God created man in His own image, is it literal or figurative? The one speaking is a spirit. We know by the Bible that God is a spirit. In the book of John 4:23-24, that is the principle that we must follow about God. He is a spirit. Now, when he said, so it is not a physical likeness, neither will it be a figurative likeness.
Because God is a spirit, it is a spiritual likeness that God mentioned in the verse. What is the likeness of God? What is the image of God which is spiritual because God is a spirit? What is the likeness or what is that image? Let us read in the book of Psalms 17:15.
The likeness of God is righteous. As he is righteous, He made us righteous too. As he is holy, He made us holy also. Let us read Ecclesiastes 7:29 “ God hath made man upright,” Righteous, holy. But man have sought out many inventions. So when He says, “ Let us make man after our image and our likeness.” He means as He is holy, as He is righteous, He is going to create a righteous man and holy man. And that was the state of Adam when he was created.
After the creation, the general analysis of the creator is written in the book of Genesis 1:31
“And God saw everything including man that he made and behold it was very good”.
Man was made very good, righteous, perfect. Man was created by God in His image and likeness. Righteous, holy and upright. That is the condition of Adam when he was first made, and he sought out many inventions.
In conclusion we are the image of God, so whenever we are looking at ourselves, we should always have that in mind.
Thanks for reading.