Genesis 1:26-31: The Image of God

Genesis 1:26-31: The Image of God

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of Genesis, and today the next passage we come to is Genesis 1:26-31. It says,

26 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 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 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. 

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Let’s pray: Father, we’re told that there are different kinds of soils on which the seed of your Word falls—thorny soil, rocky soil, soil on a path, and good fertile soil. And it’s only when the seed falls on that last kind of soil that it actually produces fruit. So, please, help us to be that fertile soil this morning, so that the seed of your Word can take root and bear fruit in our lives. It’s in Jesus’ Name we pray, amen.

If there’s one ideal that’s predominant in many segments of American society right now, it’s the ideal of equality. There are many in our society who are focused on equality as one of the most pressing needs in America today—perhaps even the most pressing need. That’s why you have things like the Equality Act and other initiatives focused on this issue. And a lot of these contemporary advocates for equality believe that Christians are the main obstacle to equality that needs to be overcome. They believe Christians are part of the problem rather than part of the solution—and that Christians have been part of the problem for a long time, especially, it’s claimed, on issues like the equality of women and the equality of racial minorities. So, in general, I think it would be fair to say that equality is one of the most treasured values in American society today—and with good reason. I mean, who could disagree that equality is important? What decent human being would say that they oppose people being treated fairly and impartially?

Yet, perhaps we should ask ourselves, where did this idea of equality come from? It certainly didn’t arise out of a historical vacuum. So, how did we, as a society, come to believe that equality is a good and desirable thing? Well, I’ll tell you where this mentality didn’t come from. First, it didn’t come from world religions like Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, animism, or paganism. It also didn’t originate out of a secular worldview either—a worldview that, let’s remember, rests on the bedrock of evolutionary theory. Think about it. Evolution is based on natural selection—often called the “survival of the fittest.” And this mechanism of the survival of the fittest would seem to argue against equality or the behaviors that grow out of a belief in equality such as helping those who have less power or who are marginalized and oppressed. Instead, the survival of the fittest would seem to imply that those who have power should avoid doing anything to help those without power so that the human species can continue to progress. That would be the logically consistent conclusion of evolutionary assumptions. 

So, again, where did this idea that everyone is of equal value and should therefore be treated equally come from? Where did the idea come from that those who have power should help those who don’t? It came…from Christianity—and specifically from the Christian idea, taught here in Genesis 1, that all people are created in the image of God. That’s the teaching that gave rise to our society viewing equality as a desirable thing. 

I mean, just look around the world. It’s no accident that the countries that value equality are those that have been most influenced—at least, in the past—by Christianity. So, every time you hear a secular person talk about equality, they’re actually borrowing capital from the Christian worldview—even if they don’t realize it. Their secular worldview didn’t produce that—Christianity did with its teaching that all people are created in God’s image. 

You know, all of these secular voices that act like they own the idea of equality kind of remind me of a teenager whose parents buy him a super-nice car for his sixteenth birthday. He might be driving that brand-new Mercedes or BMW around town with his sunglasses on and acting like he’s the coolest person in the world, but his money didn’t buy that car. His parents bought it for him! Similarly, equality is a value that has its origin in Christianity and in the Christian teaching—found here in Genesis 1—that every person in this world is created in the image of God. 

And that’s the main idea of this passage—Genesis 1:26-31. Quite simply, God created people in his image. Right out of the gate, we read in verse 26, 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 every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Notice here how God begins his creative decree: “Let us make…” That’s different than what he said in his previous creative decrees. Up until this point, everything’s been in the third person. “Let there be light,” “let there be an expanse,” “let the waters…be gathered,” “let the earth sprout vegetation”—and so on and so forth throughout the whole chapter up to this point. But now, instead of the third person, “let there be,” God uses the first person, “let us make.” So, already, we’re given an indication that something unique is taking place. There’s now a much greater personal connection between God and what he’s creating. And, by the way, this plural pronoun “us” is often regarded as the first glimpse of the Trinity in the Bible. Even though the three Persons of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—aren’t named here, this plural pronoun does hint in that direction. 

Then, as we move forward in the verse, the uniqueness of this climactic act of creation comes into full bloom. God says, “Let us make man in our image….” What do you think that means—for us to be created in God’s image? Well, simply taking that phrase at face value, it seems to refer to all of the ways in which we resemble God. We’re certainly not identical to God, but we do resemble him in certain ways. You might compare it to the way children resemble their parents. Although they’re not exactly like their parents, they still often resemble their parents in things like facial features and hair color and eye color and other things like that. In fact, the Bible itself even gives us precedent for this comparison in Genesis 5:3, which states, “When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and Named him Seth.” Do you notice any familiar phrases there? Adam’s son is specifically said to be made “in his…likeness” and “after his image.” So, back in Genesis 1:26, when God says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” I think we have good warrant to view that as similar to the resemblance children bear to their parents.  

