Jul 18
1
Old Testament Reading: Genesis 1:26-31
“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.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 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.’ 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. 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. 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.’” (Genesis 1:26–31, ESV)
New Testament Reading: Matthew 28:18-20
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” (Matthew 28:18–20, ESV)
Introduction
There are three questions of supreme importance to man. One, who is God? Two, what is man? And three, what does God require of man? The Bible begins to answer theses three questions in it’s opening chapter. There God is first introduced to us, and then man whom he created in his image, and then God’s purpose for man is set forth. It is not hard to see that the answer we give to these three questions – Who is God, what is man, and what does God require of man? – will impact greatly the trajectory of our lives. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1, ESV), but “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10, ESV). The denial of God will
What do we learn in the opening chapter of Holy Scripture except (among other things) that God is. He is supreme, the Creator of all things seen and unseen, including man. We also learn that man was unique in all of God’s creation, being made in the image God. And, as we will see today, man, being made in the image of God, was given the unique responsibility of exercising dominion over the world that God had made.
Here is the principle that I wish to drive home today: God created man in his image and after his likeness so that man would fill the earth with his offspring and exercise dominion over the created world. God made man to image him on earth. God has authority over heaven and earth, and man, made in the image of God, was given authority on earth. He was to imitate God as one who had dominion. But it is clear that man’s authority was never absolute as God’s is. Instead, man’s authority was, from the beginning, derived from God. Man was given authority, but he was to go on living in constant subjection to and in service of the God who made him. Man was created to be a king, but as king he was to forever serve the King of kings and Lord of lords. Put differently, man was created in the image and likeness of God and was given dominion, not so that he might promote the advancement of his own kingdom, but so that he might further the kingdom of God on earth. Adam and Eve, having been made in God’s image, were to work towards the establishment and expansion of a culture on earth where all of their offspring would worship and serve their Creator, just as they were created to do.
In the previous sermon I attempted to give an answer to the question, what does it mean that man is made in the image of God? Today I wish to walk through the text of Genesis 1:26-31 with you more methodically to show that man was made in the image of God so that he might fill the earth and have dominion over it, all to glory of God the Creator of all things seen and unseen.
“Let Us…”
Notice, first of all, the words “let us” at the beginning of verses 26: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…’” (Genesis 1:26, ESV).
The question we must ask is, who was God speaking to when he said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…’” The use of the plural “us” and “our” is striking, isn’t it? It grabs your attention.
We have heard God speak throughout the creation week – this is not new – but so far we have heard declarations, and not deliberation.
“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:3, ESV). “And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters’” (Genesis 1:6, ESV). “And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so.” (Genesis 1:9, ESV). Etc. etc. These were the declarations of God. God spoke the heavens and earth into existence, and God formed the world by the power of his word.
But here we encounter, not a simple declaration from God, but God engaged in deliberation. In verses 26 God is heard speaking to someone as if he were making a proposal concerning the creation of man. When God says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” it is made very plain and clear that when man is made, he will be made, not by a singular person, but by a plurality of persons. “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…”, God said.
Who is God speaking to?
Some very good men have claimed that God is here speaking to the angels, that is, to the heavenly counsel.
Indeed, God created the heavenly realm and the angels prior to the creation of the earthly realm (see Genesis 1:1). So it is true that the angels we there to witness the creation of man (see Job 38). But according to this view God is counseling and deliberating with the angels when he says, “let us”. If this view were taken then we would have to say that man is made in the image of God and of angels, for when man is made he is indeed made in the image of the persons referred to by the pronouns “us” and “our” of verses 26.
Though possible, I do not believe that this view holds up to close scrutiny. I will not take the time to argue against this view extensively. But a simple and brief argument can be made by saying two things. One, nowhere in scripture is man said to be made in the image of angels. And two, in verse 27 it is explicitly stated that man was made in the image of God. There we read, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27, ESV). The plural pronouns “us” and “our” in verses 26 are indeed striking – and they are meant to be. They grab the readers attention and cause us to ask, who is God speaking to? If God were speaking to the angels – to the heavenly counsel, so called – verse 27 would be the place to answer that question by saying, “So God created man in his image and the image of the angels…”. But verses 27 is emphatic that man was made “in the image of God.” “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27, ESV).
Who then was God speaking to?
