By Edilberto Marasigan, Jr.
Passage: Genesis 1:26-28, NASB
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Observations
1. “Then God said” – Probably indicates the (a) last item of the creation; (b) the finale of all that God desired to create; (c) reason why those created earlier were created.
2. “Let us make” – This phrase was uniquely mentioned in relation to the creation of man. The rest of the creations were made solely out of God’s spoken word and pronouncement.
3. “Image” VS “Likeness” – The same or not? What does each of them mean? Or what do they mean?
a. Constable: "Image" and "likeness" are essentially synonymous terms. Both indicate personality, moral, and spiritual qualities that God and man share (i.e., self-consciousness, God-consciousness, freedom, responsibility, speech, moral discernment, etc.) These distinguish humans from the animals, which have no God-consciousness even though they have conscious life (cf. v. 24). Some writers have called the image of God man's "spiritual personality."88 In another sense man is the image of God (e.g., he rules and creates [procreates] as God does, thus reflecting God).89 The Fall obscured but did not obliterate the image of God in man. (Constable, 23)
b. Utley: “In my opinion, they are synonymous and describe that part of humanity that is uniquely capable of relating to God” (OT Study Guide Commentary, 35).
c. LDLS-A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Genesis: The distinction between imago and similitude-the former referring to the essence of the human nature and the latter to its accidents or its endowment by grace.
d. Erickson: “This is a common Hebrew practice of parallelism.” (Christian Theology, 523).
4. “Let them rule over” – It is possible that the occurrence of this statement after the statement “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness” argues that the purpose for man being created in the image and likeness of God was for them to rule. However, it is also possible that, based on its grammar, that ruling is not the purpose but the consequence for bearing God’s image.
5. The most repeated words
a. “Created/Create/Make” (Verse: 4x; Chapter: 7x)
b. “Image/Likeness” (Verse: 4x; Chapter: 4x)
c. “Over” (Verse: 5x; Chapter: 11x)
d. Conclusion on the repetition: It is clear that God’s act of creating human beings in His image or likeness is within the context of ruling.
Concluding Statements
1. God made man
2. God made man in His image, according to His likeness
3. God made man in His image, according to His likeness, to rule
4. God made man in His image, according to His likeness, to rule over all other creatures, but not other human beings. For we are co-rulers.
Implications:
The context suggests that “Imago-Dei” has something to do with ruling. The implication of this is that you were made in God’s image so that you can rule, and because you have God’s image, therefore you should rule.
Millard Erickson presented 3 views of understanding the Imago-Dei: The Substantive View, The Relational View, and The Functional View (Christian Theology, 520-531). The Substantive View explains that the image of God is pertaining to a certain characteristic or ability like intelligence (Substance). The Relational View explains the Imago-Dei as the uniqueness of humanity as relational beings (Relationship). The Functional View pertains to Imago-Dei as lordship of mankind over all creations (Function). Among the three, the substantive and functional are closer to the exegetical conclusions. There must be something god-like (similarity, not identical) in human beings infused by the creator for the purpose of ruling the rest of the creations.
Wayne Grudem mentioned 5 specific aspects of our likeness to God: a) Moral Aspect-refers to our sense of right & wrong; b) Spiritual Aspect-refers to our immaterial spirits; c) Mental Aspects-refers to the ability to think and reason; d) Relational Aspects-refers to a deep interpersonal harmony; and e) Physical Aspect-this refers to the capability of some parts of the body, example-seeing, hearing, and smelling (Systematic Theology, 445-449).
How do all these affect us?
1. Our essence or value as human beings is not found in our own, unique ability and achievements in life, but on the truth that God has placed a part of Him in us. We should respond, therefore in humility and thankfulness to God, while pay respect at others around us because they too are bearers of God’s image-co-rulers.
2. It is a reality that we are, in many ways, different from each other but we can and have to celebrate the truth that we have something in common. The question that we should ask ourselves should no longer be “Who’s better between the two of us” but it should be, “How can we help each other to faithfully rule the creation of God.”
3. Question to ponder: Am I a good ruler? Am I a faithful bearer of God’s image and a faithful steward?
Bibliography
Erickson, Millard. Christian Theology. 2nd Ed. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Baker Academic, 1998.
Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Bible Doctrine. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Zondervan, 1994.
Libronix Digital Library System 3.0c. “A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Genesis.” 2000-2006. AT&T Corp.
New American Standard Bible-Updated. Outreach Edition. Anaheim, California. Lockman Foundation, 2007.
Sonic Light. “Notes on Genesis: 2014 Edition,” http://www.soniclight.com/constable /notes/pdf/genesis.pdf (accessed 6 November 2014).
Utley, Bob. “Bob Utley. “Genesis.” Study Guide Commentary Series, Old Testament, Vol. 5. Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International, 1998.
