Youth · Day 2 of 7

Made in His Image

Read: Genesis 1:20-31 (KJV)

²⁰And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. ²¹And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. ²²And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. ²³And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. ²⁴And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. ²⁵And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. ²⁶And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. ²⁷So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. ²⁸And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. ²⁹And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. ³⁰And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. ³¹And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

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What it means

In the creation story, God makes sea creatures, birds, and animals by speaking. But when He comes to humanity, something changes. 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.' Of everything God made, only people carry His image. That means your value is built in. It was given to you by God, not earned by you. You do not become valuable when you make the team, get the scholarship, gain followers, or get accepted by the right group. You are valuable because you reflect the One who made you. This also changes how you see everyone else. The kid who sits alone at lunch, the classmate everyone makes fun of, the person whose background is different from yours. They bear God's image too. Being image bearers means we were made to represent God in the world: to care for it, to create, to love, and to lead well. Sin has damaged that image in all of us, but it has not erased it, and through Jesus God is restoring it. Notice how the chapter ends. After making humanity, God looked at everything He had made and called it 'very good.' That is where your story begins. Not with what is wrong with you, but with God's delight in what He made.

Key verse

“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)

Journal it

Where do you tend to look for your value: grades, sports, looks, popularity, or something else?
How should being made in God's image change the way you treat people you do not get along with?
What talents or abilities has God given you that could reflect Him to others?

Write your answers in a notebook or the notes app on your phone.

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