Though mysterious and difficult for our minds to comprehend, the answer is that God was speaking to himself. Man was created in the image of God – the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I am not saying that we find a fully developed doctrine of the Trinity in Genesis 1, but the certainly the Trinity is evident. What subsequent scriptures texts say directly matches perfectly with the creation narrative of Genesis 1. In the beginning God the Father created through the God the Word, or Son, and by the power of the Holy Spirit. God, who in the beginning created the heavens and earth, is Triune. He is one God eternally existing in three subsistences or persons, Father, Word and Holy Spirit. Nowhere is this more clear in Genesis 1 than when it comes to the creation of man, for it is here that God deliberated and counseled within himself. The counsel, therefore, is not the heavenly counsel (angels), but it is the divine counsel (the Triune God taking counsel with himself).
A further question that we might ask concerning the “let us” of verse 26 is, why did God need to deliberate prior to the creation of man? When God created all other things, there was no deliberation – there was no “let us…”, but only “and God said…” Why the need for deliberation when it came to the creation of man?
The answer, of course, is that God did not need to go through a process of deliberation in order to create man, but that he deliberated so that he might reveal truth to us – truth concerning himself, truth concerning man and his purposes for us. So, just as God did not need six days to create the earth, so too he did not need to deliberate. Clearly the process of creation and deliberation is not for God, but it is for us.
Calvin puts it this way in his commentary on Genesis:
Hitherto God has been introduced simply as commanding; now, when he approaches the most excellent of all his works, he enters into consultation. God certainly might here command by his bare word what he wished to be done: but he chose to give this tribute to the excellency of man, that he would, in a manner, enter into consultation concerning his creation. This is the highest honour with which he has dignified us; to a due regard for which, Moses, by this mode of speaking, would excite our minds. For God is not now first beginning to consider what form he will give to man, and with what endowments it would be fitting to adorn him, nor is he pausing as over a work of difficulty: but, just as we have before observed, that the creation of the world was distributed over six days, for our sake, to the end that our minds might the more easily be retained in the meditation of God’s works: so now, for the purpose of commending to our attention the dignity of our nature, he, in taking counsel concerning the creation of man, testifies that he is about to undertake something great and wonderful. (Calvin, Commentary on the First Book of Moses Called Genesis, 91–92).
“Make Man…”
Secondly, let us consider the word “man” in verse 26: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…’” (Genesis 1:26, ESV).
As this text develops it will become clear that when God said, “let us make man in our image” he meant, let us make mankind in our image, and not, let us make the male humans in our image.
The word man, as you know, can be used to refer either to male humans in particular or to humankind more generally. The same is true in the Hebrew language. The word translated “man”, which his adam in the Hebrew, can be used to refer to “a male, any human being, or generically the human race (The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament, 15). Here the meaning is clearly the more generic one. Man is to be understood as a reference to human beings, male and female. Look with me again at verse 27: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27, ESV). And so in the beginning God created a male adam (human), and a female adam (human).
It is important to recognize that both men and women were created in the image of God.
In Genesis 2 we will encounter a more up close and personal account of the creation of man. There we see that Adam (the male human) was formed by God first from the dust of the ground, and then Eve (the female human) was formed by God from Adam’s side. This order is important and it should not be ignored. Christ and his Apostles do make reference to the order of the creation of man and woman when speaking to the role of men and women, husbands and wives in the family and in the church.
The differences and uniqueness of men and women should never be minimized or ignored, but neither should we ignore what the two share in common. Men and women are both made in the image of God. They are both image bearers. Similarly, men and women are equal in Christ. They are co-heirs, and therefore, stand on equal footing before God in Christ Jesus. This is why Peter warns husbands, saying, “husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered” (1 Peter 3:7, ESV). Men and women are therefore the same in some important ways. They are both human. They are both made in the image of God. They are both heirs of the grace of of life found in Christ Jesus. This is why Paul says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28, ESV). Paul is not here denying the uniqueness of men and women. He is not denying the specific roles that they are to take in the church and in the home. Were he doing this he would be contradicting what he says so plainly in other places, namely, Ephesians 5. Instead, in Galatians 3:28 Paul is emphasizing what males and females share in common. “There is… no male and female, for [they] are… one in Christ Jesus.” They are both human beings, made in the image of God, fallen, but then redeemed, the image of God having been restored in them through faith in Christ, who is the image of the invisible God.
