Created In God’s Image To Rule (Genesis 1:26-30)
I almost hurl when I hear someone use the phrase, “I need this time away to go and find myself”. That language simply does not compute with me. What happened to that other part of you? Where did it go? And then things get even more fuzzy when a man like Bruce Jenner says that he is really Caitlin because he was a woman trapped in a man’s body.
I was reading Carl Trueman’s fantastic book, “The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self” when I read something that seemingly explains a lot of the difference in thinking that exists in our day. I will summarize the idea here.
Our society once held that all of creation had “a given order and a given meaning” and it was our job as humans to “discover that meaning and conform” ourselves to it. And our society is moving toward understanding that it creates its own meaning out of the world.[1]
And is it any wonder that in our day and age, when pornography is so readily available and sex is thought of as only a way of getting personal gratification and pleasure in the moment, that people now look deep within themselves and mold their identity based on what they believe will give them the most sexual gratification. As our society has traded the deep order and meaning that the Universe has given us for a pornified understanding of sex, is it any wonder that from the ages of 10-34 the second most likely cause of death is suicide preceded only by unintentional injury. And it’s the fourth leading cause of death for those from 35-44.[2] And study after study shows that those who are attempting to identify themselves based on what will bring them the most sexual gratification have much higher rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide.
The person behind the counter with an Adam’s Apple and lipstick on is not the only person struggling to understand the given order and meaning in the universe. The problem has become almost universal. As we forget that we were created for a purpose, we forget that our lives have meaning and that what we do matters.
And here is the reason this is so important for our discussion today. We believe that all of creation has “a given order and a given meaning” because God created the world and gave it that order and meaning. God gave all of creation order and meaning and so, it only works in that way.
A watchmaker doesn’t make his product and intend for you to use it like a baseball. It won’t work that way. God has ordered human beings a particular way and given them meaning. And we find that within Genesis 1:26-31.
The point of our last message from Genesis was that God created and brought perfect order out of chaos, and that we are to echo that in our own lives. In the text today we will see that God has given our own lives “a given order and a given meaning” and we are to conform ourselves to that order and meaning.
We are created in the image of God to rule. Therefore, we take hold of this God-given identity of ours and rule as God intended for us to rule.
We Are Created In God’s Image (Genesis 2:26-27)
Everything in creation was made in a way different than people. With everything else God simply spoke and it came into existence. Here there is something different.
There is a pause in creation activity and then we read,
“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image; after our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26a ESV)
That pause in the action is significant. God stopped to begin work on the pinnacle of creation, people. And the thing that makes them so incredibly significant is that they are the only creatures in all of creation that bear the image of God.
Here we have what I believe to be a delegation of the Triune God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit stop and say, “Let us make man in our image; after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26 ESV). And then people were created in the image of God.
So, what does it mean to be created in the image of God?
My first answer to you is that this has been a hot topic of discussion for thousands of years. And the answers seem to range from human beings have the ability to reason, to this is only in regards to their rule over creation, all the way to my position and that is that human beings are reflections of God in the world.
Now, what do I mean by that?
I believe that people reflect God in many, many ways throughout their lives. And by reflecting God, the glory of God is spread to every location an image bearer resides upon the earth. It’s like the way the moon reflects the light of the sun. It is not a perfect representation, but we are capable of giving forth some characteristics of our creator with our lives. We love our children, and this reflects in a small way the love that God has for His children. We can be creative and this reflects, in a small way the massive creativity of God who made the Grand Canyon and animals as weird as a giraffe. By the way, can you really say that a one horned horse is less probable and weirder than a horse with a six foot long neck and six foot long legs. Anyway, God is creative and human beings reflect that in a small way.
My reason for defining it this way is multifaceted, but it is in large part the way that the phrase is used when Adam has a son.
“This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female He created them, and He blessed them and named them Man when they were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image and named him Seth.” (Genesis 5:1-3 ESV)
And this image of God did not disappear in people. It continued to be passed down from generation to generation until we read that the reason for capital punishment is that it is the destruction of a person created in the image of God.
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in His own image.” (Genesis 9:6 ESV)
I have two children and can tell you from experience that the resemblance from child to parent, the image passed down from generation to generation is wild. My son looks like me and in many ways acts like me. And my daughter looks like my wife but acts like me in a whole lot of ways.
