In the following verses from Genesis 1 the word “image” is translated from the Hebrew word “ṣelem (tseh’-lem)” meaning “resemblance”, and “likeness” is translated from the Hebrew word “dᵊmûṯ (dem-ooth’)” meaning “similar to”.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the 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.” 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

There are a few differing contextual interpretations to be considered of the statement “in our image, after our likeness“, but firstly, I believe the phrase is intended to be understood to be speaking of both male and female persons as is identified in verse 27 “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them“

1.

One of the aspects of “image and likeness” attributed to man is dominion, it’s mentioned in the same verse as the phrase. God’s sovereign and indisputable right of management over all creation both visible and invisible is of course infinitely greater than the authority of any created being’s, but within the abilities of man, his God given mortal authority of dominion places him in a superior position to all other earthly created beings. It’s generally understood that there’s an order of superiority among the animals, for example, a phrase that commonly acknowledges this is: “the Lion is the king of the jungle”, but although animals have degrees of local dominion, man has been granted dominion over every animal on earth as well as over the resources of the earth itself, as we can read in Genesis 1:26:

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 creeps upon the earth.

Genesis 1:26

The dominion mentioned in this verse is also reiterated in Psalm 8:

What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen. Even the beasts of the field, The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

Psalm 8:1-8

History has shown the effect of man’s dominion in both good and bad outcomes, and in this it’s clear to see that authority to rule is at times unaccompanied by wisdom but often accompanied by greed and selfishness, so according to His sovereignty on many occasions, God has kept man from his own foolishness, first in Eden as recorded in Genesis 3:

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 3:22-24

Though God has granted a degree of His likeness to man in the form of freedom to exercise earthly dominion, man has often foolishly perceived himself to be without need to honour God and has even believed himself to be a god and subsequently that all that is within his reach is for his own satisfaction, but God has exercised His sovereignty in restraining man for man’s salvation and God’s glory. Though some have questioned how God could permit men’s evil activities, it’s worth remembering that man’s life is as “a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” then comes the reckoning before God’s throne of judgment for all who have rejected Him during their life, and eternal peace and contentment for all who have repented and honoured Him in Christ Jesus. Regardless of what man perceives of his own authority, he is still subordinate to God’s ultimate eternal dominion, as we’re told in Psalm 145 and Colossians 1:

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations.

Psalm 145:13

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

Colossians 1:16

In this first aspect of “image and likeness” at the individual level, each of us have opportunity to govern within the dominion He’s granted us, in righteousness and in humility in view of the day when we stand before God to give account of our lives for His glory.

2.

Genesis 9:6 speaks of another aspect of the “image” written of in Genesis 1:26

Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God He made man.

Genesis 9:6

There are two aspects of “image” mentioned here:
The first is of man being God’s image in the aspect of His sovereignty in judging as the text says:
“By man his blood shall be shed“, so judgement of sin has been delivered in part to man as servants with authority to maintain the rights of others through governance by justice and mercy; as is more substantially written of in Romans 13:

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. 6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Romans 13:1-7

The second form of this aspect of us being made in God’s image is that through this, we’re to be honoured as being a personal possession of God, we’re told this in Ecclesiastes 12:7 “the spirit returns to God who gave it.”, this isn’t said of any other earthly creature; all other earthly creatures have been made for man, but man has been made for God, another verse which represents this is Proverbs 14:31:

Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.

Proverbs 14:31

So no person has right or authority to treat any other person as their own possession, a person may be in a relationship of submission to another through birth, adoption, caring relationship, mutual agreement or legal instruction for a time, and a person may have responsibility over another person for many Godly reasons, but the ultimate ownership of every person is not of man, but God. So man has no authority or right apart from God’s law as being administered by His earthly governing servants, to take or adversely affect the life of another man.

3.

The third aspect of Genesis 1:26 I suggest considering is written of in 1 Corinthians 11:7, where gender specific man is referred to as being the image and glory of God.

Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head.
For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, for as much as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.

1 Corinthians 11:4&7

This chapter from verse 1-16 teaches levels of governmental and relational responsibility within the Church through the topic of praying with and without head coverings, the chapter commences with identifying levels of authority starting with Christ as head of the Church, then Paul (the apostles being the churches foundation Eph 2:20), then men, then women, while leaving no doubt in verses 11 & 12 that both male and female are equal in stature through Christ before God.
In v2, Paul praises the Corinthians for remembering his teaching and for keeping the ordinances/precepts that he had delivered to them, then v3 states that God is the head/Lord of all. V’s 4-6 give instruction to men and women regarding head covering when praying, then v7 gives reasoning for the preceding instruction: The following quote from Ephesians 5 describes the relationship that brings honour to the husband through love for his spouse, just as the church is to honour God through Christ who has faultlessly fulfilled His responsibilities to The Father, by loving the Church from the fulness of His own heart, even to giving His own life for her. We read of this in Ephesians 5:25-33

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Ephesians 5:25-33

The responsibilities designated by God to all created beings are to be honoured by each of those beings. There are historical scriptural examples and parables which speak of these designated responsibilities commencing with Adam and Eve in the garden, Cherubim, Angels, Noah, the patriarchs and matriarchs, prophets, apostles and all mankind; every designated responsibility is to be fulfilled in reverent fear of God as priority over every relationship with man. So as God has instructed that when men pray or prophesy they are to have their head uncovered, they would be dishonouring themselves by disregarding God’s instruction. From my understanding, the obedient response of doing what God has instructed shows mans submissive God fearing maintenance of the order of governance that God has established within His body the Church: v3 “But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.”. Obedience to God is to permeate every aspect of our lives: In God’s creation, everything is to obey Him from the smallest sub-atomic particle through to the largest expanse and mass, which are all of course composed of the smallest sub-atomic particles. The Word says (paraphrased) that a little bit of yeast makes the whole batch of dough rise. Every one of God’s commandments are to be obeyed regardless of man’s perception of their importance; disobedience in eating from the tree of good and evil caused devastating effect to mankind, we are no less responsible today to obey God than Adam and Eve were, obedience results in current earthly salvation and testifies of God’s righteousness.

