Skip to content ↓

The Essential: Man

Resources Collection cover image

This is the fourth installment in a series on theological terms. You can see the previous posts on the terms theology, Trinity, and creation. Today the series moves to man.

Surprisingly, attempting to define man in simple terms is not an easy task. There are many things that could be included in the definition and a line has to be drawn somewhere. I’ve chosen to define man according the very first use of the term in the Bible.

In Genesis 1 we find at least four defining characteristics that teach us what man is:

1) As most English Bibles make clear in their footnotes, the term man in Hebrew (adam) is very closely related to the Hebrew word for earth or ground (adama). This is an intentional and ongoing reminder that God formed man “from the dust of the ground” (Genesis 2:7), which teaches us that man is an integrated, natural member of God’s created world.

2) Man is created “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27); which means that, along with being a natural member of God’s creation, he is also a supernatural being. Having been made in the image of God, he carries the imprint of the supernatural Creator, the God who exists and operates in ways that exceed the natural order he has created. James 3:9 affirms that this divine image has not been removed even after man’s fall from his original state of sinlessness.

3) Man has dominion over creation. God makes this clear in his original mandate to man: “let them have dominion over [everything else I’ve created]” (Genesis 1:26). One of the main implications of being created in God’s image is that we share in his dominion over other created things. But note how our first point affects this: since we are also a member of creation, we serve ourselves best when we steward the rest of creation well.

4) Man is male and female. “In the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). This verse teaches us that a central component of what God intended when he made man is that we would exist as two intentionally distinct sexes.

In summary, then, Genesis 1 teaches us that man is the one creature made male and female, from the earth, in the image of God, with dominion over the rest of creation.


  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (November 7)

    A La Carte: Where abortion policies stand now / Misconceptions about sports betting / You shall surely die / Does evolution care about you? / Ministering to orphans in Africa / Book and Kindle deals / and more.

  • Not a Complimentary Gospel

    It Is Not a Complimentary Gospel

    I think we have all felt the temptation to modify the gospel, to preach a gospel that is inaccurate or incomplete. I think we have all felt the desire to avoid the reproach that may come upon us when we preach the whole gospel and true gospel—the gospel that is so very bad before it…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (November 6)

    A La Carte: A warning about having children / Leave church a little tired / Making virtues out of what isn’t virtuous / Is Exodus a myth? / A theology of leisure / Kindle deals / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (November 5)

    A La Carte: Why women use pornography / I want God’s wrath on my enemy / Looking at photos with my mum / 10 things you should know about your conscience / I love being a pastor / and more.

  • A Beautiful 40-day Illustrated Devotional of Classic Literature

    This week the blog is sponsored by P&R Publishing. In the newest release by Leland Ryken, A Treasury of Nature, he joins great works of poetry, hymnody, prose, and art with accessible literary analysis. As Ryken says in the Introduction to his book: “The overall goal of this anthology is to enable nature to be…

  • Four Years After Our Hardest Day

    Four Years After Our Hardest Day

    Yesterday marked four years since Nick went to heaven. I find myself calling him “Nicky” more often now—a name I hadn’t used for him since he was a child. I wonder if it reflects that in some ways he is becoming dearer to my heart and younger to my mind. After all, I keep aging…