Being God's Image: Why Creation Still MattersSampel

The Ethics and the Image of God

The tragic story of The Flood in Genesis follows a whole string of human failures—Adam and Eve’s failure to trust God’s Goodness, Cain’s violence toward his brother, the “sons of God” crossing the boundary between Heaven and earth, and the violence of humanity that resulted in The Flood.

But after The Flood, against this bleak backdrop, God blesses Noah, reiterating the purpose of humanity. The Fall and The Flood do not diminish human dignity. On the contrary, humanity retains its identity as God’s image in spite of rebellion and punishment. God’s blessing is also intact: “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1 NIV). Interestingly, this time God does not tell them to “subdue” the earth (see Genesis 1:28). Kabash, translated as “subdue,” is a strong word, implying that the use of force might be needed. The tendency toward violence corrupted the fulfillment of this aspect of human vocation. So God introduces two innovations: fear and food. God causes the animals to fear humanity so that the order of human society is easier to maintain without the exercise of violence. And God gives animals as food for people.

To allow meat eating could introduce its own problems, so God puts up two guardrails to curb violence between animals and humans. First, animal blood is off-limits for human consumption. The life of an animal must be honored by letting its blood drain into the ground. Second, human life is off-limits for both animals and fellow humans. God holds wild animals accountable for killing humans, and God holds humans accountable for murdering each other (Genesis 9:4-5). He gives humans the responsibility to punish murderers: “Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed” (Genesis 9:6 NIV). This check on human violence is explicitly grounded in human identity as the image of God: “for as the image of God has God made humankind” (Genesis 9:6, my translation).

Corruption and violence prompted The Flood in the first place (Genesis 6:11). On the re-created earth, God emphasizes the essential dignity of humanity while reiterating our identity as His image. This identity is the basis for treating each other well. Life is messy, but all has not been lost.