Specifically, a few of the ways in which we resemble God include our intellectual capabilities that are much higher than other creatures as well as our inherent moral sense of right and wrong, our capacity for relationships that are characterized by love and commitment, our appreciation for beauty and, growing out of that, our creativity in various forms of artistic expression. These are all abilities and capacities that animals don’t have. Like you don’t see squirrels out there debating about whether it’s right or wrong to steal another squirrel’s acorns or arranging their acorns in a certain pattern in order to make a beautiful work of art. No, humans are unique in these things. And the source of that uniqueness is that we’ve been created in God’s image. So this phrase of God creating us in his image refers not just to one thing but rather to every way in which we resemble God. 

Yet, the verse doesn’t stop there. God goes on to say, with regard to humans, “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 every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So, this is another way in which we’re unique. As those who bear God’s image, we’re uniquely qualified to “have dominion” over the rest of the earth. That doesn’t mean that we’re free to use and abuse the earth however we desire, but it does mean we have a certain measure of delegated authority, as God’s representatives, to govern this world on his behalf. We’re essentially stewards of God’s creation. Kind of like a business owner might hire a manager to oversee the business’s day-to-day operations. That’s the position God’s put us in over this world. 

Then, moving forward to verse 27, we read another statement of our creation in God’s image. It says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Now, whenever a biblical author repeats something, that’s a sign that we should pay very close attention to what he’s repeating. Ancient Hebrew writing didn’t have underlining or italics or bold font. So, in order to emphasize something, biblical authors would often employ repetition. So, it’s really important to understand that we were created in the image of God. 

Yet, notice that a little detail is added in this verse. It clarifies that both men and women—“male and female”—are created in the image of God. Even though verse 26 and verse 27 state that God created “man” in his image, it’s clarified that “man” is intended to be a generic reference to both men and women. 

And just reflecting again on how unique we are, notice the sheer amount of space that’s given to describing God’s creation of human beings. Not only is the entirety of our main passage, Genesis 1:26-31, dedicated to describing God’s creation of humans, much of chapter 2 is dedicated to that as well. Contrast this, for example, with the description of God creating the other parts of the universe back in Genesis 1:16. It says, “And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.” Those last three words “and the stars” refer to the creation of billions upon billions of stars and presumably also to the creation of the billions upon billions of galaxies in which those stars exist. Think about that. The creation of untold billions of stars and galaxies…summed up in three words, almost as if it was an afterthought. The focus of the chapter is clearly on the earth and chiefly on human beings as the pinnacle of God’s creation. 

Also note that, after creating everything else he created, the text says that “God saw that it was good.” We read that six times in verses 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, and 25. But after creating humans, what does God say in verse 31? He says it was not just “good” but “very good.” Another indication of our uniqueness as those who have been created in the image of God. 

And, as I alluded to before, this teaching that humans are created in God’s image is, without exaggeration, one of the most significant and revolutionary teachings in the entire history of the world. It’s been the driving force behind the reshaping of entire societies. 

For example, let’s consider the treatment of women. Throughout human history, women have been almost universally oppressed. They’ve had few, if any, rights and have usually been treated like property rather than people. Many societies have allowed men to beat their wives or even kill their wives without any legal consequences. This was the case in the Roman Empire, where the husband, legally speaking, owned his wife and had the authority to do basically as he pleased with her, even to the point of inflicting capital punishment. Yet Christianity had a seismic impact on the way women were treated in the Roman Empire, giving women legal protections and rights and the dignity that’s rightly bestowed on all people as those, again, who have been made in the image of God. 

This pattern has also continued throughout church history. Even though Christian missionaries of the past several hundred years are often criticized for the effects they’ve had on the cultures to which they’ve gone, one thing that can’t be denied is that missionaries have done wonders for the status and dignity of women in those societies. It was Christians who put an end to the practice in India of forcing widows to burn themselves on the funeral pyres of their husbands and Christians who have opposed the oppression of women through child marriage and Christians who have opposed female genital mutilation and Christians who have insisted on educating women. Again, just look at the world map. The countries today in which women have the most legal rights and protections are those that have been most influenced by Christianity. 

