Is Man a “Little god”?

Some have purported that man is equal to God. Others, that man is a little lower than God. Is man divine then? Are we god-men?

We must make some initial observations before trying to answer these questions? It is evident that Jesus became a man. He is both 100% God and 100% man even now. This did not happen with angels or any other creation. The God-Man Jesus will forever be 100% God and 100% man. And God knew this would take place before time began and proceeded anyway.

So we must from the start acknowledge that there is something special about man that God would become a man, FOREVER, and still be divine. It is encapsulated in the simple but deep phrase of Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness.’”

We must observe a few additional things, namely that God is a spirit (John 4:24). Man too is a spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Because of this, many have taught that man is in the same “class as God”. Well that can seem like blasphemy but is it? What do people mean when they say man is in the same class as God? I cannot speak for them. But I can agree that God is a spirit and so is man because that is what the Bible clearly teaches.

If by “class” one means spirit, then yes we are in the same class as God if “class” ONLY means we too are spirits like God. But angels are also spirits (Hebrews 1:7) so they too would be in this “class”. Then angels and men are like God in this respect and are therefore not special. But it is evident man is special in that Jesus did not become an angel but became a man forever. The fact that He could and still remain God implies there is something unique about men that angels do not possess.

An interesting verse often debated along these lines is Psa 82:6 NASB “I said, ‘You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High.’” Also this was quoted by Jesus:

Joh 10:33-36 NASB The Jews answered Him, “We are not stoning You for a good work, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.” (34) Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law: ‘I SAID, YOU ARE GODS’? (35) “If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be nullified), (36) are you saying of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

The Psalm Jesus quotes though was a rebuke to the judges of the land, whom God called gods because they were to represent Him by judging righteously with justice. But they were perverted judges. So, at the end of the Psalm a curse is pronounced upon them, Psalm 82:7 NASB “Nevertheless you will die like men, And fall like one of the princes.” So they are mortal and therefore not divine.

Psalm 82 did not teach that man IS divine. It taught that some men are in a position that is to represent God and, not surprisingly, they failed.

Another verse that some teach saying man is a little lower than God, and therefore must be divine, is Psalm 8:4-5 NASB “What is man that You think of him, And a son of man that You are concerned about him? (5) Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty!”

The word “God” here is elohim which can refer to God or angels. So whether it means God or angels is up for debate (though the Psalm wouldn’t make much sense if the writer is saying man is a little lower than God, because the contemplation is about how God would think so highly of such a lowly creature as man). But if elohim means God, then to say man is lower than God doe not in ANY way imply man is divine. It just means exactly what it said, man is a little lower than elohim. However, I think it is actually very clear that elohim means angels according to Hebrews 2:7 which quoted the Psalm: NASB “YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN ANGELS; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR;

Is man a little god? What does the Word say?: Isa 43:10 NASB “You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me.

There are NO gods. There is only ONE God according to the Bible. The only gods out there are the ones that call themselves gods, like demons whom Paul rebukes as “so-called gods.” Consider what the Word says:

1Co 8:4-6 NASB Therefore, concerning the eating of food sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one. (5) For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, (6) yet for us there is only one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

To call yourself a god is the same thing demons do so that they can be worshiped. Are you trying to be worshiped? Are you trying to take glory from the ONE and only God? I’d hate to be you on Judgment Day if you are!

But let us not leave one ditch only to find ourselves in the ditch on the other side. We have been given a mandate to preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus was the Light of the world (John 8:12). But then Jesus also says something strange, “YOU are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:14).

Therefore, we are to operated on behalf of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, to carry out the works of Jesus. We ARE to be doing the works of Jesus (John 14:12) which can only happen by the power the Holy Spirit and the authority we have been given in the Name of Jesus. When we step out to do theses things, God shows up to speak and move through us – His Church. To do these things doesn’t make us divine in any way. But to not do these things makes us disobedient and deficient of our potential to be a light. We will never be THE Light but we can all be a light in Christ.

It is clear, there is only ONE God and you are not Him. But more than that, there are not even little gods. They don’t exist. We are men (period). There is neither scriptural basis to exalt man to divinity, nor debase man to not being made in God’s image. Man is just man. That’s it. To say more is error that smells like the deception of Satan in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:5). To say man is less than made in God’s image it to reject God’s Word. Do not add to the Word or take away and you will abide in Truth. Be content with what you are. Our sufficiency is only found in Christ Jesus the Lord.

(BTW this author is WOF. Those claiming to be WOF which teach “little gods” doctrine are not WOF any more than they are little gods. Just because you say you are something doesn’t make you that thing…no matter how many times you “confess” it.)