Jim, I
never said that Adam and Eve were created in their flesh after the image of God.
We can
only know what it means to be created after God's image, by
knowing what the new birth is. It is a creation after God's image in wisdom, knowledge and understanding;
nothing changes in our flesh; it is
all inward, not one thing outwardly, even though it can be seen by outward deeds coming from a
new heart/spirit/mind.
Colossians 3:10
“And have put on the new
man, which
is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:”
When our first parents sinned they lost God's image; no longer did they possesses (spiritual) knowledge, understanding and wisdom, and the righteousness in which they were created with. They were not created with sin in their members as we are born with! Your verse you quoted:
John 3:6
“That which
is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
"that which is born of the flesh is flesh." Here "the flesh" is the name given to human nature as fallen—it must not be restricted to the body (as in a few passages it is)~but understood (as generally in the New Testament) of the entire human constitution. In affirming, "that which is born of the flesh is flesh," Christ reiterated the basic and unchanging principle—repeated no less than nine times in Genesis 1—that every creature brings forth "after its kind." The quality of the fruit~is determined by the nature of the tree which bears it: an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit. Man's fallen nature cannot yield that which is sinless, from birth~and neither can it please God without God giving them another nature after his image. No matter how much fallen man may be educated, civilized, or religionized, in his natural state he cannot produce that which is acceptable to the thrice holy God. In order to that he must be born again—a new and sinless nature imparted to him.
Ephesians 4:22
“That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, (flesh)
which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;”
Romans 8:8
“So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”
"But that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." A new, a spiritual life is communicated, from which the grand moral change in its subject proceeds. This communication of Divine life to the soul is viewed in the New Testament under various figures.