In addition, another way in which the belief that humans were created in God’s image has radically reshaped society is in the abolition of slavery. Although it’s true that some who have called themselves Christians have defended the practice of slavery—quite shamefully, I might add—many other Christians throughout history have risked their careers, reputations, and lives in the fight against slavery and eventually played a key role in abolishing the practice of slavery in both Britain and America in the 1800’s. Keep in mind that slavery’s something that’s been practiced for almost as long as the human race has existed. Yet where else have you ever heard of any society voluntarily freeing its own slaves? Did the Babylonian Empire ever free its slaves, or the Assyrian Empire or the Persian Empire or the Greek Empire? No. Rather, it’s the societies that have been influenced by Christianity that have eventually abolished slavery.

And there are many other examples we could cite as well. The practice of seeking to care for the poor has its origin in the belief that every person bears God’s image. Without that theological understanding, we might very easily turn a blind eye to the poor or even deliberately try to keep them poor—as we see historically with the so-called “untouchables” in India’s caste system. Yet the belief that even the most impoverished people are created in God’s image leads us not to oppress them but rather to have compassion on them and care for them and help them. 

This mentality also extends toward those who have disabilities. The belief that all people are created in God’s image has been the driving force behind compassionate care for those with disabilities. As I mentioned before, this is in stark contrast to what evolutionary theory would naturally lead us to do. Taken to its logical conclusion, a belief in evolution and the survival of the fittest would lead us to do what the Nazis did and simply exterminate those with disabilities. In case you’re not aware, the first victims of Nazi mass killing were actually not the Jews but rather the disabled. They were called “unworthy of life” and “unfit to live.” And let’s not forget the troubling history of our own nation either. There was a time, less than a hundred years ago, when those with intellectual disabilities were forcibly sterilized—over 65,000 of them, in fact. And, as we might expect, this initiative was indeed led by the so-called “progressive” movement, influenced by evolutionary theory—and was, I might add, a very consistent and logical application of evolutionary theory. Thankfully, this practice of compulsory sterilization was eventually done away with because of, I would argue, the influence of Christianity on society—resting on the belief that all people, regardless of disability status, bear God’s image. 

And, finally, let’s not forget what is undoubtedly the most urgent area for us to apply this teaching of people being created in God’s image in our contemporary society—and that is in securing protections for the unborn. It’s no secret that the pro-life movement in our country is largely driven by Christians. And the reason for it isn’t that we secretly hate women and want to rob them of economic opportunity but rather that we believe those unborn children bear God’s image just as much as any of us and therefore deserve protection. In case we needed any additional confirmation, Genesis 9:6 prohibits murder and specifically cites the truth that we were created in God’s image as its reason for doing so. And this isn’t anything new for Christians, either. Christians have always sought to protect babies from harm. You can see this all the way back in the Roman Empire. Back then, it was difficult to perform an abortion, so a lot of people would simply have the baby and then leave the baby on a trash pile somewhere to die. Yet, who do you think would go out to the trash piles and rescue those infants and adopt them? It was the Christians. 

So these are just a few of the ways in which the Christian teaching that God created people in his image has proven revolutionary in societies around the world. It’s led to the widespread recognition that every single person on the face of this earth has inherent dignity, value, and worth simply by virtue of being a human being. 

In addition, there are also some other very significant ways in which this teaching that we’re created in God’s image is relevant for our lives today. One of these is the massive implications this teaching has related to our personal identity. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that, generally speaking, our society is in the middle of an identity crisis. It turns out that, without God, people don’t know who they are any more. Their identity unravels. And that’s what we’re witnessing right now. Of course, people try to find their identity in various things like their career success and physical attractiveness and intelligence and social media following and athletic abilities and sexuality and romantic relationships. Yet, at the end of the day, none of these things offers us a stable sense of identity. So, even though people are, more than ever, on a seemingly endless quest to “find themselves” and discover their identity, any identity that they manage to fabricate ends up being paper-thin. And, on top of that, what a burden it must be to have to manufacture an identity for yourself out of thin air. Is it any wonder that anxiety and depression are at an all-time high in our society?  

You see, it turns out that, in order to know yourself, you have to know God and understand that you were created in God’s image and are therefore valued by God and loved by God. That’s what anchors you and gives you the foundation that’s needed in order to have an accurate understanding of your identity. And Genesis 1 gives us that foundation. 

In addition, not only does this passage have massive implications for our identity, it also has massive implications for our sense of meaning and purpose in life. This is another area in which most people today are terribly confused. Of course, there’s no shortage of things to which many people devote their lives—advancing in their career, becoming “Instagram famous,” enjoying various hobbies and pleasures. But are these things really all there is to life? And even if someone devotes themselves to other things that aren’t as self-centered in nature like having a family and participating in the advance of various worthy causes, are even these things significant enough that we’d want to view them as our singular purpose in life and our entire reason or existence? Probably not. So, without God, we’re left with a lot of things that are enjoyable and perhaps a few things that are somewhat meaningful but nothing that gives us the sense of transcendent purpose that I believe we’re naturally wired to desire. 

