Genesis- In the Image of God

In chapter one, verse 26, God first mentions the creation of man.

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. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it....31. And God saw every thing he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

This passage makes me stop in verse 26 at the word us. I have read this chapter many times, but this small, short word caught my attention this time. I have always pictured the creation by one entity/one powerful God, but God says that it was us who made man in our image. God in three persons made man to be after God's likeness. This shouldn't come to a surprise to me, but it changes the way I imagine God in the beginning when creating.

But what exactly does this mean? Hmmm....this is something to ponder. Does God literally mean physically in his image? Or does it mean that we shall have power over the earth like God which is why God would have put every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth under our care and authority. Is the fact that we are made of body, mind, and spirit what makes us after the divine trinity of God?

Verse 27 ends with God saying that he made male and female. This puzzled me at first because I wondered how the story of Adam and Eve fit into this time table. *Side note---Never before have I paid so much attention verse to verse and I think I am already seeing a difference in how I am studying the Bible. God put each verse into His Word and I want to know why it is important, what it means for me, and how I can apply it to the overall Bible.* In chapter two verse seven, God describes how he created man. At first, I thought...Wait a minute, God already did that, but then concluded that God wanted us to better understand the briefly-put creation story from chapter one. So he is going back and giving us more detail.

Going back to verse 31, God ends it saying that God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good... So God looked upon the earth, the heavens, the creatures, and man and thought that it was all very good. God is so amazing and all-knowing and an insightful planner....and he saw it all as very good. I'm not saying that it wasn't good, but it makes me disappointed that man messed it all up...we disappointed God by what we did in the garden of Eden and so much more. God looked at us and was pleased by what he had done, but we came up so short later and frustrate and anger God so many times in the OT. How could God think that was very good? I can't imagine the mind of God. If it had been me and I would have known what man would become, I would have viewed them with a bit of heartache evening in the beginning and considered making the animals over man or something. I'm not sure how God was able to do it with such pleasure and love, BUT God is so amazing and I guess that's what makes him God. God gave us everything we could ever need and more...a fellowship with Him.