Genesis 1:26-28
WHO ARE YOU? WHAT ARE YOU?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE THE IMAGE OF GOD?
“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.’”
BACKGROUND
There are three general views about what it means to be in God’s image. There is the substantive view, that reason or spirituality makes us in God’s image. There is the relational view, that we can relate to God and one another, which makes us like him. And there is the functional view, that we can do certain things that God does. In reality, all three of these areas hold true and have something to do with God having created us in his image.
Professor Wayne Grudem points out that as whole persons, there are five aspects in which we are like God.
- Moral aspects
- Spiritual aspects
- Mental aspects
- Relational aspects
- Physical aspects
Moral Aspects. I Peter 1:16 says, “You shall be holy for I am holy.” We are accountable for our ethics and moral behavior. The Ten Commandments reflect God’s character and are designed to guide us into imitating his character.
Spiritual Aspects. A spiritual life enables us to relate to God, which is something the animal kingdom does not have. Animals do not pray and praise or develop philosophy or theology as man does.
Mental Aspects. One way in which we are like God is in our thoughts, our ability to reason, which is on a different order than animal creation. We reason abstractly. As we grow spiritually, we think more and more like God thinks. Paul said that as Christians, “We have the mind of Christ” (I Corinthians 2:16). We are encouraged to “renew our minds” (Romans 12:2).
Relational Aspects. People form relationships. We are relational beings. In fact, without relationships, our thinking becomes twisted. Humans have a wide range of emotions that influence and augment our relationships. Just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit live in relation to one another, so too, we live in relationship to God and to each other. Man is unique in that he forms marriages, which no other created being does. This reflects the commitment of Christ to us, which is referred to as a husband to his church, the bride of Christ (II Corinthians 11:2, Revelation 21:9).
Physical Aspects. Like God, we can see, though he has no eyes. Like God, we can hear, though he has no ears. Like God, we can speak, though he has no mouth. Like God, we can feel, though he has no body. Like God, we can think, though he has no brain. Our physical bodies are designed to reflect something of God’s abilities so that we may imitate him.
How does being created in God’s image impact our daily choices—at work, in relationships?
The ultimate image of God is found only in Christ. Like the Father, Christ lived without sin. Thus, he was not subject to spiritual death. Jesus is like the Father in every respect because he is without sin and is deity. Jesus said, “If you have seen me you have seen the Father” (John 14:9). Paul stated of Christ, “He is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15).
Ironically, Jesus bears more than the image of God. He also bears the image of man. He “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7). Because he was born as a man he is able to save man “He had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17).
In the end, we will bear the renewed image of God at the resurrection. Our image is currently marred by sin. But at the resurrection, we will sin no more, and God’s perfect image will be restored in us, beginning with our new bodies. He “will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21). Also, Paul says, “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shallalso bear the image of the man of heaven” (I Corinthians 14:49).
EXAMINATION
(V.26) “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’”
The creation of man is preceded by divine deliberation. Only with man’s creation does God declare that he is in his image. What is interesting is the use of the plural form. Let “us” make man in “our” likeness. Some scholars have suggested that the plural form is a reference to the angels or what is known as a divine council that renders decisions in heaven. However, the difficulty with this interpretation is the issue of in what sense are angels part of the divine image? It is more likely that this is a reference to the godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The scripture says that all three were present at creation. We see the Father and the Spirit present in Genesis 1:1-2, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” John records that Jesus was also present. “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). Paul says the same in Colossians 1:16, “For byhim all things were created, in heaven and on earth.”
Within this divine deliberation, we see some of the attributes of God: his plurality, his unity, his purpose, and intelligence. Because man was being created in God’s image, we can deduce that these and other communicable attributes of God were to be given to man as part of that image. As an example, man is a multipart entity, with a spirit, mind, and body. Yet, man is a unity, a single being, as God is a single being (though with three persons). God gave man a purpose: to be like him and do what he does. And like God, man has intelligence.
(V.26) “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.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK IT MEANS TO HAVE DOMINION OVER CREATION?
HOW DO WE ABUSE DOMINION?
Notice the plural, “Let them have dominion…” he does not speak in the singular, but the plural. This indicates that the command and blessing to be in the image of God applies to all of mankind and not just Adam.
Notice also what man is given dominion over. The fish, the birds, the livestock, and everything on the ground. We are primarily given dominion over the things that fill the earth, along with the earth itself. Life is our primary dominion.
(V.27)
“So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him,
male and female he created them.
This portion of the account is in a poetic, chiastic form. A chiasm is a literary device where clauses or ideas are presented in a mirrored or inverted pattern, often creating a sense of balance and emphasis. This is the first poetic use in the Genesis account, and it indicates the importance of this part of the account to God. With all of his creative acts, he is creating something he loves, but with man, this love is special; his attention to it is unlike the rest of creation. He is creating something he can relate to, like himself.
This love is also seen in the creation of male and female. While other parts of creation have gender, only in mankind is gender emphasized. I think this is also a reflection of God’s love. God wants man to experience an intensity of love with one like himself that he experiences for us. The marital bond is the highest form of loving expression in relationship. It will later be mirrored in Christ’s relationship with the church, referred to as the bride of Christ. Looking backward, that makes this passage our first indication of the extreme nature of God’s love for his people. The marital relationship, even in Genesis 1:27, is a type for our relationship with Christ.
(V.28) “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.’”
