Created in God’s Image

KEY VERSE: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”—Genesis 1:27

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Genesis 1:26-28; 2:18-25

THE CROWNING GLORY of God’s works on earth was man. Adam and Eve were made in God’s image—in the mental and moral likeness of God.

As God has dominion over all the universe, so, in a subordinate position, man was given dominion over the earth to oversee and carry out God’s purpose in completing its creation. This was expressed in the Lord’s commission “to subdue the earth, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over everything that moves upon the earth.”—Gen. 1:28, RSV

They were also told to “be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth.” All other previous terrestrial forms of life had been given the ability to procreate. Similarly, man was made to possess the ability to reproduce his species. In order to accomplish this mandate, God gave him Eve to be his wife.—Gen. 2:18

Adam, as ruler of the earth, was instructed to name the vast variety of animals living in his domain. But, the account states that none of the animals were found to be a suitable ‘help meet’ for him. (Gen. 2:19,20) So, “the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.”—vss. 21,22

Perhaps the physical principle incorporated to accomplish this is not a completely strange thought to modern man, since we are aware of the limited ability of scientists to clone a copy of a life form from one already in existence. But throughout the ages until today, this was a difficult concept to grasp, and great faith was needed to accept it as reality. The Scriptures tell us why it was appropriate for Eve to be “bone of my [Adam’s] bones, and flesh of my [Adam’s] flesh.” God intended marriage to picture a great mystery not brought to light until thousands of years later. This was the mystery of the Christ, head and body. Christ and his church, or his bride, were described as ‘one body’ with ‘many members’. Therefore, the first pair were said to be “one flesh.”—Gen. 2:24

Paul wrote: “This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the Church.” The love of Christ for his church, and the reverence of the church for her Lord, became the model for all earthly marriages. (Eph. 5:22-33, NIV) “Each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”

God’s purpose was that the binding force in marriage should be love! To the extent that marriage partners reflect Godlike love, to that extent the marriage is a happy one. This is also true of all relationships among human beings. When Adam was created in God’s image, he was Godlike in character, and “God is love.” (I John 4:8) After man’s fall, this image became marred, and society as it exists today is far removed from God’s original intentions. But he has promised a restoration. This is implicit in the Biblical word “restitution.”—Acts 3:21

Envisioning restitution, a Bible scholar once wrote: “Close your eyes for a moment to the scenes of … degradation and sorrow that yet prevail on account of sin, and picture before your mental vision the glory of the perfect earth. Not a stain of sin mars the harmony and peace of a perfect society; not a bitter thought, not an unkind look or word; love, welling up from every heart, meets a kindred response in every other heart. … The inward purity and mental and moral perfection will stamp and glorify every radiant countenance. Such will earth’s society be.”—The Divine Plan of the Ages, page 191

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