How can we describe a human being’s likeness to the divine?
This and the following sections explore this topic from three aspects: Human beings are created in God’s image; we are vessels for God’s indwelling Spirit; and we are God’s beloved children.
Jewish and Christian scriptures teach that man was created in the image and likeness of God. The image of God speaks to the ideal of holiness, truthfulness, righteousness, and charity.
The saint or self-realized person is like heaven, manifesting the character of God. To reach this ideal requires a transformation of the inner man, or as Father Moon puts it, a “revolution of character.”
Father Moon’s teaching seeks to get at some of the ways that human beings resemble God. He examines God’s attributes: omnipotence, omniscience, absoluteness, eternity, etc. and explains that human beings strive for these same qualities.
Moreover, possessing these qualities is our heavenly birthright. Furthermore, the scriptures affirm that men and women are equally in the image of God. Since God created human beings to be nothing less than His counterparts with whom to share His complete love, human beings should resemble God to the fullest extent.
Thus, had human beings not been marred by the Fall, we could attain the fullest manifestation of God’s image as a man and woman in the union of marriage.
1. How Human Beings Resemble God
God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”1 Genesis 1.26
O Son of Man! Veiled in My immemorial being and in the ancient eternity of My essence, I knew My love for thee; therefore I created thee, have engraved on thee Mine image, and revealed to thee My beauty.
Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, Arabic 3 (Baha’i Faith)
Rabbi Akiba said: Beloved is man, for he was created in the image of God. But it was by a special love that it was made known to him that he was created in the image of God; as it is taught, “For in the image of God made He man.” (Gen. 9.6) Mishnah, Avot 3.18 (Judaism)
So set your purpose for religion as a man by nature upright—the nature [framed] of God, in which He has created man. There is no altering the laws of God’s creation. That is the right religion. Qur’an 30.30
Conform yourselves to the character of God. Hadith of Abu Nuaym (Islam)
Fire blazing from the earth. The Superior man reflects in his person Heaven’s virtue. I Ching 35 (Confucianism)
If we keep unperverted the human heart— which is like unto heaven and received from earth—that is God. Revelation to Mikado Seiwa (Shinto)
Looking first at absolute Justice, Beauty and Temperance, and again at the human copy, they will mingle and temper the various elements of life into the image of a man. Thus is a human being conceived according to that other Image, which, when existing among men, Homer calls the form and likeness of God. Plato, The Republic (Hellenism)
As God is called merciful and gracious, so you be merciful and gracious, offering gifts gratis to all; as the Lord is called righteous and loving, so you be righteous and loving. Sifre Deuteronomy (Judaism)
God is never in any way unrighteous—he is perfect righteousness; and he of us who is the most righteous is most like him. Plato, Theaetetus (Hellenism)
That which is the finest essence—this whole world has that as its soul. That is Reality. That is the Self. That art thou. Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7 (Hinduism)
Veiled by ignorance, The minds of man and Buddha appear to be different; Yet in the realm of Mind Essence they are both of one taste. Milarepa (Buddhism)
And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to all the congregation of the people of Israel, ‘You shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy.’” Leviticus 19.1-2
Father, O mighty Force, That Force which is in everything, Come down between us, fill us, Until we become like Thee, Until we become like Thee. Susu Prayer (African Traditional Religions)
“Now what do you think, Vasettha… is Brahma [the supreme Being] in possession of wives and wealth, or is he not?”2
“He is not, Gotama.”
“Is his mind full of anger, or free from anger?”
“Free from anger, Gotama.”
“Is his mind full of malice, or free from malice?”
“Free from malice, Gotama.”
“Is his mind tarnished, or is it pure?”
“It is pure, Gotama.”
“Has he self-mastery, or has he not?”
“He has, Gotama.”
“Now what do you think, Vasettha, are the brahmins versed in the Vedas in possession of wives and wealth, or are they not?”
“They are, Gotama.”
“Have they anger in their hearts, or have they not?”
“They have, Gotama.”
“Do they bear malice, or do they not?”
“They do, Gotama.”
“Are they pure in heart, or are they not?”
“They are not, Gotama.”
“Have they self-mastery, or have they not?”
“They have not, Gotama.”
“Can there, then, be agreement and likeness between the brahmins with their wives and property, and Brahma, who has none of these things?”
“Certainly not, Gotama!”
“Then that these brahmins versed in the Vedas, who also live married and wealthy, should after death, when the body is dissolved, become united with Brahma, who has none of these things—such a condition of things is impossible!”
… “Now what do you think, Vasettha, will the monk who lives according to the Dhamma be in possession of women and wealth, or will he not?”
“He will not, Gotama!”
“Will he be full of anger, or free from anger?”
“He will be free from anger, Gotama!”
“Will his mind be full of malice, or free from malice?”
“Free from malice, Gotama!”
“Will his mind be tarnished, or pure?”
“It will be pure, Gotama!”
“Will he have self-mastery, or will he not?”
“Surely he will, Gotama!”
“Then as you say, the monk is free from household and worldly cares, free from anger, free from malice, pure in mind, and master of himself; and Brahma also is free from household and worldly cares, free from anger, free from malice, pure in mind, and master of himself. Is there then agreement and likeness between the monk and Brahma?”
“There is, Gotama!”
“Then verily, that the monk who is free from household cares should after death, when the body is dissolved, become united with Brahma, who is the same—such a condition of things is in every way possible!”
