Genesis 1:26

Clint Harper

And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth (Genesis 1:26).

There are many lessons that can be taken from the text; however, we want to focus on the statement "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." There are as many who are confused about the statement as there are who simply have never even contemplated the considerable implications that lay therein. Let us take this opportunity to try to dispel some of the "myth" surrounding the idea.

First, it does not mean that we are God (with a little or big "G"). We do not think as God does. He said through the prophet Isaiah, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9). We do not compare to His holiness. Paul explained, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). And in many other ways, we could never measure up to God.

Second, it does not mean that we are "eternal," i.e., from everlasting-to-everlasting. We have a beginning. The first man was "created" in the Garden of Eden and it says that God "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7). Jesus taught that man is a "dual" being. That is, man is both a physical and spiritual being. "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). And the Bible teaches plainly that the spirit comes from God (Hebrews 12:9).

Third, it does not mean that we are created in the "physical image" of God. "God is a Spirit" (John 4:24), and we know that "a spirit hath not flesh and bones" (Luke 24:39).

In reading the commentaries on this issue something stands out fairly intensely. Each one seems to be an expert on the topic and "pronounces" his determination as to what exactly the phrase means. Many times this is without explanation. Therefore, here we will set forth several of the many thoughts that are forwarded that have Biblical support, or at least do not contradict what the Bible says.

We have an intellect, which the animals do not have. That is, we have the power to "reason" within ourselves and with others. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Isaiah 1:18). Contrary to some, the Lord is a rational being and acts with reason. He even expects us to act reasonably (Romans 12:1) and has never asked his children to do anything outside of reason.

We have the ability to choose. God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden and gave them a choice to either do his will or not (Genesis 2:16-17). You know the outcome. Joshua told Israel, "…if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD" (Joshua 24:15). Our Lord asked his twelve to make a choice to either stay with Him or go away (John 6:67). And he asks us to make a choice today as well (Matthew 11:28-30).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary suggest that it is the "moral dispositions of his soul, commonly called original righteousness" and references Ecclesiastes 7:29, "Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." Perhaps this is a good fit for it is, after all, God who is the father of the spirit (Ecclesiastes 12:7; Hebrews 12:9).

Matthew Henry lists three things: 1. The nature of man’s soul; 2. Man’s place of authority over the created world (and let him have dominion); 3. In his purity (Ecclesiastes 7:29).

These are some of the ways in which man has determined us to be "in the image of God." However, "No man hath seen God at any time" (John 1:18). And only One has come from Heaven to Earth to tell us about Jehovah. Therefore, there are many things that we simply cannot know. Moses wrote, "The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law" (Deuteronomy 29:29). Therefore, there may be some things about the "way" or the "how" we are "in the image of God" that we will not find out in this life.