless and ungodly (Rom. 5:6).
We are dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1).
We are by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2:3).
We cannot understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14).
But, thanks to God and His redemption in Christ, we are new creatures (2 Cor. 5:17). Because of the indwelling Spirit of God we are able to understand spiritual things, seek for God, and are no longer ungodly. This is the benefit of God's redemptive work in us. So, though we were dead in our sins, we are alive in Christ. Though we did not want God, now we do

Answer 10

It is not physical. The image referred to here is the character of God such as love, kindness, forgiveness, etc.
If it were physical then God will have billions of different faces.
Peace!