Not exactly created "in the image" of God

Little by little discovering by reading, conversations, and questions that familiar Bible phrases and references sounded out in modern English can fail to communicate some important texture, echoes, resonance or other attached meaning to a Biblical word or idea, today it occurred to me that maybe something similar is going on in the cherished idea that humans are "created in the image of God." Related: that a person can see Jesus in the face (voice, actions, examples) of others. And: that "we are the hands and feet of God" here on Earth.

In particular "in the image of" possibly has other facets or nuances that get overshadowed by the typical, casual meaning - as if a mirror image or photographic image. Note that the speculations that follow are purely conjecture and don't derive from excavating the original ancient Greek or ancient Hebrew source words and surrounding lines of text, either. Trying on some synonyms for "image of God" there are several that put the overall meaning in a slightly different light. (1) With the likeness of God, (2) in a manner similar to God, (3) with the essential orientation and purposes [character] of God, (4) an identity or resemblance that is true to God's Way.

Examine closely the usual "in the image of God," [Genesis 1:27, New International Version]

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Now substitute one of the earlier synonyms to see the result. In place of pepple as God's carbon-copy that we tend to imagine in the age of photocopiers and social media photo sharing, the meaning shifts to talk about the interior instead of the looks and likeness on the outside. Without analyzing the source languages used at the time of Genesis going from oral tradition to written inscription, it is impossible to know if "image of God" does differ to modern understanding. But certainly it is in the realm of possibility that "the image of God" more accurately is about some essential interior capacity and instinct; something that is in the human identity that comes from God, something that resonates with and longs for God. To have a core, essential, heart-felt, identical identifying identity to the Great I Am surely rings with truth, righteousness, and beauty.