| "Let Us Make Man" Genesis 1:26 Genesis 1:26, "And God said, let us make man in our image…" Who was God talking to when He said, "Let us make man?" Before we go any further, in case there is any doubt as to whether plural terms were used in reference to God, read Genesis 1:1. The Hebrew says, "In the beginning Elohim created the heaven and the earth." Elohim was a plural word. Then in Genesis 3:22, "And the Lord said, Behold the man is become as one of us." In Genesis 11:7, God said, "Go to, let us go down, and confound their language." So we find us, our, Elohim, and one of us consistently used referring to God. Does this mean that there is more than one God? Definitely not. Elohim was also used referring to Baalzebub, II Kings 1:2 & 16; Moses, Exodus 7; Peloubet's Bible Dictionary, page 224, "The plural form of Elohim has given rise to much discussion. The fanciful idea that it referred to the trinity of person in the Godhead hardly finds now a supporter among the scholars." Elohim simply means gods and could refer to any god, true or false, living or idol." P> If God made man in His image as Genesis 1:27 states, then to understand the Godhead let us look at the man He made. Romans 1:20 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: God made man soul, body, and spirit. But He did not give each man three bodies. Neither has God three bodies. Colossians 2:9, "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." If there is any doubt whether God has a soul, read Judges 10:16. God, like man, consists of Soul, body, and spirit; but not three separate and distinct persons. Eph 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. When one looks at a man, he sees only one person, his soul and spirit are invisible. The fullness of the Godhead bodily dwells in Jesus. Colossians 1:14- 15, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: who is the image of the invisible God." St. John 1:18, No man hath seen God at any time…" yet in St. John 14:7, Jesus said, "If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him." Do these two scriptures conflict? Not in the least. Jesus was the image of the invisible God. As a matter of fact, Hebrews 1:3 calls Jesus the "express image of his person." Just as one can look at a man and not see his soul, they could look at Jesus and not see he innermost being of God and yet be looking at the express image of God's person. Jesus was God manifest in the flesh. I Timothy 3:16, "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." If one says God was counseling with a second person in a holy trinity, this puts that person in an unfavorable scriptural light. Isaiah 40:13 preposterously asks the question, "Who hath directed the spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor hath taught him?" Isaiah makes it crystal clear that to hint that God counseled with anyone is absurd for in the 44th chapter of his book, verse 24, he states, "I am the Lord that maketh all things: that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself…" Now let us allow the Bible to answer the question, to whom was God talking when He said, "Let us make man."? Ephesians 1:11, "In whom we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." Isaiah 40:13-14, "Who hath directed the spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor hat taught him? (v.14) With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgments, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?" The above scripture was intended to point out the absurdity of such a thought. Isaiah 44: 24, "Thus saith the Lord, they redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself." The suggestion that God had any help or consultation in the creation is an insult. God declares Himself to be a jealous God. We see this nature revealed in Isaiah 43:10, "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me." Paul clearly gives the answer in Ephesians 1:11, "In whom also we have obtained a inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." When God said let us make man, he was counseling with His own will. |