Coachlight Bible Study – Genesis 1:26 – 27 – Lesson III
Making & Creating Man By Love
The earth was now completely ready for God to make and create man. Man would be given the earth and dominion over it. It is truly a love story of the triune God for His people.
Genesis 1:26 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.
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
I. The First Revealed Triune Counsel – “God said, let us …”
A. Previous acts of God followed the phrase, “And God said, let there be…”
1. Verse 26, God is talking to Himself
2. The consensus was: “Let us make man in out image, after our likeness”
B. This type of God’s council has appeared later
In the Old Testament
1. Psalm 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. {the decree: or, for a decree}
2. Psalm 45:7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
3. Isaiah 48:16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
4. Psalm 110:1 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
In the New Testament
5. Matthew 11:27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
6. John 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
7. John 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
C. This Divine Council had taken place before the beginning of time
1. The Lamb had been slain before the foundation of the world
I Peter 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
I Peter 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
I Peter 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
2. Names were written in the book of life before the foundation of the world
Revelation 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
3. God’s purpose & grace was given us in Christ before the world began
II Timothy 1: 9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
D. So, On The 6th Day Of Creation Another Council Took Place
1. The ancient plan was now announced, implemented & recorded
2. The highest & most complex of all creatures were to be made by God
3. This highest and most complex being would have dominion over:
a. The animals of the sea
b. The animals of the air
c. The animals of the land
4. This highest and most complex being was to be formed like the animals before:
(Genesis 1:24 & Genesis 2:7)
5. This highest & most complex being would have the breath of life like animals
(Genesis 2:7 – 7:22)
6. This highest & most complex being would have ‘living soul’ like the animals
(Genesis 1:24 & Genesis 2:7)
7. Man’s structure, both physical & mental was to be far more complex than the animals, but his body would be of the same basic essence.
But man was to be more than a complex and highly organized animal
8. God proposed to make (asah) man “….In our image” (Verse 26)
9. God also created (Bara) in the image of God. (Verse 27)
Man was both made and created in God’s image
10. Can we say that man was given a spirit as well as a soul to define the difference between man & the animal? – not unless we define the terms we use
a. spirit – ruach – commonly translated ‘wind and ‘breath’ – “breath of life” – literally ‘spirit of lives’ – animals & man have it
b. spirit can, however, be used to mean ‘man in the likeness of God’ – ‘an eternal spirit with esthetic, moral & spiritual attributes’
1. This partly is a correct statement
2. The spirit of man is like angelic & demonic spirits – eternal
3. The animal, however is not:
Ecclesiastes 3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? {goeth upward: Heb. is ascending, etc}
11. The image of God is the aspects of man different from animals
a. Moral consciousness
b. the ability to think abstractly
c. Understanding of beauty and emotion
d. the capacity to worship God
12. The animal soul - nephesh - contained none of the above
13. So man had to be made , asah
14. So man had to be created as well - bara
But this does not exhaust the meaning completely – Man was made in God’s image as well as spirit & soul
II. Man’s body also made in the image of God
A. God in His omnipresence is not a physical body – but Spirit
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
B. God made man’s body to function like God functions without a body – We usually call these antropormorphisms:
1. God can see – Genesis 16:13 And she (Hagar) called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?
2. God can hear – Psam 94:9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?
3. God can smell – Genesis 8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
4. God can touch – Genesis 32:32 Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew that shrank.
5. God can speak – II Peter 1:18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
C. Whenever God decides to appear visibly to man He does it in human form
Genesis 18:1 And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
Genesis 18:2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
D. Angels appear to man the same way
Acts 1:10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
There is something about the human body that is appropriate to God’s manifestation of Himself
E. God knew all His works from the beginning of the world:
Acts 15:18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
F. This means that God knew that in the fullness of times He would send His Son
Hebrews 10:5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
F. This Son would be made in the likeness of men
Philippians 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Philippians 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. {fashion: or habit}
Just as man had been made in the likeness of God
G. Both in body & spirit Christ was Himself the image of God
Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Colossians 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Colossians 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Colossians 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
II Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
II Corinthians 4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
II Corinthians 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
H. It is not hard to understand that God made man in the image of that body in which He would one day assume
I. It is proper to speak of God in both singular and plural – A Triune God
J. Can we see that God wrote the book? – The use of Elohim verse 1
1. God is actually a Trinity
a. God the Father created nuclear energy – 1:1
b. God the Holy Spirit created gravitational energy – 1:2
c. God the Word created the electromagnetic spectrum – Light energy – 1:3
2. Man in some sence is a trinity of
a. Body
b. Soul
c. spirit
K. This is truly a love story made by the Creator to His people
1. The word man – Hebrew adamah – this term is related to the earth – man’s body was formed out of the earth – Genesis 2:7
a. Man was given dominion over the animals
b. But over also the earth (From which he was formed) – Verse 26
2. The word man is a genetic term – meaning both male & female
a. Both were made in God’s image – Verse 27
b. Both possess an eternal spirit capable of personal fellowship with the Creator
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God’s Plan To Dwell (Tabernacle) With His Creation - Man |
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God Walks With Adam In The Garden Genesis 3:8-11 |
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Christ Came As Promised To Purchase Man’s Salvation Acts 20:28 |
Holy Spirit Dwells Inside The Believer – Sealing Of The Holy Ghost Is The Earnest Of Our Inheritance Ephesians 1:13-14 |
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The Tabernacle Of God Is With Man Revelation 21:3 |
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God Presents The Bride To Adam Genesis 2:18-25 Ephesians 5:25-33 |
God’s Glory Fills The Tabernacle Exodus 40:34-35 II Chronicles 5:14 |
Immanuel – God With Us Isaiah 7:14 Matthew 1:23 |
The Bride Without Spot Or Wrinkle Or Any Such Thing Goes To Meet The Lord In The Air – They Are With Him Forever I Thessalonians 4:13-18 |
Tribulation Designed To Bring Israel Back To God Daniel 9:24-27 |
Christ Rules The World On Earth Revelation 20:4-6 |
We See The Full Bride (Foundations & Gates) Church & Israel With God Forever Revelation 21:1-14 |
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Approx. 2000 Years |
Approx. 2000 Years |
Approx. 33 Years |
Has Been Approx. 2000 Years |
7 Years |
1000 Years |
Forever & Ever |
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↓ Holy Spirit Descends |
↑ Church (Bride) Ascends |
↓ Christ’s Second Advent |
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↓ New Heavens & New Earth
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Creation |
The Law |
Christ On Earth |
Church Age |
Tribulation |
Kingdom |
Dispensation Of The Fullness Of Times |
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