It always amazes me how much more God can show us within the Scriptures themselves. I remember when I was searching for God, and I opened the Bible for the first time, honestly, it made no sense, and I thought God sounded like a control freak when I read the Old Testament. For years I believed that the Old Testament was simply a collection of stories and I never really took it seriously
Yet, I remember the first time that the Bible became “real” and logos (the written word) became rhema (living word). It was as if my spirit jumped out of my chest, and I believed at that moment that the Scripture I had just read was written purely for me. From that moment, I became spiritually hungry, and I started to delve into the Scriptures more
Within the verses found in Genesis 1:26-27, it shows that the creation of man was a two-part process. This is also the first time that God refers to Himself as “US”, bringing to the forefront that He is a Triune God. Yet, with the creation of man, we can see that in verse 26, there is only really an expression, or an intention, to “make” (asah) man in God’s image. Remember that when God says to make, or made, He is referring to making use of something that has already been created
But then, in verse 27 He goes on to use the word “create” (bara) which is to bring something new into existence. This is because God uses the soil He previously created to MAKE man’s body, and once formed, THEN God created man by breathing into his nostrils
Although the text says that we were created in God’s image, this does not mean that God created us exactly like Himself! God, for one, does not have a physical body. Therefore, we are more like a reflection of God’s glory. We will never be exactly like God because He is our supreme Creator, but we can reflect His character in our love, patience, forgiveness, kindness, and faithfulness
Lastly, verse 27 shows that God made both man AND woman in His image. This means neither man nor woman are made more in the image of God than the other. The Bible places both sexes at the pinnacle of God’s creation, and therefore, neither one is exalted, and neither depreciated
Categories: Genesis
