26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
Man is the first thing created that has a position assigned to him in connection to the other living things. The other living things had connections to their dwelling place: birds in the sky, fish in the sea, animals on the land. Man is given a position as one who is over these other creatures. The place he dwells is not the first topic of discussion, as with the other creatures. Nothing is said about the Garden prepared for him. His role as ruler is of utmost importance. Man is also declared to be unique in his connection to God. He is made in his image and likeness. Just as God rules over the universe, so man is to rule over the creatures of the earth. That is at least in part what it means to be made in His image and likeness. God rules over all life and non-life, man rules over the other living creatures placed here by God. The other creatures are not said to be made in God’s image or likeness. They have a lower position in the hierarchy of the created universe. They do not have the same status that man does. They are placed under man’s rule, just as man is placed under God’s rule. The other creatures have a place in creation, but not the same place as man. This place gets explained more in the next chapter, so I will not go into it here in more detail. The next nugget of truth pulled from this verse is the plural nature of God. God is speaking and He says “us” and “our”, which are both plural pronouns. God is one, but He is more than one. There is only one entity who is all powerful, all knowing, and present everywhere. To say otherwise would be a contradiction in language. Only one can have all of everything. And yet this God uses a plural pronoun when referring to Himself in this act of creating man. The final nugget is that God fully expected more than one human being to be present on the earth. He again uses a plural pronoun when referring to man ruling. He says they will rule. We are part of God’s plan. We are to rule, to govern, and to be good stewards over the living things on this earth. That is part of our position in creation.
The Arnold Journey 