Humans resemble God in many ways because we were created in God’s image. But there is one area that stands out and that is in the rule we have over Creation. But more will be said about that toward the middle of this message.
And as we read and think through who carries the divine image, it is made clear to us that both men and women were created in the image of God. Already, in verse 26, we could have drawn this conclusion because “man” can be used in a generic way to mean “man” or “woman”. We do that when we say the word “mankind”. But Genesis 1:27 makes it abundantly clear, both male and female are created in the image of God.
This means that all people everywhere for all time were created in the image of God. Humans alone bear God’s image, but all humans bear God’s image. There are not certain people that image forth God more or less in creation. There are some people that are so riddled by the taint of sin that the image they put forth is more distorted than others. But what we find here is that God created people, all people, in His image.
Another thing that we see here as well is that both man and woman were needed to image forth God. When God created the animals it was that God created them and then made them to reproduce after their own kind. Here God creates man and woman in His image and they will now produce people in the image of God. What I am saying is that it is important that both men and women were created. There are things about God that would not shine forth as they ought without women in the world or without men in the world.
I want to illustrate this in a silly way. Lydia was throwing all of the pillows that sit on the bed onto the floor so that I could tell her a story in our room. I jokingly said, “Mom puts 40 pillows on the bed that only have one purpose and that is to move from floor to bed.” But that is how I view things. I will admit that our bedroom would not look as well put together if Amanda did not put pillows on the bed. When I lived on my own the bed was never made. I used to think, “why should I make the bed if I’m going to be messing it up again tonight.” And here is the point to all this silliness. Amanda adds beauty to the home with all those pillows and that never would have crossed my mind. There are aspects of the character and nature of God that are better shown forth by women than men and there are other aspects better imaged forth by men than women. And so, God made a creature in His image and He made them male and female.
If we fast-forward our story a bit we know that a big event that we call “The Fall” occurred. Everything changed after Genesis 3. And so, we would be right to wonder if people still bear God’s image.
I have already hinted at this being the case by looking at Adam passing down the image of God by passing down his own image to his son Seth (Genesis 5:3). And this continues as we move forward in time to Noah. At the giving of the Noahic Covenant in Genesis 9:6, God states that those who kill others will face the ultimate punishment because they have killed someone created in the image of God.
All people are created in the image of God and this leaves the Christian in a much different place than the unbeliever. We understand that a declaration and an act occurred outside of us and it defines me. In other words, because I was created in God’s image I am an image bearer. Every human being is an image bearer and this is something that God said about me without my permission, outside of me, and I didn’t even have to go on a journey to find something that was lost. Every human being bears the image of God because God made it that way. It is not something that I create within myself.
And because this is true, I am to treat other people with the dignity and respect that is owed to those who are God’s image bearers. Racism is a common topic today, and so many people are now talking about racism and redefining it that it really has no meaning anymore. But, no one has a right to say that one race is inferior to another race. No, God endowed the First Man, Adam, with the image of God. He did the same with Eve. And then everyone that comes from them is part of the human race and is created in God’s image. This also means that I am to treat people with special needs or any other group of people with dignity because they have been created in the image of God. And this treatment of others stretches to many other aspects as well. And it comes down to this. We treat all human beings with dignity and respect because they are created in the image of God.
This understanding of the image of God being in humans causes us to think carefully about the death penalty. The death penalty is putting to death an image bearer because of how heinous it is to murder an image bearer. And it causes us to think differently about abortion, which is putting to death an image bearer because of convenience.
And we fast forwarded earlier to after the Fall and saw that people are still created in the Image of God, but we also understand that this image is marred in some way. Though the image is passed down it is not passed down completely intact. It is as if someone through a bucket of oil on the Mona Lisa. It’s still there and you can still see it, but it is not shining with the same glory that it once did. But in salvation Christ restores that image in us.
The image was distorted in mankind, but God sent His Son, “the exact imprint of His nature” to Earth (Hebrews 1:3). He came and lived a perfect life. He died as the punishment for our sins. The “image of the invisible God” then rose from the grave three days later having accomplished our salvation for us completely (Colossians 1:15). So, Christ who is the exact imprint of God’s nature accomplished our salvation for us and without us. And, get this, He did it to restore the image of God in us.
Salvation is most often discussed as being a one-time event. And, while it is true that God declares a person to be justified in a moment, the person is currently in the process of doing something. God is conforming them to this perfect image of God.
