So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:27
The first four chapters talks is about the creation of the world and the first four humans. It talks about how after God created everything, it was good. The goodness doesn’t last very long as man falls in the third chapter. By the end of the fourth chapter, we read about the first case of murder.
One verse I want us to draw attention to is the Genesis 1:27. This is a very important verse as it is the identity of mankind. Unlike other things mentioned in the creation, only humans are created in the image of God.
What does the image of God mean? It doesn’t mean we resemble God physically. It means that humans share similar characteristics of God. For example, the Bible says that God is spirit (John 4:24), so each individual person also has a spirit. The Bible says God has power and authority over everything (Psalm 135:6) and God has given some of that authority to us to take care of the earth (Genesis 1:28). The Bible says God is love (1 John 4:8) and humans, though we are evil, are still able to love others such as our spouse and children (Matthew 7:11).
Genesis 1:27 is so important that everything that happens after can be linked back to this verse. In Chapter 3, when the serpent tempts Eve to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, he says, “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5) Eve wanted to be like God, so she eats it (Genesis 3:6).
But wait! We are already like God because we were made in the image of God! Eve actually knew that it was wrong to eat the fruit because doing so would disobey God. Disobedience to God is sin and when she eats the fruit, sin enters into the world.
It is sin that corrupts the goodness of everything God has made. It is sin that has caused humanity to fall and leave a tarnished image of God. Sin destroys and by chapter 4, we have the first case of murder. Needless to say, God hates sin and sin goes contrary to the character of God (Galatians 5:16-24) .
In this day and age, we have seen the accumulated effects of sin over all of history. All the injustice and destitution in the world is the cause of sin and we all keep sinning even today.
However, by the death and resurrection of Jesus, we can be redeemed from our sins and live a new life as restored image of God. For when we believe in Jesus, we become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:14-21). And everything God creates is good.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:17