What Is Man?

So, this morning we will continue with a series I began last week, and that is looking at Genesis 1 through 3. And so last week, we looked at the creation days, and this week, we will look at, more specifically, the creation of man. What is man? And so we'll read from Genesis chapter 1, verses 26 through 30. Hear God's Word. Then God said, let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. God blessed them and he said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number. Fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground. Then God said, I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground, everything that has the breath of life in it. I give every green plant for food. And it was so. And we'll read 31. And God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day. Now, some of you know that my dad is a pastor, And as I preach, I find, I don't think it's out of revenge, but I start using him for sermon illustrations. So we'll start with one of those. My dad was once complaining to somebody. I remember this. He was complaining about the state of the world as he looked out and saw the evil that was out there, the wickedness that was out there. And one of his good friends, he was telling this to his good friends, He confronted him and he said, why are you surprised at this? Why are you disillusioned by this? You're the one who regularly preaches how sinful man is. And I think that that sometimes can be the way we are. That our culture especially doesn't want to see the sin that's all around us. And sometimes we don't want to see that either. Or really expect sinful people to be sinful. That's really a negative thing, isn't it? Why not see the good in people? Why not focus on that? It's much nicer to think that people are generally good. They just need a little help. Isn't that what it is? And so sometimes we as Christians can be accused of being negative in this way. You Christians, you have this low view of man, this low view of humans, because you always talk about sin, and especially you Calvinists who talk about total depravity. How much more negative can you be? But the truth is really that we have a high view of man. That is what we have as Christians, but it is man as he was created. When we dwell on what man was like when God created him, only then can we really appreciate the extent of our fallen condition. And yet, even we as Christians, we sometimes make statements like, to err is human. Or when we mess up, we say, well, I'm only human. But it's not our humanity that is to blame. It's our sin, our fallen nature. Because the Bible tells us God created men and women perfect. Able to be perfect and required perfection of them. And we need to see that to know the extent of our sin and the greatness of our salvation. But we also need to see how things have changed after the fall with sin. How things are different in Genesis 1 compared with our life now. And so we'll think about these things with our three points. We'll look at the image, the task, and the reward. So starting out with the image. As we read through the creation account, as we could have done again, we would find many repeated phrases, but one is creation according to its kind. You see day 3, verse 12, it's with reference to plants. The land produced vegetation, plants bearing seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seeds in it according to their kinds. And we see the same thing with fish and with birds. Verse 21, So God created the great sea creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And we see it also with land animals on day 6. Verse 25, God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And I think we have to keep that in mind as we now come to our text, because we see something different. We don't read, and so God said, let us make man according to his kind. We see something different there. We see God said, let us make man in our image, in our likeness. We as humans are different. There's something different about us. God says that. We are made after his image, after his likeness. And so that's really the first thing we need to see. that God did create men and women different from the rest of his creation. There may be many similarities. We can look at our physiology and other things as that and compare ourselves with the rest of creation and look at these other animals and maybe sometimes we think some other people act more like animals. But men and women are distinct. We were not made just according to our kind. We were made in God's image. Something that none of the other creation was made. Well, that's easy to say, but what does it mean? What does it mean to be made in God's image? Well, we can start out by saying what it doesn't mean. Many often say that my son Caleb is the spitting image of me. And then they usually add the poor boy, we wish he took after his mother, some helpful comment like that. But we know that that isn't what this is about here. God doesn't have a body. We know that from Scripture. It teaches us that. And if we look at our bodies, they have many similarities with various animals, we could say. We have similar respiratory and circulatory systems and all those sorts of things. And so some would say that being made in the image is more about our mental abilities. That that's what separates us from the animals. That's what it means to be made in God's image. But I think there's a danger in going that way. I don't think it's the best way to take the biblical evidence. and it also runs the problem of maybe thinking that part of us is animal-like and part of us is God-like. And that's not what it is. There's no tension built into us. In other verses that talk about the image of God, it refers to attributes that describe actions and thoughts. So, for example, Ephesians 4.24, as it talks and as Paul exhorts the Christians there, he says, And put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Being