Let Us Make Man in Our Image

Bible: Creation story, l. 6 (detail with expulsion from the paradise). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Genesis 1:26 begins the most arresting passage for people to recognize--the creation of human beings.  The Bible does not define time periods or give developmental milestones, but Man was the last thing created on the Sixth Day.  Don't panic--male and female he created them. 

It is immediately noticeable that God did not act unilaterally. The scripture says "Let us make man..."  It was a cooperative effort.  God created by speaking and calling forth out of nothing.  The Wycliffe translation says, 
"And God made of nought a man to his image and likeness; God made of nought a man, to the image of God; God made of nought them, male and female.  ."  Wycliffe's translation repeats the notation that God created out of nothing.


In Genesis 2 there is another account of creation that begins with  man and this one is significantly different in several ways.  The NIV and the KJV report that man was created out of the dust of the earth, but Wycliffe says he was created out of the slime.  In both cases man was not created alone.  He needed another somewhat different companion--woman.  This account gives some details that we need to address later.


Genesis 1:27 says that God made them together.  Woman was not an afterthought, but a part of God's original plan.  When we say "mankind" or "human race." we include all of us together.  Remember that the scripture speaks of God calling himself plural.  As a Christian I claim this to mean God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit were in union and agreed on the method and the outcome.  

English: Man Made in the Image of God, as in Genesis 1:26 to 2:3, illustration from a Bible card published 1906 by the Providence Lithograph Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Adam and Eve  contributed a few things to the event that will have to wait for another post.

Related articles

• In the Beginning (doesthebiblerellysaythat.blogspot.com)