There we have it, man or human kind, the crown of God’s creation, is modeled
after the image and likeness of God. This is a general statement that human
kind is thus made. Only when we come to Genesis 2, then we get the detail on how
the man and the woman were fashioned. Since it is said that man is created in
the image and likeness of God and to understand what that means, the pertinent
questions confronting us then are: how does God look like? What do we know
about Him? What does it mean to be made in the image and likeness of God?
It is difficult to fully describe God. Simply put, God is the only Spiritual
being with absolute and complete moral aptitude and intellect. There is simply no
one that can equal Him in His perfect attributes. He is the highest functioning
being with an endless capability. He is eternally self-existent and has no end
to Himself. Though He is incomprehensible He is knowable. He is truly magnificent
and much bigger than all the minds in the world combined together can fully explore.
As we have discovered, in the Godhead there is a community – Father, Son and
Holy Spirit. Remember, God’s signature is three, hence man bears the similitude
of the Trinitarian Creator. Every one of us is made with a spirit, a soul and a
body. The component of man’s spirit is to worship God, the mind to witness to God
and the body to work for God. Man is also made to mirror God’s moral perfection
and intellect. This, however, has been marred by the fall. If not for the fall,
man would have perfectly mirrored God’s moral and intellect perfection. But
even now, by His grace and empowerment in Christ, we can still seek to mirror His
moral and intellectual excellence more perfectly. Besides, mankind, made in God’s
image, has the capacity to be self-aware and come into self-actualization.
One thing verse 26 also made explicitly clear is this: mankind has distinctive
gender! God made the male and He made the female as well. This statement
immediately excludes the idea of homosexuality. Without a doubt, we know that the
gender of a man and a woman is clearly discernible, and there is no way to see
it otherwise. But this one thing must be said, God loves every human being
regardless of one’s sexual orientation, and He wants any misconception about
His idea of gender changed and transformed in Christ. So let’s remember that He
loves all of us and does not want any to perish, but to come to know Him
through the knowledge of Christ Jesus.
Verse 28 reveals God’s mission for man. Man is commanded to be fruitful,
to multiply, and populate the earth. He is also called to dress, keep, till and
subdue the earth. In other words, man is given dominion over earth and all of God’s
creation. He was to be God’s representative on earth. Everything God has
created is now put under the subjection of man. To think that God has actually blessed
man with an inner resource and capacity to steward the earth! Just think of the
vast power man could have wielded had it not been for the fall. He really had
supernatural power then. How do we know? Because he was tasked to take care of
the whole Garden of Eden. How could he have done it without the unique God-given
power? Today, that unique power is latent within man. And with that latent
power he still has the capacity to rule and control the land, sea and the sky,
and all that they contain, though in a lesser capacity than he originally
could. Praise God, we are made for triumph! We are victors and not victims. And
there is no circumstance in life that can ever take us down when we maintain our
high position in God and exercise His will. We can be on top of things as we
walk with God and lean on His strength. Take a wise word from Proverbs 3:5-6,
“Trust the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your path straight.”
In verses 29-30 we are introduced to an herbivorous statement. The Bible
said that God had given man and animals every green plant as food. This is
God’s original dietary plan for man. The cause of modern diseases can be traced
to the food we consume. Today, if we take the counsel of God and be an
herbivore, and take care of the kind of food we ingest, we can still find
health, strength and vitality. Let’s prayerfully stay in line with His Word.
The creation of animals and mankind took place on the sixth day. God saw
everything that He had made, and said that it was not only good, but very good.
Summarily speaking, let’s know that we are God’s most superior creation. And
now in Christ, we are His new creation. And we can fulfil the destiny He has
for us. So let us make glorifying God and enjoying Him forever our chief end in
life!
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