God made men and women in his image

“God saw all that he had made and it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31). God did an excellent job in creation! When Jesus worked as a carpenter, we can be sure that he made first class tables and chairs. The Bible tells me that I am made BY God. I am not rubbish. “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm139:14).
More than that, God made us LIKE himself! “God said, ‘Let us make people in our image to be like ourselves’. (Genesis 1:26 NLT). In Genesis 1, people are made like God as the crown of His creation. Men and women reflect the glory of God in a way nothing else in all creation can. We are God made and well made.

God made men and women equal in value
A couple can be seen walking along a road. The wife is struggling to carry a sack of mealie meal on her head. She has a baby on her back and is pulling an older child by the hand. She is pregnant at the same time. Her husband strolls merrily along, whistling his favourite tune, a loaf of bread under his arm. While she is dressed in old, tattered clothes and perhaps a pair of torn tennis shoes, her husband is dressed in smart new clothes.

This scenario suggests that the husband is superior to the wife. Throughout history and in many cultures, people have believed in the superiority of the male. This belief has also been reflected in Christian teaching but it is not what the Bible says. God’s first word about men and women comes in Genesis 1:27,

“God created people in his image;
God patterned them after himself;
male and female he created them.”

The word people translates the Hebrew word Adam. Older Bibles use the word man in Genesis 1:27 and that has often been understood to mean male men only and not women. However, Genesis 5:1-2 makes clear that Adam does not mean male man. The NIV reads: “When God created man (Adam), he made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and he blessed them. And when they were created, he called them ‘man’ (Adam).” Adam means mankind, human beings or people. The wonderful truth is that both men and women are made in the image of God. We are equal in dignity and in value to God. This is so important in our families. Men and women may have different roles in society but both of us are made in God’s image. Husbands and wives, sons and daughters – we are all equal in worth before our God. Neither sex is more important than the other.

Let us honour one another in our families as people made by God and like God.
We are God made and well made. Praise the Lord!