Digha Nikaya 13.31-34, Tevigga Sutta (Buddhism)
What is man? Man is not matter; he is not made up of brain, blood, bones, and other material elements. The Scriptures inform us that man is made in the image and likeness of God. Matter is not that likeness. The likeness of Spirit cannot be so unlike Spirit. Man is spiritual and perfect; and because he is spiritual and perfect, he must be so understood in Christian Science. Man is idea, the image, of Love; he is not physique.
Science and Health, 475 (Christian Science)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
God made us in His image, like Himself. That means the Father resembles us just as we resemble the Father. So when someone asks you, “What kind of being is God?” you can answer, “He is someone like me.” This answer will hit the mark. (127:233)
God created all creatures to take after His image, and among them He particularly created human beings to represent His character and be co-creators. Human beings should have the same attributes of feeling and thinking as God does.
If God rejoices, human beings should rejoice with Him, and if God grieves, human beings should grieve with Him. Unless people can experience the same feelings as God, no matter how much God loves them they cannot attain a state of harmony and oneness with Him.
In sum, God necessarily had to create object partners to share His love. Hence, God created human beings with the capacity to rejoice with God and experience His love. Again, God created human beings with the same value as the Absolute Being, that they might stand as His object partners. (39:9, January 9, 1971)
People are fond of things that resemble them. Whom does the world resemble? In the future, whom should the ideal world resemble? It must resemble God. It says in Genesis 1:27, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
Indeed, God created men and women in His image. We like things that resemble us, and we can surmise that God likes us because we resemble Him. God created all creatures in heaven and on earth, and He is pleased when they resemble Him. (26:167, October 25, 1969)
Since we are created to resemble God, we want to make ourselves like Him. God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent, so what must we be like in order to resemble God? As God is eternal, we also must be eternal.
As God is omnipresent, we also must be omnipresent. That is why we want to live anywhere in the world. We want to be omniscient and omnipotent to embrace the entire world at once… In what respect would God most like us to resemble Him?
More than omnipresence, more than omniscience and omnipotence, more than uniqueness, He most wants us to resemble Him in love.
The day when we come to resemble Him in love, we can lose everything, and still it will follow us wherever we go. A woman can be so ugly as to be not worth a penny, but if she has love, a young man as handsome as a stallion will pursue her. (26:167, October 25, 1969)
A true person resembles God. To establish a world abounding in true people, what we need is not a political revolution but a “revolution of character.” A revolution of character is the revolution that transforms us into true human beings who resemble God’s character. It uplifts people’s character to the standard of God’s character. (149:271, November 28, 1986)
God is the most public-minded being, whereas Satan is the most self-centered being, private and selfish to his bone marrow. Thus, God’s formula to restore human beings aims for us to become God- like. This means that we must sacrifice what is personal and uphold what is public.
Each of us must embody the spirit of altruism and service to others. A selfless and public-minded person will prosper because he or she is the image of God. The selfish, self-centered person will decline because he is the opposite of God, in the image of the betrayer. This is a law of Heaven. (88:209, September 18, 1976)
2. God’s Image More Completely Reflected in the Family
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. Genesis 1.27
I am He, you are She; I am Song, you are Verse, I am Heaven, you are Earth. We two shall here together dwell, becoming parents of children. Atharva Veda 14.2.71 (Hinduism)
The gospel of Love… presents the unity of male and female as no longer two wedded individuals, but as two individual natures in one; and this compounded spiritual individuality reflects God as Father-Mother, not as a corporeal being. In this divinely united spiritual consciousness, there is no impediment to eternal bliss—to the perfectibility of God’s creation.
Science and Health, 576 (Christian Science)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
It is only when a man and woman become one that they come to resemble God, who created us male and female in His image. (135:122)
In human beings, God’s internal nature and external form are manifested separately as man and woman. When the time is ripe, they are to become a father and a mother, Parents of Heaven and Earth. Then, God dwells in their bones. (341:239, January 2, 2001)
God is the harmonious union of the dual characteristics of masculinity and femininity. Creation occurs by the principle that God’s internal nature divides into two separate characteristics, which then reunite in a form that resembles God’s original internal nature.
Man and woman are born, each resembling one of God’s characteristics. That is, the union of God’s son and God’s daughter is the union of God’s masculinity and God’s femininity. In their harmonious union, they resemble God. For this reason, husband and wife are a unified body that represents God in His entirety. (9:83, April 16, 1960)
Even secular people wish that their loved ones would live forever. They want to go through life with one partner only, and would dislike it if he or she were to change.
If even fallen human beings want their beloved partners to be eternal, unchanging, absolute, and unique, how much more so would God, who is the Center of the universe?
There is no possibility that God would want His beloved partners, human beings, to be changeable. Nor would God want His object partners to be limited in any way. Instead, God wants us to be absolute. God wants us to be unchanging. (77:185, April 6, 1975)
What is God’s purpose in creating human beings? He did not create them just to watch them go about their daily lives. He did not create them to just grow old and die.
God created human beings to have us build a God-centered haven of love. We are created to grow to maturity in love, communicate with each other through the heart, and then build God’s Kingdom on earth. Adam, the male, represents heaven, and Eve, the female, represents earth.
Therefore, when the two become one horizontally in God’s love, they bring unity to the entire cosmos, heaven and earth. (21:44-45, September 1, 1968)
Since we human beings resemble God, by the power of God’s omniscient and almighty love we can do anything.
Just as God created Adam and Eve, we human beings receive the power to create when we give birth to sons and daughters. (57:111, May 29, 1972)