We are created in God’s image and God is of the spirit.

 

92. We are created in God’s image and God is of the spirit not physical, so our true God like image is of the spirit as well and not this physical body: We are created in God’s image so the writings of the bible and the Bahá’í Faith tell us; as well as being hinted at by the other major religions; but what image is it that we are created in we must ask ourselves; God doesn’t appear to be physical?  Judaism: Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Genesis 2:7 “And The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” And, John tells us:  Christianity: John 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit,” 6:63 “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” And, Paul tells us: 1 Corinthians 2:11 “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him.” 1 Corinthians 2:12 “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” 1 Corinthians 15:50 “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;” This treatise from Paul comes straight to the point. Flesh and blood, the physical body of man, cannot exist in heaven. Only the spiritual essence of man, the spirit created in God’s image, can exist in the realm of God. The other religions of God also hint at this:

 BABI RELIGION: “AS this physical frame is the throne of the inner temple, whatever occurs to the former is felt by the latter. In reality that which takes delight in joy or is saddened by pain is the inner temple of the body, not the body itself.”

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 93)

 ISLAM: 53. “Soon will We show them Our Signs in the (furthest) regions (of the earth), and in their own souls,” Soon will the God like, spiritual properties, begin to reveal themselves in our demeanor and our outward actives towards one another, if we make the effort to strive towards becoming more like Allah (God).

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah  41)

Islam: 71. “Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: ‘I…created man from clay …and breathed into him of My spirit (His Own Image), fall ye down in obeisance unto him.” thus “We show them Our Signs, (Our Image), in their own souls.”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 38 and 41)

Islam: “You are the father of mankind (Adam); Allah created you with His Own Hand, and breathed into you of His Spirit meaning the spirit which he created for you;” The divine spiritual essence forged in God’s image, meaning, the essence of God’s own spiritual self, became the essence of our very own God like spiritual image within us. (Hadith, Bukhari Vol 6, Book 60, # 236)

 ZOROASTRIANISM: 43. “Zarathushtra asked Ahura Mazda (God): ‘O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What shall be his reward, after his soul has parted from his body,” “The living body exists through the soul that supports it.” “Not the other way around, the body supports the soul. So at the dissolution of the body in death the soul goes on freed from it’s cage of imprisonment.” Into the realms of it’s creator Ahura Mazda.

(Zoroaster, The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Vendidad 9, Denkard. 3:191)

 Zoroastrianism: “We worship the spirit, conscience, perception, soul, and Fravashi of the holy men and holy women of good renown, fair of body, godly of soul.”

(The Zend-Avesta, Khorda Avesta – Book of Common Prayer pt. 1)

 HINDUISM: “I am the Spirit seated deep in every creature’s heart;” “Yea! in its bodily prison! Spirit pure, Spirit supreme; surveying, governing, Guarding, possessing; Lord and Master still.” “He sees indeed who sees in all alike The living, lordly Soul; the Soul Supreme, Imperishable amid the Perishing:” “For I am That whereof Brahma (God) is the likeness!” We are made in the likeness of Brahma (God).

(Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapter 10, 13 and 14)

 Hinduism: 1. “This body is mortal and always held by death. It is the abode of that Self which is immortal and without body. When in the body (by thinking this body is I and I am this body) the Self is held by pleasure and pain. So long as he is in the body, he cannot get free from pleasure and pain. But when he is free of the body (when he knows himself different from the body), then neither pleasure nor pain touches him.”

(Hindu, Upanishads vol. 1, Khandogya-Upanishad Part 4)

  BUDDHISM: “The lotus will grow sweetly fragrant, delighting the soul, so also among those who are like the wise student of the truly enlightened Buddha shines brightly.” 3. “Knowing that this body is like a jar,” (holding our eternal soul captive) “Like a bird breaking out of the net.”

(Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 1 and 2 (tr. J. Richards))

 SABEANISM: “The Glory and Light of The Life (Haiyi/God), is to bring forth the spirit and soul from the body and to clothe the living soul in a living garment…” “Go, soul, in victory to the place from which you were transplanted, the place of joy, in which The Face (His Face) shines. The Face shines in it (the body), and the form is illumined and does not grow dim. And so, the soul has loosened its chains from the body and broken its fetters. It shed its bodily coat.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 49, Bliss and Peace)

Sabeanism: “Bliss and peace there will be On the road which Adam attained: Bliss and peace there shall be On the road which the soul traverseth. The soul hath loosed her chain and broken her bonds; She hath shed her earthly garment.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 69)

 BABI RELIGION: “God hath left no hindrance in their hearts, were it but the size of a mustard seed. He will cheer their hearts, their spirits, their souls and their bodies.” “THE One true God may be compared unto the sun and the believer unto a mirror. No sooner is the mirror placed before the sun than it reflects its light.”

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, pp. 103 and 145)

 Babi Religion: “O Lord! Render victorious Thy forbearing servants in Thy days by granting them a befitting victory, inasmuch as they have sought martyrdom in Thy path. Send down upon them that which will bring comfort to their minds, will rejoice their inner beings, will impart assurance to their hearts and tranquillity to their bodies and will enable their souls to ascend to the presence of God, the Most Exalted, and to attain the supreme Paradise and such retreats of glory as Thou hast destined for men of true knowledge and virtue.”

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 178)

BAHA’I FAITH: “Minds are developed, hopes brighten, aspirations become spiritual, the virtues of the human world appear with freshened power of growth and the image and likeness of God become visible in man.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Faith – Abdu’l-Baha Section, p. 255)

Baha’i Faith: “We must strive with heart and soul in order that this darkness of the contingent world may be dispelled, that the lights of the Kingdom shall shine upon all the horizons, the world of humanity become illumined, the image of God become apparent in human mirrors, the law of God be well established and that all regions of the world shall enjoy peace, comfort and composure beneath the equitable protection of God.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, p. 73)

Baha’i Faith: “In a word, the ‘image and likeness of God’ constitute the virtues of God, and man is intended to become the recipient of the effulgence’s of divine attributes.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, p. 93)