Man [humanity]
God created man, male and female, in the image of God. God blessed man and commanded him to multiply and fill the earth. In love, the Lord bestowed upon man power to be stewards of the earth and govern its creatures. In the creation story, man is the crown of creation; the first man is Adam. Symbolized by Adam who sinned, mankind lives in rebellion against their Creator and thereby brought sin and death into the world. Regardless of his sinfulness, however, man remains in the image of God and is defined by it. Therefore, all human beings collectively and individually deserve love, reverence and respect. The eternally perfect image of God is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the "last Adam." Through Jesus Christ, God creates the new humanity over which sin and death no longer have power. In Christ man's likeness to God will be perfected. (1. Mose 1,26-28; Psalm 8,4-9; Römer 5,12-21; Kolosser 1,15; 2. Korinther 5,17; 3,18; 1. Korinther 15,21-22; Römer 8,29; 1. Korinther 15,47-49; 1. Johannes 3,2)
what is the human?
When we look up to the sky, when we see the moon and the stars, and contemplate the immensity of the universe and the mighty power inherent in each star, we may wonder why God cares about us at all. We are so small, so limited - like ants, that are hurrying back and forth inside a heap. Why should we even think he's looking at that anthill, called Earth, and why would he want to worry about every single ant as well?
Modern science expands our awareness of the vastness of the universe and the immense power of each star. In astronomical terms, humans are no more significant than a few randomly moving atoms—but it is humans who ask the question of meaning. It is humans who develop the science of astronomy, who explore the universe without ever leaving home. It is humans who transform the universe into a springboard for spiritual questions. It goes back to Psalm 8,4-7:
“When I see the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have prepared, what is man that you remember him, and the child of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than God; you crowned him with honor and glory. You made him lord over the work of your hands; you put everything under his feet.”
Like animals
So what is the human? Why does God care about him? Men are in some ways like God Himself, but lower, but crowned by God Himself with honor and glory. People are a paradox, a mystery - tainted with evil, yet believing that they should behave morally. So corrupted by power, yet they have power over other living things. So far under God, and yet designated by God Himself as honorable.
what is the human? Scientists call us Homo sapiens, a member of the animal kingdom. The Scriptures call us nephesh, a word that is also used for animals. We have spirit within us just as animals have spirit in them. We are dust, and when we die, we return to the dust as well as the animals. Our anatomy and our physiology are like those of an animal.
But the Scriptures say that we are much more than animals. People have a spiritual aspect - and science can not make any statement about this spiritual part of life. Nor is philosophy; we can not find reliable answers just because we think about it. No, this part of our existence must be explained by revelation. Our Creator must tell us who we are, what we should do, and why he cares about us. We find the answers in Scripture.
1. Mose 1 It tells us that God created all things: light and darkness, land and sea, sun, moon, and stars. The pagans worshipped these things as gods, but the true God is so powerful that he could call them into being simply by speaking a word. They are completely under his control. Whether he created them in six days or six billion years is far less important than the fact that he did. He spoke, they were there, and they were good.
As part of all creation, God also created humans, and Genesis tells us that we were created on the same day as the animals. The symbolism of this seems to suggest that in some ways we are like animals. We can see that much in ourselves.
The image of God
But the creation of mankind is not described in the same way as everything else. There is no “And God said… and it was so.” Instead, we read: “And God said, Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, to rule…” (1Mo 1,26)Who is this "us"? The text doesn't explain, but it's clear that humans are a special creation, made in the image of God. What is this "image"? Again, the text doesn't explain, but it's clear that humans are special.
Many theories have been proposed as to what this "image of God" is. Some say it's intelligence, the power of rational thought, or language. Some claim it is our social nature, our ability to have a relationship with God, and that male and female reflect relationships within deity. Others claim it's morality, the ability to make choices that are good or bad. Some say the image is our dominion over the earth and its creatures, that we are God's representatives to them. But dominion in itself is divine only when exercised in a moral manner.
What the readers understood by this phrase is open to interpretation, but it seems to express that humans are like God himself in a certain way. There is a supernatural significance in who we are, and our importance lies not in being like animals, but like God. Genesis doesn't tell us much more. We learn in 1. Mose 9,6that every human being is made in God's image, even after humanity has sinned, and therefore murder cannot be tolerated.
The Old Testament no longer mentions "the image of God," but the New Testament gives additional meaning to this designation. There we learn that Jesus Christ, the perfect image of God, reveals God to us through His self-sacrificing love. We are to be made in the image of Christ, and in doing so we reach the full potential that God intended for us when He created us in His own image. The more we allow Jesus Christ to live in us, the closer we are to God's purpose for our lives.
