Genesis 2:7 as a Governor on Our Pride
As God's images, how are we similar to him and different from him?
Answer
In Genesis 2:7 we've got this very striking verse that we are formed from the dust of the ground. This is a sort of built-in governor on our pride, because in Genesis 1 the creation of mankind is so lofty, so grand; it's at the end of the creation account right before God rests, and has all this unique language that expresses how important and how lofty the creation of mankind is. We go to Genesis 2, and we are, nevertheless, dust. So, we have within us, imprinted in who we are by God, this small bit of his authority so that we can go represent him well in human space-time, to rule and to govern and subdue. But nevertheless, we are a piece of creation, we are corporeal, we get to rule only that which God has created before and under us. So, we are like God in the sense that we can rule, we can subdue, we are creative beings. We are very much unlike God because we are nevertheless creation. So, even though we share some of those aspects and qualities of God, there's a huge chasm between us and him by the very nature of the fact that we are a piece of creation. So, we are rulers, yet dust, and we have to live in that tension.
Prof. Jeffrey A. Volkmer is Assistant Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Biola University’s Talbot School of Theology.
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