Or, Imago Dei Is More Like A Manifesto
Scripture: Genesis 1:26-31
Date: April 12, 2015
Speaker: Sean Higgins
This paragraph is one of the three most important paragraphs in the Bible. I haven’t settled on the other two, but one might be Genesis 3:14-19 about sin and the curse on earth and death, and a good second choice would be Romans 3:21-26 about Christ’s propitiation for sin and justification by faith. Genesis 1:26-31 is important chronologically; there isn’t sin or need for salvation without persons. But this paragraph is even more important compositionally; the existence of man leads to questions about the essence of man.
Man is the imago Dei, the image of God. Man depends on God for the fact of his life and for the form of his life. Unlike any other part in creation, man learns what he should do not only by listening to God but by looking at God. Our dignity as humans disintegrates to the degree we don’t look at Him. Our direction as humankind cannot be drawn on a map without God. Genesis 1:26-31 is a big star with the caption underneath: You and I are here.
Nothing has had more influence on me in the last seven years than this paragraph. I do not owe everything I’ve learned during that time to this paragraph. But I would not have learned, or cared about, or done, 90 plus percent of what I’ve pursued without building on this. It has been a mountain of girth and perspective. The mountain has always been there, but not everyone realizes where they’re standing in relation to it. I didn’t. To stand on top of the mountain is to see landscape and horizons in every direction on earth. Books on the Trinity, marriage, parenting, education, art and culture, open from here. Authors such as Kuyper, Tolkien, Beale, Wilson and another Wilson have come alive for me from here. If you don’t stand on this mountain, you might not be able to see around it.
I think that some men and women would prefer to balance divine image-bearing on their heads like a graduation cap. Once they study this passage they turn the tassel to the other side. But understanding the imago Dei does more than give us a reason for sipping punch at a graduation party congratulating ourselves on honorary dignity conferred to us by God. Understanding the imago Dei is a manifesto, a weight of glory as Lewis called it1, a convicting and compelling call to action. That is exactly what some men most fear. They might have to do something.
Sin has messed things up on earth. But earth and flesh and fellowship and fruit and hard work are God’s idea. He thinks it’s all very good.
Though it is the longest, most detailed description of any day in the creation story, it is astonishingly short for the significance of truth it contains. Without this paragraph, the question, What is man? (think Psalm 8:4) cannot be answered accurately. Here were begin to learn about our being “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).
As amazing as all of God’s creative work in the previous days of week one, this paragraph is the climax, the peak of the story. Not only does the creation of men get the most attention in that Moses slows down and uses the most amount of space to describe it, it now becomes apparent that all of the other creative elements are for man. The light was made for man to work and to set the pattern of his life cycle. The atmosphere was made so man could live and breathe. The dry land was created for man’s home and for his sustenance. Even the birds and sea creatures and land animals are placed under man. Man is the masterpiece and crown of creation.
There are five points in this crowning paragraph and we’ll look at the first one this morning.
New things in verse 26 grab our attention like a pop-up book.
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.” (verse 26)
Every other time in chapter one, “And God said” is followed by a creative word, “Let there be [light (verse 3), an expanse (verse 6), etc.].” But in verse 26, “And God said” is followed by a conversation.
The obvious question is: who is God talking to?
It wasn’t that God was talking to Himself per se, because He doesn’t say, “Let Me make man in My image.” It also wasn’t that Gods were talking to each other, because in the following verse the pronoun is singular again, “God created man in His own image” and not “in the image of Gods they created him.”
Most scholars (following Jewish commentators) think that God was talking in the heavenly court to angels. But, nowhere in the Bible does God “counsel” with the angels. Also, men are nowhere said to be made in the image of angels, and angels are not given in marriage nor are they procreating beings.
There isn’t much explicit evidence in Genesis one itself related to the Trinity (maybe verse 2 where the Spirit of God hovers over the face of the waters). But the plural pronoun is unmistakable. Not only is it clearly “Let us make man,” the image is our image and the likeness is our likeness. I’m not sure exactly what Moses was thinking about, but knowing what we do now in light of the rest of Scripture (think John 1:1-5; Colossians 1:15-20), it is easy to envision the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in their eternal relationship, talking and deliberating with one another about the plan.