like God has something to do with righteousness and holiness. And then in Colossians 3, verse 10, he again exhorts them, put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator. So there's something about knowledge, right knowledge, that is part of that image. But as we think about that, we find other places in the Bible that talk about the image and apply it to sinful people in general. Those who are not righteous, holy, or have true knowledge. And so, the image of God cannot be limited to those things. And if we look at our text more closely, it provides another way to think about the image. What do we have in verse 26? Let us make man in our image and in our likeness. And then there's a consequence. There's a reason for that. There's something that flows out of that. And let them rule. And it could even be translated, so that they would rule. Let them be in the image so that they would rule. And that's why many argue, and I think rightly so, that as we think of man being created, in the image and after the likeness of God, it's not to certain physical attributes we have, not even to certain mental abilities we have, but it is the office that we have. What we've been given in that, the role that we are to play in God's creation as ruler, as this one who's ruling over this creation, a sub-ruler, we could say, under God, a one who is called to rule in this world as a reflection of God's rule from heaven. And part of being fully, we could say, in that image, is how we rule, how we use that role of ruler. Do we rule as God does? Do we rule with true righteousness, with holiness, with true knowledge? Man was created perfect and he was made to be able to rule that way in this realm that God had given him. Rule righteously, holy, and with true knowledge. But as one last point in our text, as we think about the images, is in verse 27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. The Bible makes it explicit that both men and women are in the image of God. They are equally in the image of God. He's made distinctions between them, differences between them, but they are both the image of God. And it really is together that he gives them that role of ruling. So now let's talk about the task. We have talked about the image and how ruling is a very crucial part of that. But what does it really mean to rule? What was man's task as ruler? And here, let's look at verse 28. Verse 28 gives this series of commands to men. God blessed them and he said to them, Be fruitful, increase in number, fill the earth, subdue it, Rule over the fish of the sea, birds of the air, and every living creature that moves on the ground. Now, as we look at these, and I'll bring this up again, I think it's best to actually see not these as four independent imperatives, but they flow together. We should see them as working together, as progressing, in a sense, to the goal at the end. the goal that was mentioned in 26 and is the last one mentioned here in 28, this ruling. But we come to that ruling through this process, fruitful, multiplying, filling the earth, subduing it, and then ruling. It is this process with a goal at the end. And it's in this verse also, 28, that we really, again, we could highlight the difference between men and animals. Because we can look back at verse 22, where God has given part of the same blessing to the animals. Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. There it's fill the waters with reference to the fish. But with men it goes on. It's not only filling, it's then also subduing and ruling. And so as we think about that, well, what is it really picturing there? Well, it's this idea of the goal of humanity going out and creating a God-glorifying human society that encompasses the earth. Now, let's look more closely, though, how it's described. The task is told in terms, really, of animals, we could say. Who is it that man is to rule over? We see in 26 and in 28 that it's over the other living creatures that God has made. So what does it mean to rule over the animals? Well, to pick on my dad again, he always had a very practical application for this text. As some of you may know, he really liked to fish, and we grew up in Alaska. And one time when he was fishing up in Alaska, he was by the river, and the grass was kind of tall. And as he was walking up to the river, about 10, 15 feet away, a bear stood up out of the grass. And so my dad looked at the bear and said, Mr. Bear, God gave me dominion over you. Go. And he went. It was great. The bear went running away. I'm not saying that that always works. And I should add that my dad had a .44 Magnum on his side. Not that he doubts God, but he does believe that God sometimes uses secondary means. So that was what he thought this text meant. And I think there's a certain truth there in this application. Our text clearly says that man is placed at the top of God's creation. He is given this authority over the other creatures. But as we think of the terms used there, ruling is what usually people do over other people. You have a king ruling over his subjects. We don't usually say somebody rules over animals. And if we look elsewhere in the Bible, we see the same thing. So this is somewhat a metaphor, you could say, just as a king rules and has authority over the people in his realm. Similarly, mankind is to have that type of authority over other living creatures in his realm. But we could add one helpful nuance to that. The word here used of ruling is a little more specific in that we find it elsewhere in the Bible of a king ruling over foreign nations. It's not the term that is used for an Israelite king ruling over the Israelites. But it's him ruling over the nations that were round about him. The ones that he had conquered, the ones that had submitted themselves to him. And this is where, as we look again at 28, I think that helps fill out the idea of ruling. Because what do we find in 28? He's to