In His Image: A Commentary on Man’s Place in Creation

The first three chapters of the book of Genesis present a narrative of creation—the making of all things—with the first 25 verses of chapter one describing God’s work in creating everything except Man. It is interesting to note that the description presented in these verses is at once purposeful, logical, and progressive. The creation process proceeds from the large to the small, from the general to the specific, and from the indistinct to the highly detailed. It is like a machine slowly building up speed, or a song building to a crescendo. First there is the creation of the heaven and the earth—the entire universe. At this point, God’s focus narrows from a universal perspective to an Earth-centered one, with the creation of light—the sun, moon and stars—and the separation of the waters above the earth from those on the earth to create the sky. Next the focus narrows further with the collection of the waters into seas (70% of the earth’s surface) and the creation of the dry land (only 30% of the earth). On the third day began the creation of life, and just as with the earlier creation, this portion proceeded from the broadest to the narrowest, and from the simplest to the most complex. First came the plants, and while Genesis may focus of the seed-bearing land plants, we know that plant life is not limited to the land. There are plants that populate the world’s oceans as well, which means that they are the most widespread type of life on the planet. Next to be created were the fish of the seas, whose habitat covers 70% of the planet’s surface. They are followed by the birds of the air, whose habitat includes the land and the water. Then came the land animals—the beasts of the field and every creeping thing. It was on the sixth day that this frenzy of creation reached its pinnacle. It was at that time that God set His focus on the creation of Man.

But God didn’t simply speak man into existence. Instead, He took the time to carefully craft the Man from the dust of the earth, forming him “in [His] image and after [His] likeness. It is this idea of Man as the “image” and “likeness” of God, as described beginning at Genesis 1:26, that is the focus of this commentary.

Words Mean Things—What Is a Likeness?

I have always been of the opinion that words mean things, but that people often use words carelessly or ignorantly, without truly understanding the subtle shades of meaning conveyed by the words that they use. This can lead to misunderstandings, disagreements, loss or opportunities, and all of the negative effects that follow these things. So to preclude any possible misunderstanding, before we try to understand what it means for Man to be created in the image and likeness of God, we will first spend a bit of time exploring the meanings of the terms “image” and “likeness”.

Image –noun

1.	a physical likeness or representation of a person, animal, or thing, photographed, painted, sculptured, or otherwise made visible.

5.	form; appearance; semblance: We are all created in God's image.

–verb (used with object)

18.	to reflect the likeness of; mirror.

21.	to resemble.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

The word translated as image in Genesis 1:26 is the Hebrew “tselem”, which can be defined as “…illusion, resemblance; hence, a representative figure…”[1]

From the definitions above, it is clear that the key characteristic of an image is that it is a representation of something else. That something else is the original of which the image is but a copy. It has the appearance of the original, but lacks the true essence of the original in some significant way. Just as a mirror can create a reflection of a person, but that reflection lacks the depth, weight, and substance of the person being reflected, so, too, is an image always inferior to the original thing that it represents.

Likeness -noun
1.	similarity in appearance or character or nature between persons or things; "man created God in his own likeness" [ant: dissimilitude]
2.	picture consisting of a graphic image of a person or thing

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.

The word translated as likeness is the Hebrew “d muwth” or “demuwth”, which can be translated as “…resemblance;…model, shape…”[2]

A “likeness”, then, indicates a similarity in appearance or character—a resemblance— with something else. The level of similarity required to equate to being a likeness is relatively high. A thing (or person) exhibiting only a slight resemblance or similarity to another would not be said to be in its likeness.

So where does this lead us? What conclusions can we draw from our brief etymological study of the words image and likeness. To me, the answer is clear and unambiguous. To be created in the image and likeness of God means that Man both represents and reflects the nature of God, as well as resembling the character of God. We are the mirror in which the perfection of God is reflected and the model through which the characteristics of God are displayed. Yet because we are but images and likenesses, we are, at best, imperfect copies of the divine nature of the Godhead. Therefore, we can only aspire to be like God, but never to be equal to or greater than Him in any way.

Still, to even be like God is a wonderful thing. That He would choose to impart to us even a small portion of His divine characteristics is a privilege that we share with no other thing in all of creation. In particular, the first and second chapters of Genesis (and the third chapter to a lesser extent), illustrate specific ways in which Man was created in the likeness of God.

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[1] James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, © 1986 by Thomas Nelson Publishers

[2] Ibid

...In Our Image...

The Bible's book of Genesis tells us that after creating the heavens and the earth, and all the myriad plants and creatures that populate the earth, God said, "...let Us make Man in Our image...". For a time, Man enjoyed a close, intimate personal relationship with God--until original sin changed that relationship forever. I find it fascinating that men, in an effort to recapture that lost level of intimacy with the Creator, have recreated god in Man's image. Ancient cultures created gods that may have had the heads and bodies of animals, but that acted like men. These gods exhibited all the character traits of men, from the most noble to the most flawed. Typically, each of these gods held one or two human traits in excess, and exercised those traits as men would in the absence of external controls or restrictions. Men experience love, so there was a god of love who invoked the exercise of love without restraint. Men fought wars, so there was a god of war who compelled men to fight war without mercy. Often, these man-made gods were as petty and unpredictable as the humans who had created them. You could pray to them, but you could never be any more sure that they would answer your prayer than you could be sure that another person would respond favorably to a request. In fact, the gods were often even less likely to respond favorably than another person would be, as they were above the petty concerns of men, and only intervened on the human plane when it benefited them in their selfish, godly pursuits.

Though we no longer worship the primitive gods of the ancients today, we still have our 21st century versions of gods created in man's image. These new gods no longer have the heads and bodies of men and animals, but they still can be typified as attempts to elevate human traits and characteristics to the point where they can exercise influence and control over the physical universe (the central characteristic of a god). These modern gods are called technology and human intellect. Through technology, we construct and use machines and devices to extend the ability of our frail human bodies to control and manipulate the physical world around us. Through our human intellect we brashly proclaim that we are the pinnacle of all that exists, that we have no need of a Creator, that our minds are capable of discovering and understanding the deepest secrets of the cosmos and that, through that knowledge and understanding we are destined to exercise control over all the universe. It is as if we are saying to God that we don't need Him anymore. Yet instead of totally abandoning God, mankind has only divorced itself from the one true God and simply replaced Him with new gods of our own creation. This shows that we have a deeply ingrained need for God that we unconsciously seek to fill even while we consciously deny the need for and existence of God. This points to the truth that God exists and that instinctively, at a spiritual level, we know that we need Him.