The End for Which God Created the World

Then 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 birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Genesis 1:26-31

Given the normal meanings of "image" and "likeness" in the cultural and linguistic setting of the Old Testament and the ancient Near East, "likeness" specifies a relationship between God and humans such that man can be described as the son of God, and "image" describes a relationship between God and humans such that man can be described as a servant king. Although both terms specify the divine-human relationship, the first focuses on the human in relation to God (likeness) and the second focuses on the human in relation to the world (image). These would be understood to be relationships characterized by faithfulness and loyal love, obedience and trust--exactly the character of relationships specified by covenants after the Fall. In this sense the divine image entails a covenant relationship between God and humans on the one hand, and between humans and the world on the other.
--Stephen J. Wellum and Peter J. Gentry, Kingdom through Covenant

This paragraph is the most important commentary I have ever read concerning Genesis 1.  The implications, to me, are staggering for how we understand the rest of the Bible.

The idea that humans being created in the "image" of God is associated with human relationship to the world and after the "likeness" of God being associated with human relationship to God makes so much sense of the text, especially when Genesis 1 is compared with Genesis 5.  I can't remember the last time I had such a profound "aha!" moment meditating on Scripture.

In Genesis 1, the text states that humans are both created in God's image and after his likeness, but image has the preeminence based on word order (Genesis 1:26) as well as emphasis and repetition (Genesis 1:27).

In Genesis 5, the text states that Adam fathered a son both in his image and after his likeness, but this time likeness has the preeminence based on word order (Genesis 5:3) as well as emphasis (Genesis 5:1).

Why these different emphases?  In Genesis 1, image is the focus because the author wants to highlight human dominion over creation as the main theme of the end of the chapter.  In Genesis 5, likeness is the focus because the author wants to highlight the father/son relationship as the theme of chapter.

So, as I finished reading Genesis 1, I found myself asking this question: Why does God reveal that aspect of human identity as one who represents Him (image) prior to that aspect of human identity as one who is in relationship with Him (likeness)?

At this point, here's my best answer: Because the chief end of God in creation isn't so much to enter relationship with man as it is to manifest His majesty, power, and authority.  Thus when God sees that His creation is very good in verse 31, it's not so much because of man in and of himself as it is that God's majesty, power, and authority are now manifested in creation through man in a way that they hadn't been prior to that point in creation.

I feel humbled to the dust reflecting on the centrality of God and the relative insignificance of me.