Genesis 1:26-31

Genesis 1:26-28 “And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”


1) And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” - Here we have a change of the pattern of God’s creating. Up until now God simply spoke. Now He speaks to Himself in the plural. He is speaking to the other members of the Godhead. There are other passages where God speaks to the Godhead. Ps. 2:7, 110:1. Man was to be much more than the animals. He was made in the image of God. He was to be a spiritual being. Again this requires a creative act of God. He had created the elements from which man would be made, and the “nephesh” or conscious soul that animals have (this would incorporate intelligence, emotions, instincts, etc.). To be in the image of God required an eternal spirit that could commune with God. Just as God is a triune being, so are we. We have a body, Christ is the physical manifestation of God. We have a conscious intelligence, emotions, etc., and we have an eternal spirit. The counterpart to those are God the Father and the Holy Spirit. At this time (in Genesis) God has not revealed Himself as a triune being, however we have a hint that He is one, since we are also triune beings. How our physical body is in the image of God is hard to imagine. We know that we hear, speak, smell, feel, think - these are all things that God does. One last note - the word man is actually “Adam” in Hebrew (in English his name would be simply “man”) and is related to the word earth, which is “adamah” (For you Battlestar Galactica fans)

2) “and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping things that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them” - The term man here actually refers to man as in mankind, since it was used to refer to both male and female. Man was to have dominion over the earth itself and every living creature upon it. This did not give man the license to abuse, but to be a steward over it and to use it for his benefit, but within the limits of that stewardship. Unlike the New Age teachings that we are all part of the big oneness of the universe and must respect every living thing as an equal, and see the earth as a living soul (the earth is just the elements), God clearly gives man the dominion for his use of everything here.

3) “And God blessed them and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” - God pronounces another blessing on a part of His creation. Along with the blessing, God gives the first command. They were to waste no time in having children, plenty of them since they were to fill the earth. The word replenish simply means fill, not only in the Hebrew, but also in the English. It is just a more archaic way of saying "fill." It does not mean to refill, as some assume. This command has never been rescinded and if man were doing the next part properly (subduing it and exercising dominion) the world could easily support a much larger population than it does today in spite of man’s panic of over-population. We are causing the problems that exist ourselves. Paying people to not grow crops, letting many crops rot rather than feed people, etc.

4) “and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” - Again we are told that it is God’s intention that man subdue and have dominion over everything. In other words, learn all you can about it, control it, bring it under subjection for your benefit and use the resources to make a better life for yourself - animal husbandry, agriculture, metallurgy, etc. God is not against technology per se, he wanted us to learn how to get everything we could from our environment, but He didn't want us to abuse it, which is what we have done. We seem to turn everything good into something evil.

Genesis 1:29-31 “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

1) “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” - Notice that God created man to be a vegetarian. Meat eating was not sanctioned until after the flood. At least it was not intended to happen. If one accepts the Book of Enoch as historical, even if not canon, it says that the giants were meat eaters of both animal and men’s flesh. How true this is, is unknown. But we know evil was unprecedented at that time. It was intended at the beginning that there would be plenty of lush vegetation bringing forth plenty of food for a world filled with animals and people. While some people adhere to being vegetarians today, and as a personal choice that is fine, God has actually warned in the last days against listening to people that push this agenda. 1 Tim. 1-5 “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” The reason God encourages us in this day to partake of all food including animal flesh is probably because plants (like everything else) have so deteriorated since the beginning, and with the scientists messing with the genetics by cross-pollination, man has rendered our food far less nutritious than it would have originally been. We need the protein and whatever else that meat offers.

2) “And to every beast of the earth and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat. And it was so.” - Animals were also herbivores. They were not vicious or afraid of man at this point and did not hunt each other. This would come after the flood. That God built into some animals the equipment they would need to eat meat was the result of His foreknowledge of what would happen after the fall and flood. The equipment would be there so that the genes would pass it on to the animals that would one day need it. Again God emphasizes that this is exactly the way it happened, so we should believe it.

3) “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” - Now not only is everything pronounced good, but God says it is VERY good. This ends the sixth 24 hour period. Six literal 24 hour days have passed since Genesis 1:1.