Gen 1:26-27

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.

Matthew Henry Commentary

Observe,

I. That man was made last of all the creatures, that it

might not be suspected that he had been, any way, a helper

to God in the creation of the world: that question must be

for ever humbling and mortifying to him, Where wast thou,

or any of thy kind, when I laid the foundations of the

earth? (Job 38:4). Yet it was both an honour and a favour

to him that he was made last: an honour, for the method

of the creation was to advance from that which was less

perfect to that which was more so; and a favour, for it

was not fit he should be lodged in the palace designed

for him till it was completely fitted up and furnished

for his reception. Man, as soon as he was made, had the

whole visible creation before him, both to contemplate

and to take the comfort of. Man was made the same day

that the beasts were, because his body was made of the

same earth with theirs; and, while he is in the body,

e inhabits the same earth with them. God forbid that by

indulging the body and the desires of it we should make

ourselves like the beasts that perish!

II. That man's creation was a more signal and immediate

act of divine wisdom and power than that of the other

creatures. The narrative of it is introduced with

something of solemnity, and a manifest distinction

from the rest. Hitherto, it had been said, "Let there

be light," and "Let there be a firmament," and "Let

the earth, or waters, bring forth" such a thing; but

now the word of command is turned into a word of

consultation, "Let us make man, for whose sake the

rest of the creatures were made: this is a work we

must take into our own hands." In the former He speaks

as one having authority, in this as one having affection;

for His delights were with the sons of men, (Prov. 8:31).

It should seem as if this were the work which he longed

to be at; as if He had said, "Having at last settled

the preliminaries, let us now apply ourselves to the

business, Let us make man." Man was to be a creature

different from all that had been hitherto made. Flesh

and spirit, heaven and earth, must be put together in

him, and he must be allied to both worlds. And therefore

God Himself not only undertakes to make him, but is pleased

so to express Himself as if He called a council to consider

of the making of him: Let us make man. The three persons

of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, consult about

it and concur in it, because man, when he was made, was to

be dedicated and devoted to Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Into that great name we are, with good reason, baptized,

for to that great name we owe our being. Let him rule man

who said, Let us make man.

III. That man was made in God's image and after His likeness,

two words to express the same thing and making each other

the more expressive; image and likeness denote the likest

image, the nearest resemblance of any of the visible creatures.

Man was not made in the likeness of any creature that went

before him, but in the likeness of his Creator; yet still

between God and man there is an infinite distance. Christ

only is the express image of God's person, as the Son of

His Father, having the same nature. It is only some of God's

honour that is put upon man, who is God's image only as the

shadow in the glass, or the king's impress upon the coin.

God's image upon man consists in these three things:--

1. In his nature and constitution, not those of his body

(for God has not a body), but those of his soul. This honour

indeed God has put upon the body of man, that the Word was

made flesh, the Son of God was clothed with a body like ours

and will shortly clothe ours with a glory like that of His.

And this we may safely say, That he by whom God made the

worlds, not only the great world, but man the little world,

formed the human body, at the first, according to the

platform He designed for himself in the fulness of time.

But it is the soul, the great soul, of man, that does

especially bear God's image. The soul is a spirit, an

intelligent immortal spirit, an influencing active spirit,

herein resembling God, the Father of Spirits, and the soul

of the world. The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord.

The soul of man, considered in its three noble faculties,

understanding, will, and active power, is perhaps the

brightest clearest looking-glass in nature, wherein to

see God.

2. In his place and authority: Let us make man in our

image, and let him have dominion. As he has the government

of the inferior creatures, he is, as it were, God's

representative, or viceroy, upon earth; they are not capable

of fearing and serving God, therefore God has appointed them

to fear and serve man. Yet his government of himself by the

freedom of his will has in it more of God's image than his

government of the creatures.

3. In his purity and rectitude. God's image upon man consists

in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, (Eph. 4:24;

Col. 3:10). He was upright, (Eccl. 7:29). He had an habitual

conformity of all his natural powers to the whole will of God.

His understanding saw divine things clearly and truly, and

there were no errors nor mistakes in his knowledge. His will

complied readily and universally with the will of God,

without reluctancy or resistance. His affections were all

regular, and he had no inordinate appetites or passions.

His thoughts were easily brought and fixed to the best

subjects, and there was no vanity nor ungovernableness in

them. All the inferior powers were subject to the dictates

and directions of the superior, without any mutiny or

rebellion. Thus holy, thus happy, were our first parents,

in having the image of God upon them. And this honour,

put upon man at first, is a good reason why we should

not speak ill one of another (James 3:9), nor do ill

one to another (Gen. 9:6), and a good reason why we

should not debase ourselves to the service of sin,

and why we should devote ourselves to God's service.

But how art thou fallen, O son of the morning! How

is this image of God upon man defaced! How small are

the remains of it, and how great the ruins of it!

The Lord renew it upon our souls by his sanctifying

grace!