改革宗信仰基础14：上帝形象的承受者Basics of the Reformed Faith:Divine Image Bearers

作者: Kim Riddlebarger   译者/校对者: 牛泓/王一

https://wscal.edu/blog/basics-of-the-reformed-faith-divine-image-bearers

http://www.reformedbeginner.net/basics14-image-bearer/

因着将诗篇第8篇的经文铭记于心（诗8:5你叫他比天使微小一点，并赐他尊贵荣耀为冠冕），改革宗神学家哥尼流•范•泰尔曾宣称，亚当被造是为了在一个受造物能够像神的各个方面像神。当我们第一次听到这句话的时候一定相当吃惊。然而正如范泰尔接着所指出的，因为亚当是受造的，所以他永不可能拥有神性，他将永远是受造物。因此，基督徒在探讨人的被造之前，不能不先清楚一个事实就是，上帝与一切受造物有别，祂既不等同于世界也不等同于其中的生物。

也就是说，圣经的叙事告诉我们亚当是按照上帝的形象被造的（创1:26），意味着亚当既不具备神性，也不是一些随意的原始过程的产物。亚当是由上帝直接创造的，上帝藉着地上的尘土造了亚当的身体，又将生气吹进亚当的鼻孔造了亚当的灵魂（创2:7）。神的形象也同样延伸到了夏娃（创2:4-24）。做一个在精神（灵魂）和物质（身体）上联合的人，就是做一个男人或女人，并且在身体和灵魂上共同承受上帝的形象。做上帝形象的承受者意味着做上帝这个原型的副本。

因为所有的男人和女人都是上帝形象的承受者，所以我们真得像神，并且我们拥有所有上帝可传递的属性，尽管是在被造物的形式和程度上。这是我们称之为“人”的原因，使我们在道德和理性的能力上不同于且优于动物界。事实上，当上帝向第一个人亚当宣告“甚好”的时候，亚当和夏娃的被造将整个创造叙事推向了高潮（创1:28-31）。

我们作为神的形象的承受者这一事实的衍生意义是多重而又深刻的。首先，从创造中我们能够看出，亚当既作人类肉身的头，也作人类盟约的头。换句话说，亚当作为第一个人，全人类都是他的后裔。这就清楚解决了种族合一（不论我们的肤色和外表）和在上帝面前人人平等的问题。其次，作为全人类肉身的头，当亚当在伊甸园接受考验，被吩咐不可吃分别善恶树的果子的时候，他是在上帝面前代表全人类。

亚当被指派了代表他所有后裔的这个角色。不论亚当在伊甸园做什么，他是作为我们的代表，代替我们而做。唯独这个事实暗示我们一些其他需要注意的地方，包括亚当是公义、圣洁被造的，并且拥有关乎上帝真实的知识（弗 4:24；西3:10），也就是说，亚当被造时在上帝面前是义的。亚当在上帝面前不仅仅是无罪的，他更是圣洁和正直的，拥有遵守神的诫命和完成文化使命（创1:28）的一切天然的能力。

亚当的属灵本质（比如，正如所知道的，灵魂在身体死后仍然活着）更进一步地反映了人性拥有上帝的形象。我们的灵魂是不可见、不可分割和不朽的。另外，我们被造成具有极高智能的理性的存有，同时也拥有分别善恶的道德能力（罗2:12-16）。这也表明一切的男人和女人都有能力领受上帝通过创造次序所赐下的启示（一般启示）和通过祂话语所赐下的启示（特殊启示）。长期以来，改革宗神学家认为身体是盛装灵魂的“器官”，这些可传递的属性特别藉着身体与灵魂的联合表现出来。

作为拥有原初的公义、圣洁和知识的上帝形象的承受者，亚当作为上帝的代理人对一切被造物行使统治权。上帝不仅使万物成为美好，祂还指派自己形象的唯一承受者去治理世界和其中一切生物。上帝把一切动植物都赐给亚当作食物，并指派他去给他所统治的动物命名（创2:19）。因为亚当是上帝形象的承受者，所以他有能力也适合去承担这项使命。

