By Obafemi Giwa-Amu Esq
From the moment I started having conscious thoughts, I have always had the mental image of God as this gigantic figure stretching from the earth to heaven.
As a matter of fact, if you ask most people their perceptions of God’s image they would quickly give an imagery of a greatly enlarged human.
This may stem from the beginning where God said in Genesis
*Genesis 1:26-27* [26]Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
[27]So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
I want to humbly assert that our image is of a surface scratch and limited by what we see. It has no depth.
My assertions now about the real image of God and us being in His image is as follows:
A. God is Spirit.
God is an incorporeal, omnipresent, intelligent, and invisible essence.
B. Spirit is an intangible thought.
“Spirit” implies consciousness, mind, and wisdom.
C. We too are thoughts encapsulated in flesh.
Genesis 2:7, describes the spiritual essence (life/mind) inhabiting a material body.
THIS ASSERTION ALIGNS WITH THE “DUST + BREATH” THAT DESCRIBED MAN’S CREATION.
I AM RESOLVED ON THIS ASSERTION BASED ON THREE MATERIAL POINTS
1. God is Spirit: Immateriality and Consciousness
John 4:24
[24]God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
1 Timothy 1:17
[17]Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
These verses establish that God is not a corporeal, material, or physical being.
The term “Spirit” (Greek: Pneuma) denotes an immaterial, immortal, and invisible essence.
While the Bible does not explicitly define spirit as exclusively “thought,” it emphasizes that God is an intelligent, self-existent, and active being.
I make bold to define God more as an “Intangible Thought” because God is Spirit.
He exists as an eternal consciousness or “mind” that transcends physical limitations, thus aligning with an “intangible” nature.
So as He creates, He is speaking to His triune nature much the same way as we speak to our “mind, thought or spirit”.
Most people I have read who have had divine encounters write about a communication between two entities without the use of the mouth.
It was just a presence and a clear communication.
Job 32:8
[8]But there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.
2. Genesis 2:7: “Thought in Sand” or “Spirit in Dust”
Genesis 2:7 states, “Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (NIV).
The Hebrew word for dust is “aphar” (ash, rubble), and for ground is “adamah”, highlighting the “lowly” origin of humanity.
The “breath of life” (neshamah) is the divine spark, often interpreted as the impartation of God’s Spirit (ruach) into a material form.
The “breath” is not merely oxygen, but a “life-giving power” that animates the “clay,” transforming it from a “lifeless lump” into a “living soul” ( nephesh).
Therefore in my humble opinion, that spirit as described in Job 32:8 above (perhaps a divine thought or consciousness) is placed into an earthen or material vessel (the body).
SO WHAT WE ARE LIMITED TO SEE IS THE PHYSICAL BODY AND SO WE DESCRIBE OURSELVES AS TALL, SHORT, FAT, SLIM, OR BLONDE.
WHAT WE CANNOT SEE EXCEPT BY SPIRITUAL EYES IS THE INTANGIBLE THOUGHT OR BREATH OR SPIRIT WE ARE.
IT TAKES FOR A SPIRITUAL OPENING OF THE EYES.
2 Kings 6:17
[17]And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
3. Humans as Thoughts “Encapsulated in Flesh”
Genesis 1:26-27.(Image of God);
Psalms 139:13-18
[13]For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.
[14]I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
[15]My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
[16]Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.
[17]How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
[18]If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.
The Bible supports that humanity has a dual nature: a physical body (“dust”) and a spirit (“breath of life”) and the last part is the Zoe (“mind”) of God as a bonus.
“Encapsulated in Flesh”:
From the Psalm we see that we are like deliberate thoughts of God that are uncountable yet still a part of God inside an earthen vessel.
We are indeed “thoughts proceeding from the Father”. Human existence is a localized expression of divine purpose.
The spirit “governs man’s mental and emotional existence”.
The body acts as a temporary vessel or “temple” for this spirit, which returns to God after physical death.
Ecclesiastes 12:7
[7]Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it.
While the human spirit is derived from God, the Bible also suggests that humanity is distinct from God (Creator vs. creature).
In a poetic or metaphysical sense, the idea of being a “thought” of God suggests we are designed with divine intention and spiritual purpose, rather than just random physical matter.
Jeremiah 1:5
[5]“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
I SURMISE THEREFORE THAT HUMANITY IS A DIVINE, INTANGIBLE, AND INTELLECTUAL CREATION (THOUGHT) GIVEN TEMPORARY FORM (FLESH).
When asked to describe God therefore we should not answer the question from the finished work of God (humanity); do not answer looking at the “dust+breath” finished work; instead answer from the source or the beginning of it all (thought of God); the “let Us make man in Our image and likeness”…..THE THOUGHT…A BIG
CONSCIOUSNESS OR BRAIN.
As God is spirit we cannot describe Him correctly in human form.
So when I hear the song “from my spirit to my soul until my voice reechoes You are worthy of my worship worthy of my praise”…
I understand deeply now that God is a spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
*OBAFEMI GIWA-AMU ESQ*
