Reflections of Genesis: Part 1

"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.' 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

These verses in Genesis give a very insightful introduction to who we are according to God's design. First, every person we meet every day is created in the image of God. To speak of biblical manhood and womanhood is essentially a discussion of biblical humanity and the glorious fact that we were created, man and woman, in the image of God. The value and dignity that I have as a human cannot be denied. The spark of the divine is marked on every individual.

Even though the image of God has been marred by sin, it's still there. Part of Jesus' coming to earth was to restore God's image to its fullness in our lives. We know that fullness when we live out who we were created to be as God designed and live in love and community towards others. I wish I could say that I always live up to God's design in my life, but my own sin and selfishness so often causes me to fall short.

Secondly, man and woman were created in God's image. The first man and woman were created equally in God's image. The first man and woman were blessed and then commanded with five imperatives to be fruitful, become many, fill the earth, subdue it, and have dominion over the living things. These commands, in one sense, are a call to greatness and power. Why do we desire those qualities so much? Because we were created to be that way. The only problem is that we attempt to accomplish these things of our own will and understanding rather than seeking out God's way. The sin of pride and selfishness is an attempt to order the world according to our standards, to control life according to what we want. Mainly because we think we find satisfaction in it. We desire power and greatness because with it we think we can do whatever we like. We have distorted God's picture of true greatness by seeking it in ourselves. In every one of those commands, the fulfillment of those commands would not have been possible unless God were actively involved. He was the one who opened up Eve's womb and gave them wisdom and authority to fill the earth and to subdue it. True greatness comes from God's designation of how He orders our lives, and it is ultimately found in what He says about us.

Thirdly, they were given these commands together. The man and woman are to work together to obey God. The man with the main authority, but the woman just as important and necessary in the task to which God had called them. They are co-rulers. Elisabeth Elliot says "Men and women cannot and must not try to live life without reference to the opposite sex. They are interdependent and are meant to acknowledge and confront one another." We need each other. We were called to live together, to balance each other out. I hear frustrations so often of men who don't understand why women aren't acting like men... "why can't she just suck it up?, she starts crying at the drop of a hat," or women who complain that men are not women..."he just doesn't understand me, he never knows why I'm upset." We could go on and on about the complaints against each other. But ultimately, we need to let men be men and women be women... and let God be God who has designed us to love each other, work together, and seek Him as our everything.

The answer to how we live our lives is not found in a man or in a woman. But it is found in the One true God and true man Jesus Christ. Living our lives in the picture of the gospel, that he became a man, he loved us enough to give up His life for us "that we might be called the children of God, and so we are" (1 Jn 3:1). We look for our being in Him, and we seek to love others and help others as God has designed us to.