Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.God is consulting Himself, but Himself in the plural (red words). Bear with me through the grammar as it's important... The word for God used here ('Elohim') is itself plural, but the Bible later insists that the plural 'Elohim' refers to one God. For example, in Genesis 6:13 God ('Elohim') says to Noah, 'I am going to destroy the earth'. So this plurality (us, our) shows that God's oneness involves diversity: the Creator God (Father) is at the same time present in creation through His Spirit (Holy Spirit) and active in creation through His Word (Son). They are in relationship with each other.
The second amazing thing in this verse is that man is made in God's image, in his likeness! My image of God is marred because of my sin, but as Christ lives in me (Gal 2:20) I can still be a good 'likeness' of God to others.
I'm really enjoying your bite-size but meaningful posts. On this one, have you ever thought how Colossians 1:15 informs this? God made us in his image... Jesus is the image of God. So we were made like him? Christmas has never quite been the same since I was told that one!
ReplyDeleteWow! I'd never put them together! Thank you for sharing. :)
ReplyDelete"The Son [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." Colossians 1:15