be fruitful, increase in number, fill the earth, and subdue it, and then rule. Well, what does subdue mean here? And maybe more importantly, what are we to subdue? You might say, well, Pastor, read your Bible. It says subdue the earth. It's pretty clear. Well, what does it mean to subdue the earth? What does that mean? And many people have had various ideas. We could talk about, you know, tilling the ground and planting or mining, getting what we need from the earth. Or maybe damming a river so that it doesn't flood. But as we look in the Old Testament at the use of this term, we can use parallel passages to help us see what it means. In Numbers chapter 32, Moses is giving instructions to the tribes who are going to have their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan. And he's telling them that they must go with the other tribes across the Jordan. They must go with them and fight with them until basically everybody is defeated. And so in verse 22, he says they must go until he has driven out his enemies from before him and the land is subdued before Yahweh. The land is subdued before Yahweh. And we see a similar thing in 1 Chronicles 22, verse 18. David is talking to the leaders of Israel and he says, Is not the Lord your God with you? And has he not given you peace on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the Lord and his people. So in these passages, we can clearly see that a land being subdued is not talking about farming on it or building on it. It's talking about the people who were hostile on it being conquered. It's talking about subduing the people on it who would stop you from farming or building or whatever it is that you do as you move into a land. And so subduing is something you need to do first. You must subdue a land before then you can move into it and you can live upon it and you subdue it by conquering any sort of opposition. So, if this is true elsewhere in the Old Testament, that to subdue a land meant to subdue the people on the land, what does it mean here? Why does God use this terminology here? What needs to be subdued? Who needs to be subdued? And this is where I think the answer is, again, right in this verse. It's the animals. Who is on the land that they are moving out into? It's the animals. And if we remember what we said, that the ruling is over somebody that you've conquered, You need to subdue first and then you can rule. And that is the image that we get here. We get the image of mankind having children, being fruitful, increasing. And as they do that, they spread out on this earth that God has made. And as they do that, they need to take control of new areas. They need to take it away from the animals who are maybe living there. And then they can set up their house. Then they can set up their farm. And they can set up, they can have authority over those animals there. Now, as I say that, it might raise some questions in your mind as to why God would have to say to subdue the animals. What does that say about the animals? Is there a different picture here than maybe you have had about what animals were like? And we'll talk about that more here in a minute. But as we look at 26 and 28 here, we see that God doesn't give real specific commands. He doesn't say to set up this, build roads, etc., etc. It's just the basic command of you be as people and go out and set up society, create a society. Do what you need to do as people. Feed your families, build dwellings. But do it as this image bearer of God. Do it as the one who's ruling because God has given you that authority and thereby do it as he rules, righteously, with true knowledge and holy. Now, God continues in our passage here in verse 29. And in it, he gives man the right to use plants, the plants created on day three. And so we see God said, I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it, they will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground, everything that has breath of life in it, I give every green plant for food. And it was so. And so we see here, right, he first says, I give you these. And then he says, designates them as a food source. They will be to you for food. And so I think rightly many would say this doesn't mean they can only use them for food. He's giving him authority over plants. And so they could use them also in whatever ways they needed as they build this society God has commanded them to. They can make houses with them. They can use whatever it is, the resources that they need. And so, in verse 28 and 29, in general we could say what we see here is God giving mankind authority over all the different creations, all the different things that he had created. First the animals and now the plants. Here we have to pause a minute and reflect on an issue that there is various interpretations on. Many look at verses 29 and 30 and they see this provision of plants as that that's all man could eat. And that's all the creatures could eat. So that men and the animals were originally created as vegetarians. They could only eat plants. But we must be clear that that's not universal in the history of interpretation. For example, John Calvin, as he looked at these arguments, he said these reasons are not sufficiently strong. And as John Calvin often does, he errs very much on the side of caution. He concluded, better for us to assert nothing concerning this matter. But I think it's something that we need to talk about. That we can say we can disagree on the interpretation of, but it's worth discussing. And so, what do we find here as we think about this? Well, I think the first thing that we need to note is that it doesn't say, you shall not eat meat. There is no prohibition. There is a gift. There is the giving of something. And it is possible to infer from this gift that whatever wasn't given was not allowed. But that's certainly not what's stated, and it's not necessarily obvious, especially as we look at the rest of