The sixth day arrived—creation’s final act. We were never meant to be first. Perhaps God saved the best for last, though what’s certain is this: the last created would become caretakers of all that came before.
But something shifts on this sixth day. Something unprecedented. God declares humanity “very good” while everything else receives only “good.” More remarkably, He says something never spoken before—something profound, almost startling in its intimacy.
Here comes the crescendo: not merely another creature called into being, but a divine consultation, a heavenly deliberation before forming the image-bearers themselves.
The universe had been waiting for this.
“And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.” (Genesis 1 v 24-31)
Do you see it?
“Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…'”
Imago Dei—image of God. We were always meant to reflect Him, to mirror the divine. Unlike anything else, we are like God Himself.
For the first time, comes a divine pause.
A consultation. Careful deliberation leading to purposeful decision. Unlike every other day, God isn’t merely commanding existence from the void. Here, before humanity, He stops. He confers.
Let that sink deep.
Notice the plural language: “Let us make…” The Trinity deliberating over creation’s pinnacle. And again, plurality: not man alone, but woman too. Male and female, both bearing the image. Equality in essence and dignity.
We are given purpose born from this divine image:
To govern—not through force, but as wise stewards. To multiply—not simply in number, but by spreading God’s reflection across the earth. To honour the sacred imprint in every soul. To nurture what has been placed in our hands.
Another day closes. Dusk falls, the sixth day finished.
But this day is different. The universe gained witnesses to its beauty, reflections of its Maker, creatures who could know God Himself.
We are those creatures still.
The image may be marred by sin—blurred, cracked like an ancient mirror—but it remains. When we grasp that we bear God’s image, everything changes.
Everything.
Missions Paul 