God reveals His character through His names–
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness …
Genesis 1:26
Genesis 1:26 says that God created mankind in His image and His likeness. What is the likeness of God? And how is it in us?
When you look into a mirror, you see a reflection of yourself. God made us to reflect His nature and abilities, His intellect, free-will, creativity, capacity for love and much more.
This idea has always fascinated me – that we not only look like God, but that we have, built within us, the very nature and characteristics of God. Does that sound too arrogant?
When you think about it, we are God’s creation, his handiwork. He created a big beautiful world for us and equipped us with all sorts of ways to survive and thrive. Just as we get a kick out of seeing our children grow into their potential, I think God gets a great deal of pleasure watching us as we grow, mature spiritually, and discover the wonderful gifts that he has built into our world, our lives, and our very natures. I think He is especially gratified when we acknowledge Him as the source of our gifts and thank Him for them.
In this ongoing study, we are going to look into various aspects of the ‘likeness’ of God, first, by studying the names and titles that God gave himself, and that the patriarchs of old gave to him. We will follow the threads to see how these traits keep popping up in the scriptures, who is exhibiting them, and what happens as a consequence.
Did you realize that even Jesus exhibited the very likeness of God? We will locate passages where Jesus demonstrated these Godly traits that Jehovah first introduced to the Israelites. We will stretch ourselves to greater heights as we gain a fresh perspective of what it is to be like Jesus.
As we dig deeper, we will also discover that we already exhibit many of these likenesses in our everyday lives as we raise our families and interact with our world. Just realizing this gives me greater confidence in a loving, caring God.
It is always so exciting to me to start something new like this, because I find that as I dig into it, the Holy Spirit reveals golden nuggets of wisdom and knowledge that I had not known or had not noticed before. I feel exceptionally blessed by God to receive and impart this knowledge to others. Walking with God is very fullfilling.
Be sure to have your Bible handy, along with a notebook and pen or pencil. Who knows where God will take you on this journey and what nuggets of understanding He will drop into your spirit?
Elohim
Mighty One / Creator
Genesis 2:4
El Elyon
Most High God
Genesis 4:18
Adonai
Master, Lord
Genesis 15:2
El Shaddai
God Almighty
Genesis 17:1-2
El Olam
Everlasting God
Genesis 21:33
Jehovah Jireh
The Lord will Provide
Genesis 22:14
Yahweh/Jehovah
I Am
Exodus 3:14-15
Jehovah Raphe
The Lord is our Healer
Exodus 15:26
Jehovah Nissi
The Lord is my Banner
Exodus 17:15
Jehovah Qanna
Jealous God
Exodus 20:5
Jehovah Shalom
The Lord is Peace
Judges 6:24
Jehovah Mekadesh
The Lord Who Makes you Holy
Leviticus 20:7-8
Jehovah Gibbor
The Lord Mighty in Battle
Psalm 24:8
Jehovah Sabaoth
Lord of Hosts
1 Samuel 1:3
Jehovah Rohi
The Lord is My Shepherd
Psalm 23:1
Jehovah-Tsidqenu
The Lord our Righteousness
Jeremiah 23:6
Jehovah Shammah
The Lord is There
Ezekiel 48:35