Below are some preliminary questions to assist in the study of this passage. For a comprehensive study of the passage, download the Study Guide (PDF download).
1. How is the creation of man different from all else that God created? Contrast Genesis 1:26-27 (printed below) with Genesis 1:24 (printed below)
And God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. (27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)
And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind; and it was so. (Genesis 1:24)
The creation of man does not take place through a word addressed by God to the earth (as does the creative act reported in verse 24), but as the result of the divine decree, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.” This proclaims at the very outset the distinction and pre-eminence of man above all the other creatures of the earth. (Keil & Delitzsch, pp.61-62)
2. What do you think it means when Genesis 1:26 tells us that man has been made in “the image of God?”
The divine commentary that man is created “in our image, in our likeness” aims to assert with emphasis the fact that man is closely patterned after his Maker (Leupold, p.88). How exactly are we to define the term, “the image of God,” what does it mean? Martin Luther says: I understand this image of God to be…that Adam not only knew God and believed in Him that He was gracious; but that he also led an entirely godly life. (Leupold, p.89) To “know God”—to have the capacity to interact with God—and to lead “an entirely godly life”—a life that is God-centered and is a true reflection of the moral nature of God—appears to be the essence of what it means to be made in “the image of God.”
3. What is significant about the statement, “God created man in his own image…male and female he created them?”
By means of this statement Scripture is emphasizing the fact that both male and female, both man and woman, equally share the identity of being created in the image of God. Having been created male and female, a man and woman by their own interpersonal relationship within marriage are able to experience some reflection of God’s own interpersonal relationship within the Trinity: the one and only Son dwells “in the bosom of the Father” (John 1:18); the Son declares, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Furthermore, the intimacy of the marriage relationship would serve as a model of the relationship that would be established between the Lord and His people whom the Scriptures designate as being His “bride” (cp. Ephesians 5:31-32). Finally, the fact that human beings have been created by God as male and female indicates that such phenomenon as homosexuality and same-sex marriage are deviant forms of behavior and deviant societal relationships, deviating from the design and pattern established by our Creator.
4. What task does God assign to man in Genesis 1:28 (printed below?)
And God blessed them and 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 upon the earth. (Genesis 1:28)
Man is commanded, “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 upon the earth.” Man’s dominion, indeed, is to extend over the whole earth. This would include man’s mastery of the powers of nature, physical, electrical, chemical, physiological and the like. Whatever true scientific endeavor has produced comes under this broad charter that the Creator has given to man. The closing statement, the broadest of all, mounts to a climax in the words, “over everything that moves about upon the earth.” Every type of being is to be subservient to man. (Leupold, p.92)
5. What is significant about the fact that the phrase “there was evening and there was morning” (a phrase that occurs at the conclusion of each of the previous six days) is omitted from the account of the seventh day?
The Genesis Creation Account consists of six historical days followed by the seventh day that is both historical and eternal. To say it another way, six earthly days followed by the seventh day that is both earthly and heavenly. This is why the phrase “there was evening and there was morning” is omitted from the account of the seventh day. The teaching of Scripture is that the original creation was destined for a Sabbath consummation, as the picture of the creation week as a workweek ending in the divine rest on the seventh day indicates. This Sabbath consummation would be the state in which heaven and earth become one: with God’s people entering into His eternal, heavenly rest, enjoying His immediate presence by worshiping the Lord their God and fellowshiping with Him. Adam, if he had passed the test of obedience, would have brought about this consummation. The Fall did not cancel or nullify that original hope, but it did bring about the need for the remedial work of redemption for its ultimate accomplishment. That work of redemption was carried out by none other than the very Son of God Himself in His incarnate capacity as the “Second Adam,” rendering unto the Lord God the complete obedience which Adam failed to offer (cp. Romans 5:17).
