18. Which special role has God given mankind?

God created man in His image as man and woman, with the same dignity but different tasks for man and woman, and gave mankind rule over the earth and its preservation.

• God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:27)
• Submit to one another in the fear of God. Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Saviour of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her. (Ephesians 5:21-26)
• Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. (Genesis 1:28)