“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 ESV)
And you will continue to be conformed to the image of Christ throughout your entire life. We typically call this process “sanctification”. It is growth in holiness, and it characterizes the life of a Christian.
The image of God was distorted in humanity at the Fall and God is at work in us to restore the image that was marred by sin. And one day, when we are with God in the New Heavens and New Earth the image of God in us will shine brightly. But until then we are a work in progress, being conformed to His image.
We Are Created To Rule As Image Bearers (Genesis 1:26b-30)
Humans are God’s image bearers on this Earth. But it does not end with us being image bearers. God has given us a place in the world. Adam was given the role of Priestly Vice Regent, a sort of priest king over the world. This will be explored in more detail in chapter 2, but here the ruling of Adam is seen plainly. These image bearers of God were to rule over all creation in God’s stead. And this is a job that has been given to us as well.
This means that our leadership is not done under our own authority. We are ruling in God’s stead. Or to put it a better way, we are to rule as God would rule. We are to rule benevolently, for the good of creation. The early readers of this text would have understood it to mean this because there was an expectation of kings to rule for the good of their subjects in that day. Today, we elect politicians and know that they will not work for our good, but that was not the expectation in that day and time. It was understood that good king would work for the betterment of his people. And in much the same way, we are to rule over creation for its good.
But this high position is not without its perks. Creation has been given to us for our benefit.
“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.” (Genesis 1:29-30 ESV)
All of Creation is ours. It has been given to us for our benefit and for us to steward as those God has put in place to rule to rule it. Now, we do so with great care and compassion.
This means that the way the Earth is used matters to us. It has been given to us for our benefit. We live and feed ourselves from the land. We have created incredible things using what God has given us. But we do not want to use the earth in such a way that we destroy the earth. There is some merit to green concerns, just not the crazy ones.
And herein lies one of the real problems for us in 2021. We tend to listen to a lot of extremes and very little of sensible talk. This means that our conversation becomes mostly reactionary. Most of the time our dialogue has very little foundational, or principled thinking in it. Most of the time our cultural conversations are simply reacting to the latest crazy thing the other side of the political spectrum has done. But this is not what we are supposed to be about. We are supposed to be principled. And here we find that part of what it means to be an image bearer of God is to care for the world around us. That doesn’t mean that you have to become one of the crazies that are quite visible in our society, but it does mean that we should care and that we should do our part in caring for the earth.
As we move away from green concerns and to filling the earth, I want to point out that we can care for the earth and not buy all the rhetoric that folks spill about caring for the earth. Population is one of them. And populating the earth is something that human beings are supposed to be doing.
One aspect that is not often considered in our rule over creation is the role that having children plays in Genesis 1. Having children is part of our rule over the earth. We read,
“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)
Sometimes our preconceived notions get in the way of things and keep us from understanding a text. We simply look past the connection that God makes here between being fruitful and subduing the earth. And here, I’ll say it. It is something that I didn’t really understand until reading through this text and studying for this sermon. Having children is a way for us to extend God’s rule over Creation. By introducing more image bearers into the world Adam and Eve were introducing more people into the world to subdue the earth.
The ultimate purpose of marriage is to image forth the relationship between Christ and His Church. Any Christian who enters marriage should have an understanding of this, the most fundamental purpose of marriage. The end for which marriage was created was to image forth the glory of the relationship between Christ and His Church. But this is not the only purpose of marriage.
A purpose, or one of the purposes of marriage is to create offspring. We see that in this text. Man and woman come together “and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28 ESV). This idea is found throughout Scripture elsewhere, particularly in Malachi 2:15.
“But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.” (Malachi 2:14-15 ESV)
God was displeased with His people because they were not giving God the offspring that they were supposed to give. They were leaving their spouses and not having the children that they were supposed to have.
And so, as we look back at Genesis we see that God desires for humans to have children and this is a way for His image bearers to extend God’s rule over all of Creation. God gives His Word of blessing to this task and there has been multiplication. God spoke the blessing over Adam and Eve, and the multiplication began.
A few years ago, whoever was running the Royal Dutch Airlines Twitter page accidentally made a point really well. It was supposed to be a picture that advocated for homosexuality, but in reality, proved the point that I am driving at here. It was a picture of three different pairs rainbow-colored seatbelts. In the picture there were two female seat belt connectors across from each other. Then there were two male seat belt connectors across from each other. And on the bottom, there was one male seat belt connector and one female seat belt connector. As has been pointed out numerous times on-line, there is only one of those seat belt combinations that would keep a person safe in a crash. Whoever created the seat belt, created it to work a certain way. As you all know from years of car experience, seat belts only work if there is a male and a female end to connect.
