Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.
They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky,
the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth,
and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
So God created human beings in his own image.
In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:26, 27
When it comes to that epochal moment where God is about to create human life, in Genesis 1:26 we read the words of the Godhead, speaking together, “Let Us make man in Our image.” Never before has such a statement appeared in Scripture, nor will it ever appear related to animal, plant, or any other life, including life that might be in the planetary spaces. This is limited to human life. Only human life—by God’s design—possesses the image of God.
As lovely, beautiful, colourful, and full of variety as the plant or animal kingdom may be, none of that has been created in God’s image . . . only human life. Therefore (and it can be repeated time and again throughout Scripture), only human life can walk with and talk with and fellowship with the Creator. Animals cannot. Plants cannot. The fish cannot. Only human beings enjoy this privilege because only they possess God’s image.
It should not surprise us, then, when we turn to Exodus 20:13, that we read, “You shall not murder.” Why? Because there is something distinctly precious and unique about human life. In God’s estimation, it is so precious and so unique He commands that it must be protected, it must be preserved. It alone represents “the image of God.”
This precious human life is not to be treated violently by other human beings. The One who creates life certainly has the right to appraise it. Simply speaking, it is God’s way of saying, “Life is so important no one has the right to murder it. Don’t end it. Let it live. Because all humanity represents My handiwork; it is Mine to do with as I please. My image is, in mysterious ways, stamped into human life.”
If you think that is an exaggerated statement, listen to the psalmist (Psalm 8:4–5 NASB).
What is man that You think of him, And a son of man that You are concerned about him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty!
While I am not able to explain what all this means or declare the full spectrum of all it includes, I do know that such a statement is never made concerning an animal or a plant. As beautiful and full of variety as those creations are, neither of those categories has a glory and a majesty that is “a little lower than God.” Such a statement is reserved only for human life.
