Thursday, December 19, 2024

Genesis 1:26-31 - God’s Image in Man

Genesis 1:26-31

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

29 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.


This passage gives us insight into what it means to be created in the image of God.  He tells us that God is a triune being, saying “Let Us make man in Our image (plural),” not “l will make man in My image (singular).  The verb for Let Us make is עשׂה, Our image is צֶלֶם, and Our likeness is דְּמוּת, all plural verb and nouns.  God is meticulous in recording His scripture with good grammar and meaning, so this is no accident or mistranslation of these words.  God is One (Deuteronomy 6:4) and also is described as a unity of Father, Son, and Spirit as three persons in that One God (as seen in Matthew 28:19, where the word ‘name’ into which we are baptized into these three is singular), hence the accurate use of the plural in this verse and yet negating this One God is in three distinct persons, equally divine.  This is the mystery of the Godhead shown us in the creation of man in his image which some have tried to describe similarly as body, mind, and spirit or soul.  It is not the same as three persons, yet it does echo the creative mind of God to fashion us after that aspect of His image, as well as the ability to reason and to create with our imagination and our hands in skills we are born with and develop with His wisdom and guidance.  Having made us in this image, God then gave us a stewardship over all He had created before us to fill the earth and seas with life just as Jesus has dominion over us as our Head.  This pattern is fully seen in the fact that the Son of God is the Head of the church and has sovereign dominion and authority over us.  We have been given this rule over the animals created under and for us; we are not animals as they are, but are made in God’s very image far above any mere animal.  This is not a popular fact among those seeking to discredit God’s word and right to rule over us with commandments and judgments.  Because we are not exactly like God, however, He made man male and female to be a united one in marriage and to fill the earth after our kind in a reproductive mandate to do so.  This design and command cannot be carried out by two men or two women as they cannot reproduce and do not have the blended unity of God’s complementarian design.  Those who argue against this are in the same camp as those who believe we are but another animal randomly appearing through evolution and not designed by our Maker in His image.  What God has made on the sixth day was described and designated by Him as good.  Any other description or change to that design is not good, what He calls evil in opposition to His will and word.  Everything that God has made is good!  Who are we to argue against our Creator and to twist the perfect design into something abominable and blasphemous?  As it is written, “Let God be true and every man a liar (Numbers 23:19, Romans 3:4)” to describe anyone who denies Him and His design according to the Bible.  God’s image is made in man, though sin has corrupted it enough as to make this difficult to see apart from redeeming grace to transform us back to reflect His face (2 Corinthians 3:18) as we are being transformed into that original sinless form.  We know this to be true because God told us and He is not a liar! 

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