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"And God said, LET US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness; and LET
THEM have dominion" (Gen. 1: 26).
In our last article we saw that the name "Adam" was similar to the Hebrew word for
"likeness". This "likeness" was expressed in the "dominion" which was originally
conferred upon man. When sin entered into the world, however, resulting in a curse upon
the earth, his dominion over the lower creatures was impaired. When Noah, whom we
can regard as a sort of second Adam, steps out of the ark into a new world, the word
"dominion" is no longer used and "the fear of you and the dread of you" takes its place
(Gen. 9: 2). Man, however, is still looked upon as being "in the image of God"
(Gen. 9: 6), and "in the likeness of God" (James 3: 9).
The dominion that was given to Adam was:
"over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the
earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" (Gen. 1: 26).
This dominion was a "shadow" of the greater dominion that was to be exercised by
Christ, the true Image of God. David, in Psalm 8:, sees something of this, and the
apostle Paul in the N.T. completes the story.
"When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars,
which Thou hast ordained; What is man that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of
man that Thou visitest him? For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and
hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the
works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet. All sheep and oxen, yea,
and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever
passeth through the paths of the seas" (Psa. 8: 3-8).
If we turn to the Epistle to the Hebrews, we shall see that Adam foreshadowed Christ.
The Creator of Gen. 1: 26 is addressed in Psalm 8:, and the Psalmist says that "the
heavens are the work of Thy fingers". Unless we are willing to quibble over the
difference between "fingers" and "hands", it is clear that Christ is the Creator in Whose
image and likeness Adam was created, for in Heb. 1: we read:
"And Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth: and the
heavens are the works of Thine hands" (Heb. 1: 10).
From Heb. 1: we proceed to Heb. 2:, where we have Psalm 8: quoted, with the
comment:
"For in that He put all in subjection under Him, He left nothing that is not put under
Him" (Heb. 2: 8).
This shows that we have passed from the type, whose dominion was over sheep and
oxen, to the antitype, Whose dominion is over all. The Apostle continues: