Genesis1_27

Gen.1:27. This verse is not a paradox with the verse above. Here, God revealed a new kind of creation—a collective humanity, not a single man. That is why the Scripture used created (ברא), not made (עשה) here. At the end of this verse, the original Hebrew text uses the object pronoun them (אתם), indicating that the total number is plural.

Because we think sequentially within the limitation of time, we perceive things one by one according to chronological order. However, God is not limited by time or space (Luke 4:30, Hebrews 7:3, Revelation 1:8). In fact, all of humanity was created with Adam and Eve (Jeremiah 1:5). We merely enter the world according to the flow of time. When God created humanity as male and female, this collective human group included all of us. In other words, when Adam and Eve sinned, we also participated in that sin. Humanity’s sin began with Adam and Eve, not on our individual birthdays.

In the original Hebrew text, Adam (אדם) is a collective singular noun, referring to humanity as a group while grammatically remaining singular. Hebrew grammar still holds many mysteries.

The collective humanity is also uniquely special and precious in the eyes of God. The Creator gave humanity an important position (Isaiah 45:11). Humanity, as a collective, was even given authority to command the work of God’s hands.

From this verse, we can better understand why some suffer more in the world while others suffer less—because humanity sinned even before birth. Yet God judges all people according to His righteousness. We are called to repent and be converted so that our sins may be blotted out (Luke 5:32, Acts 3:19). No one is innocent, for all have sinned in Adam.