‘So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.'
Now man's privilege is stressed. He is created in God's own image. Notice the stress on the fact that he is ‘created', deliberately repeated three times in the verse. Three represents completeness. Again this is something totally new which does not come from what existed before. While his body is of the earth, his essential being is made in the likeness of God and the angels. However the link with the ‘sons of God' in the previous verse shows that we must not read this as the ‘divine spark' in man. Man does not share divinity. He shares the spiritual nature of the ‘elohim', which they share with God.
Yet, in order that God's intimate concern and interest may be shown, the writer in this verse stresses that man is made in God's own image. The warning has been given that we must not apply this too rigidly, but he nevertheless wants us to recognise the privilege that is ours. We are on the heavenly side rather than the earthly side.
Note also the mention of the female. Both were made to share the task of dominion. Both share in the image, the privilege and the responsibility. So from the beginning it is stressed that the woman is not inferior to the man, and they are equally instructed by God. The fact that man's new nature is ‘created' demonstrates that we must not see this as a receiving divine life. Note that there is really no ground for arguing that they were both necessarily created ‘at the same time' in contrast with Genesis 2:1-25, any more than we need see all the animals as made at the same time. The point is that He made them, not when they were made.