Image of God

I believe at being created in the image of God means that God gave man dominion over the earth. The text in Genesis puts the dominion over the earth by man in the same reference to being created in the image of God. This sets man apart from the animals.

A while back, I was reading a book by Michael Heiser called “The Unseen Realm” that made the same claim. He would refer to man as God's Imagers.

I am presently reading a book by Michael Svigel called “The Fathers of the Future,” and he says that same thing. He says that to be created in the image of God means we have dominion over the earth.

After the flood, God said that whoever sheds man's blood shall have his blood shed because man is created in the image of God. This is capital punishment—the death penalty—for someone who takes the life of another unjustly. The reason is because man is created in the image of God: to take one's life is to violate his dominion.

^“26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, 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.” Genesis 1:26-27

⁶ "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.” Genesis 9:6