When God made Adam and Eve in his “image” he gave them a form that was a reflection of the divine. Built into that first human couple was a resemblance in physical form to the spiritual form of God. Their life came from God, their human personality, the laws of their existence, the nature of their minds, were all based on the divine pattern.
Because of that “likeness”, and though they were physical beings, Adam and Eve were able to enjoy free and delightful communion with God. The result of this perfect association was freedom from fear or failure and an unhindered experience of divine blessing and bounty (Ge 2:8-9).
But then they fell into rebellion, and the result was their exclusion from the Garden. They no longer had access to the direct personal presence of God (Ge 3:23-24). However, the basic facts about their creation in the “image” and “likeness” of God did not change. And we, their children, still posses those same attributes. Though we are marred by sin we bear the form of the divine. Because of this, God is still able to reach out to us, to call to us in the darkness, and we are able to respond.
How do these things relate to sickness and health? In two ways –
being made in the image of God, the human race was originally created free of any disease; and
since we still bear the likeness of God, we can be healed of the disease that is now in us.
