Genesis 1:26
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
KJV
Read in Genesis 1Meaning
Human beings receive a distinctive identity as God's image and a corresponding vocation within the created world. Their authority is delegated by the Creator.
Read carefully
The plural language 'Let us make' has received several interpretations. Christian theology has often read it in light of the Trinity, but this verse alone should not be treated as a complete explanation of the Trinity.
Reflection
Human authority begins with representation and accountability. To bear God's image is incompatible with treating delegated dominion as permission for arbitrary destruction of what God calls good.