Redeemer Catechism Series, Question 12
JORDAN QUINLEY |
Previously, we discussed God’s work of creation. As we continue working through theRedeemer Catechism, we come next to question and answer to consider:
Q12: How did God create humankind?
A12: God created humankind male and female, and in his own image—in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness—with a nature suitable for their purpose and responsibility over the earth and its creatures.
The catechism asks specifically about God’s creation of human beings because that is most relevant to all the questions that concern us. Were things always the way they are now? And if not, how can we recover what was lost? The Bible tells us that things were not always as they are. The creation account focuses on God’s creation of two human beings in particular, Adam and Eve. But for now, even their names are not important. The most important things are what they were like and what God meant for them to be, both in relation to him and in relation to the world in which God created them.
I want us to notice three main aspects of God’s design and intent for humanity. First, God made us male and female. Second, God made us in His image. And third, God commissioned us in two particular ways in connection with how and why He made us.
In their book God’s Kingdom Through God’s Covenants, Stephen Wellum and Peter Gentry observe, while discussing the creation of man and woman in the image of God in Genesis 1:26–28, that “the duality of gender is the basis for being fruitful, while the divine image is correlated with the command to rule as God’s viceroy.”
…what God says about humans when He creates them is directly tied to the commands He gives them. God made people, says the catechism, “with a nature suitable for their purpose.”
In other words, what God says about humans when He creates them is directly tied to the commands He gives them. God made people, says the catechism, “with a nature suitable for their purpose.” We are to be fruitful and multiply and are endowed (“blessed” in verse 28) with the ability to do so. Likewise, we are to subdue and rule the creation around us and are under the appropriate authority for this task because we are God’s image on earth.
God’s creation of humanity as comprising male and female is not, of course, unique to our species. Animals are also created male and female, and interestingly, some (the sea creatures and birds in verse 22) are explicitly given the same command to multiply and fill their places of habitation. As with these creatures, our creation as male and female allows us to fulfill God’s commission to expand over the land.
Joy-Filled Union
The union of man and woman within the covenant of marriage is given to us as a picture of the intimate, joy-filled, and fruitful union that Christ has with is church. Eve declared upon the birth of her firstborn, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” Christ, too, through his hard-won union with his bride, will “see his offspring” (Is. 53:10). In Ephesians chapter 5, Paul reaches back to Genesis 2 to tell us what the Lord’s relationship with us is like:
“‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’”, he quotes, and says, “This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church” (vv. 31, 32).
In this light, Jesus’ parables describing how the kingdom of God begins small and grows and grows are given another layer of meaning (Mt 13:31-33). The human race was commanded to multiply (Ge 1:28, 9:7). In a similar way, as a new humanity of a new creation, the church is commissioned by Jesus to multiply as well (Mt 28:19).
In light of Adventism, it is probably important to underscore that our creation in God’s image is not related to physical appearance.
Now, mankind was made not only male and female, but also in God’s image. In light of Adventism, it is probably important to underscore that our creation in God’s image is not related to physical appearance. God is Spirit, and does not have a form. God no more has eyes, hands, or a mouth than he does wings (all of which are ascribed to God as a literary way to communicate something about him). This is not to deny that “image” often connotes physical likeness. But that is not the way which we bear the image of our Creator.
Rather, the divine image is defined covenantally. “Man is the divine image,” say Wellum and Gentry, “As servant king and son of God, mankind will mediate God’s rule to the creation in the context of a covenant relationship with God on the one hand and the earth on the other.” This is why, at a later juncture in redemptive history, the Mosaic covenant will give direction on, among other things, “how to be good stewards of the earth’s resources” (Wellum). Which brings me to my next point.
The command to “subdue the earth” and to “have dominion” over the animals has sometimes been disastrously misinterpreted…
The command to “subdue the earth” and to “have dominion” over the animals has sometimes been disastrously misinterpreted, especially since the time of Francis Bacon. In a talk given about eight years ago, Bible scholar Richard Bauckham wisely reminds us that the charge we have to subdue and rule must be read in the context of the entirety of Genesis 1. It is not a license to exploit, he says, but a responsibility to care. We know from the narrative progression that what God is entrusting to our care is of great value. We are to delight in it as God delighted in it before us.
As God makes each aspect of our world, he evaluates it positively. “It was good, it was good, it was good,” he says. We can already see in this chapter the truth of Psalm 145:9, that “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.” We know that God clothes the flowers of the field and feeds the sparrows. All together, the creation is “very good,” greater than the sum of its parts, as Bauckham notes.
Custodians
Our role as God’s image bearers is a custodial role. We are meant to rule the creatures as vice-regents of the King, who Himself cares for them and upholds the order upon which they depend. Meditate on Psalm 104:10-30 and ask yourself what our treatment of the animals and their living spaces should look like if we are to be obedient followers and representatives of the One who made them all.
The command to subdue the earth probably has to do first and foremost with agriculture. Unlike the animals, in order to multiply and fill the earth, humans must make the earth produce more food than it would naturally. After all, God put the man in the garden of Eden “to work it and take care of it” (Gen. 2:15). Our use of the land for the purposes of improving human flourishing is permitted, and in some ways demanded. And yet, it is permitted as part of a stewardship and is not meant to be unconstrained. God shows Israel what such constraints might look like when He ordained the weekly Sabbath and the sabbatical years to give the land “rest” (Lev 25:4). The planet under their feet was not to be bled dry, as it were. This proves to be better both for the land and for the people who live on the land. God knew what He was doing.
The catechism uses the phrasing of “responsibility over the earth and its creatures” to make this point more clearly. There is a call to rule, hence responsibility “over” and not just “for.” And yet, we rule as custodians, taking care of what belongs to God on His behalf, and with the understanding that the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it. If we truly acted as Jesus on earth, we would act with knowledge, with holiness, with righteousness (Col. 3:10, Eph. 4:24). This is why we grow in those characteristics as we become more conformed to God’s likeness as those who are being renewed by the Holy Spirit. †
- How Did God Create Humankind? - February 29, 2024
- What is God’s Work of Creation? - August 24, 2023
- What Are God’s Decrees and How Does He Carry Them Out? - June 22, 2023