imago Dei
Definition
Imago Dei (Latin: “image of God”) denotes the theological description of humanity as created in God’s image and likeness (Gen. 1:26). In the corpus authors, this concept is filled with eschatological, functional, and typological content — not as a static anthropological property. The central question is: did the first Adam possess the full image of God, or is the imago Dei a destiny that became fully real only in Christ as the last Adam?
The authors agree that humanity was created to contain and express God. They differ substantially, however, in how they assess the first Adam’s initial state and in the way the restoration of the image comes about.
Usage variants by author
Jones
For Jones, the imago Dei is primarily an eschatological goal: God intends through creation to bring forth a corporate Son in His own image. Adam’s fall interrupted but did not annul this goal. Restoration follows the threefold feast pattern (Passover → Pentecost → Tabernacles), with full restitution of the image occurring at the bodily metamorphosis of the overcomers:
“God’s ultimate purpose in creation was to bring forth a corporate Son in His image. This was the real meaning of His command in Gen. 1:28: ‘Be fruitful and multiply.’ If Adam had begotten children before his fall into sin, he would have brought forth children in the image of God. Instead, all his children were born after he lost the glorified body.” [The Laws of the Second Coming, chap. 14]
Christ is the normative image (Heb. 1:3): humanity is restored not to Adam’s pre-fall state but to the image of the second Adam.
Warnock
Warnock introduces a fundamental qualification: the first Adam was made in God’s image, but never stood in the full expression of it. That full expression was reserved for the last Adam — Jesus Christ. Adam’s position was real but incomplete; he was still on probation:
“Adam was made in God’s image, but was never in the full expression of ‘the image of God.’ This was reserved for the last Adam, even Jesus.” [Who Are You?, chap. 5]
“Where Adam failed to attain to perfection, the last Adam overcame, and was made ‘perfect through suffering’ (Heb. 2:10).” [Who Are You?, chap. 5]
Adam’s fall is therefore not a descent from fullness to brokenness but a failure in a trial he was meant to pass. The full imago Dei is for Warnock both eschatological and christological in character.
Nee/Lee
Lee interprets the imago Dei in functional-purposive terms: humanity is fashioned after God’s image as a vessel calibrated to contain God and express Him. Just as a glove is shaped in the image of a hand in order to contain a hand, so humanity is formed to receive God as its content:
“God created man in His own image (Gen. 1:26). Just as a glove is made in the image of a hand to contain a hand, so man is made in the image of God to contain God. By receiving God as his content, man can express God (2Cor. 4:7).” [Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 1, chap. 1]
The threefold constitution of the human being (spirit, soul, and body — 1Thess. 5:23) follows directly from this vessel principle: each part is designed to receive on a different level of existence.