the Bible. It doesn't seem likely. And what we find elsewhere is that similar wording of something being designated for food is used in many contexts where it is only one thing that's given for food, that it's clear that other things could be eaten in the context. So, for example, in Exodus 16, verse 15, the people ask what the manna is, the manna that God had provided. And Moses responds, it's the bread which Yahweh has given to you for food, using very much the same language. And we know that they ate other things. We know they ate quail. God also gave that to them for food. And they could also eat of the herds and flocks they had and anything else that they could find to eat. But this was a provision of God, something he was blessing them with. It doesn't mean they couldn't eat other things. But in this context, you might say, well, what else is there? What else do we have in this context? Well, as we looked at 28, we said what a lot of it's about is God giving man authority over the animals. And we can assume that that meant he could find an ox, he could domesticate it, and he could use it to help him plow. God gave the animals to mankind and he could use them, not abuse them, but use them for his purposes. And a horse, he could take that and teach it so that he could ride it, so that he could get places. And what about his cow? Well, assumedly, he could milk his cow and he could drink the milk and he could make cheese out of it and yogurt. And whatever else there is. And with that, we must note, milk is not a plant. Milk is not strictly something given. It's something else. So is this a legitimate use of man's authority over the animals? It would seem so. But we could also go farther. And we could say that really, based on the Bible as a whole, there seems to be no reason that man couldn't do with his animals what every Israelite did with his. He could slaughter them and he could eat them. Now, and as we say that, this is where the Bible helps interpret the Bible. We don't see anywhere else in the Bible where eating of meat is spoken of as something evil, something that ought not to be there. And we find it right away, or at least many people assume it in stories right away, such as Abel's sacrifice. And so if we continue this, it's the same thing as we look at the animals. The provision of plants doesn't necessitate that they were created all as plant eaters, that God could have created the great variety that we see now. And elsewhere in the Bible, we see that God cares not just for the plantators, but also for the carnivores. He's the one who gives the lions their prey and provides that for them. Now, to just mention a couple other texts that bear on this, many interpreters look at Genesis 9-3. And in Genesis 9.3, we have within the context, in many ways, a reissuing of many of the commands here. And there in Genesis 9.3, it says, Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. As green plants, I give you everything. And so many have looked at this and said, well, see, this is when finally they could eat. When they were given that by God. But it certainly is not the most obvious way to take this verse. The comparison there seems much more likely to be referring to what kinds of animals that they could eat. I give you all living creatures as green plants. i.e. as you can eat all green plants, I give you all. But the other one that maybe more often affects our thinking on this topic as we think about the way God created is Isaiah 11. In Isaiah 11, what do we read about in verses 6 through 8? This is the famous passage, the beloved passage for right reasons. in which it talks about the wolf lying down with the lamb. And as we read that passage, we must carefully note what it doesn't say. It doesn't say that this is a description of the way animals were originally made. We assume that sometimes, we turn towards it, but it need not be interpreted that way. There are many other ways to do it, and even as you read it, you see mankind still has flocks and herds. There still is a shepherd boy leading his flock and herd in it, assumedly doing what Israelites did with their flocks and their herds. But maybe the most important reason as we think about this, The thing to think through is, is animal death something that can be in God's good creation? Because that is what God created. He created the world good. And we turn to passages such as Romans 5 verse 12. And there Paul, as he's talking about what the effects of Adam's sin is, He says that the sin, by sin, death entered the world. But as we look at that, it's clear that he's talking about the death of the image bearer. That he's talking about the death of men and women. That that is the part of the creation that was affected by death coming to them. And so we have to ask, is it in the Bible taught that animal death could not be in God's good creation? Is it something that is only here because of sin? And so it's for these various reasons that I would suggest that we too often think that animals were so different from what we know now. They may not have been. There seems no biblical reason to assume that. And as we think back then to subdue and rule, it makes much more sense. Why did God command Adam to do that? Well, because he was going into a world with wild animals. He was going into a world in which not only did he have to domesticate animals that he was going to use. But he also had to guard himself from the wild animals out there. And with that, we must again think again that the presence of something as this, the presence of a threat, doesn't mean the earth was not good. There were cliffs that man could fall off of. And yet that doesn't make the world bad. It was God in his providence who would guide man so that not a foot of his body would strike the stone. It was God's providence that would keep man safe. So, that is the task. Go out. Fill the earth. Create this God-glorifying society. Subdue it. He