By Bob Kirkland
BACK TO THE BEGINNING
Genesis 1:26 says, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” To be made in the image and likeness of God is multifaceted. Scripture, of course, makes it clear that man is not divine or a part of God, and it would be wrong for us to think so. However, it would also be wrong to minimize man to something he is not by stripping him of the abilities and attributes God has given him. So, even though Adam fell, man still has a soul. And man still has the ability to choose and to reason. These attributes were not taken from man when Adam fell as is very evident by simple observation. In Scripture, God commands the sinner to reason, to choose, and to repent. God’s grace operates in our lives in a viable active way (not a passive way).