Let's go back to Genesis, because this book tells us more about why God cares so much about people. After saying, "Let us," he did it: "So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." (1Mo 1,27).
Notice here that women and men were created equally in the image of God; they have the same spiritual potential. Similarly, social roles do not change the spiritual value of a person - a person of high intelligence is not more valuable than one of lower intelligence, nor does a ruler have more value than a servant. We were all created according to the image and the likeness of God and all people deserve love, honor and respect.
Genesis then tells us that God blessed the people and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living thing that moves on the ground” (verse 28). God’s commandment is a blessing, which is what we would expect from a benevolent God. In love, he gave humankind the responsibility to rule over the earth and its living beings. Humans were his stewards; they cared for God’s property.
Modern environmentalists sometimes accuse Christianity of being anti-environmental. Does this mandate to “subdue” the earth and “rule” over the animals give humans permission to destroy the ecosystem? People are to use their God-given power to serve, not to destroy. They are to exercise dominion in a way that God does.
The fact that some people abuse this power and scripture does not change the fact that God wants us to use creation well. If we skip something in the report, we learn that God commanded Adam to cultivate and preserve the garden. He could eat the plants, but he should not use up the garden and destroy it.
Life in the garden
1. Mose 1 It concludes with the statement that everything was "very good." Humanity was the crown, the capstone of creation. This was exactly the way God intended it to be—but anyone living in the real world recognizes that something is now terribly wrong with humanity. What went wrong? 1. Mose 2 and 3 explain how an originally perfect creation was ruined. Some Christians take this account quite literally. Either way, the theological message is the same.
Genesis tells us that the first humans were called Adam. (1Mo 5,2), the common Hebrew word for "human being". The name Eve is similar to the Hebrew word for "life/living": "And Adam called his wife Eve; for she was the mother of all who live." In modern language, the names Adam and Eve mean "human being" and "everyone's mother." What they in 1. Mose 3Sinful deeds are what all of humanity has done. History shows why humanity is in a far from perfect situation. Humanity is embodied by Adam and Eve – humanity lives in rebellion against its Creator, and that is why sin and death characterize all human societies.
Notice the way how 1. Mose 2 The scene depicts an ideal garden, somewhere where it no longer exists, watered by a stream. The image of God shifts from a cosmic commander to an almost physical being, walking in the garden, planting trees, forming a person from the earth, blowing his breath into their nostrils to give them life. Adam was given more than animals had, and he became a living being, a nephesh. Yahweh, the personal God, “took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (v. 15). He gave Adam instructions for the garden, instructed him to name all the animals, and then created a woman to be a human companion for Adam. Once again, God was personally involved and physically active in the creation of the woman.
Eve was a "helpmate" to Adam, but that word does not imply inferiority. The Hebrew word is used in most cases for God himself, who is a helper to people in our needs. Eve was not invented to do the work that Adam did not want to do—Eve was created to do what Adam could not do of her own accord. When Adam saw her, he realized that she was basically the same as he was, a God-given companion (verse 23).
The author ends Chapter 2 with a reference to equality: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed” (vv. 24-25). That's the way God wanted it to be, the way it was before sin entered the scene. Sex was a divine gift, not something to be ashamed of.
Something went wrong
But now the serpent enters the scene. Eve was tempted to do something God had forbidden. She was invited to follow her feelings, to please herself, instead of trusting God's instruction. "And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and to be desired to make one wise. So she took of its fruit and ate it, and gave some also to her husband who was with her, and he ate it." (1Mo 3,6).
What was going through Adam's mind? Genesis doesn't tell us. The point of the story in Genesis is that all people do what Adam and Eve did—we ignore God's word and do what we want, making excuses. We can blame the devil if we want, but sin is still within us. We want to be wise, but we are foolish. We want to be like God, but we are unwilling to be as He commands us to be.
What did the tree stand for? The text tells us no more than for "the knowledge of good and evil." Does it represent experience? Does he represent wisdom? Whatever it represents, the main point seems to be that it was forbidden, yet eaten from it. Humans had sinned, rebelled against their Creator and chosen to go their own way. They were no longer fit for the garden, no longer fit for "the tree of life."
The first result of their sin was a changed view of themselves - they felt that something was wrong about their nakedness (v. 7). After making aprons out of fig leaves, they feared being seen by God (v. 10). And they made lazy excuses.