I will add the following verse for consideration, not of consideration of my perception, but of the verses 1 to 15 which teach relating to head covering:

However, if anyone wishes to argue further on this point, we have no such custom to do so, nor do any of the Churches of God.

1 Corinthians 11:16 NCB

4.

The last aspect in consideration of the phrase “in our image, after our likeness” is in relation to “Holiness”, which I think was the historical first and is the most prominent aspect and it’s contrasted to the image spoken of in Genesis 5 which says:

And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.

Genesis 5:3

The first man Adam was created sinless, he was Holy, but we can see in Genesis 5:3 that after Adam sinned the condition of mankind had changed from the sinless Holy nature of God to having inherited Adams corrupt/unholy nature because of his disobedience to God, so it’s said that Seth was born “in the image & likeness of Adam” who had sinned, rather than as was said of Adam who had been created Holy, in “Our image, according to Our likeness“. This aspect of “image and likeness” mentioned of Seth from Adam is also reiterated in Romans 5

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.

Romans 5:12

Because of Adams sin, every person other than Christ Jesus has been born with sin inherent intrinsically, although an infant can easily be negatively influenced by others, they already have in them the desire of their own will of disobedience, selfishness, covetousness, anger… it doesn’t need to be prompted by associations with adults, teenagers, older children or TV, sin is in each of us from the commencement of our life, just as it was with Seth, his brothers, sisters and the whole world since.
It’s easy in a few words to iterate the transition of man from being sinless to being corrupt, but the depth of the impact of this transition could be written of in volumes of books, and its detrimental effect has been experienced by men, women and children through thousands of years and as we all know; still today. But the state of all mankind doesn’t end on this point. Through Christ Jesus, God transforms people into a more full expression of the image and likeness of God, an image which is based not on a corrupt forefather, but on Christ who is the first born of the perfect image and likeness of holy God, being Himself God manifest in flesh, and who now lives through Holy Spirit in those who repent and believe in Christ Jesus.

The transition to belief in Christ through repentance is such a wonderful occasion that the angels in heaven rejoice over one repenting sinner. and the Christians ongoing sanctification is now accomplished by the new man in Christ as we read of in Colossians 3 and Romans 8

But now you must also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, railing, shameful speaking out of your mouth: don’t lie to each another; seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings, And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

Colossians 3:8-10

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Romans 8:29

Through Jesus’s death and resurrection, God dwells in His children enabling them to express the image and likeness of God, so that although we’re in the present state of our having the corruption of sin still in us while still being housed in a corrupt body, we’re instructed and enabled to walk in the Spirit of God through strength which He provides through Christ Jesus.

Only Christ has perfectly expressed the image and likeness of God in human form, He is called the second man and the last Adam as we’re told in 1 Corinthians:

So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit. 
The spiritual, however, was not first, but the natural, and then the spiritual.
The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.
As was the earthly man, so also are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so also shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man.

1 Corinthians 15:45-49

The man of flesh, and the evil ones, continually attempt to ruin the testimony of the new man, which is the gospel of salvation and reconciliation preached in words and actions; but we know that God is infinitely greater than any evil and greater than our own heart, and through the blood of Christ He has secured His will, so those who the Father has given to Jesus will come to Him; because God’s promises are never broken, He who has begun a good work in you will complete it!

Oh to be more like Christ who is “the brightness of God’s glory, and the express image of his person,” Hebrews 1:3; Oh to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, that we may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

To be living in the image of Christ, we’re told to make straight paths for our feet, to cut off the offensive hand… to apply self discipline, to deny ourselves so that the image of God shines out. Self discipline in choosing to deny the desires of the flesh saves us from God’s discipline and the grief of sin. We’re told to be holy as He is holy. So as I reject my flesh’s desires, and fulfil God’s will, I’ll be living in the present joy of my hope in Christ and bearing fruit for His glory! This plan of salvation is expressed in Romans 12

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Romans 12:2

and the means of our being transformed is spoken of in 2 Corinthians 3

But we all, with open face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 3:18

Jesus is the first of the order of man that is wholly pleasing to God and through Him Saint’s are being transformed into His holy image and likeness. To daily remember and live in the realisation of our heavenly calling; to express the image of Him who made us for His glory and our eternal joy; to be equipped to do this by being washed by the living Word of God, and the work of Holy Spirit…

We read in 1 Thessalonians 5 that our occupation in this world is to be of the new man in Christ by the will of God:

Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble minded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that no one renders evil for evil to any man; but always follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Don’t quench the Spirit. Don’t despise prophesying’s. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calls you, who also will do it.

1 Thessalonians 5:14-24

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