Yet, there is one place where we can find that purpose—and that is in God. And the teachings we find in Genesis 1 point us in the right direction on our journey toward having that sense of purpose. First, the very fact that we were created in God’s image indicates…well…that we were made to “image” God and reflect his glory throughout the world. In addition, scholars also tell us that, in ancient times, rulers would often set up statues or images of themselves throughout their lands in order to establish and demonstrate their sovereign rule over those lands. So our nature as God’s image-bearers also serves the function of, in a certain sense, establishing and demonstrating God’s rule over this world. 

And that’s certainly consistent with the pronouncement God makes in verse 26 about humans having “dominion” over the rest of creation. That truth is then emphasized even further in verses 28-30: 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 

So this statement we find in verse 28 about being fruitful and multiplying is both a blessing and a command. God’s indeed telling us, generally speaking, to have lots of babies. Of course, there are certain exceptions and extenuating circumstances, but that’s the general thrust of God’s statement here. He also says to “subdue” the earth and again tells us to exercise “dominion” over it. That involves, among other things, developing the earth’s resources in order to make them useful for improving our quality of life and serves as a strong foundation for scientific and technological development.  

So all of these things are an important part of our purpose. Yet, our ultimate purpose is even higher than any of these things. Ultimately, the fact that we were created in the image of God implies that we were created to have a relationship with God. Again, the fact that we were created in the image of God implies that we were created to have a relationship with God. In striking contrast to everything else in creation, God created us with the capacity for that relationship because that’s the purpose he has for us. And, truth be told, that’s the only thing that can satisfy the deepest longings of our soul. As Augustine so famously said, “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You.”

Unfortunately, though, our sinful rebellion against God has kept us from enjoying that relationship. Our sins have alienated us from God and made us both deserving of and destined for God’s judgment. Not only that, they’ve also resulted in God’s image within us being marred. Thankfully, though, we do find confirmation that we continue to bear God’s image, even in our fallen condition, in passages like Genesis 9:6 and James 3:9. So we might say that God’s image within us has been defaced but not erased. 

However, the central message of the Bible is that Jesus came to rescue us from our sin. He’s the answer to our miserable and desperate predicament. Colossians 1:15 refers to Jesus as “the image of the invisible God”—no doubt bearing God’s image even more than we ever did since Jesus doesn’t just resemble God but is actually God in human flesh. And Jesus came to restore us, as God’s image-bearers, to a close relationship with God. The Bible’s term for this is “reconciliation.” And we’re told in Romans 5:10 that “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.” That’s the way Jesus brought about this reconciliation. He voluntarily allowed himself to be crucified on a Roman cross in order to take upon himself the judgment for our sins. He suffered God the Father’s wrath so we wouldn’t have to. Jesus then resurrected from the dead three days later so that he now stands ready to save everyone who looks to him for rescue. 

And that rescue involves not only us being forgiven of our sin and reconciled to God but also experiencing the restoration of God’s image within us. As we’ve said, that image was never completely erased, but it was severely defaced. Yet, through Jesus, we can recover the fullness of that image once again. Colossians 3:10 states that, as Christians, we’ve “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” That’s what’s happening to us throughout the Christian life in the process commonly known as “sanctification.” Sanctification is the image of God within us being progressively restored. 

And, actually, in the New Testament, we find reference not only to the “image of God” in general but, even more specifically, to the “image of Christ.” Romans 8:29 states that God’s purpose for us as Christians is “to be conformed to the image of his Son.” Also, 2 Corinthians 3:18 states, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” And, dear friends, it gets even better than that, because 1 Corinthians 15:49 tells us that, one day, the image of God within us will be fully and perfectly restored in the new creation. 

So this image of God that was imparted at creation yet marred by human rebellion is now being progressively restored through Christ and will one day be completely restored in the new creation. 

So, looking back on our main passage as a whole and its main teaching that God created us in his image, it’s difficult to think of a teaching that has more profound implications for our lives. Hopefully, through our continued meditation on this truth, we can have a deeper appreciation of our identity, a renewed sense of purpose, a deeper concern for the welfare of fellow image-bearers, a greater desire to see God’s image within us continue to be restored, and just a deeper sense of gratitude in general toward God for the goodness he’s shown us in creating us to bear his image—what an incredible privilege!