50. What the people of the earliest church meant when they spoke of the Lord's image involves more than can be put into words.

People have no idea whatever that the Lord governs them through angels and spirits, or that at least two spirits and two angels accompany each of them. The spirits create a link with the world of spirits, ¹ and the angels create one with heaven. We cannot possibly live without a channel of communication open to the world of spirits through spirits and to heaven through angels (and in this way to the Lord through heaven). Our life depends totally on such a connection. If the spirits and angels withdrew from us, we would be destroyed in a second.

[2] As long as we are unregenerate, we are governed in a completely different way than the regenerate. Before regeneration we have with us evil spirits whose grip on us is so strong that the angels, though present, can achieve hardly any results. All they can do is head us off from rushing into the worst kind of evil and divert us toward some form of good. They even use our own appetites to lead us toward good, and the illusions of our senses to lead us toward truth. Under these circumstances we communicate with the world of spirits by means of the spirits around us but not so much with heaven, since the evil spirits are in charge and the angels only deflect their influence.

[3] When we are regenerate, on the other hand, the angels are in charge, inspiring us with all kinds of goodness and truth and instilling a horror and fear of evil and falsity.

Angels do give us guidance, but they are mere helpers; the Lord alone governs us, through angels and spirits. Since angels have their assisting role, the words of this verse appear in the plural — "Let us make a human in our image." But since only the Lord rules and manages us, the next verse uses the singular — "God created the human in his image." The Lord states his role clearly in Isaiah:

This is what Jehovah has said, your Redeemer and the one who formed you from the womb: "I, Jehovah, make all things, stretching the heavens out on my own, spreading the earth out by myself." (Isaiah 44:24)

The angels themselves confess that they have no power but act only at the Lord's behest.

Footnotes:

¹ In the beginningbeginning GodGod createdcreated the heavenheaven and the earthearth.

² And the earthearth was without formform, and void; and darknessdarkness was upon the face of the deepface of the deep. And the Spirit of GodSpirit of God moved upon the face of the watersface of the waters.

³ And GodGod saidsaid, Let there be lightlight: and there was lightlight.

⁴ And GodGod sawsaw the lightlight, that it was goodgood: and GodGod divided the lightlight from the darknessdarkness.

⁵ And GodGod calledcalled the lightlight DayDay, and the darknessdarkness he calledcalled NightNight. And the eveningevening and the morningmorning were the first DayDay.

⁶ And GodGod saidsaid, Let there be a firmamentfirmament in the midstmidst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

⁷ And GodGod made the firmamentfirmament, and divided the waters which were underunder the firmamentfirmament from the waters which were above the firmamentfirmament: and it was so.

⁸ And GodGod calledcalled the firmamentfirmament HeavenHeaven. And the eveningevening and the morningmorning were the second dayday.

⁹ And GodGod saidsaid, Let the waters underunder the heavenheaven be gathered together unto oneone placeplace, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

¹⁰ And GodGod calledcalled the dry landland EarthEarth; and the gathering together of the waters calledcalled he SeasSeas: and GodGod sawsaw that it was goodgood.

¹¹ And GodGod saidsaid, Let the earthearth bring forth grassgrass, the herbherb yielding seedseed, and the fruitfruit treetree yielding fruitfruit after his kind, whose seedseed is in itself, upon the earthearth: and it was so.

¹² And the earthearth brought forth grassgrass, and herbherb yielding seedseed after his kind, and the treetree yielding fruitfruit, whose seedseed was in itself, after his kind: and GodGod sawsaw that it was goodgood.

¹³ And the eveningevening and the morningmorning were the third daythird day.

¹⁴ And GodGod saidsaid, Let there be lightslights in the firmamentfirmament of the heavenheaven to divide the dayday from the nightnight; and let them be for signssigns, and for seasons, and for daysdays, and years:

¹⁵ And let them be for lightslights in the firmamentfirmament of the heavenheaven to give lightlight upon the earthearth: and it was so.

¹⁶ And GodGod made twotwo great lightsgreat lights; the greatergreater lightlight to rule the dayday, and the lesser lightlight to rule the nightnight: he made the stars also.

¹⁷ And GodGod set them in the firmamentfirmament of the heavenheaven to givegive light upon the earthearth,

¹⁸ And to rule over the dayday and over the nightnight, and to divide the lightlight from the darknessdarkness: and GodGod sawsaw that it was goodgood.

¹⁹ And the eveningevening and the morningmorning were the fourthfourth dayday.

²⁰ And GodGod saidsaid, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath lifelife, and fowlfowl that may flyfly above the earthearth in the openopen firmamentfirmament of heavenheaven.

²¹ And GodGod createdcreated greatgreat whaleswhales, and every livingliving creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every wingedwinged fowlfowl after his kind: and GodGod sawsaw that it was goodgood.

²² And GodGod blessedblessed them, saying, Be fruitfulfruitful, and multiplymultiply, and fillfill the waters in the seasseas, and let fowlfowl multiplymultiply in the earthearth.

²³ And the eveningevening and the morningmorning were the fifth dayday.

²⁴ And GodGod saidsaid, Let the earthearth bring forth the livingliving creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beastbeast of the earthearth after his kind: and it was so.

²⁵ And GodGod made the beastbeast of the earthearth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earthearth after his kind: and GodGod sawsaw that it was goodgood.

²⁶ And GodGod saidsaid, Let usus make man in our imageimage, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the seasea, and over the fowlfowl of the airair, and over the cattle, and over all the earthearth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earthearth.

²⁷ So GodGod createdcreated man in his ownown imageimage, in the imageimage of GodGod createdcreated he him; male and femalemale and female createdcreated he them.

²⁸ And GodGod blessedblessed them, and GodGod saidsaid unto them, Be fruitfulfruitful, and multiplymultiply, and replenish the earthearth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the seasea, and over the fowlfowl of the airair, and over every livingliving thing that moveth upon the earthearth.

²⁹ And GodGod saidsaid, Behold, I have givengiven you every herbherb bearing seedseed, which is upon the faceface of all the earthearth, and every treetree, in the which is the fruitfruit of a treetree yielding seedseed; to you it shall be for meat.

³⁰ And to every beast of the earthearth, and to every fowlfowl of the airair, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earthearth, wherein there is lifelife, I have given every green herbherb for meat: and it was so.

³¹ And GodGod sawsaw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very goodgood. And the eveningevening and the morningmorning were the sixthsixth dayday.