It is amazing how difficult it is for us to get this right. It seems that throughout the history of the world, and even in our culture today, men will tend to emphasize either the differences between men women, or their essential oneness. How common is has been for men to domineer women, to abuse their God given power and authority within the church and home and thus do violence to women made in the image of God and co-heirs in Christ. The opposite error is being made in our day when oneness or sameness of the male and female is being emphasized, to the neglect of the particular roles assigned to them by God at creation to be fulfilled within the church and family until the Lord returns. Indeed, our sinful natures do fight against the word of God at every turn. In fact, things are far more perverse in our culture. Not only are the God given roles of men and women being ignored, but even the fundamental distinction between male and female is in our day denied. Lord, have mercy on us.
It should be noticed that man was not divided by God into species as the plant and animal kingdoms were, but only by gender. The animals and plants were created by God “according to their kinds”, but there are no “kinds” within the human species, only male and female, and they are both fully human, image bearers. It should be plain to all that the scriptures leave no room at all for racism, that is, hatred or prejudice against people on the account of race. In the beginning God made two human beings, one male and one female, and from them the whole human race did descend.
It should also be noted that the unity and diversity that exists within God is reflected by the unity and diversity that exists within creation, and supremely within man. God created trees, and there many kinds of trees. God created birds, and yet their are many kinds of birds. And God created man, male and female. One can clearly observe unity and diversity within creation and supremely within man, and this reflect the unity and diversity that exists within the Triune God. Man is one, and yet man is many. God is one, and yet God is many.
Baptist Catechism Q. 8. Are there more gods than one? A. There is but one only, the living and true God.
Baptist Catechism Q. 9. How many persons are there in the Godhead? A. There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, the same in essence, equal in power and glory.
While it is true that each individual human is an image bearer of God, it is also true that humanity in it’s entity, consisting of males and females, does collectively image the Triune God.
“In Our Image, After Our Likeness.”
Thirdly, let us say a brief word about the phrase “in our image, after our likeness”, found in verse 26: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’”
Some think that there is a great difference between the meaning of the words “image” and “likeness”. Clearly the words are different and, therefore, carry a slightly different meaning. But if we consider the way that the words are used in reference to man in the rest of scripture we will find that they are nearly synonymous. To be made in God’s “image” is to be made in his “likeness”, and to be made in his “likeness” is to be made in his “image”. When man fell from innocence, both the image and likeness of God were in some way retained by man, and yet both were greatly marred and distorted leaving man in need of redemption and renewal. Does man still possess the image of God? In general, yes. But it is all bent out of shape and distorted by sin from birth. Does man still possess the likeness of God? In general, yes. But it is all bent out of shape and distorted by sin from birth. The image and likeness of God in man are renewed through faith in Christ who is the image and likeness of God.
Anthony Hoekema in his book, Created in God’s Image, says,
Although these words are used generally as synonyms, we recognize a slight difference between the two. The Hebrew word for image… is derived from a root that means “to carve” or “to cut”… When it is applied to the creation of man in Genesis 1, the word… indicates that man images God, that is, is a representation of God. The Hebrew word for likeness… comes from a root that means “to be like”. One could therefore say that the word [likeness] in Genesis 1 indicates that image is also likeness, “an image that is like us”. The two words together tell us that man is a representation of God who is like God in certain respects.
“And Let Them Have Dominion”
Fourthly, let us consider that man made in the image and likeness of God was given dominion over the earth which God had made.
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’” (Genesis 1:26, ESV).
Verse 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’” (Genesis 1:28, ESV).
The fact that man was made in the image and likeness of God, and the fact that man was given dominion over all the earth are intimately related. And here is how: man was made in the image and likeness of God so that they would exercise dominion over all the earth. Put differently, man was made in the image and likeness of God in order that they might imitate and image God on earth through the process of filling, and ruling and reigning over the earth that God had made and placed under their authority. Just as God himself had created realms, filled those realms with creatures, and then faithfully rules over those realms and the creatures that he placed there, so too man, made in the image and likeness of God, was to faithfully fill the earth and rule over the earth all to the glory of the God who made them.
Notice that man was created, therefore, as a responsible person. Man was created with the capacity to make true and real decisions. Man was created with the capacity to rule over his domain. Man is not an animal being driven by instinct, but is higher than the animals. Certainly he is not a robot. Those free-willers who accuse the Calvinists and the Reformed of denying freewill should take note of what we are saying here. Man was created by God as a rational creature capable of making free choices. He, like God, is a person. He, like God, is capable of ruling, reigning and having dominion.
Listen to our confession in Chapter 9, which is has the title “Free Will”, paragraph 1: “God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty [freedom] and power of acting upon choice, that it is neither forced, nor by any necessity of nature determined to do good or evil.”
