The imago Dei is more like a manifesto, a convicting and compelling call to action. It is something we must believe, and accepting it matters a lot. But it is also a declaration of our aim. We were made to make public the image of the invisible God. That can’t be done only in our heads.

Humanity is given by God and shared by men, it is not self-determined by men. That’s why worldliness kills humanity and also why humble worship makes great men and causes humanity to flourish. An individual man, and mankind as a whole, fades away without reference to God. The signal fades when we get too far away from the tower. It’s like a blind man trying to color coordinate feathers in a wind tunnel; order is impossible without observing the original.

We have a call to action, weighty with God’s glory. Every man must be seen this way. Though C.S. Lewis said the following about the future, the reality is rooted from creation.

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare…There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. (The Weight of Glory)

Being made in the image of God is fighting words, fighting boredom and ennui, discouragement, dualism, and bad-mouthing of your neighbor.

There are five points in this crowning paragraph and we’ll look at a few more this morning.

Last week we started in verse 26 with God’s intention for man.

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)

The “us” in “Let us make man” is not God and angels or God and other gods, it is the Godhead, what we understand and call the Three Persons of God, deliberating to do together. He made us in His image, the imago Dei, to bear resemblance to Him so that by viewing man we learn something about that man’s God.

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)

This comes out in being made for relationship and responsibility. The relational “let us” is reflected in the “male and female” as well as in the “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” The responsibility is reflected in “let them have dominion” and then the entire commission in verse 28.

2. God’s Celebration over Man (verse 27)

Verse 27 stands out in the flow of this paragraph and interrupts God’s discourse with Himself and provides God’s perspective through the narrator’s (almost) lyrical summary.

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. (verse 27)

Three times in verse 27 the word bara ( created) is used. I’ve mentioned before that only God is the subject of bara in the Old Testament; only He creates like this. The only times bara is used in Genesis one relates to brand new things or new stages of creation, like the universe (verse 1), living things (verse 21), and now humans.

Also notice that image is again the emphasis. God created man in His own image and then the exact same thing is said again in the opposite order, in the image of God He created them. That not only clarifies why man is the way he is, but even more, the repetition and syntax celebrate man. God is exalting over this finishing touch.

The reiterated mention of the image of God is not a vain repetition. For it is a remarkable instance of the Divine goodness which can never be sufficiently proclaimed. (Calvin)

The last phrase in verse 27 could be problematic in light of chapter two. Why? Because this verse says male and female He created them, in addition to God said to them and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply. Whereas chapter two describes that man, that is, Adam, was created first. Only after Adam named all the animals did God create Eve.

But actually, seeing 1:27 as the general work of creation solves the fact that God said it was not good for man to be alone (2:18), but at the end of day six God said it was very good. There really is no problem and, in fact, the more detailed description of how God created man and then woman in chapter two emphasizes even more that man is the focal point for God. In other words, what happens in Genesis 2:15-25 happens in between Genesis 1:26 and 27.

Man is not broken down by species or made “according to its kind,” rather, man is designated by sexuality. Sexuality “is not an accident of nature, nor is it simply a biological phenomenon. Instead it is a gift of God” (Hamilton, 138). Gender confusion is a human confusion, and gender bending is an attempt to bend God’s image.

3. God’s Commission to Man (verse 28)

At some point later on day six, God addressed the first couple.

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.” (verse 28)

Like with the birds and the fish in verse 22, blessing precedes the commission to reproduce. The mandate to multiply was energized and empowered by God.

Blessing them, God said to them, the first act of speaking with His creation (since in verse 22 His commission to birds and fish was not to the birds and fish) and then a string of five imperatives:

• Be fruitful.
• Multiply.
• Fill the earth.
• Subdue the earth.
• Have dominion over the creatures on earth.

The first three are linked to procreation, to relationship and reproduction, and the final three are related to responsibility, with the middle command (“Fill the earth”) functioning as the hinge, since the more humans the easier for cooperating and taking dominion.

The commission to reproduce would have been especially meaningful to the first two people on the planet. This was the first application of the principle “focus on the few to reach the many,” where the many are a result of the first couple. The genealogies in Genesis (5, 9, 11, 25, 36, 46) provide testimony to the fruit.

For the emphasis on life and abundance in chapter one, this verse should not be used as a basis for believing that you must have as many children as possible, especially if the pregnancy or labor threatens life. Remember that at this point, there was no sin, no death, and no pain in child birth! Things are different after the fall. This verse should not make barren couples feel guilty or ashamed.

