The Bible is about God, the world, and humanity. It focuses on the covenant relation between God and his creation. Genesis chapter one narrows down Creator-creation relation from the God-universe to God-world to God-human relation. In this way, the author of Genesis highlights that the making of human beings is the climax of the creation story.
First, the author quickly and briefly narrates the creation of the universe, the land, and other creatures, whereas it almost details the creation of human beings. The creation of human beings is preceded by the creation of the land, the plants, and other creatures. In other words, God created them in preparation for the arrival of humanity in the scene. When all things are ready, God created human beings. The aforementioned point apparently does not agree with Genesis chapter two, which narrates that God created a man before the land produce plants and fruits. However, as far as Genesis one is concerned, God prepared what is needed before creating human beings.
Second, God created other creation by his speech, “Let there be…” and the created things came into existence. But, God did not create human beings by merely words nor did he command their existence. God used personal and invitational speech, “Let us . . .” instead of a non-personal and directive speech, “Let there be . . .” One important issue, but insignificant for our purpose now, is the reference of the inclusive first person pronoun “us.” Does “us” refer to the Trinity or the angels or other creatures? The notion that “us” refers to the Trinity is generally accepted. The significant teaching is the personal dimension of God’s speech “Let us . . . .” Although “Let there be…” may not show a distance personal involvement between God and his other creation, the use of “Let us...” definitely shows the closeness between God and human beings. We can assert that God enters a personal relationship by creating human beings. God does not leave us alone; he personally involves in our lives.
Third, no other creation or creatures is said to have “image and likeness of God.” Only human beings are created in the image and likeness of God. There have been several interpretations of “image and likeness.” Long ago, St. Augustine interpreted “image and likeness” with reference to human mind. Human mind has memory, understanding, and will. Another interpretation is that “image and likeness” stands for human freedom and authority. I think that image of God in human could refer to human ability to know, to think, and to judge. In other words, human knowledge, rationality, and morality are marks of the divine image. The most distinctive feature of human beings is morality. No other earthly creatures exhibit as high morality as human does. Just as morality marks human distinctiveness among other creatures, morality also distinguishes our God from other gods. Without morality, freedom and authority could be misused or abused.
Fourth, God created mankind: male and female. Different genders got mentioned along with the creation of mankind. In the case of other creatures, their kind is more important than their gender. In verses 24-25; land creatures are categorized into three groups according to their kinds: “Livestock, all living creatures that move along the ground, and wild animal.” In verse 27, humankind is divided into two, not two kinds, but two genders of the same kind. There are only two gender male and female, and gay is not the third gender. Gender and sexuality is part of God plan for procreation. Verse 27 speaks of humanity as “singular” (“he made man” and “he created him” and as “plural” (“male and female: he created them.” One scholar comments that “on the one hand, humankind is a single entity. All human persons stand in solidarity before God. But on the other hand, human kind is a community, male and female. And none is the full image of God alone. Only in a community of humankind is God reflected. God is . . . not mirrored as an individual but as a community” (Brueggermann, Genesis, 34). Peaceful co-existence and mutual relationship of male and female within a human community would reflect the internal relationship with the Trinity. The time of discrimination against females by their male counterpart is over, the time of solidarity as one human community has come. Even then, we still need to recognize our differences.
Fifth, the creation of human beings is accompanied by a twofold blessing of posterity and dominion. In verse 22, we read about the blessing of reproduction, but not of dominion. God’s gift of authority over other creation has been misunderstood as human’s right to destroy nature and use-up all the natural resources. Far from teaching the irresponsibility, the word “dominion” connotes “responsible stewardship.” Human beings are care-takers rather than rulers of the natural world.
Sixth, God speaks. We have read the phrase “God said” several times but we have not seen “God said to them”. Only in Genesis 1:28 that the narrator explicitly identifies for the first time God’s interlocutors, namely, human beings. The ability to use language distinctively marks human as intellectual, social, and personal beings. It should be noted that the first speech of God to mankind is a discourse of blessings. Everything God has created before creating humankind is now given to human beings. Paul declares, “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19). The question is not “Does God bless human beings?” but “Do I constantly listen to God’s speaking?”
Seven, God said that “it was very good.” When God sees that everything he has created has functioned in accordance with intended purpose, that is, to serve human interests, he said, “Very good.” The usual divine evaluative speech was, “It was good.” With the creation of human, God said, “It was very good.” No matter how bad is the circumstance we are in, the original plan of our existence was for good. In those bad situations, we can rely on God’s goodness.
Human beings are the center of the creation story. We are unique and special. He provides our needs. He enters a personal relationship with us. He endows us with freedom and authority within the bound of morality. Such morality, authority, and freedom should help us create a peaceful human community. He blesses us with the ability to procreate our kind and take care of the creation. All of these happen because we are in his mind even before the world begins.
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