Only we are made in the image, likeness of God

We are continuing our reflections on things we can learn about ourselves from the Creation accounts in Genesis.
Virtually every day that God creates, He completes the day by pronouncing His creation good and then the story moves to the next day.  However, on day six God creates a bunch of animals in the morning and pronounces them good, but we do not then move to the next day.  Instead, God continues His creation and makes man (we will discuss several dimensions of that next time).  After creating humanity, God looks at all of His creation and finds it to be very good.
Do you notice what happened?  Everything that God created is good, but once He made us He pronounces His creation to be VERY good.  On one level, we can say that this “jump” in quality is because all of creation was made for us.  Creation finds its full identity once humanity is created.  The purpose is fulfilled.  But, the other explanation for the pronouncement of creation now being “very good” is the fact that we are made differently than everything else.
All that God creates is good, and all of it reflects the beauty of the Creator, but only we are made in the image and likeness of God.  You are very good.  When God looks at the beauty of His creation He loves it and He knows it is a reflection of Him.  But there is something different about us. 
We are made in His image and after His likeness.  When God sees us, He sees a reflection of Himself in a way that is lacking in the rest of creation.  
I am firmly convinced that this is one of the often forgotten dimensions of the Gospel.  Jesus came to reveal God to man, but He also came to reveal man to ourselves … we had (and have) forgotten who we really are.  
— Pat Arensberg is the Director of the Office for Evangelization and Family Life. Email him at [email protected] 
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