_Gen. 1:26, 27_—“_And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.... And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him._” It is of great importance to distinguish clearly between the two elements embraced in this image of God, the natural and the moral. By virtue of the first, man possessed certain _faculties_ (intellect, affection, will); by virtue of the second, he had _right tendencies_ (bent, proclivity, disposition). By virtue of the first, he was invested with certain _powers_; by virtue of the second, a certain _direction_ was imparted to these powers. As created in the natural image of God, man had a moral _nature_; as created in the moral image of God, man had a holy _character_. The first gave him _natural_ ability; the second gave him _moral_ ability. The Greek Fathers emphasized the first element, or _personality_; the Latin Fathers emphasized the second element, or _holiness_. See Orr, God’s Image in Man. As the Logos, or divine Reason, Christ Jesus, dwells in humanity and constitutes the principle of its being, humanity shares with Christ in the image of God. That image is never wholly lost. It is completely restored in sinners when the Spirit of Christ gains control of their wills and they merge their life in his. To those who accused Jesus of blasphemy, he replied by quoting the words of _Psalm 82:6_—“_I said, Ye are gods_”—words spoken of imperfect earthly rulers. Thus, in _John 10:34-36_, Jesus, who constitutes the very essence of humanity, justifies his own claim to divinity by showing that even men who represent God are also in a minor sense “_partakers of the divine nature_” (_2 Pet. 1:4_). Hence the many legends, in heathen religions, of the divine descent of man. _1 Cor. 11:3_—“_the head of every man is Christ._” In every man, even the most degraded, there is an image of God to be brought out, as Michael Angelo saw the angel in the rough block of marble. This natural _worth_ does not imply _worthiness_; it implies only capacity for redemption. “The abysmal depths of personality,” which Tennyson speaks of, are sounded, as man goes down in thought successively from individual sins to sin of the heart and to race-sin. But “the deeper depth is out of reach To all, O God, but thee.” From this deeper depth, where man is rooted and grounded in God, rise aspirations for a better life. These are not due to the man himself, but to Christ, the immanent God, who ever works within him. Fanny J. Crosby: “Rescue the perishing, Care for the dying.... Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter, Feelings lie buried that grace can restore; Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness, Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.” 1. Natural likeness to God, or personality.