The Image of God, the Image of Adam, and the Earthly--Heavenly Contrast

The passages in question are:

Genesis 1:26: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness..."

Genesis 5:3: "And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth."

1 Corinthians 15:46--49: "Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly."

A common theological construction goes like this:

1. Adam was created in the image of God.
2. Adam lost the image of God through sin.
3. Seth (and all humanity after him) is thus born only in the image of Adam.
4. Through salvation, or regeneration, or election, believers supposedly have the image of God restored and move from bearing the image of Adam to the image of God.

That construction is not supported by Scripture itself but is imported from theological systems, especially classic Reformed theology. Nothing in Scripture states that Adam lost the image of God, nor that his descendants ceased to be in the image of God.

From Genesis 5:3 we know Seth is in the likeness and image of Adam. From Genesis 1:26 we know Adam was made in the image and likeness of God. The simplest and most faithful reading is: if Adam is in the image of God, and Seth is in the image of Adam, then Seth is also in the image of God. The image is transmitted through human generation. We see this pattern in ordinary heredity: a child resembles the parents; the parents resemble their parents, and so forth. That chain does not negate the original image; it mediates it.

Further, later Scripture testifies that humanity remains in the image of God long after the fall:

• After the flood, in Genesis 9, human life is still grounded in the fact that man is made in the image of God (the text assumes rather than repeals that truth).
• In James (the epistle was alluded to as "James, I don't know, chapter 1"), humans are still treated as bearing God's image many centuries after Adam.

If Adam had "lost the image of God" in a substantive, ontological way, these later references could not stand as they do. The idea that the image was lost is a theological inference, not a biblical statement.

What then of 1 Corinthians 15:46--49? Paul's contrast there is not about whether a person is or is not in God's image, but about the mode and quality of existence: natural vs.~spiritual, earthy vs.~heavenly. "The first man is of the earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven." We all share the "image of the earthy" in that we bear mortal, corruptible bodies and a nature tied to Adam's fallen condition. In Christ, believers will one day "also bear the image of the heavenly" in resurrection glory.

That contrast concerns destiny and form of existence, not the basic imago Dei. Paul's language addresses how we live and what we will be---mortal or immortal, corruptible or incorruptible---rather than whether we possess the image of God at all.

Thus:

• Are we in the image of Adam? Yes, in the genealogical and natural sense; we inherit his nature and characteristics.
• Does that cancel being in the image of God? No.~Because Adam himself was in the image of God, his descendants remain so as well.
• Does 1 Corinthians 15 teach that we move from Adam's image to God's image only through salvation? No.~It teaches that we move from bearing the mortal, earthy likeness of Adam to bearing the glorified, heavenly likeness of Christ in resurrection.

Every person born---whether a newborn on "the 19th of February 2026," a child, an adult, or even a hardened sinner---is a bearer of the image of God. This is a key foundation for the sanctity of human life. Salvation, regeneration, or spiritual growth do not create the image of God; they do not re‑make us into image‑bearers. They transform, forgive, and ultimately glorify an image that is already there.

1 Corinthians 15 addresses how we may live according to the earthly or the heavenly pattern and what we shall be in resurrection, not the supposed loss or restoration of God's image. The later theological idea that the image was lost in Adam and regained only in the elect must therefore be set aside in favor of the straightforward biblical testimony that humanity---fallen yet still bearing God's image---awaits either redemption or judgment.