What does it mean to be made in the image of God and what features of the creation account explain the relationship of the woman to the man?
According to Erickson, it is a critical concept to understand that humans are made in the image of God. He points out that is what separates us from animals, pants, and all other living things. This understanding should also drive our interactions with other people. If we have a clear picture of what it means to be made in the image of God, we will treat people differently realizing that they too are created in the image of God.
I love this point by John Piper in explaining the fact that even though we are made in the image of God, we have really messed up that image by our sin. “So here again the belief that we were created in God’s image begs for a completion — in this case a redemption, a transformation, a kind of re-creation. And that is exactly what Christianity brings. “By grace are you saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God — not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…Put on the new nature created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 2:8-10; 4:24). God created us in His image, but we have marred it almost beyond recognition and Jesus is the answer. He comes by faith, He forgives, He cleanses, and He begins a reclamation project called sanctification that will end in the glory that God intended for human beings in the first place. Therefore since we know that we were created in the image of God, our sin and corruption begs for an answer. And Jesus is the answer” (John Piper, Bethlehem Baptist Church, May 1989).
There are three ways to view the nature of what it means to be created in the image of God. The substantive view says that it is some sort of characteristic of our physical or bodily makeup. The relational view says that humans display the image when in a particular relationship. The functional view is the most popular currently and it says that the image has more to do with what a person does, more of a human function than a particular characteristic.
Erickson speaks a great deal to the relationship of the woman to the man. He takes apart Genesis 2:18 in the Hebrew and talks about how critical the role of the woman is to the man and all that takes place. He points out that “lord” and “master” are reserved for a man, but that often the feminine of those words appear as well.
He points out that in many cases, women were considered inferior to men, but also that that position was never vilified by Jesus. He often spent time extolling the virtuous women that he met along the way, i.e. Mary, Martha, Mary Magdalene, Elizabeth, and Anna. Galatians 3:28 even says specifically, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all on in Christ Jesus.” Even the explanation of a Proverbs 31 is one that commands respect. The role of a woman is to be a helper to her husband. That doesn’t mean less than, often it means much more work. God created man and from man, He created woman. A thorough research of Scripture shows that God values the role of the woman and the man equally for different tasks.