gave this to men, both male and female. He gave them this authority over the animals, over the plants. He charged them to go out and to rule, to rule as He ruled with this true righteousness, this true holiness, this true knowledge. But what was the goal of that ruling? In one sense, it's again right here in our text. These commands, as they're given, what do they apply to? The earth. The earth, it's limited in scope. It is what needs to be filled, subdued, and ruled. And that's what we find elsewhere in the biblical text. But even more specifically, right here in Genesis 1. we find that God's call to man had a goal to it because as he was imaging God, he was imaging the process, the goal-drivenness of God's creation. God, when he had created, had created with a goal in mind. We looked at this last week, That he took the earth talked about in verse 2, Genesis 1-2, that was formless and empty, or we could say unproductive and uninhabited. And he had a goal as he was going through his creation work. He was changing it into being formed and productive, to making it filled and inhabited with all of his good creation. And once he reached that goal, then he rested. And he rested on that blessed seventh day. And by these creation days, God was imaging for man the pattern he was to follow. But it's not just the pattern in our daily week. It really is the pattern for our whole of existence. I think it's appropriate to say that mankind's task was in many ways to do a similar thing. to form and to fill the earth as this sub-ruler under God. That he was to go out and make it productive, make it inhabited. And after he would do that, then he would have the same reward, the same rest that God had. And that's what we see in Hebrews 4, as the Sabbath is equated with the rest that we are still looking forward to, the rest of heaven itself. And so, as you think of the creation week and what God did there, it really is the sum of human history if man would have been obedient. He would have worked towards this goal, going out, filling, subduing and ruling with the reward of heavenly rest at the end. And each and every week of his existence, he would model that, he would keep that pattern as a reminder of that goal, of what lay before him. As each week he worked six days, and then each week he took a Sabbath rest. A rest that reminded him of what it was that waited for him. What it was that would come. This Sabbath rest of heaven itself. So how are we doing? I had a professor who once commented that the command, be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, is the only command that man has ever kept. And as I'm stuck in rush hour traffic, I usually agree. And we've subdued much, and we rule much in many ways. But what about righteousness, holiness, knowledge? Is the rule that we see out there conformed to that of God? Do we see the perfection required by God? We all know the answer is no. And we say, why not? Well, to err is human. We're only human after all. But that's not how God made us. And we know the answer ourselves. Because each and every day, each and every moment almost, Our own consciences accuse us that we, even though we know the good, we don't do it. We know what is true, what is right, what is holy, and yet we follow the lie. Our consciences accuse us that we distort the good things of God. And that is also what we see in the biblical account, is it? As we move on, we'll read about our first parents, Adam and Eve. created in perfection. And what did they do? They spurned the good things of God to follow the lies of the serpent, the devil. And thus sin entered the world. And we also read of God's punishment for sin and how all their children are sinful after them, sinful from birth. And we know that's true of ourselves. We know our own hatred, our own pride, our own lust, our own selfishness. And we see it in this world. This world filled with so much hurt and so much pain. Well, how can things ever be made right again? And most importantly, how can we be made right with God? us who have sinned, us who have turned away from the fullness of his image, as we turn away from righteousness, holiness, and knowledge. And the Bible is very clear. It doesn't start with us. We want it to in our pride. We may try to. Various religions do. And we can often thank God that we're not as bad as we could be. Our neighbor isn't as bad as he could be. But we must always acknowledge that we are not as good as God made us to be. Only God can make us right with Him. And that He has through Jesus Christ. If we confess our sins and believe in His name. God had to become man to take our place. So that we could be made right with Him. Jesus had to pay for our sins with His precious blood. And not only that, he had to be perfect for us. He had to be the one who would rule in righteousness, holiness, and knowledge. And thereby earn for us the Sabbath rest of heaven. The hope of all who believe in him. In this world that we know, we have that promise that it will be made new. Just as we ourselves will be made new. So that finally we will live in that perfection we were created for. God made man to be perfect, but man sinned. God became man so that he could make him perfect once again. And that is the hope of all who believe in Jesus Christ. So therefore, the call goes out. Repent, believe, and be saved. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word and Your revelation and we pray that You will continually make us know our sin not so that we wallow in it but so that we turn to You. So that we more and more depend on You and we also pray that you work through your Spirit. We cling to that promise that you are renewing us through your Spirit. And so, may we strive now for that perfection that awaits us in heaven. Not doing it to earn that heaven, but knowing that we already have it. And doing it not in our strength, but in yours. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.