December 8, 2025

The Creation of Humankind as Male and Female

By Peter Amsterdam

Audio length: 10:20
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In the account of creation in Genesis chapter 1, the universe and everything in it—the sun, moon, stars, planets, oceans, land, animals, fish, and birds—were all created before human beings. Human beings were the last things God created. The Bible states that God created Adam, the first man, and afterward created Eve, the first woman.

When it comes to the origins of humankind, Christianity is committed to the biblical teaching that God historically created the first man and woman. Without getting into what timeframe God may have used in creating the world and mankind, the story of Adam and Eve’s creation and existence isn’t seen as being mythological or as a literary device. Rather, standard Christian understanding sees them as actual people who lived within the history of the world.

The Old Testament provides continuity and connectivity between Adam and the other Old Testament historical figures. It shows the connection between the generations of the first man and those who followed within Old Testament history. (It is possible that these genealogies do not include all the generations, but only the main or most important ones, meaning there may have been much more time and many more generations than the generations listed.)

In the New Testament it’s clearly indicated that Adam is a historical figure (1 Corinthians 15:45; 1 Timothy 2:13). On the historicity of Adam and Eve and the Genesis narrative, J. I. Packer wrote:

Though telling the story in a somewhat figurative style, Genesis asks us to read it as history; in Genesis, Adam is linked to the patriarchs and with them to the rest of mankind by genealogy (chapters 5, 10, 11), which makes him as much a part of the space-time history as were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.¹

The following verses speak specifically about the creation of man and woman, with the first verses from Genesis 1 giving an overview, and those from Genesis 2 and 5 giving more specifics.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” … So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:26–27).

Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature (Genesis 2:7).

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man He made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (Genesis 2:21–23).

When God created man, He made him in the likeness of Himself. Male and female He created them, and He blessed them and named them Man when they were created (Genesis 5:1–2).

Man and woman, Adam and Eve, were both created in God’s image and likeness, and once God created them, He named them together as Man. In times past it was common to use man or mankind when referring to the human race, both male and female. Today it is used less, with words such as humankind and humanity more commonly used.

As quoted above, in Genesis 1:26–27 God said: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness … male and female He created them. God making male and female equally in His image expresses the equality of the two genders—they are both equally human.

Similar to how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all equally God in essence, male and female are equally human in essence. They are equal in personhood and equal in importance. Theologian Wayne Grudem expresses it this way:

If we are equally in God’s image, then certainly men and women are equally important to God and equally valuable to Him. We have equal worth before Him for all eternity. The fact that both men and women are said by Scripture to be “in the image of God” should exclude all feelings of pride or inferiority and any idea that one sex is “better” or “worse” than the other. ... If God thinks us to be equal in value, then that settles the question, for God’s evaluation is the true standard of personal value for all eternity.²

Women in the Bible

The New Testament, while written from within a very male-dominant society, teaches the equality of women in relation to God. A primary example is the infilling of the Holy Spirit falling equally to men and women.

In the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on My male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out My Spirit, and they shall prophesy (Acts 2:17–18).

When speaking of the spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit, both Paul and Peter point out that these gifts are given to “each,” indicating that both genders were able to receive them (1 Corinthians 12:11).

In His time on earth, Jesus made a point of breaking societal taboos that were unfavorable to women. He spoke with them in public; He spoke to the Samaritan woman alone (John 4:4–26); He approved of the woman who uncovered her hair and touched Him in the house of Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36–44); He had women followers who traveled with Him and His disciples (Luke 8:1–3)—all of which were culturally unacceptable in Jewish society at the time.

Paul makes the point about the equality of all people, including gender equality, within the church: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:27–28).

Christian author Amy Orr-Ewing offers the following observation regarding Jesus’ acceptance of women and the role of women in the early church:

In contrast to the cultural norms of the time, Jesus made a habit of revealing great theological truths to women. The first person who discovers Christ’s true identity in John’s Gospel is the Samaritan woman at the well. We must not underestimate how radical this is: Jesus was turning cultural taboos on their heads by teaching women and allowing women to be His disciples.

In reality, it is clear that women played a full and vibrant role in the ministry of Jesus, both as examples within His teaching and as recipients of it. While this may seem absolutely right and proper in our 21st-century context, we must remember how radical this was in first-century Palestine. Jesus intentionally affirmed and included women.³

Different roles

Man and woman, though equally made in the image of God and equal in personhood and essence, also have different roles according to Scripture. In the verses about the creation of woman, the concept of different roles is expressed (Genesis 2:18–24; 1 Corinthians 11:3).

Some of the indications of a difference in roles are that Adam was created first and was given the responsibility to name the animals, and also was the one to call Eve “woman”; God spoke to Adam first after they both had sinned; Adam is seen as being the representative for humanity (Romans 5:12–18). These indicate that Adam is given a place of leadership.

While there was a difference in roles between Adam and Eve, harmony is inferred in the relationship. Authors Lewis and Demarest express it like this:

Prior to the Fall, Adam and Eve enjoyed unbroken fellowship with their Creator and Sustainer. Apparently it was common for them to consciously encounter their Maker morning and evening (Genesis 3:8). The first pair enjoyed also faithful loving relationships with each other. No evidence of suspicion, envy, jealousy or hatred occurred before the Fall. Male and female were like God in having mutual relations of respect, love, and trust.⁴

In conclusion, God made man and woman in His image and likeness. That image and likeness still exists, though marred by sin. In God’s eyes, men and women are equal. As Christians, in marriage we should strive to be a union of two equal human beings fulfilling the roles He has given us to play in harmony, mutual understanding, and love one for another. And as new creatures in Christ, we are all meant to be transformed more into His image, and thus to reflect Him in our relationships. “We all … are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Originally published July 2012. Adapted and republished December 2025. Read by Jon Marc.

¹ J. I. Packer, Concise Theology (Tyndale House Publishers, 1993), 81.

² Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (InterVarsity Press, 2000), 456.

³ Amy Orr-Ewing, Isn’t the Bible Sexist?

⁴ Gordon R. Lewis and Bruce A. Demarest, Integrative Theology, Vol. 2 (Zondervan, 1996), 206.

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