Here now is the first part of that plan in verse 26: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness . Forests of trees have been sacrificed to make the reams of paper it’s taken to print the books and articles written on the subject of the words “image” and “likeness” and what that means about man.
While “image” and “likeness” may have nuanced differences, Moses uses them as synonyms. The key word is “image” since it is repeated two more times in verse 27. “Likeness” (to be like, to resemble, but not the same as) seems to be a way for Moses to stress what image is.
So what does image mean? An image is a form or reflection or representation of something. A penny has the image of Abraham Lincoln’s head on one side. That image represents Lincoln, but it obviously isn’t actually Lincoln himself. At the right angle you can see your image in the water as it reflects your face. You’re not in both places, but the water shows what your face looks like.
So men are a reflection of God Himself. They are made in such a way as to show something about God. They are not God, but they bear a resemblance to Him so that by viewing man we get a picture of God. Sometimes we talk about how the Bible represents God anthropomorphically, that is, with human characteristics. “More accurately, a human being is theomorphic, made like God so that God can communicate Himself to people. He gave people ears to show that He hears the cry of the afflicted and eyes to show that He sees the plight of the pitiful (Ps. 94:9)” (Waltke).
But what part or parts about man represent God? In particular, what is man? What is it about man that separates him from the rest of creation since he’s the only creature made in God’s image?
Bearing God’s image does not mean that men have life. Birds and fish and animals have life. Being made in God’s image doesn’t necessarily mean that man has a body. Again, the animals have physical bodies, and, God doesn’t have a body, or opposable thumbs. Other suggested definitions for “image” range from:
On one hand, it seems like Moses doesn’t give a precise definition; he just states the fact. But I think two things must be included in what it means for man to be made in the image of God from this context.
First, that man is made in God’s image means that man is made for RELATIONSHIP. I think that because it is the Triune God that discusses making man. The three Persons are conversing. Our God was a personal God before He created, with eternal relationships between the Persons. Though each Person is different, there is an enjoyment of one another in unity. And the basis of human relationships is the relationships between the Godhead. Herds migrate together, fish travel in schools, but they don’t fellowship as friends.
The relationship aspect also seems to be the point of saying male and female He created them in verse 27. The emphasis is not only that both men and women bear God’s image, but that they do that together in relationship, so marriage in 2:18-25, resulting in kids, then cultures. Man is personal and interpersonal. He is a social creature made for community, not isolation, just like His Maker.
No other religion has a God like this. Other religions cannot account for relationships where persons have equality but uniqueness.
Second, that man is made in God’s image means that man is made for RESPONSIBILITY. Unlike the other parts of creation that are made for certain smaller tasks, man is made for oversight and stewardship and making and progress. As soon as God decides to pattern man after Himself He says Let them have dominion . We are made for relationships and we are made for responsibility.
In making man for dominion, that is, for ruling, God has assigned man a place over creation, though man is part of creation. It is not (necessarily) arrogant to act like we are better than birds. It is arrogant to act like we are better than God. And keeping in mind our position before God helps us maintain the proper perspective of our job regarding His creation.
Some men are people oriented. Some men are task oriented. Both are part of our being and our function. We sin against God not just by being proud, but also by being independent and lazy.
This explains even more God’s deliberation. “Let us make” is a way to say “Let’s do this together,” which is exactly what man is made for: relationship and responsibility. We’ll see more about doing together in verse 28 when God commissions man.
So God’s eternal plan was revealed and accomplished. He made us to work. He made us to be unique. He made us for relationship and responsibility. Of course things including rationality and ability to communicate are important for relationships and responsibility, but those are the two broad ways men reflect God that stand out in the passage.
At this point there are no vertical responsibilities mentioned; the first couple worshiped as they fellowshipped with God in the cool of the day and as they worked and related.
We’ll continue to consider the weight of mankind through the rest of the paragraph next Lord’s day.
However, Lewis used the phrase “weight of glory” after Paul’s use of it in 2 Corinthians 4:17 as something that we are headed toward. While we are being prepared for glory, it is also true that we were made with glory from the beginning in God’s image. ↩