The first creation story in Genesis begins with the well known words:
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters."
The story culminates with the creation of humanity:
"Then God said, 'let us make humanity in our image, according to our likeness; and let them rule over the fish...the birds...the animals...and over all the earth."
For centuries, Jews and Christians have contemplated the meaning of the phrase: "God created humanity in God's own image. In the image of God, God created them."
What does the book of Genesis mean when it tells us, God created humanity in the image of God?
Old Testament scholar, Richard Middleton, claims the best way to answer this question is to ask another one: if Genesis chapter 1 claims we are created in the image of God, then how does Genesis chapter 1 portray God?
The obvious answer is that Genesis chapter 1 portrays God as the creator. And of course that answer is correct, Genesis chapter 1 does portray God as the creator.
But Middleton pushes deeper by asking the question: what kind of creator does Genesis chapter 1 portray, and what exactly is God creating?
It's an important question, because when the author of Genesis wrote the creation story, a number of creation stories already existed in the Near East, stories from Egypt, Canaan, Assyria, and Babylon. These stories described different kinds of gods, creating different kinds of creations, in different ways, from different material, with different results. Most importantly, they described different roles for humanity within creation. A different identity, status, or purpose for the human being.
So what kind of creator God does Genesis 1 describe? What kind of creation does this God create? And what is the human being's identity, status, or purpose in this creation?
After an in-depth analysis of the language, the symbolism, the cultural knowledge and practices of the time, the relationship between Genesis chapter 1 and other parts of the Hebrew Bible, and comparisons between Genesis chapter 1 and other Near Eastern creation stories, Middleton concludes that the author of Genesis chapter 1 employs several overlapping metaphors in the portrayal of God and God's creation.
These overlapping metaphors include the following: God as master craftsperson, God as king, and creation as God's temple.
Let's consider each one briefly.
God as master craftsperson. According to the Hebrew text of Genesis chapter 1, "In the beginning... all was tohu wabohu--formless and empty. With great skill and artistry, God brings form and order to that which is formless and without order, and God fills that which is empty with objects and living creatures. Genesis portrays God as a master craftsperson capable of creating order, complexity, diversity, harmony, and beauty out of that which is formless and empty.
God as king. The Genesis story portrays God as extremely powerful. Like a powerful king, God issues edicts by word, and these edicts are immediately obeyed. Unlike other Near Eastern creation stories, where gods fight one another, wrestle mythical monsters, or struggle with the powers of chaos, the God of Genesis simply speaks and reality obeys. "God said...and it was so."
Creation as God's temple. Drawing on a number of sources and biblical parallels, especially the building of Gods' tabernacle in the Book of Exodus, Middleton concludes that in Genesis chapter 1, God builds a temple. Creation is God's temple.
If these are the guiding metaphors the author uses to portray God, then what does it mean to be created in the image of this God?
Consider the following.
It was standard practice for Near Eastern kings to set up images of themselves throughout their kingdoms in order to communicate their power and presence to their subjects.
In Genesis, God is King, and humanity is the image of God.
It was standard practice throughout the Near East to place a visible image of a god within the God's temple. A temple was incomplete without the image of its god present within it, and people believed the god's image possessed some of the god's essence or power.
In Genesis, creation is God's temple, and humanity is the image of God within God's temple.
Put all of these overlapping metaphors together and what do you get? What does it mean that God created humanity in the image of God?
According to Middleton, humanity--as the image of God--represents God's power and rule within creation. Created in the image of God means God delegated to humanity the power and the responsibility of ruling God's creation on God's behalf.
God entrusted to humanity the power and the responsibility of creative rule, modeled on God's own creative artistry. God created humanity to bring order and form to creation--order and form that were good in the sight of God. God created humanity to fill creation with objects and living beings--objects and living beings that were good in the sight of God.
For now, let's accept Middleton's interpretation. He's a good scholar and he's done his homework. Let's accept that in Genesis chapter 1, created "in the image of God" means God delegates to humanity the power and responsibility of ruling creation on God's behalf.
What happens next in the Biblical drama?
