The Ultimate Original. In the opening verse of Genesis 5 we’re reminded that God is the creator who made man in His likeness (vs.1). Shortly thereafter we’re told that Adam bore a son in his own likeness, after his image (vs.3). Within three verses we can already see the pattern of derivative-likenesses (God-to-Adam and Adam-to-Seth), but the fountainhead of ‘image giving’ is God. His image and likeness was not derived; it eternally was. For all eternity the Father enjoyed beholding the express image of His person in His Son. And on the sixth day of creation the Godhead commenced with the plan, “Let us make man in our image…” That image, though marred by sin (hence the derivative likeness between Adam and Seth), remains (cf. Jas 3:9). And since the times of Genesis 5, millions and millions of people have walked this earth, all in some way reflecting the image of the ultimate original.
