Origin Story #13.2 of 21:

God made the beasts of the earth… Then God said,

"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…”

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them. (Gn 1:25-27)

Before we move on to what happens next; let’s visit our Hymn of Creation and gather up what it means to be “created in …the image of God”. It happened on the sixth day after “God made the beasts of the earth… Then God created man in his own image…” One has the sense that this “Then” is going to bring forth something special—a creature that is like the animals, but different. One gets the feeling there might be some risk in this. But God is exuberant in his creation work. He likes how things are shaping up, so he goes for it: “Let us make …them in our image.”

Let me try some one, two, threes. I’m hesitant to list stuff, because the story itself is always bigger, wilder, and more real than our lists. That always being said, I’ll risk a list:

            1.         The Image of God marks us as different than all the other animals. As the psalmist puts it: "You have been made a little lower than God, and crowned with glory and honor” (Ps 8). The Image lingers in all humanity. We know we are different. All humanity is, as I recall a novelist saying, “God bothered.” Humans, wherever we find them, wonder about God. We can’t help ourselves. It’s not something we achieved; or, somehow evolved into. It’s just how God decided to create us. It’s what it means to be human.

            2.         The Image of God marks us as social creatures with language and the creative ability to form communities. That’s the “them” that images the “us” of the Godhead. God himself exist in community with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are marked by this community. God knows “it is not good for man to be alone.” The Image of God requires community.

            3.         The Image of God marks us as free, creative and responsible creatures. Like God, we act out of our freedom. This is not absolute freedom, like God’s freedom. It’s a creaturely, human freedom--a freedom to do what God has called us to do.

            4.         What has God called humans to do? This requires another list:

                                    a) “To be fruitful and multiply”

                                    b) “To subdue the earth”

                                    c)  “To have rule” over creation and it’s creatures”

                        And, to do this subduing and ruling in a godlike way—to make things better.

God’s good creation needs our good care. In the Garden, we see man doing

what he was created to do…

                                    a) fruitful and multiply           = “naked and not ashamed”

                                    b) subdue the earth                 = “to till and to keep”

                                    c) rule every living thing        = “gave names to all the animals”

                        That’s our God given vocation—our calling. When we are faithful to our calling,

we keep God’s good creation well-ordered and cared for.

            5.         We do our living and working in communion with our Creator and in

community with all God’s creatures. That’s “Shalom!”

Five is a good number. It’s enough, though there is always more to the story. The story is always bigger and more real than any list.