Wednesday 23 September 2026

Psalm 124

Background
This week we are reading the creation story in Genesis. Human beings enter the story quite late in the week (or, if you prefer, late in the evolving story of our beginnings). We arrive after all the other animals; after the Earth is filled with all good things. Strangely perhaps, in this opening chapter, God speaks in dialogue, in conversation; God has a communal dimension, which might strike Christians as an early hint at the Trinity: “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness…” (verse 26). Uniquely, human beings are made with the purpose of reflecting God. This has never been understood as a physical image (like a statue) but more of a deeper reflection of God's character, relationship and dominion.

Verse 27 is interesting in a different way: we are made in the image of God, both male and female. This gives a problem to any who would claim God is exclusively male (although we might still have a tendency to use mostly male pronouns for God). In the world around us, we are becoming more aware of a spectrum of sexuality. As we marvel at the vast diversity of the creation being celebrated in Genesis 1, we should be careful not to use this verse to limit God’s creative power to a simple binary ('either/or') state of affairs.

We read about the dominion that humankind is granted over the living things of the Earth (verses 26 and 28), and we can see how it has played out in the history of human civilisation. Human beings have taken power and used it both for the good of human society and for the purposes of greed, violence and acquisition (‘plundered and poisoned’ as Graham Kendrick puts it in his hymn 'Beauty for Brokenness'). The shocking environmental misuse of the world in the last 200 years, which is worsening with a rapidly expanding population, only suggests that we have gravely misinterpreted these verses. Careful and urgent reflection on what God means by ‘dominion’ is necessary. How does God exercise dominion? Surely it is with gentleness, wisdom and great care. Perhaps we should use instead the word ‘responsibility’.

Finally,  a note about the scope of this reading. It is perhaps interesting that the word for God used in this chapter is not the personal name Yahweh (‘the LORD’) known only to the Hebrew people at the time, but rather the word Elohim. This is a much more general word for the divine, giving a much wider scope. The Creator God is indeed the God of all.  The image of God should therefore be sought and found in the face of every human being.

To Ponder:

• What does it mean for you to be made "in the image of God"? How do we reflect God’s qualities and characteristics? Can you see God’s image in other people at times?  Do you recognise it in yourself?
• If one of the God-like characteristics we have is to be creative or inventive, how has humankind used this for good, or for evil?
• St Paul once wrote that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15-20). How can reflecting on the life of Jesus help us to see more clearly the imprint our lives should make, or the image we should reflect?

Bible notes author: The Revd Andrew Murphy
Andrew is a Methodist presbyter in the East Mercia Circuit, and currently the minister of the churches of Market Harborough, Kibworth and Rothwell, and part of the ministry team at St Giles, Desborough. He is married to Emily, with two children. He has been in the ministry for 18 years, previously serving in the Hinckley Circuit. He trained at the Wesley Study Centre in Durham, is a published hymn writer, supports Newcastle United FC, and is proud of his roots in Consett, County Durham.