Where does our confession begin except by asserting that man, as a person, has free will. He makes real choices. He, therefore, is capable of exercising dominion. Of course we are talking about man prior to the fall here, as he came from the hand of God. But even after the fall I would still say that man has freewill. He still possess that “natural liberty [freedom] and power of acting upon choice”. He, as an image bearer of God, still has the capacity of having dominion, of ruling and reigning. The trouble is that, with the heart, mind and willing having been darkened by sin, he does naturally choose that which is evil. Having lost true knowledge, righteousness and holiness, man does not rule and reign, not to the glory of God, but to the glory of self. He labors, not for the kingdom of God, but for the kingdom of this world. He has, not God as Father and Lord, but Satan, to quote the words of our Savior.
God, in the beginning, created man in the image of God with the capability of functioning as a king upon the earth.
But in the moment we emphasize man as person created by God to freely rule, we must also remember that man is a creature. Man is not God. Man was not given authority over all things in heaven and on earth. Man’s authority, therefore, has never been supreme. But man was to from the beginning rule and reign upon the earth, fill and subdue, as an under lord to the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Man’s subordination to God is made clear throughout Genesis 1. One only has to remember that God is Creator and man is creation. But man’s subordination to God is also made clear in this text, for it is here that we read of God’s continual provision for man, and man’s continual dependence upon God. Verse 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’” (Genesis 1:29, ESV). Man was to rule as king, but living in constant dependence upon the King who is far greater than him. Man was not created autonomous. He was not created to live independent of God. God gave him life in the beginning, and God would also sustain the life of his vassal king. It was as true in the garden as it is today. It is in God that we “‘live and move and have our being’…For we are indeed his offspring” (Acts 17:28, ESV). Therefore Adam and Eve were to pray to God in the garden of Eden, saying, “give us this day our daily bread”, just as we pray this prayer living now east of Eden. Gordon Wenham notes in his commentary on Genesis that this stands in stark contrast to the Mesopotamian view in which man was created to provide for for the god’s. No, according to God’s word it is not God who stands in need of provision, but man. God created man. And God also sustains man day by day.
It is true that God created man a responsible person capable of ruling and reigning by free choise. But it is also true that God is supreme over man. He is sovereign. His will will be done. Man is not purely autonomous, therefore, but lives continuously under the sovereign will and plan of the Almighty. Here is where the Arminian stumbles and falls. When emphasizing the freedom of man he goes too far and makes man absolute, supreme and autonomous, while at the same time denying the absolute, supreme and autonomous nature of God.
Man was created in the image and likeness of God so that they might exercise true dominion upon the earth under God’s authority and to his glory. God’s kingdom was to be advanced on earth. The worship of God was to be promoted. The service of God was to be maintained. Were they kings? Yes! But they were created to function as kings living for the glory of the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Adam and Even and their offspring were given dominion. They were to fill the earth (expand God’s kingdom) and subdue it. But how were they to exercise dominion? How were they to go about the process of subduing? They were to do so, not harshly, but tenderly, carefully, and faithfully. The nature of man’s dominion – He would be Lord of all must be servant of all. It was as true in the garden and before the fall as it is today. What did our Lord say concerning the exercise of authority? “Whosoever would become great among you, shall be your minister; and whosoever would be first among you, shall be servant of all. For the Son of man also came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43–45, ASV 1901). Adam and Eve were to have dominion over the world, but never were they to exploit it or abuse it.
Application
Look how far we have fallen/come short of the glory of God.
When we come to the account of the fall in Genesis 3 we will see that it was, at it’s core, a failure to subdue and exercise dominion.
We do not live in Eden. Instead we see sin and rebellion manifest in every realm.
Man is harsh, irresponsible and misguided in his:
Relation to God.
Relationships with others. Parents, spouses, pastors, bosses, etc.
Relationship to the earth.
This is renewed in Christ.
A Christian should:
Have s proper appreciation for and use of the created world.
Seek to promote God’s moral law within society.
Pursue godly marriages, godly offspring.
Promote the proper worship of God.
The Great Commission
This cultural mandate that was give to Adam and Even in the garden cannot be accomplished by the simple expansion of culture now that human culture is fallen.
Culture, and the men and women who fill it, must first be renewed and redeemed.
This is accomplished through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ and by the power of the Spirit.
This is accomplished through the planing of churches.
Filling and subduing the earth is now accomplished through the fulfillment of the Great Commission.
“My kingdom is not of this world”, Jesus said!
Do you long for he new heavens and new earth when the earth will be filled with those who live in ongoing submission to the King of kings and Lord of lords?