That logic applies right over to what we are seeing in the text today. There is only one marital union that God has created and blessed. And the mark of that blessing is procreation, which is only capable between a man and a woman. One man and one woman for life is the biblical standard for marriage. This will become even clearer in Genesis 2, but is already evident in Genesis 1. Two men can’t come together and fulfill the command and blessing that God gave for humanity. Two women cannot make that happen either. But one man and one woman can come together and be fruitful and multiply.
Now, I want to dive into two different ways of applying this text to our day and time. The first is whether or not you should be having babies. I believe that, as a general rule, husbands and wives should be having children. I do believe that there are legitimate concerns that should cause them to stop, such as health concerns or the inability to care for the children. For our part, we found out that our child was Autistic, and we saw all the special attention that he needed from us. And we decided to stop having children at the moment and revisit the question later. There are any number of health concerns that can arise with the mother that may make it unsafe for her to have another baby, and that is a very good reason to not have another child. In fact, if your doctor has said “no more pregnancies”, that is a good indicator that you are not able to have any more children. Finances may be a real issue for you, and so I am not saying that everyone should have a lot of children. But I am saying that, as a general rule, we should be having children. That is part of what is called “The Cultural Mandate” which is given in this text to be fruitful and multiply, and to subdue the earth.
I’m not attempting to get all up in your business about the number of children you are having. I am simply attempting to get us to think biblically about the family from this text. Just because our society says you should have 2 kids and a dog does not mean that is what you should strive for. And I am also not saying that you need to be Central Arkansas’ version of the Dugger family. I do want us to think biblically about the family. And here we see that we are to be people who fill the earth with image bearers of God.
Now, post fall our thinking on this changes a bit as well. We have to think deeply and biblically about what it means to raise “godly offspring” in our day and age (Malachi 2:15). It’s not enough to just have children, we need to raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord. So, as we discussed last week, we are always teaching our children about the Lord. We are having Bible Studies with the kids. We are praying with the kids. Simply filling the earth is not enough, we need to raise “godly offspring”.
And now, after the fall and after the Great Commission I see the application of this to be far greater than I ever dreamed it would.
The Cultural Mandate, which is that command and blessing that God gave to us here in Genesis 1,
“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)
is not simply a command and a mandate that is to be carried out physically. Properly understood, bearing God’s image is a way to glorify God. An image bearer shines the light of God’s glory wherever they are. Of course, some people distort that image more than others and that makes it a bit more difficult to see but it is there. And this means that God’s glory and honor are taking over more and more of the earth as image bearers are made. Because of the spiritual aspect of this most everyone agrees that the “cultural mandate” is the first “Great Commission” text we find in Scripture.
“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)
We have already discussed the marring of the image of God through sin and the work of God in salvation to restore that image in us. And here we see that we are to go. We, as God’s people, are to go and share the good news of that restoration to a lost and dying world. We are to go and spread the glory of God to all nations. We are to go and subdue the whole earth with the good news of what Christ has done for us in Christ.
As we go and share the gospel, God the Holy Spirit works in that message to bring people to faith in Christ. And when that occurs, the Kingdom of God has expanded and the glory of God has spread to more of this lost and dying world.
Conclusion
In verse 31 God saw everything that He had made and finally it was “very good” and God was satisfied with His work. He was not completely satisfied until God made His ultimate creation, people. And He endowed them with dignity and a duty. We were created in the image of God to rule.
Every person that you run into today, or any day, is created in the image of God and has incredible dignity. This informs all of our interactions with others. And it also informs how we view many of the hot button topics of our day. Though this image was marred in the fall, it was not lost. And through the finished work of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit the image of God is restored in us.
Thought he image was marred it was not completely lost. And being created in God’s Image also comes with a lot of responsibility. God has left us to care over creation and to extend His rule and reign over the earth. And we do this through having children and raising them in a godly home as well as sharing the good news of the gospel with those around us.
R. Dwain Minor
[1] This idea is taken from Carl Trueman, “The Rise an Triumph of the Modern Self”, Crossway, 2020, p. 39
[2] https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide