By God's Special Plan

Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness."
GENESIS 1:26
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By God's Special Plan
Moses employs a new expression. He does not say: "Let the sea be set in motion," "Let the earth bring forth herbs," or "Let it bring forth." He says: "Let Us make." . . . Here Moses points out an outstanding difference between these living beings and man when he says that man was created by the special plan and providence of God. . .. Therefore the image of God, according to which Adam was created, was something far more distinguished and excellent, since obviously no leprosy of sin adhered either to his reason or to his will. Both his inner and his outer sensations were all of the purest kind. His intellect was the clearest, his memory was the best, and his will was the most straightforward—all in the most beautiful tranquility of mind, without any fear of death and without any anxiety. To these inner qualities came also those most beautiful and superb qualities of body and of all the limbs, qualities in which he surpassed all the remaining living creatures. . .. Therefore my understanding of the image of God is this: that Adam had it in his being and that he not only knew God and believed that He was good, but that he also lived in a life that was wholly godly; that is, he was without the fear of death or of any other danger, and was content with God's favor.