So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
23 sermons cite this verse
… and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. Our image. Let us make man in our image. This defines man's unique relation to God. John MacArthur said that man is a living being capable of embodying God's communable attributes. You see, the unique value of each of us here tonight, regardless of our color, regardless of our intelligence, regardless of our age, regardless of our health, is found in those words, God made man in his own image. You know what that says to us? That says that human life is invaluable. irreplaceable, and matchless. When we think of men and women as anything less than the image of God, we devalue life. Each one of us, we are image bearers. Sitting next to you, the person is an image bearer. Think of all the babies in our nursery. Think of all the babies in their mother's womb. …
… to you why. If you remember, Jesus came full of grace and truth. Let's start with the truth, And the truth is this, every human life is created in the image of God. Genesis 127 says, so God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God, he created them. Male and female, he created them. You are created in the image of God. Every human being is created in the image of God. And David said in Psalm 139, verse 13, for you, God, created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb. God knew that life even before that life was physically born on the outside. Therefore, every life bears the image of God. And therefore, every life matters to God. And I wanna tell you, every life matters. The unborn child's life matters. The mom's life matters. Both matter to God and both should be valued and protected. Right. So the Bible consistently shows us that the life in the womb is a life that God created, God knows, and God loves. …
… our understanding of sexuality, marriage, fatherhood, and motherhood, and our culture. All of which Scripture clearly speaks to in Genesis chapter 1, I'm sorry, Genesis chapter 1, verse 26 through 28, God's creation of man and woman in his image to Genesis chapter 2, verse 24, God's institution of marriage between a man and a woman for the purpose, Ephesians chapter 5, verses 22 through 33 of displaying the gospel and a husband's selfless sacrificial love for his wife, a wife's submissive respect and love for her husband, which leads to Ephesians chapter 6, verses 1 through 4, and a father and a mother loving their child in a way that reflects the love of God for that child. There's so much we could talk about here, but just to bring the data on to bear on why this is so important, do you know what percentage of women seeking abortions are unmarried in our country. Approximately 86%. So almost nine out of 10 women in our country who seek abortions are unmarried. …
… It's that he's also showing us who we are in the context of who he is. In Genesis 1, verses 26 through 27, it says, Then God said, let us make man in our image. Let us make humanity, that word man means humanity, in our image. Not just royalty. Not just people who are of a certain wealth, of a certain class. This is a God who says every single being has been made in our image. That is a revolutionary concept for this time. That every person, regardless of their station in life, regardless of their gender, regardless of who they were born or their ethnicity, is made in the image of God. Our God says, I'm not like the other gods where only certain people can be made in my image. I'm not like the other gods where only certain people can look like me. I made every single person a resemblance of who I am. each of us are image bearers of God that's why we can't allow culture and we can't allow the different systems to make us believe that some people get to bear the image of God and others don't as a matter of fact in order for oppression to even work there has to be a certain level of dehumanization. Oppression hinges on dehumanization because I cannot see you as fully human and treat you any kind of way. …
… debate concerning abortion is what is going on in the womb, and God is clear in his word. The womb contains a person formed in the image of God. That's clear. Psalm 139, other texts, Genesis chapter 1 verse 26 through 28. God is creating, forming a person in his image unlike anything else in all creation. He's knitting together a human being. Now people have argued and will argue, well what is full personhood? When does an embryo or a fetus become a person? And this really is the most important question. Virtually every argument in the entire abortion controversy comes back to this one question. What is the unborn? What or who is in the womb? Because once that question is answered, every other question comes into perspective. The reality is, if the unborn is not human, then no justification for abortion is even necessary. Some people say, well, the human is not, or the unborn is not a human person. It's just some non-viable tissue mass. Just a part of a woman's body. …
… and we saw in Genesis 1, 26-28 God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him male and female he created them and then verse 28 says God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and what? Multiply. Fill the earth. How do you do that? Well, you get to Genesis chapter 2, verse 24, and it says, A man shall leave his father and mother, unite to his wife, they will become one flesh. That's the answer. How do you multiply and fill the earth in the context of a marriage relationship between a man and a woman that multiply and fill the earth. And this is the picture of God's blessing. He blessed Adam and Eve for that purpose. He blessed them, gave them this command, be fruitful and multiply. And as you go throughout the rest of Genesis, you just see the same thing. You fast forward to Genesis chapter 12, verse one through three, and God blesses Abraham. He says, I'm going to bless you and your offspring. …
… And God said, So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, And be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. And have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth. And every tree with seed in its fruit, you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and every bird of the heavens and everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food. And it was so. and God saw everything that he had made and behold, it was very good. And there was evening, there was morning, the sixth day. …
… and all the creeping things that creep on the earth. So God created humankind in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. And God blessed them and said, Be fruitful and increase in number. Fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and all the living creatures that move on the earth? Then God said, Look, I give to you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree bearing fruit with the seed in it. They shall be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and the birds of the heavens, to all the creatures that move on the earth, to everything that has the breath of life, I give every green plant for food. And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and look, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day. …
