Hello, dayaa-
I'll add my views to the image/likeness/form of God discussion, from my experience and interpretation of scripture. For the sake of brevity, I will preface this entire passage by saying "I believe... according to my experience and interpretation" rather than couching each statement as such. So of course, this may or may not resound with various Christian doctrines, and it is open to revision given further guidance by the Spirit.
God does not have human form. God is Spirit, not matter. He never was matter and never will be. He is incomprehensible to us, a mystery. Us humans can experience God, but we cannot fully understand Him, and we cannot see the entirety of God because it would short-circuit our minds- it would be entering data into a system with which it is utterly incompatible. So what we experience, and always have since the dawn of humanity, are glimpses of God. God in forms that we can comprehend, bits and pieces that are what we can withstand.
So what about "image and likeness"? I would argue this has nothing to do with physical form. The Jewish idea of God as beyond matter supports a reading that God does not look like a human being. My own experience is that the Spirit of God, the life-breath of creation, resides in all beings- human and otherwise. We are created in the image and likeness of the (plural) God in at least two ways.
First, each of us contains the divine light- the bit of ourselves that came directly from God breathing into us His divine breath of life. This divine spark resides deep within every soul, and the journey within to fan it to flame and thus unite with God is the goal of every person's spirituality. We can obscure the light with a dark cloud of wrong-doing and sin, but at heart- in our core- this light never, ever goes out. It is what makes us in the image/likeness of God- it is our spirit-self and our true soul. However, we certainly can forget about it and hide our light in a closet or under a nightstand. As Jesus taught, what we are supposed to do is fan this small light into a radiant flame that lights the path to God for those around us- and so we ought to put our lamp on a table where it belongs. So, our core essence is of God, and thus we are made in God's likeness and image.
Second, each of us contains feminity and masculinity within us, and in our physical form we also manifest both genders. Just as God is really neither He nor She, but both and neither, our souls are. As Jesus taught, there are no husbands and wives in heaven. There are only individuals. Now, that doesn't mean that feminity and masculinity are completely illusory, though they are defined by our culture and thus vary greatly amongst humankind. But the duality that people in all cultures have perceived throughout the ages- sun and moon, light and dark, day and night, male and female, earth and sky... I think there is something there. The lesson is not, however, that the universe (and God) is necessarily dual, but rather that it is the unity in the duality that yields creation/creativity. God is One, and yet plural, just as each of us is one, and yet plural. Each of our bodies unites estrogen and testosterone- the two key hormones of female-ness and male-ness, to keep our bodies going. And spiritually each of us is made more whole if we unite the nurturing, intuitive, emotional side we associate with femininity and the assertive, practical, rational side we associate with masculinity. Furthermore, it is only in the unity of male and female physically that creation continues on earth. So again, we see that we were made in the image/likeness of God- God's dual and yet One nature is manifest in us.
So how did God "walk" with Adam and Eve in the garden? First of all, it depends on what you think the Genesis account was. Was it completely historical, or was it symbolic? Is the point what happened, or what it means (or both)? I think God walked with Adam and Eve in a metaphoric way. I do not think He literally had legs. Yet I think He was manifest in a much more immediate way than most of us now perceive. All over the world, people have creation stories about a time when humans and animals could speak to one another in one language, a time when humans were not yet fully physical and were in closer contact with the Great Spirit/Creator/etc. I do not think this meant, however, that God was in a bodily form. I think it means that people once had more of a direct communion with God- God pervaded everything and "walked" alongside everyone. People could sense His immediate Presence, and could receive messages from Him more directly. I must refer to some of my own experiences and visions to understand this, and so it may be a bit non-sensical to you. I am not saying that it is entirely metaphor that God was more immediately manifest to the humans at the dawn of creation, but rather saying that to do so, He needn't have donned a body. I can explain further if need be.
Finally, what of Jesus? First of all, not all Christians are trinitarians, and not all believe Jesus was God incarnate. Although I'm sure they exist (because nearly every conceivable belief does somewhere), I don't know any Christians who think Jesus was the entirety of God incarnate, nor do I know many who think God looks like Jesus. If God was incarnate in Jesus, the historical man Jesus was the bodily form God assumed, not what God actually is. My own ideas about the divinity of Jesus are still evolving at this point, but suffice it to say that I think it is incorrect to worship the human form of Jesus as God (as in, an idol/graven image of his body), though I do not think it necessarily incorrect to worship the divinity that was within Jesus, manifest in his teachings, life, and death. Jesus was the union of divinity and humanity- a real human person with a body, temptations, desires, etc. and also a real divine inner nature. Ultimately, by realizing his divinity he united the divine and the body- matter and spirit- and his body became a tool for the will of God, rather than his own.
Peace to you
