Mere animals?

If there is one thing this world tries to convince us of is that we are mere animals.

That there is nothing truly special about us. That we’re no different from any other animal.

But Genesis 1-2 exposes that lie.

I find it interesting that God blessed the animals and humans in similar ways. Both were to multiply and fill the earth. (1:22-26)

But God blessed humans in a special way. He said,

Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth. (1:28)

But it would have been impossible for humans to fulfill that command were it not for one important thing God did, one special quality he gave us.

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness…”  

So God created man in his own image;
he created him in the image of God;
he created them male and female. (1:26-27)

God created us in his own image.

We can think as he thinks.

We can communicate as he communicates.

We can love as he loves.

We can create things as he does.

We have a sense of right and wrong, warped as it is sometimes by sin.

The next time you’re at a coffee shop, or at a park, or a beach, or a train, stop and look at the people around you.

Just look at the things they’re doing, no matter how ordinary.

And ask yourself, “Are these simply animals, no different from any other, with no greater value?”

Yes there are thing we have in common with animals. But God has made us so much more than they are.

So let us stand in awe at the God who made us. And let us stand in wonder at how fearfully and wonderfully made we are.