MADE  IN  THE  IMAGE 

AND  LIKENESS  OF  GOD 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this Fifth Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Made in the Image and Likeness of God.”

That statement has been heard by all of us from time to time during our life.

Am I like God or is God like me?  Or am I totally different from God and is God is totally different from me?

That statement  - “Made in the image and likeness of God” - is in today’s first reading. It’s in the first chapter of the Genesis the first book of the Bible.

UNIVERSITY COURSE

Years ago I almost took a semester’s course at Princeton Theological Seminary on that one statement in the Bible, Genesis 1:26-27.

Once more it goes like this: “Then God said: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.’  God created man in his image / in the divine image he created him; / male and female he created them.”

The professor said there were hundreds of takes on that text.

I should have taken that course, but didn’t  because another course grabbed me.

Through the years I have thought about that text – but I don’t know for sure just what the Priestly Author of Chapter One of Genesis means by this text.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GOD AND US

God created the world.  We can create nothing out of nothing.

God is all knowing, all loving, all forgiving.  We are not.

God doesn’t have a body; we do.

God is eternal. We are temporary – but we are hoping for eternal life.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN GOD AND US

God can be lonely; we can be lonely.

God can communicate; we can communicate.

God can be one with others – as God is in the Trinity. We can be in communion with others – as well as enter into the Trinity through, with, and in Christ.

When God created the world, God was like a Father and a Mother – making Their  children’s room a Paradise. So too parents when they are going to have their first child – they make  their baby’s room and space – a paradise. Nothing can be missing for their new baby.

PARADOXES

God – the All Powerful God can be powerless and accept it. Human beings can be powerless and don’t want to  accept it. For example, Jesus gave up all his powers when he let go to let himself be arrested, beaten, killed on the cross. He said he could have his Father send legions of angels to save him.

We say to God, “Thy will be done.” Many times we don’t mean it. We’re actually saying and praying, “My will be done.” 

God is all forgiving.  We can be that way – but often we’re not.

CONCLUSION

I think a possible prayer could be:

God,

even though I am made

in your image and likeness,

thank You, God,

that I am not You,

because if I were You,

uh oh, O God.