In The Image Of God?

Q. Thank you for your awesome and instructive website. I discovered it late last year and now find that my day is not complete unless I can read the questions and answers you post daily and your informative articles. Thank you for helping those of us who yearn to learn more about our Heavenly Father, our Savior Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and God’s precious Word.

With that being said, here is my question: The Bible says in Genesis 1:27: So God created man is his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (RSV) If we are created in God’s image where does the sin nature each of us has come from?

A. Man was originally created in the image of God.  The sin nature came about as part of the judgment when Adam and Eve sinned.  After the fall, the Bible says:

When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. (Genesis 5:3)

This is the first reference to the sin nature.  Adam’s children would inherit his fallen nature.   Later David would write:

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me (Psalm 51:5).

All of mankind has inherited this nature.  That’s why we can’t save ourselves and would be hopelessly lost without our Savior, Lord Jesus.