Hi jerreye,
I will see if I can help with your questions;
But, WHAT was SO? How can it NOT be EVERTHING mentioned from verse 26-30, which includes making man in His image??
If you look back when God created the different things, you will notice that immediately after their creation said, "and it is so."
Gen 1:7 Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.
Gen 1:9 Then God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so.
Gen 1:11 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so.
Gen 1:15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so.
Gen 1:24 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind"; and it was so.
Now when you come to the creation of man, you will notice when He had finished this part of His creation, He did not end it with the statement, "and it is so."
Gen 1:26 Then God said, "Let Us make man 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 all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
Gen 1:27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Gen 1:28 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 moves on the earth."
But in verses 29-30, He went on to speak on what He had given them for food and that is when God said, "and it is so."
Gen 1:29 And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.
Gen 1:30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so.
Gen 1:31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.
And of course God overlooking His whole creation and said, "indeed it was very good." Because this creation is His plan to bring all mankind into the family of God. And though it was just the beginning, He knows the end from the beginning.
Isa 46:9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,
v. 10
declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,'
Ray also states that because the present-future-tense is used, as in, "God is MAKING man in His image", proves that it wasn't a completed act, as in "God MADE man in His image". But, how about everthing else God made? The present-future-tense is used ALSO concerning Him creating the vegetation, animals and virtually everything else....He is MAKING the animals and He is MAKING the herbs etc etc...
You will notice that God created the creatures of the earth as a completed living thing, able to substain life and reproduce after it's on kind.
Gen 1:21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds,
Gen 1:25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind.
God also made man complete, in that he was able to substain life and reproduce.
Gen 1:26 "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion..."
But in the next verse God goes on to state He is in the process of
creating man into "His image." But after this verse there is no, "and it was so."
Gen 1:27 And creating is the Elohim humanity in His image. In the image of the Elohim He creates it. Male and female He creates them. (CLV)
This is the way that I understand these verses, I hope it helped
mercy, peace, and love
Kat