… Where's this all going? God created man in his own image, man, persons, in his own image. In the image of God, he created him, male and female. He created them, and God blessed them, and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Now, the purpose of putting images of yourself on display as the pinnacle of your creation is what? To draw attention to your glory, yourself. That's what images are for. Images image forth the one they are images of. That's their job. That's why they're made in the likeness of the one they are to image forth. God is both the artist or the sculptor and the one that's being commemorated by the sculptures and so he's doubly the one being pointed to by persons created in his image. The point, the main point of every human being is God. just revolutionize your people if they get this they don't pass anybody on the street without knowing what's the main point of your existence answer God everybody has one main point in their lives to image forth God if God erects eight billion images of himself in the world. …
… the air and over the cattle and over all the earth and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Man, that must have been awesome. Verse 27, so God created man in his own image and the image of God, he created him, that's mankind, male and female, he created them. And there's a reason why God put it that way. Out of all of God's great creative works, imagine this, as we now in our modern technology gaze upon clusters of stars and systems out there and nebulae that are just spellbinding. I mean, you look at the deep space that our great telescopes give us now, and you're mesmerized. You say, what is that thing? As fantastic as that is, and all the workings of astrophysics in the universe, That's nothing to God. Did you know that? That's nothing to God. Literally nothing. He didn't make those things in his image. You, sir, have been made in his image. Young man, you've been made in the image of God. …
… His likeness. God created man in his own image. He created him in the image of God. He created them male and female. So what's that mean? It means that we cannot image God properly until we exist in community. We were made in the image of God. Have you ever thought about what that word actually means? Like think about what an image is. If I were to show you an image of a tree, the image itself would not be a tree, but it would point to a real tree. And in the same way, God says we're made in his image, that when people look at us, we're meant to think of him. Not that we are God, but we lift others' attention up to God by how we exist and love one another. And so we cannot image him properly if we exist apart from community. That's why before sin even enters the picture, everything's perfect. God is the only creator, and he made no mistakes. And yet before the fall, he says something is not good. What does he say in verse 18 of chapter 2? He said it is not good for man to be alone. …
… at Genesis 1, 26 and 27. Look at what the Bible says there. First book in the Bible, Genesis chapter 1, verse 26 and 27. It says, let us make man in our image and 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. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. So what we see in the very beginning of the Bible is God creating man in his image. In the image of God, we were created. But then we get to Genesis chapter 3, and sin enters the picture. I want you to look at Genesis chapter 3, verse 22. What you've got is Adam and Eve, man, experiencing the effects of sin. Verse 22 says, The Lord God said, The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. …
… When we go to Genesis 1 and 27, it says, So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. And then it goes on to say in 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 creeping, every living thing that moves on the earth. When we continue on through that text, we see that what God is really saying is this is how I want you to show up in the world. I want you to be a people who are able to be fruitful and who can multiply, who can fill the earth and subdue it, let's think for a minute about the character traits required to fulfill that mandate, okay? In order for us to have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds over the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth, that means there is a certain level of authority, certain level of confidence, a certain level of focus and intentionality that was meant to be a part of our original nature. So this idea, and this isn't just you, this is me, where we experience insecurity, where we second get, that's not a part of our original nature. …
… Because on multiple occasions in this series We've now read Genesis chapter 1 verse 26 and 27 God said let us make man in our image after our likeness Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea Over the birds of the heavens Over the livestock and over all the earth And over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth So God created man in his own image In the image of God, he created them. Male and female, he created them. And I want to point out here what I hope is plain. Identity as a person made in the image of God does not hinge on your gender, your marital status, or your parental status, for that matter. You have intrinsic dignity from God regardless of whether you are a man or a woman, a wife or a husband, a mom or a dad, your marital status does not determine your identity or dignity before God. Now, what's interesting is right after this, we read in Genesis 1, 28, God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. So immediately, God starts talking about procreation, making babies. In Genesis 2, what we saw last week is God's design for how that happens. Marriage. Genesis 2.24. A man shall leave his father and his mother, hold fast to his wife, they shall become one flesh. And as man and woman come together as one flesh in marriage, they multiply. That's the whole picture that Genesis 1.28 is talking about. …
… Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. Now turn over to Genesis chapter 2. So starting in verse 5, we see a parallel account of how God created man. Eden in the east. And there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground, the Lord God made to spring up every tree that's pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden, which by the way, Eden means delight. So this garden of delight, a river flowed out of it to water the garden. And there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon is the one that flowed from the whole land of Havilah where there is gold. The gold of that land is good. Delium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It's the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris which flows east of Assyria. Excuse me. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. And the Lord God took the …
… birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own what? Image. In the image of God, he created them. Male and female, he created them. Three times we see this Hebrew word. God, in his word, is saying that humans, that's what man is a reference to, humankind, people are images. They're representations of him. Almost like this world is a temple and the images or idols in this world that represent God are human beings. And not just some humans, like the elite or a particular ethnicity or gender. No, this is stunning. God is saying all humankind, without exception, including male and female, regardless of ethnicity, disability, anything, all humans are created in the image of God, or the likeness of God, which is a parallel concept here. And then read what happens next. And God blessed them. And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And God said, behold, I've given you every plant yielding seed that's on the face of all the earth. And every tree with seed in its fruit, you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and every bird of the heavens, and everything that creeps on the earth. Everything that has the breath of life. I've given every green plant for …
… and all wild animals and over the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in his own image. In the image of God, he created them male and female. Both he created them in his own image. And God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and increase in number. Fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish and the seas and the birds in the sky and over every living creature on the ground. And then God said, I give you all the seed-bearing plants. And he goes on to tell them all the things that he is allowing them to rule over. and then down to verse 31. God saw all that he had made, the man and the woman, mankind. And it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Very good, he said about the man and the woman. Why? Because they were created by God and they were created in the image of God and they were very good. Now, we know the tragedy of the fall, but the reality of the creation is still true of you even in the tragedy of the fall. …
… in his own image. Wow. Talk about grace. I'm going to make you, and I'm not just going to make you. I'm going to make you in my image, in the image of God. I'm going to make you. You're not going to make you in the image of God. I'm going to make you in the image of God. So he created them in the image of God. He created them male and female. He created them. Your existence is an act of the grace of God. the world we're in is an act of his grace, but you, your existence is by grace. They didn't want God and they sinned and fell away from God. And God came. And when he came into the equation, he said to the serpent who had tempted them, And I will put enmity between you and the woman. This is chapter three of Genesis. And between your offspring and hers, and he, her offspring, which is a picture of Jesus coming, he will crush your head and you will strike his heel. …
… thoroughly than I'm going to do today. Genesis chapter 1. starting with verse 27. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. 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, over every living thing that moves on the earth. Go back to the first half of verse 28. God blessed them and God said to them be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it have dominion. It's interesting to me that in this initial commission for Adam and Eve they were given the assignment to subdue the earth. Be fruitful, multiply. Multiply means to have children who have children who have children. Be fruitful has nothing to do with having children. be fruitful has to do with your contribution to making the world around you better. It's being productive. It's a word that actually refers to strength, strength, capacity, ability, an ability to actually contribute to make everything around you even better. The Lord drafted Adam in this creative process and gave him an assignment. …
… Both bear God's image. Put this in your margin, Genesis 1 verse 27. So God created man in His own image. In the image of God created He him. Male and female created He them. Both the male and the female, therefore, are in the image of God. And both the male and the female, therefore, are heirs of the grace of life. 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 7. husbands and wives are to dwell together as heirs of the grace of life. So we are joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. Both a man and a woman are equal in their standing before God if they've been saved. Put this verse down, Galatians chapter 3 and verse 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither bond nor free. There is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. So when our Lord looks at us, he's no respecter of persons. He doesn't say, well, you're of this race or you're that race. …
… we sing it in harmony, and we sing it together. Now look if you will here in Genesis chapter 1 and verse 27. So God created man in His own image. In the image of God created He Him. Male and female created He them. Male and female. God thought up the idea of boys and girls. We didn't think it up. The unisex idea was not created by God. It was born in hell. God made man and women male and female. God did that by divine design as we're going to see in a moment. And you're going to see in this verse that both the man and the woman are in the image of God. A woman is absolutely as valuable and as important, as gifted, and all of the other things as any man could possibly be. The Bible teaches that God does not value one sex above another. Galatians chapter 3 verse 38 makes that plain. There is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, neither is there male nor female. …
… over the cattle, over all the earth, over every creature that creeps on the earth. God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created a male and female, he created them. God blessed them. And God said to them, what's the first command out of God's mouth when he creates man? The first command is not, don't eat of the fruit from that tree in the middle of the garden. No, the first command is be fruitful and multiply. I don't write the mail, I just deliver it. That's the first command out of the mouth of God. to human beings. Be fruitful and multiply. Now by procreation, I don't just mean having babies, although that's kind of a very important part of the whole process of procreation, okay? By procreation, I don't mean that God just intends for us to have children and for them to just be, you know, just sort of let loose out there. The whole idea of procreation brings with it the idea that we would represent God on the earth. …
… 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. And so God created man in His own image. In the image of God He created him male and female. He created them. And then God blessed them and 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." We live in a world now that puts more value to fish eggs than to human embryos, more dignity to whales than to humanity, which is a reversal of the order of creation in which God creates mankind and mankind alone in His image. And it is to human beings that God gives dominion over the animals, over the birds, over the fish, over the earth. And in a sense, God creates man and woman as His viscergens, that is, His vice kings, His deputy rulers over all creation. …