New King James Version (NKJV)

²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man [Adam] in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over [a]all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that ^[b]moves on the earth.”

Everything that you create, you first have to design.

Everything that you create, you first have to design. When you build a house, for instance, it is first drafted on paper before it comes into reality. So when God said ‘let Us make man [ADAM = mankind] (v26)’, He was referring to the design of mankind. The word ‘make’ used here means ‘to bring forth’ in Hebrew. So when God ‘created’ them (v27), He actually created them first in the realm of the spirit before they were manifest in the natural. In the beginning, when God created them, He did not only create man in the masculine form that we may understand Adam to be. Rather, God created BOTH male and female at the same time. ‘…male and female He created them’ (v27). Therefore, while both were designed simultaneously, they were not both manifest at the same time.

And so Elohim created[1] ‘man’ in His image and likeness (v27). We must understand the difference between these two terms. While likeness refers to the inward appearance, image speaks about the outward appearance. God had to create mankind like Him (both inside and out), otherwise they (man and woman) would not have been able to have dominion (their original purpose, v26).

Mankind’s mind was created to be fruitful.

Mankind’s mind was created to be fruitful. The greatest barrenness is that of the mind and spirit, not of the body. God told them to ‘be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth…’ (v28). To be fruitful (according to God’s Word) carries two meanings. First and foremost, being fruitful refers to spiritual conception: to have a creative mind. Secondly, fruitfulness refers to physical conception (i.e. giving birth/to reproduce). This understanding of being fruitful is, however, not the intended understanding here, otherwise Adam and Eve would not have waited until after the fall to reproduce physically. The fruitfulness spoken about here is creativity of the mind, because you can reproduce physically and still be BARREN in the spirit. Therefore, when God commanded mankind to multiply, He intended for us to fill the earth with our creative presence.

Genesis 2:7;18 New King James Version (NKJV)
⁷ And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. ¹⁸ And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”

If you arranged to have a house designed (drafted on paper) and created (built from scratch), and left it vacant for three years, life would essentially leave the house. Spider webs would form in every crevice and corner, walls would collapse, and paint would wear off, because there was no life in the house. If, however, someone stayed in the house and attended to it, the house would have life. And so it is with man. After the processes of making (spiritually designing) and creating (bringing forth out of nothing), the next step was to ‘form’ man: to give him shape; to squeeze him into being. But what God shaped here was not man; it was the HOUSE of man. ‘The Lord God [then]…breathed into his nostrils’. When God created the house, God had to release man into the house. So the breath that He gave was man inside of Him (spirit) released into the house. When man was released into the house, suddenly, the house became alive. Just like the empty house, death is when man is taken out of the house. So when God breathed into the nostrils, He released MAN.

Before the fall, there was only one name: Adam.

Take careful note here: God didn’t form two houses in the beginning, He formed one house. When God was releasing (breathing into the house), He released both man and woman into the same house. Remember that woman didn’t have a name in the beginning; the name ‘Eve’ came only after the fall. Before the fall, there was only one name: Adam. Adam (mankind) was dwelling in the house, and Adam (mankind) included woman.  

However, man did not understand that he was ‘two-in-one’. God gave Adam (mankind) a duty[2]: to name the animals. But all the while he did not have the revelation that he was already full, so man began to feel alone.  There is a difference between feeling alone and feeling lonely: you can be alone and not be lonely at all, or you can be married and feel desperately lonely. So man felt alone and God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone’ (v18), and He did something miraculous: He showed man that he was two-in-one.

Every fruitfulness and reproduction comes from a place of deep rest in God.

Every fruitfulness and reproduction comes from a place of deep rest in God. When you are not restful in God, you can’t multiply. So God made man fall into a deep sleep, and decided to make him a suitable helper; a helper that fit him. And while he was asleep, God reached out His hand, made an opening on the side of man, and took out a rib. God had to wound man for him to be reproductive. God reached in and took out of the wound ‘woman’ = a WOUNDED MAN. God brought her out of the WOUND of man!

And when man woke up, he said, ‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman because she was taken out of Man’ (Gen 2:23).