We began last week to talk about the story of creation set forth in the Bible; a story of our world created intentionally by God (https://www.renewingeve.com/the-beginning-of-us-all-a-series-of-meditations-on-genesis/. In this story, our God made everything according to his plan and was deeply pleased in what he had brought into being. He had power and authority to accomplish his creative will. As I continue to write about Genesis, I want to share that I believe that the God of the Bible is good. I believe furthermore that this is a foundational belief of Christianity. As a result, Christians believe that a good God created humans as beloved children bearing his resemblance to be recipients of his love, doing meaningful work in his world..
Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”
We must not be confused by that word “man.” Scholars who know Hebrew assure us that this word “man” means humanity. Man or humanity in God’s image was both male and female. “In the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27) Then just four chapters later, Genesis 5:1-2 confirms that “man” in the creation story means male and female: “When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created.” The repetition makes me think that God wants to emphasize or make it absolutely clear.
The opening chapter of the Bible, therefore, tells us that we women, like men, were made to resemble God. We are not gods, but we are like God, and we were made to be rulers over creation. Both women and men are glorious creations of God. The first word about men and women is that they are both in the image of God. Genesis sets the stage for everything. It tells us who God is. It tells us who we are.
Sometimes the way people talk and write about men and women, comparing and contrasting them, makes me forget that we are all in God’s image. Sometimes it makes it seem like a competition for who is better. Sometimes what I hear or read sounds like the male gender is gloriously in the image of God and the female is something “other.” But in these verses in Genesis, 1:26-28 and 5:1-2, God lays a written foundation that both male and female are in his image. I love to meditate on the fact that God wanted us all to know that from the beginning.
When I read these passages, I think of Aibileen in Kathryn Stockett’s book The Help. Aibileen is a black maid, caring for a two year old white girl named Mae Mobley. Aibileen repeats often to Mae Mobley three sentences with which she hopes to tell Mae Mobley who she is: “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” Aibileen says this to counteract the neglect and lack of love Mae Mobley’s mother shows for her own daughter. It is very moving that Aibileen speaks affirmation and love to this little girl whom she is paid to nurture. She wants Mae Mobley to know her identity, who she is.
God wants us know who we are. I hear Genesis 1 and 5 and many other passages in the Bible in a similar but even greater way to the affirmations Aibileen gave Mae. God is telling us: “You are magnificent creatures in my image. You are made to do important work, ruling My earth. You are members of the same team together.” Let’s hear this message loud and clear, over and over – that we women, like the original woman, Eve, AND like the original man, Adam, are glorious and important to God, because he made us in his image. God tells us these truths up front. May they shape how we hear everything else about women and men.