God explained the consequences: Eve would bear children, which was part of the original plan, but now with great pain. Adam would till the ground, which was also part of the original plan, but now with great hardship. And they would die. In fact, they were already dead. “For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (1Mo 2,17)Their life in unity with God was over. All that remained was mere physical existence, far less than the true life God intended. And yet, there was potential for them, for God still had plans for them.
There would be a struggle between the woman and the man. “And your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” (1Mo 3,16)People who take matters into their own hands (as Adam and Eve did) instead of following God's instructions are very likely to have conflicts with one another, and brute violence usually prevails. That is the way society is once sin has entered.
So the stage was ready: the problem that people face is their own, not God's, mistake. He gave them a perfect start, but they messed up and since then, all people have been infected with sin. But despite human sinfulness, humanity continues to be in God's image - battered and dented, we might say, but still the same basic image.
This divine potential still defines who human beings are, and this brings us to the words of Psalm 8The cosmic commander still cares for humanity because he made them a little like himself, and he gave them authority over his creation—an authority they still have. There is still honor, there is still glory, even though we are temporarily lower than we were meant to be according to God's plan. If our vision is good enough to see this picture, it should lead to praise: “Lord, our ruler, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Ps 8,1. 9). Praise be to God for having a plan for us.
Christ, the perfect picture
Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, is the perfect image of God. (Kol 1,15)He was fully human and shows us exactly what a human being should be: perfectly obedient, perfectly trusting. Adam was a model for Jesus Christ. (Röm 5,14), and Jesus is called "the last Adam". (1Kor 15,45).
“In him was life, and that life was the light of mankind.” (Joh 1,4)Jesus restored the life that was lost through sin. He is the resurrection and the life. (Joh 11,25).
What Adam did for physical humanity, Jesus Christ does for spiritual renewal. He is the starting point of the new humanity, the new creation. (2Kor 5,17)In him all will be brought back to life. (1Kor 15,22)We are born again. We begin anew, this time on the right foot. Through Jesus Christ, God creates a new humanity. Sin and death have no power over this new creation. (Röm 8,2; 1Kor 15,24-26)Victory was won; the temptation was repelled.
Jesus is the one we should trust and the model we should follow. (Röm 8,29-35); we will be transformed into his image (2Kor 3,18), the image of God. Through faith in Christ, through his work in our lives, our imperfections are removed, and we are brought closer to what we should be according to God's will (Eph 4,13. 24). We step from one glory to another - to a much greater glory!
Of course, we do not yet see the image in all its glory, but we are assured that we will. “And as we have borne the image of the earthly [Adam], so shall we also bear the image of the heavenly [Christ].” (1Kor 15,49)Our resurrected bodies will be like the body of Jesus Christ: glorious, powerful, spiritual, heavenly, incorruptible, immortal (vv. 42-44).
John put it this way: “Beloved, we are already children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.” (1Joh 3,2-3)We don't see it yet, but we know it will happen because we are God's children, and He will make it happen. We will see Christ in His glory, and that means we too will have a similar glory, that we will be able to see spiritual glory.
Then John adds this personal comment: "And everyone who has such hope in him purifies himself, even as that one is clean." Since we will be like him then, let's try to be like him now.
So man is a being on several levels: physical and spiritual. Even the natural man is made in the image of God. No matter how much a person sins, the image is still there, and the person is of tremendous value. God has a purpose and a plan that includes every sinner.
Through faith in Christ, a sinner is recreated in the image of the second Adam, Jesus Christ. In this age, we are just as physically as Jesus was during his earthly ministry, but we are being transformed into the spiritual image of God. This spiritual transformation involves a change in attitude and behavior, brought about because Christ lives in us and we live through faith in him. (Gal 2,20).
If we are in Christ, we will perfectly bear the image of God in the resurrection. Our minds can't fully comprehend what that will be like, and we don't know exactly what "the spirit body" will be, but we know it will be wonderful. Our gracious and loving God will bless us with as much as we can enjoy and we will praise him forever!
What do you see when you look at other people? Do you see the image of God, the potential for greatness, the image of Christ being shaped? Do you see the beauty of God's plan at work by giving mercy to sinners? Do you rejoice that he is redeeming a humanity that has strayed from the right path? Are you enjoying the glory of God's wonderful plan? Do you have eyes to see? This is far more wonderful than the stars. It is far more beautiful than the glorious creation. He has given his word, and it is so, and it is very good.
Joseph Tkach
