The concept of the likeness of God is central to understanding our potential and purpose. God has revealed Himself in His word with form and shape like a man, establishing patterns for us to follow so that we can conform our lives to His way and grasp the goal set before us. We are called sons, daughters, and children of God, and through His Spirit, we are partakers of the divine nature. Jesus Christ, as our Elder Brother, revealed God as the Father and Himself as the Son, showing a familial relationship that implies reproduction in His image, just as bears beget bears and birds beget birds in their likeness. Despite this, recent teachings suggest that we are not to be in God's image or become God as He is God, portraying the Godhead as a closed, mysterious essence with no room for expansion. This contradicts the clear biblical statements about God's form and shape. God's every revelation in His word shows Him with tangible qualities of a body, such as shape and size, as seen in Jesus Christ's resurrection, where He emphasized He was not a ghost but had flesh and bone, demonstrating substance and corporeality. We are to be transformed to be like His glorious body, indicating that if we are to have a body like His, then He must have a body as well. Scriptural accounts consistently describe God appearing as a man, with physical attributes like feet, a voice, and a face, as seen by Abraham, Moses, the seventy elders, Gideon, Manoah and his wife, Job, Isaiah, Amos, and others. These witnesses saw God with their natural eyes, and their descriptions align without deviation. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ, when transfigured, retained His shape and form, still recognizable with a face and clothing, reinforcing that He did not become an essence or vapor. Stephen also recognized Jesus Christ's form and shape, standing beside another God being, further affirming this consistency. The Bible states that the redeemed will see God's face in the kingdom of God, using the same terminology for both God and man, indicating a literal countenance. This is not a figure of speech or metaphor; God has no need to disguise Himself or pretend. Scriptures show that even the unconverted can comprehend aspects of God's nature through visible creation, as God Himself declared in Genesis 1 that we are made in His image and likeness. This likeness extends beyond mere form to include intellectual, moral, and spiritual aspects, as implied in the Old Testament and expanded in the New Testament to encompass personality and character. The words for image and likeness, such as tselem, demooth, and icon, are used in contexts that overwhelmingly refer to observable form and shape, both for God and idols. If man is made in the bodily image and likeness of God, then God must have an outward form and shape. God's revelation is clear and simple, meant for us to believe and apply to our lives, ensuring that we understand we are to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, recognizable in form and composition as He is.

God has revealed Himself through His Word, declaring that He possesses form and shape. In Genesis 1:26-27, it is clearly stated that man is made in His image and likeness, establishing a foundational truth about His purpose for humanity. This image is not merely a future potential but an accomplished reality, as man is already created in His physical image and likeness. The Bible contains over 20,000 references to God, describing in detail what He is like, and yet some attempt to cast doubt on these clear statements, suggesting that God is incomprehensible or a mysterious entity beyond ordinary understanding. The tactic of questioning God's clear descriptions of Himself is an old deception, reminiscent of satan's approach with Adam and Eve, casting doubt on what God explicitly said. Is it not safer to believe what God declares about Himself, as the author of the Book, rather than imply that He is not open or truthful in His disclosure? To suggest that God does not mean what He says about His form is to accuse Him of deceit, a grave inconsistency when contrasted with affirmations that He does not lie and can be trusted. The Hebrew word "tselem," used for image in Genesis 1:26-27, means shape, resemblance, figure, or shadow, indicating a concrete, physical likeness, not an abstract concept. This same word is used consistently in other scriptures for physical representations, and there is no dispute about its meaning until applied to God, where assumptions arise that He lacks true form. Similarly, the Greek word "icon" reflects a direct relationship between the original and the image, as seen in the reflection of the sun on water or a child resembling a parent, reinforcing that man's creation in God's image implies a tangible likeness. God's form is further affirmed in various scriptures as something visible to the eye and audible to the ear, with no indication in His Word that His body is merely temporary or vaporous. Jesus Christ Himself taught that a spirit being's body is not like a ghost but has solid form, with spirit flesh and bones, confirming that God indeed has a shape that can be perceived. Thus, the overwhelming usage of terms like "tselem," "demooth," and "icon" in their contexts points to man being made in the bodily image and likeness of God, indicating that He must have outward form and shape.