26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on 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)

Trinitarian Seed

One of the first things readers often fixate on is the way God said, Let us make man in our image. Who is the us and our to whom God refers? The ancient rabbis thought God was speaking to the angelic realm, a sort of heavenly court who watched His every move. But the text goes on to say we are created in God's image, not the image of angels (27). I think, with many Christians, this is a seed for further trinitarian teaching as the Bible developed.

The Bible, of course, teaches God is One.

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." (Deuteronomy 6:4, ESV).

So it is with great care we unpack the doctrine of the Triunity of God. He is One, yet His one divine essence possesses three eternal distinctions: Father, Son, and Spirit. These distinctions are persons, not mere manifestations, so we can talk of the tripersonality of God.

Christians don't get the doctrine of the Trinity from speculation, but revelation. God is clearly one, but the Father, Son, and Spirit all have divine attributes and abilities attached to them. The Scripture declares each divine and declares they are together one.

And this isn't the first time Genesis has hinted at a plurality within the godhead. He is called Elohim (Genesis 1:1). This is plural and might infer the Triunity of God. It certainly allows for it, and though this isn't the place for detailed teaching on the Trinity, allowances for the further development of this doctrine are made by God saying, Let us make man in our image.

The Image of God

But the more astounding portion of the paragraph is the fact humans are made in God's image (26, 27). We are to have dominion over the creation (26). Later, we are told to subdue the earth (28). This automatically puts us in a position above the created world. We are part of it but made special over it by the God who put His image in us.

What does it mean to be made in the image of God?

Like Him

God is Spirit, and we have bodies, but that difference actually serves to highlight a way we are made in His image. He gave us bodies so we could imitate Him. He sees, speaks, serves, and loves. He gave us human bodies so we could do the same, albeit in a more limited sense. So we are made in His image in that we're like Him.

From Him

But we're also made in His image in that we're to extend from Him. In ancient times, kings would set up images of themselves in places they reigned, but from afar. Even the image of idols is thought to be representative of the true power behind it. Humans were to be the image of God on earth.

By His sovereign will, God created. He spoke things into existence. His Word divided water and land, the atmosphere and outer space, and the species. On the first six days of creation, God expressed His dominion and will. And God's intention for humankind was that they'd express His likeness by practicing dominion. With love, self-control, and faithfulness, they were to steward all God had created. They were to be in, not out, of control.

Turn to Jesus To Get Your Dominion Back!

Though we lost our dominion through sin, Jesus came along, offering a way of escape. Through faith in Him, we can become fundamentally new. He brings us back to glory (Hebrews 2:10). Once again, we can have dominion. We have been set free from the world system, the pull of Satan, and the demands of our sinful desires. The victory was His, so it is ours.

Implications

There are thousands of implications of this understanding of humanity. Here are four:

1. Humans have a purpose.

Evolution teaches we are mere accidents, caused by wild chance, the happenstance mixture of gasses. Descendants of primates, we might as well live like animals. What is the point of trying to make life about anything more than pleasure?

But Scripture shows us we have a mission. God made us so we could live out dominion by taming this wild planet for human flourishing. We are to build and buy, save and feed, love and serve because we are extensions of our God.

2. People are valuable.

Human dignity is also demonstrated in this passage. People are more important than anything else in creation, according to God. This protects us from errors like the worship of creation, abortion, or genocide. It helps us love our neighbor. Everyone has God's image imprinted onto them.

3. Both genders are required.

Though God chooses to be referred to in the masculine, it is clear from the passage that the full image of God cannot be known through men alone. God said, Let us make man in our image (26). Then: male and female He created them (28).

For us to express some of the complexity of God's image, His Triunity, we need both male and female. Neither of us can express God without the other. We'll learn more about this in Genesis 2.

4. God initiated human industriousness.

We are meant to fill the earth and bring it into subjection. We are meant to figure this place out, not for greed, but for human good. We should flourish here on earth! We are meant to steward the earth, in part by taking the raw material of the earth and using it for human life and flourishing.

Refuse to automatically see commercial enterprises as evil. Look, God told us to subdue the earth. This doesn't mean we should greedily hoard for ourselves, but it should also help us have a healthier perspective about money and the marketplace. Too many times the idea that big companies, or the pursuit of financial well-being, are evil perpetuates our airwaves. We must resist a non-thinking view and allow for more nuance.

5. Jesus Christ gets restores the tarnished image of God in humanity.

Through the fall, the image of God is tarnished, though not completely lost. Though depraved, we often see the remnants of God's image in the good people do. Humanity is currently living out a tiny bit of the dominion God gave them. Through Jesus Christ, however, we can be restored:

" and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator." (Colossians 3:10)

Or:

"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." (Romans 8:29)