In Genesis 1 Adam had the image of God, but he did not have the life of God. He was just like a glove that had been created in the form of a hand but did not yet contain a hand. God put man in front of the tree of life because He wants to be taken in as life. When Jesus became a man, He came as life (John 1:1, 4, 14).  When we receive Christ by believing in Him He becomes life to us (Rom. 8:10).

Although man was created in the image of God, he did not have the life of God at the time of creation. Our receiving the life of God may be likened to a hand entering a glove. After the glove receives the hand, it moves and acts according to the hand within it. There is no need for us to ask whether it is the glove that moves or the hand. Both move—the hand moves in the glove, and the glove moves with the hand. 

We have God in Christ within us moving, working, acting, and living continually. The Christian life is a life in which Christ lives, moves, and works within us, anointing us constantly (1 John 2:27). On the one hand, it is we who live, but on the other hand, it is Christ who lives in us (Gal. 2:20).