Man, the Pinnacle of Creation

As I continue my quest through the Scriptures, I would like to apologize in advance for skipping sections, although I hope never to take God’s Word out of context. I would like to strongly encourage you, my readers, to correct me if you see error, or ask if I have passed across a topic you would like me to address. This is as much for you as it is for me.

I would like to focus now on Genesis 1:26-27. It is important to note firstly, that Genesis 1 (read it!) is the overview chapter regarding creation, and chapter 2 goes back to look into the minutia involved in the creation of man. So, let’s start with these verses.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over ever creeping thing that that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

- Genesis 1:26-27 (ESV)

The first thing that I think needs to be pointed out is the plurality of God’s words here. This is one of the early indications of God’s plural, and yet singular nature. While the Scripture has not revealed the meaning of this yet, later revelation will give us more glimpses into the triune nature of God. (As a side note, it is interesting to point out that one of the Hebrew names for deity, Elohim, is the plural form of the word, which singularly is El)

What does it mean to be made “in the image of God”? I like John MacArthur’s description of this. Speaking of Adam, he said, “Man is is a living being capable of embodying God’s communicable attributes. In his rational life, he was like God in that he could reason and had intellect, will, and emotion. In the moral sense, he (Adam) was like God because he was good and sinless.”

I also think that part of what it means to be made in His image is our authoritative position over nature, as described in the above passage. Our responsibility to have dominion over the earth is a reflection of God having control over all things in existence.

This passage gives us a glimpse into paradise, the world as God originally created it. As we read these chapters, it is very important that we let this section of Scripture sink into our souls. That should impact our lives daily. The fact that we are created special, above all other creation, and in the Father’s image, should bring us to our knees in thanksgiving. Likewise, it should change how we view and treat other people, for they do bear God’s image – even though it is incredibly marred by sin.

Finally, as we see the progressive nature of Scripture unfold, we need to keep these images of paradise in mind. The entire canon of Scripture starts here, and ends here. The journey in between should not lose sight of that.