We know that soon after Genesis chapter 1, things quickly go wrong. As the Biblical drama unfolds, humanity proves either unwilling or unable to fulfill its exalted role. This leads to an on-going crisis within God's creation. Instead of creatively constructing a good order in the world, humanity introduces disorder, dysfunction, and disarray. Instead of filling creation with things that are only good in the sight of God, humanity also fills it with objects, systems, and ways of life that are not good.
This disorder and these things that are not good breed hostility, oppression, injustice, hunger, and disease, which spur human attempts to impose order through violence and repression, which lead to further disorder, which leads to further violence. Humanity discovers itself stuck in a vicious circle. People call out to God, "save us!"
Now fast forward the Biblical drama to the lessons we have focused on during the past four weeks.
Jesus' parables about the Kingdom of God. What is the Kingdom of God? It's the term Jesus repeatedly uses to describe the restoration of creation to a state of good order and harmony, which by definition includes the restoration of humanity to its rightful place as the image of God.
The tale of two banquets. Last week, I suggested that Herod's banquet, in which he murders John the Baptist, illustrates the crisis in God's creation. Herod, the degenerate ruler of a corrupt kingdom, represents the antithesis of God's rule and the antithesis of God's Kingdom. Jesus, on the other hand, heals the sick and feeds the hungry in his banquet. His banquet is a social event that manifests and illustrates God's Kingdom. Jesus is restoring good order to God's creation. He's filling it with good things. Wielding power on behalf of God, Jesus is an image of God.
This week's gospel story develops the Kingdom theme even further by directly alluding to the creation story of Genesis chapter 1.
Just as the spirit of God moved over the surface of the water "in the beginning," we find Jesus moving over the surface of the water as he initiates a new beginning. Jesus moving over the water is a potent symbol that directly connects God's initial creation with Jesus' ministry of restoring creation. And key to this whole restoration process is teaching and leading people to fulfill their exalted role as an image of God.
Look what happens next. Jesus invites Peter to walk on the water with him.
"Peter, get out of the boat, and move over the surface of the water with me."
This is incredibly powerful.
I hear Jesus say, "Peter, realize your true identity as a human being. Become a true image of the living God. Become willing and capable of accepting the power and responsibility that God desires to entrust to you. Join me in restoring God's creation. Join me in initiating God's Kingdom. Peter, come to me. Move over the surface of the water toward me."
Peter gets out of the boat.
And Peter walks on the water. Like Jesus, Peter moves over the surface of the water. Like Jesus, Peter becomes an image of God.
Then come the winds. And the fear. And the doubt.
Peter sinks.
He cries out, "save me, Jesus."
Jesus grabs hold of him. "Peter, why did you doubt? You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
Now fast forward the Biblical drama one more time.
Today.
We are Jesus Christ's disciples sitting in the boat.
This church is the boat.
Jesus is moving over the face of the water, the image of the living God.
Moving over all of the order and disorder of this world. Moving about all the things that fill this world--both good and bad in the sight of God.
And Jesus is calling us: "Come out of the boat onto the water. Realize your true identity as a human being. Become a true image of the living God. Become willing and capable of accepting the power and responsibility that God desires to entrust to you. Join me in restoring God's creation. Join me in initiating God's Kingdom. Join me in creating a good, just, righteous order. Join me in filling this world with that which is good. Come to me. Move over the surface of the waters toward me."
And each one of us, at some time or another, as individuals, as part of a larger group, sometimes as a whole church, step out of the boat, and for a while, we move over the surface of the water with Jesus. We become true images of the living God. We wield the power God gives us to create a good, righteous, and just order. We wield that power to fill this world with good things.
But then each one of us experiences some kind of fear. Some kind of dread, alarm, anxiety, apprehension, or hesitation.
And then we are beset by doubts, uncertainties, suspicions, or misgivings.
Our faith is shaken. We begin to sink.
And Jesus yanks us back into the safety of the boat.
But thank God for those moments. Thank God for those moments when we really know what it is like to be an image of God. Those moments when really know what its like to minister to another person. Those moments when we are able to restore creation in some small way. Be a healing presence. Feed someone. Contribute to the creation of a just order. Introduce something into this creation that is truly good in the sight of God.
Jesus calls and calls us still: "Come out of the boat. Join me on the surface of the water. Be who God created you to be. Be an image of the living God."
