GOD made man in His image and likeness, we are told in the first chapter of Genesis. Paul says of man: "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." It is this Godlike man who is revealed as the real man in Christian Science.
What is true of this real man? In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mary Baker Eddy writes (p. 266):"Man is the idea of Spirit; he reflects the beatific presence, illuming the universe with light. Man is deathless, spiritual. He is above sin or frailty. He does not cross the barriers of time into the vast forever of Life, but he coexists with God and the universe."
Man is perfect, even as the God who created him is perfect, and health, purity, and happiness are his in their entirety. His birthright, derived from his Father-Mother God, is that of freedom and dominion, and his supply of good is unlimited, because he draws it from the inexhaustible reservoir of infinite spiritual supply. One may ask, If all this is true, why does mankind seem to manifest the opposite of these conditions? Because, instead of looking at man from the spiritual standpoint, material sense believes it sees a mortal or counterfeit man, who appears to manifest whatever inharmonious condition so-called mortal mind dictates. It is like gazing into a mirror which distorts everything, or turns everything upside down.
