Genesis 5:3

Memory Verse

And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth (Genesis 5:3).

“Image” pertains to a resemblance in outward appearance. “Likeness” expresses a similarity in kind. When Adam was created, he was made in the image and likeness of God. Therefore, Adam had a garment of light, and God created him as a rational being (1 Timothy 6:16; 1 Corinthians 2:11).

When Adam trespassed and sinned, he broke fellowship with God, causing spiritual death (separation from God in his spirit) through his trespass and physical death through his sin. Therefore, he was stripped of his garment of life (Genesis 3:7), and the ground was cursed for his sake (Genesis 3:18–19).

It was under these conditions that Adam passed on his nature to his offspring. Therefore, all die because of Adam’s sin (Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:22), and all are born spiritually separated from God because of his trespass (Romans 5:17; Colossians 1:21).

However, no man has an excuse for rejecting God or for doing wrong. All humans now possess the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:22) and are therefore responsible for their own actions (Romans 2:15). Furthermore, God clearly demonstrates his divine attributes through creation to understanding beings (humans and angels) from the beginning of creation, so they have no excuse.