MAN: THE IMAGE OF GOD (n.2)
"God said: let us make man to our image and likeness; and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth. And Gog created man to his own image; to the image of God he created him. Male and female he created him." (Genesis. chapter 1, 26-27)
Man was created in the image and likeness of his Creator. He was supposed to be the revelation of the invisible God. Unfortunately the divine image was disfigured by the first sin.
It is in Christ, the very revelation of God and of his love, that the divine image has been restored to its original beauty and ennobled by the grace of God.
Even if disfigured by the sin, the divine image is present in every human person. It shines forth in many ways. Man participates in the light and power of the Divine Spirit. By his reason, he is capable of understanding the order of things established by the Creator. By free will, he is capable of directing himself toward his true good. He finds his perfection in" seeking and loving what is true and good. " By virtue of his soul and his spiritual powers of intellect and will,man is endowed with feedom, an" outstanding manifestation of the divine image." By his reason, man can recognize the voice of God which urges him to do what is good and avoid what is evil. Everyone is obliged to follow God’s voice, which makes itself heard in conscience and is fulfilled in the love of God and of neighbor. The human person is the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake. From his conception, he is destined for eternal beatitude. Living a moral life bears witness to the dignity of the human person.
Regretfully, man abused his freedom at the very beginning of history. He succumbed to temptation and did what was evil. He still desires the good, but his nature bears the wound of original sin. He is now inclined to evil and subject to error. As a result, the whole life of men, both individual and social, shows itself to be a struggle between good and evil, between light and darkness.
Fr. Cipriano Bontacchio