In Genesis 1:26 we are told that God created man with two main aspects. First, man was created in God's image. This word image is an important word in the Bible. To say that man was created in the image of God means that man was created according to God. The image of God is Christ (2 Cor. 4:4). Therefore, man was created according to Christ. Second, God committed His dominion to man. God gave man dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, and over all the earth. Dominion refers to the kingdom. It is the divine kingdom. Image and dominion are the two main aspects of God's creation of man. Image is for the expression of God, and dominion is for the authority of God. Man was created to express and to represent God. To express God requires God's image; to represent God requires God's authority.
We must realize that these matters of image and dominion can never be accomplished without God's life. Simply to have the outward form of God's image and authority is insufficient. If man is to express God and represent God, he needs God's life. Without God's life we are utterly unable and unqualified to express Him and represent Him. We need the life of God. Therefore, immediately Genesis 2:9 mentions the matter of life. After God had created man in His image and had committed to him His authority, He placed man before the tree of life, indicating that man must receive God as life in the form of food. God presented Himself to man in the form of food. After creating man, God presented Himself to man as food so that man could take Him in. Eating is the best way, even the unique way, of taking something into us. At the beginning, God wanted man to take Him in. If God could get into man and become man's life, man could spontaneously express God. As a result of expressing God, man would also be qualified to represent God. If we are able to express someone, we are also able to represent him. Representation comes from expression. The man who expresses God is qualified to represent God. This was God's intention for man from the beginning.