Westminster Project 4.2

2. After God had made all other creatures, he created mankind, male and female, with immortal souls that could reason, ended with knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, after his own image. They had the law of God written in their hearts and power to fulfil it, but with the possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will, which was subject unto change. Beside this law written in their hearts, they received a command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. While they kept this, they were happy in their communion with God and had dominion over the creatures.

WCF 4.2) As noted in WCF 4.1, there is something very distinct about humans compared to the rest of creation. This is because humans, or "mankind" as the confession puts it, were created specially apart from the rest of the created order. So, what makes us special? The confession presents five key
aspects.

1. We Are Created Equal, but Different When the confession uses the term mankind, we must remember that this term includes both males and females (Gen 1:27). In other words, the pinnacle of creation was a pair. This pair was commissioned with the wonderful task of reflecting their Creator by creating, filling the earth, and ruling over all creatures (Gen 1:28). This is a beautiful truth: male and female, though different,
were created equal so that they could work together - not alone or against one another.

2. We Are Created Set Apart One of the gifts God gave us to fulfill this commission was reason — the ability to think before we speak, to love, and not simply to reproduce. Unlike the animal kingdom, we have an immortal soul (Gen 2:7), so that when our bodies return to dust, our souls or spirits go before the One who created them (Eccles. 12:7), where either heaven or hell awaits (Matt 10:28). It is a terrible mistake to say that a human is like an animal and will simply disintegrate after life on earth. We have been created, commissioned, and gifted to act as our Creator. When our time here is done, we have the wonderful privilege to return to Him and - for those who have trusted the gospel — to live in the fullest
expression of what we were created for: life with Him (Gen 1-2, Lk 23:43).

3. We Are Created to Reflect an Image Every human being is made in the image of God (Gen 1:26), fashioned to reflect the One who made us. That is why every human - from the womb to the tomb - is special and should be treated as such. It also explains why sin and death are so horrendous: when we see the image of God acting contrary to His nature, we witness active rebellion against God Himself. Conversely, when we see people doing wonderful things -feeding the poor, protecting animals from poaching, and caring for
the vulnerable-something within us naturally recognizes that as good.

4. We Are Created with a "Tattooed" Heart Unlike any other creature, humans have a conscience keenly aware of right and wrong. This is because each image bearer has the law of God written on their heart (Rom 2:14-15). Before Adam and Eve's fall, this knowledge was perfect and could be kept. After the fall, this knowledge
remained but was impaired to a disastrous degree, and none of us can fully fulfill it (Rom 3:23).

5. We Were Created to Trust God No other creature was commanded to trust God in the face of testing (Gen 2:17, 3:8-11, 23). When God created humans, He placed a tree in their habitat and commanded them not to touch it, testing their faith in His word. While they trusted Him, they enjoyed fellowship to a degree we can hardly
imagine. This is still true today: faith in God's word and trust in Him will only ever bring blessing.
Like our first parents, problems begin only when we cast off His word and seek to be our own gods.with bold text.