Genesis 1:27

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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 (NKJV)

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:27 (NIV)

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Genesis 1:27 (KJV)

So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:27 (NLT)

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 (ESV)

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 1:27 (NASB)

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 1:27 (AMP)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 1:27 (AMPC)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God's nature. He created them male and female.

Genesis 1:27 (MSG)

Scripture quotations from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.

New Covenant Meaning

The Image of God Is Your Original Identity

Genesis 1:27 is the foundational identity statement of all humanity. Before any law was given, before any covenant was established, before any command was issued, God declared what human beings are: made in His image. This is not a description of what humans aspire to or earn. It is the declaration of what they were created as. The imago Dei is not a reward. It is the design. In Christ, the New Covenant does not create the image of God in you. It restores and renews it. Colossians 3:10 says the new self "is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator." The image is the origin. Christ restores what Adam lost.

The Threefold Repetition Emphasizes the Point

Genesis 1:27 states the creation of humanity in God's image three times in three lines. In Hebrew poetry, repetition carries weight. This is not a literary accident. The writer is hammering a stake in the ground: this is who human beings are. Made in His image. In the image of God. Male and female. The repetition establishes the image-bearing status of humanity as the defining reality from the opening chapter of Scripture. Everything that follows in the biblical narrative, the fall, the law, the covenant, the cross, the resurrection, takes place against the backdrop of this foundational identity.

In the ancient Near East, kings would set up statues (tselem, the same word for image in Genesis 1:27) in conquered territories to represent their presence and authority. The statue said: the king's rule extends here. When God creates humanity in His tselem, He is installing His image-bearers as representatives of His presence and rule throughout creation. Humans are not just inhabitants of the earth. They are God's ambassadors to it. In the New Covenant, 2 Corinthians 5:20 says "we are ambassadors for Christ." The role of the image-bearer, disrupted at the fall, is restored in Christ and given its clearest expression in the New Covenant.

Application for Your Life

Your Worth Is Not Earned, It Was Created

Genesis 1:27 is the reason human worth is not contingent on performance, productivity, or moral achievement. Worth was assigned at creation, before any human being did anything at all. You did not earn your dignity by being good enough. You carry it because you were made in the image of the God who is good. This is the foundation of how you treat yourself and others: with the honor due to those who bear the image of God. No failure can strip the imago Dei from you. No sin erases the original design. It was placed in you at creation.

Male and Female Both Bear the Image Fully

Genesis 1:27 explicitly includes both male and female in the image-bearing declaration. Neither gender is a secondary or partial expression of the image of God. Both fully bear it. The diversity of male and female together reflects something about the God whose image they share: a God who is not singular in His relationships but relational within Himself (Father, Son, Spirit). When the verse says "male and female He created them," it is saying: both, equally, fully, in His image.

Prayer Based on This Verse

Father, I receive the identity You declared over me at creation. I am made in Your image. Not trying to become something that reflects You, but already made to bear Your likeness. Every attempt of the enemy to tell me I am worthless, unloved, or discardable is a lie that denies what You declared in Genesis 1. I carry Your image. That was true before any failure of mine. It is true now. In Christ, that image is being renewed and restored to its original clarity. I am Your image-bearer. In Jesus name. Amen.