这就是当诗人说你叫他比天使微小一点（诗8:5）所要表达的意思。亚当的被造是上帝所有创造活动的巅峰，而不是祂临时起意的行为。作为上帝形象的承受者，亚当要以造物主之名去治理和征服全地。他拥有真公义、真圣洁和真知识，他的使命是在伊甸园建造上帝在地上的圣殿和园子，而且在各方面来说，亚当都可以承担此项使命。

Basics of the Reformed Faith: Divine Image Bearers

Kim Riddlebarger

With the language of the eighth Psalm clearly in mind (“you have made [man] a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor” v. 5), Reformed theologian Cornelius Van Til once declared that Adam was created to be like God in every way in which a creature can be like God. These words sound rather shocking when we first hear them. And yet as Van Til goes on to point out, because Adam is a creature, he will never be divine. Adam will always be a creature. Therefore, Christians cannot talk about the creation of humanity without first being clear about the fact that God is distinct from his creation, and cannot be identified either with the world around us or its creatures.

That said, the biblical account tells us that Adam was created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26), which indicates that Adam is neither divine, nor the product of some unspecified primordial process. Adam was created by a direct act of God in which Adam’s body was created by God from the dust of the earth, while his soul was created when God breathed life into the first man (Genesis 2:7). The divine image extends to Eve as well (Genesis 2:4-24). To be human then, is to be male or female and to bear God’s image in both body and soul, which exist as a unity of both spiritual (the soul) and material (the body) elements. To be a divine image bearer is to be an ectype (copy) of which God is archetype (original).

Because all men and women are divine image-bearers we are truly like God, and we possess all of the so-called communicable attributes of God–albeit in creaturely form and measure. This is what constitutes us as “human” beings, distinct from and superior in moral and rational capabilities to the animal kingdom. In fact, the creation of Adam and Eve marks the high point of the creation account (Genesis 1:28-31), as God pronounced the first man Adam to be “very good.”

The ramifications of the fact that we are divine image bearers are multifaceted and profound. First, the creation reveals that Adam is both the biological and federal head of the human race. To put it another way, Adam was the first human being, and all humans are his biological descendants. This speaks directly to the question of the unity of the race (despite our different skin colors and physical appearances), and to the equality of persons before God. Second, as the biological head of our race, Adam represented the entire human race before God during the period of probation in Eden when Adam was commanded not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Adam was assigned the role of acting for and on behalf of all those who are his descendants. What Adam did in Eden, he did on our behalf, as our representative. This fact alone implies a number of additional considerations, including the fact that Adam was created in righteousness, holiness, and possessed true knowledge of God (cf. Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10), which means that Adam was righteous before God as created. Adam was not merely innocent before God, but holy and upright, possessing the natural ability to obey all of God’s commands and to fulfill the cultural mandate (Genesis 1:28).

The spiritual nature of Adam (as seen, for example, in the fact that the soul lives on after the death of the body) further reflects this element of human nature. Our souls are invisible, indivisible, and immortal. In addition, we are created as rational beings with great intellectual abilities, as well as the moral ability to determine right from wrong (Romans 2:12-16). This also indicates that all men and women are capable of receiving the revelation that God gives through the created order (general revelation) and through his word (special revelation). Reformed theologians have long argued that our bodies are fit “organs” of the soul. And it is especially through the body-soul unity that these communicable attributes are manifest.

As the divine image-bearer possessing such original righteousness, holiness, and knowledge, Adam was given dominion over all of creation as God’s vice-regent. Not only did God make all things good, he assigned his unique divine image-bearer the role of ruling over the world and all of its creatures. Adam was given all the plants and animals for food, and was assigned the task of naming the animals over which he was given dominion (Genesis 2:19). It is because Adam was a divine image-bearer that he was fit and equipped for this task.

This is what the Psalmist means when he says that man is but a little lower than the angels (Psalm 8:5). The creation of Adam was the high point of all of God’s creative activities, not an after-thought. As the divine-image bearer, Adam is to rule and subdue the earth in the name of his creator. He possesses true righteousness, holiness, and knowledge, and his task is to build the temple garden of God on earth in Eden. And he is fit for the task in every way.