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God-Kind, Reproduction after
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Genesis 1:26-27  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) The implication here is very clear! When man is compared to the animals, man's image is not just of himself (let each reproduce after his kind) but in the image of God! The implication is that man is reproducing after the God-kind! It is not directly stated, but it is strongly implied when the contrast is made between verses 26 and 27 in reference to man and to the other verses that address the beasts of the field and of the sea and of the sky. Man is not just different—he is like God! Man is after the God-kind—not animal-kind and not angel-kind! But how is man like God? It is not merely a matter of form and shape, though that is certainly included. It is principly in terms of more important things: intelligence; broad, emotional capacity; self- and other-consciousness; abstract, spatial, and artistic thought; creative powers to bring plans to pass; and most of all, desire for and capability to grasp spiritual content such as living forever. Man has mind! That is how man is like the God-kind. Man has mind in which the character of God can be created! Certainly, these verses do not say all of that here. They can be gathered from other parts of the Bible, but the ground work for it is laid right here at the very beginning, as God shows that man, though physical and mortal, is after the God-kind. God does not hide vital truths like this by putting them in some obscure book—like the book of Obadiah, one chapter long and which few people ever read! Yet, almost everybody reads the first chapter of Genesis! And there it is—right at the very beginning of the book! The first strong implication that man is after the God-kind is in the very first chapter! Man is different! Man is distinctive from all other created beings! John W. Ritenbaugh We Shall Be God! (Part 1)

Genesis 1:26-27  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) From the beginning of the Bible, man is shown to be in an exalted position, different from the rest of the natural creation. He is given dominion over all of the earth. Man's exaltation, his glory, is in the fact that he is in the image of God. In the Old Testament, the primary thrust of being in the image of God involves shape and form. God strongly implies that man is created after the God-kind. What we can derive from this, when connected to other scriptures that show the same general principle, is that when we are changed—when we are transformed (Job 14:14; I Corinthians 15:35-54)—we will be changed into the kind from which we have sprung—God! John W. Ritenbaugh We Shall Be God! (Part 2)

Genesis 1:26-27  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) In God's pattern for all life, like reproduces like. And just as each created form of plant or animal reproduces after its own kind, so man reproduces man. But unlike any of the animals created by God, man was created in God's likeness. These scriptures refute the theory that man is merely the "highest" of the animals, having "evolved" from lower mammals. They clearly state that God created man after His own "image" and "likeness"! God made man like Himself—same form and shape. And He is now creating men after His kind! Only a very few have really grasped the tremendous significance of this astounding truth, but this is what salvation is all about. This revelation affirms that God is reproducing Himself. Our destiny is to become the literal "children" of God—members of His own divine Family! There is a vast difference between spirit and dust. Although man was created in the very shape and likeness of God, he was not created out of the same material (Genesis 2:7; John 4:24) but of the dust of the earth, subject to decay. But God's purpose is to eventually create him out of spirit! In I Corinthians 15:46 we read: "Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man [Adam] is of the earth, earthy: the second man [Christ] is the Lord from heaven. . . . And as we [speaking of converted Christians] have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" (verses 46-49). Clearly, man is much more than any animal. Man has the potential to become divine spirit—just as GOD is spirit! What It Means to Be Born Again

John 1:1-3  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) John 1:1 and Genesis 1:1 are two accounts of the same event—the original creation of the universe. They both reveal that these two Supreme Beings of the God Family created all things. The Greek word translated into English as "Word" in John 1:1 is Logos. It can also mean spokesman, or one who speaks. It was actually the Logos, the "Spokesman"—the "Word" of the God Family—who said, "Let us make man in Our image" (Genesis 1:26), thus executing His awesome office as the executive of the God Kingdom. Everything was created and made by the divine Being who later became the human Jesus Christ! What It Means to Be Born Again

Ephesians 1:3-4  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) "For I am the LORD. I do not change" (Malachi 3:6). He has never deviated from His purpose from the foundation of the world. Once He had planned what He would do, He set out on to fulfill His purpose, and He has never strayed from it. Genesis 1:26 suggests this strongly: "Let Us make man in Our image." What is He doing? He is reproducing Himself. If He is creating man "in His image," then He is reproducing Himself! John W. Ritenbaugh The Covenants, Grace and Law (Part 1)

 

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