Genesis 1:29

"Then God said, 'I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it.  They will be yours for food.'"  Genesis 1:29

So God created mankind and is now telling them what to eat.  Our original food was only plants.  I've heard repeatedly that it's healthier to be a vegetarian and this verse has been used to support that, but meat tastes so good.  My dad was looking at a book that gave advice for heart disease, and that book cited a study where one group ate just vegetables and the second group ate lean meats.  The first group's heart disease was reversed, but the second group saw little, if any, change.  (If I find the name of the book I'll post it in the comments.)

So mankind was given plants and fruit too eat, and was supposed to rule over the animals on the earth.  This is the purpose God gave in the first chapter of Genesis.  We were created to rule. 

If you look at a person and their dog, you often see that if the person is firm and in control the dog is well behaved and happier.  If the person is weak, then the dog is more nervous and less well behaved.  Of course you do have extremes with someone being so controlling and demanding it turns into abuse.  If a tyrant is on the throne he quite often is dethroned before too long-sometimes by his own subjects, sometimes by an outside force. 

Genesis 1:28

"God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.'"  Genesis 1:28

Now that God created mankind, he is giving them their job, to rule the earth and everything in it.  Here the word subdue is said that this word implies that nature is inherently hostile so man must force it to our will, otherwise the harshness of it would lead to death.  The verse is paraphrased to read this way: “Be fruitful and have children, filling the earth with your life so that you can have power to fight against everything in it that leads to death.  Rule with care and fairness over the natural world, over the myriads of My beautiful creatures - from tropical fish to soaring eagles to dogs and cats – every creature that is a part of this living world.” It goes right along with the idea of good stewardship – taking care of what you are given.

Genesis 1:27

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."  Genesis 1:27

Another God said it and now he did it statements.  Of course this is both men and women created here patterned after God himself.  The question here is:  What does it mean to be made in the image of God?  Is this just an appearance thing?  I don't tend to think so, after all there are animals that have similar appearances to people.  I believe this has more to do with our spirits or souls.  Like God we have a moral eternal spirit.  Sometimes it's hard to define and describe, and as much as I love my dogs and cat, there's something they don't have that people do.

Genesis 1:26

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'"  Genesis 1:26

Here God is making mankind patterned after himself, to rule over every other creature he just created.  The interesting thing here is his use of the plural when talking about himself.  The Hebrew word for "God" is a plural word and here he says "Let us."  I think it's important to note John 1:1-2  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning."  Whether there were multiple separate divine beings at the creation, there were at least multiple personalities: the Word (or the Son) and the Father.  From these verses they would appear to be separate beings, but we're still only in the first chapter of the first book.  I'll keep looking.