In the previous verses of Genesis 1:12,21, 24-25, God declares of the life he creates that it is to reproduce “after its kind.” But he does not say this about man and woman. He uses a different term of “multiply.” God’s interest is not that man produce after his kind. Rather, he is to produce after God’s kind, i.e., after God’s image. In Christ, we do this by teaching and training our children to know the Lord. We see an example of this with David and Solomon. David said, “Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind” (I Chronicles 28:9). Solomon said, “Train up a child in the way he should go…” (Proverbs 22:6). Paul instructed regarding children, “Bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). We also do this with evangelism and discipleship.
Notice that there are five areas of command that God gives to man that are related to being in God’s image. We’ve already seen one of them, Dominion. And it’s repeated here. But let’s look at these five areas separately: fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue, and dominion. Since these things are directly related to being in God’s image, it implies that God does these things and he wants us to do the same things he does. Since God’s image is first mentioned in Genesis 1, it stands to reason that Genesis 1 has something to say to us in defining what God’s image actually looks like. So, our question is, when, before creating man, did God do these things?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE FRUITFUL?
To be fruitful is to grow or to add something. When was God fruitful? When he began his work of creation. He was fruitful in producing new things.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO MULTIPLY?
To multiply is to replicate oneself. When did God multiply? When he created life, and specifically, mankind, God multiplied, making creatures like himself in a creaturely way.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FILL THE EARTH?
To fill the earth is an extension of multiplication. It means to spread abroad with more like you. When did God fill the earth? When he filled the earth with life, specifically, with human life.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SUBDUE?
To subdue means to bring something under your control. When did God subdue? When he brought the mass of the earth under his control, to form it to be inhabited.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE DOMINION?
Dominion means to rule, to exercise authority over something, to manage it, to dominate it. When did God rule? When he issued commands to man of what he wanted them to do.
We can infer from these truths that only man is made in God’s image. Angels are not made in God’s image in this same sense. For instance, angels are not fruitful. We have no indication that they grow in godliness. Angels do not multiply. They do not have children. Angels do not fill in the same sense as man through multiplication. Angels do not have dominion. They have a hierarchy of authority, but they do not rule over creation in the way that God has assigned to man.
Interestingly, Satan seeks this kind of image for himself that God denies him. He grows in godlessness. Over the centuries, he has grown in his deceptions, like the creation of multiple religions and philosophies that deceive. He multiplies in that he causes others to reject God as he has. He makes many people like him. “You are of your father, the devil” (John 8:44). He fills the earth with the ungodly. He is “The deceiver of the whole world” (Revelation 12:9), and he exercises dominion. “The whole world lies in the power of the Evil One” (I John 5:19). But Satan’s efforts are an imitation, not the true image of God.
INTERPRETATION
What is Moses’ big idea for this passage?
We have to consider what was happening to Israel when Moses wrote Genesis. He was likely leading Israel in the wilderness and was encouraging them to walk with God exclusively. Israel had an idol problem, they had been infected by Egyptian idol worship. So, part of Moses’ intention is to show Israel that the false gods and idols of Egypt are nothing like the true God of Israel. Consider the honor that the Lord was showing Israel.
Under Egyptian religion, only the pharaoh was considered a god, and he exercised his authority as such. But Moses is telling Israel, you are all like God. You are his image collectively and individually.
God had created Israel as a special people for himself. They are to see their nation reflected in the creation commands to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue, and have dominion. They were to exercise all of these things in the promised land. Thus, they were to be like God. Israel was to be God’s unique image among the nations. This was of a much higher order than anything the Egyptians experienced.
But we must also consider the general calling by God that applies to all people, and to Christians in particular. Our calling is to be like Christ, who is the perfect image of God. So, we can summarize Moses’ big idea by saying, You were created to be like God. Fulfill your calling. Do what God does.
The culmination of being in God’s image is for you and I to live in the image of God’s son. “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29).
APPLICATION
Aside from the image commands of fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue, and have dominion, individually, you and I were designed to do three things to express the image of God daily:
- Think what God thinks
- Feel what God feels
- Do what God does
Paul told us that “We have the mind of Christ” (I Corinthians 2:16). This means that we can think the thoughts of God after him.
We have the fruit of the Spirit, enabling us to feel what God feels. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).
Jesus promised us that we can do what God does! “Whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do” (John 14:12).
So, let’s boil this down to five points of application.
1. Recognize Human Dignity and Worth
Every person is made in the image of God, which gives inherent value and dignity to all human life. We should treat others with respect, compassion, and equality—regardless of race, ability, age, or background.
2. Embrace Your God-Given Identity
Being made in God’s image means we are created for relationship with Him, moral responsibility, and purposeful living. This identity calls us to reflect His character in our actions through love, justice, creativity, and stewardship.
3. Value Work and Stewardship
God gave humanity responsibility over creation. This encourages us to engage in work and productivity as good things and to care for the environment and resources entrusted to us.
4. Celebrate the Blessing of Fruitfulness
These verses affirm family, community, and the blessing of life. Whether through raising children, mentoring others, or contributing to the growth of healthy relationships and societies, we are called to be life-giving in our influence.
5. Understand Leadership as Service
The call to “have dominion” is not a license to dominate but to lead with wisdom, humility, and care, reflecting God’s rule. True leadership seeks the flourishing of what is entrusted to it, whether people, communities, or creation.
