As we continue examining the first commandment, I want to return to the foundation of our God’s Image study.
We have considered names, titles, anointing, and the Father’s work through the Son. Those comparisons belong beside the image language we have already followed through Genesis.
Here, small details carry an important part of the study: one and two, him and them, the joined relationship and those who follow.
I want to preserve those distinctions as we continue.
Man, Him, Male and Female, Them
Genesis describes God creating man in His image, then says:
“in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
— Genesis 1:27, LSB
The movement remains:
man → him → male and female → them
In the reading developed throughout this study, I am following the male and the female as the pair. I do not replace that relationship with the general word humanity and then let that summary determine everything that follows.
The female belongs within the image statement. The wording gives attention to both.
The singular and plural expressions must remain visible together as we examine their relationship.
The Name Given to Them
Genesis 5 brings us back to creation in God’s likeness. It recalls the creation of male and female, their blessing, and the name given to them.
The LSB uses Man in verse 2; the Hebrew word is ʾadam (אָדָם). The naming applies to them. Genesis 5:1–2.
That detail belongs beside Genesis 1.
The shared designation does not make the male and female disappear from the account. I want to preserve both the naming and those who receive it.
Then verse 3 introduces another important detail: Seth is described in Adam’s own likeness and image. Genesis 5:3.
The stated relationship has shifted—from God’s likeness in the creation account to Adam’s likeness in the description of his son.
That distinction gives us something specific to follow. Whose image is being described? Who comes first? Who comes afterward?
Joined Without Disappearing
Genesis 2 describes the woman being formed from what was taken from the man and then brought to him.
The account moves toward their becoming one flesh. Yet the following verse still identifies the man and his wife as both. Genesis 2:21–25.
The union is real, and the distinction remains.
This has become an important principle in our study: oneness does not require us to erase those joined within it.
We need to notice what is shared, while continuing to recognize the participants and their respective places in the account.
The same care applies when we follow the relationship into later passages.
The Last Adam and Those Who Bear the Image
Paul brings Adam and image language together in his discussion of resurrection.
He distinguishes the first Adam from the last Adam, the natural from the spiritual, and the earthy from the heavenly. He then speaks of those who bear the image of the earthy and will bear the image of the heavenly. 1 Corinthians 15:45–49.
I want to preserve the distinction between the one described and those who bear the corresponding image.
This is part of the progression we have been tracing. Receiving, belonging, and bearing an image establish relationships. They do not make every participant interchangeable.
The question is therefore more detailed than whether people are connected.
How are they connected, and what order does the passage describe?
Accomplished Union and Continuing Growth
Our Ephesians study follows that question into the language of two becoming one.
In my reading of Ephesians 2:14–18, the two whose union is accomplished are distinct from the groups whose continuing growth and completion follow. I understand the groups as receiving access through what has been accomplished, rather than identifying those groups as the pair itself.
That is the distinction developed in this study, and it needs to remain visible when we bring Ephesians alongside Genesis.
The chapter later describes the building growing and the readers being built together into God’s dwelling in the Spirit. Ephesians 2:14–22.
The contrast between accomplishment and ongoing growth is central to the comparison I am making. The distinction of participants is my conclusion from that wider study; it is not a substitute for quoting the passage’s actual words.
The joined relationship and those who subsequently participate must each receive attention.
Why This Belongs Beside the First Commandment
As we examine what it means to put YHWH (יהוה) first, I want to understand His image and the relationships through which His purpose unfolds.
That requires attention to more than the part of a passage most familiar to me.
Have I preserved the male and the female? Have I distinguished the one who precedes from those who follow? Have I allowed a statement of unity to erase a role the passage continues to describe?
These questions matter because a broad explanation can quietly remove the very details that would help us understand the relationship.
My purpose is to follow those details together.
Love Includes Careful Attention
Jesus connects wholehearted love for God with love for our neighbor. Matthew 22:37–40.
For me, taking God’s words seriously includes the patience to examine what I might otherwise pass over.
That also shapes how I share these studies. I want readers to see the wording, follow the comparisons, and understand how I reached my conclusions.
The pair, their union, and those who follow each have a place in the examination. I do not want a general summary to remove any of them.
Threads to Follow
Genesis 1: Man, him, male and female, them.
Genesis 5: The shared name and the distinction between God’s image and Adam’s image.
Genesis 2: One flesh, with both participants still distinguishable.
The Last Adam: The heavenly image and those who bear it.
Ephesians 2: The study’s distinction between accomplished union and continuing growth.
Roles and progression: Preserving who precedes, who is joined, and who follows.
The books were opened…
🌿 By Maria Emilia
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