26Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Reading Genesis 1 reminds me of the hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness…”Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided.” Surely this would be the foundational praise as God meticulously created every living thing. As He creates, He deems them as “good.”
It is not until we come to His final creation, Man, that He concludes with, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was VERY GOOD” (emphasis mine). Perhaps this is where we get that old saying, “save the best for last”? This is clearly speculation on my part. Nevertheless, Genesis 1:31 boasts of God’s love for His created beings. We are His “best for last.” He was pleased with all that He had created, but he rejoices when it came to man. We are “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” Ephesians 2:10 (ESV).
Do you view yourself as God’s workmanship? Have you thought about the things which God gifted us? (vs. 28-30) Everything He created is ours to use for HIS Glory. We are uniquely created and infinitely blessed! It is because of this that we rejoice! Even in our trials we rejoice because He loves us that much that He is willing to draw us nearer to Him. The trials of life are opportunities to Glorify Him and grow or ignore Him and fall prey to our adversary. Which will you choose?
He created us in His image (imago Dei). No other part of Creation can claim this truth. We witness His hand in all of Creation but WE are the only created ones in His image. Let that sink in for a moment. How beautiful is this truth? Praise His Holy name! Commit to running toward Him instead of away from Him.
You are His masterpiece created to bring Him Glory BECAUSE He loves us so.
The Biblical Counselor 