And yet, this verse should confront those in our culture who don’t want any kids, or who plan to wait as long as possible so that kids don’t get in the way. Genesis 1:28 does indeed confront that selfishness by reminding us that God’s intention and command was that we be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Even with 7.2 billion people we haven’t filled the earth. There’s no need to get worried about overpopulation.

Men and women were to have children, raise children, and send out their children.

The second facet of God’s mandate for man in Genesis 1:28 relates to his image-bearing responsibility on and over the earth. Men were made not only to enjoy creation, but also to work it and keep it. God commanded men to subdue the earth and have dominion over the animals, establishing divine cause for exploration and study of the earth and using that knowledge to develop it. In other words, God commissioned us to change the world.

Nancy Pearcey describes this “Cultural Mandate” in her book Total Truth.

In Genesis, God gives what we might call the first job description: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.” The first phrase, “be fruitful and multiply” means to develop the social world: build families, churches, schools, cities, governments, laws. The second phrase, “subdue the earth,” means to harness the natural world: plant crops, build bridges, design computers, compose music. This passage is sometimes called the Cultural Mandate because it tells us that our original purpose was to create cultures, build civilizations—nothing less.

To our shame, we have largely ignored our human calling to “to order, develop, and embellish God’s splendid creation, to realize the multifarious potentialities which were embedded within it.” (David Hageman, Ploughing in Hope, 29). Christians (perhaps especially those with a Dispensationalist strain) are often the worst culprits of laziness and low aspirations. More pagans have vision for accomplishing goals, even if only out of pride. Christians—in the OT, believers and God-fearers—should be the most eager, motivated, and wise workers. We recognize that changing the world isn’t a burden; it’s a privilege. We should be the best teachers, the best scientists, the best artists, the best widget-makers because we have the proper perspective on what it means to be human.

I think Adam and Eve would be proud of the world wide web, zippers, recycled paper, the interstate highway system, MacBook Airs, and the wheel. In the mandate to fill the earth, we anticipate society and cities and culture as well as government. In the mandate to subdue the earth, we anticipate science and technology, research and development, schools, art, music, architecture and agriculture, and medicine after the fall.

Here are couple of stray implications that come out of this paragraph.

• The motive for making and managing is not money. Money is too small of an incentive. Hard work and good work is only sustainable when driven by theology that knows a big God. Low effort and low quality are a product of anti-God thinking, either ignoring or intentionally disregarding God. Instead, we work to bear His image. That is a calling because God is worth displaying. Image-bearers aren’t looking for jobs, they are looking for work.
• Taking dominion over the virtual or imaginary world doesn’t count. Young people seem especially susceptible to this distraction. Video games may be fun for a while, but they are not the true work of image-bearers.
• Planning to take dominion, but never getting to work, is not taking dominion.

What are we doing to change the world? Or at least, how are we preparing now to change the world later? Are we working to figure out our God-given skills so that we can maximize our image-bearing? What are we dreaming about? What is the direction of our lives? Is the image we’re bearing in those pursuits an accurate reflection of God?

We are not worthy to enjoy the condition of our first father, who was to live in a pleasant setting without having to work hard. Nevertheless, before sin entered the world, and before we were condemned by God to painful and difficult work, it was necessary for men to occupy themselves with some work. Why? Because it was against our nature for us to be useless blocks of wood. (John Calvin quoted in Ploughing in Hope, 41, emphasis added)

Conclusion

The Cultural Mandate involves making and shaping everything on earth as God’s image-bearers. To that end, God has given each one of us different desires and talents to be used. No matter what our skill or skill level, we are to take God with us we go, build, and organize. Sometimes it is said that the only thing we can do on earth that we can’t do in heaven is evangelize. Not true. Man was given a purpose on the planet before the need to evangelize existed.

Before the fall, we were commissioned to subdue the earth and take dominion over the creatures of the earth. We were commissioned to do it together, fathers and mothers and kids and generations and societies.

After the fall, we were commissioned by the Lord of creation to make disciples of all nations. We were commissioned to do it together, members of the Lord’s Body.

But there are human responsibilities that existed before sin. When Christ came, the original mandate wasn’t revoked, it was redeemed. More specifically, fallen men are redeemed and restored to relationship(s) and God-honoring responsibility.

Only worshippers of the Triune God care about discipling-making and only worshippers of the Triune God are truly excited about and equipped for dominion-taking.