Joel Edmund Anderson's blogposts on Irenaeus, Adam, and Eve are excellent.

<That is what we see in Genesis 3, with the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The fruit on that tree was “adult food,” and Adam and Eve were still on Gerber’s baby food, so to speak. Or to use another analogy: the fruit on that tree was like wine, and Adam and Eve were still under-aged. In their immaturity and curiosity, they snuck a bottle of wine back to their room drank the whole thing, and ended up throwing up, and waking the next day with a massive hangover. Thus, not only did they suffer in their bodies, their relationship with “Dad” was also affected, for they proved themselves to be disobedient. They were not fully grown up, and it showed.

In any case, if we were to simplify things, we could see the difference between God and human being as this:

God = uncreated = eternal = pure actuality = perfect being.

Human beings = bound within time = full of unrealized potential = imperfect creatures.

Given that, when Genesis 1:26 says that God created Adam “in His image” and “to be according to His likeness,” the early Church Fathers taught that was saying that even though we are mere creatures, not only do we bear the stamp of God’s image, but God’s intention all along was for us to become like Him. That state of “becoming” necessitates time and history, so that God’s imperfect, incomplete creatures can progress and grow into His likeness. Simply put, being creatures, our “potentiality” is that we can (if we enter into an obedient and trusting relationship with God) become like God. That was, and still is, God’s purpose for humanity all along.

That is why the early Church Fathers didn’t view Adam and Eve as being created perfect. Only God is perfect, and God’s purpose for mankind, and the reason for creation itself, is so that His creatures can enter into relationship with Him, and by doing so, become ever-more like Him.>(from Part 3)

See

Irenaeus of Lyon, and the Early Church’s Teaching of Adam and Eve (Part 1)

http://www.joeledmundanderson.com/irenaeus-of-lyon-adam-and-eve-as-children-and-the-greek-philosophical-concepts-of-becoming-and-being-part-3/

Irenaeus of Lyon: Heretics, Ken Ham, and the Proper Understanding of Adam and Eve (Part 2)

http://www.joeledmundanderson.com/irenaeus-of-lyon-heretics-ken-ham-and-the-proper-understanding-of-adam-and-eve-part-2/

Irenaeus of Lyon: Adam and Eve as Children, and the Greek Philosophical Concepts of Becoming and Being (Part 3)
http://www.joeledmundanderson.com/irenaeus-of-lyon-adam-and-eve-as-children-and-the-greek-philosophical-concepts-of-becoming-and-being-part-3/

Irenaeus of Lyons: There's No "Plan B" in Christ--He is it, the Alpha and Omega (Part 4)
http://www.joeledmundanderson.com/irenaeus-of-lyon-theres-no-plan-b-in-christ-he-is-it-the-alpha-and-omega/