Short answer: Genesis 1:27 declares that God made human beings — male and female — in His own image. To be made in God's image means humans uniquely reflect God and are given dignity, relationship, and responsibility that set them apart from the rest of creation.
The context: the crown of creation
This verse is the high point of the six-day creation account in Genesis 1. After forming light, sky, land, plants, sun, moon, sea creatures, and land animals, God turns to make humanity — and marks it out with special deliberation: "Let us make man in our image" (1:26). Verse 27 records the act, and verse 28 gives the mandate to be fruitful and to steward the earth. Unlike everything before, humans alone are said to bear God's image. This is the foundation Scripture builds on when it speaks of human worth.
What it means, phrase by phrase
The World English Bible reads: "God created man in his own image. In God's image he created him; male and female he created them." The King James Version reads: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."
- "God created man" — "Man" here (Hebrew adam) means humanity, both men and women, as the last line makes explicit.
- "in his own image" / "In God's image" — The repeated phrase stresses that humans reflect God — in reason, morality, relationship, creativity, and rule over creation. Christians have understood the image in various but overlapping ways.
- "male and female he created them" — Both sexes equally bear God's image. Human worth and the divine likeness are not the possession of one sex over the other.
The verse establishes equality and dignity: every human being, of either sex, carries the image of God.
Cross-references
- Genesis 9:6 — human life is sacred "for God made man in his own image."
- Psalm 8:5 — God crowned humanity "with glory and honor."
- James 3:9 — we should not curse people "who are made in the image of God."
- Colossians 3:10 — believers are renewed "in the image of him who created him."
- 2 Corinthians 4:4 — Christ is "the image of God."
How to apply it today
Genesis 1:27 grounds the immeasurable worth of every person. Because all people bear God's image, none is disposable, and cruelty, prejudice, or contempt toward any human dishonors the God whose image they carry. It calls you to treat others — and yourself — with the dignity of an image-bearer. It also sets a direction: the New Testament says believers are being renewed into the image of Christ (Colossians 3:10). The likeness marred by sin is being restored in those who follow Him.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to be made "in the image of God"? Christians have understood it in several complementary ways: humans reflect God in reason and morality, in the capacity for relationship, and in being given rule over creation. All these point to a unique likeness to God that no other creature shares.
Does Genesis 1:27 teach the equality of men and women? Yes. The verse explicitly says both "male and female" were created in God's image. Both sexes equally bear the divine likeness and share the same fundamental dignity and worth before God.
Did sin destroy the image of God in people? Scripture still speaks of humans bearing God's image after the fall (Genesis 9:6; James 3:9), so it was marred but not erased. The New Testament describes the image being renewed and restored in those who are being made like Christ.