Bible Discussion Thread

I'm puzzled by the following passages.

Genesis 1:26

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and 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 creepeth upon the earth."

To whom is God referring when he says "us?" Is God a singular entity? If so, then why the plural form? And who is this "them?" Men? Then why not say "men" instead of "man?"

Genesis 1:27

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."



If God is a singular entity, then how could both men and women be "in his own image?" Is God a hermaphrodite?

I have only seen in scripture that God is Spirit .

But in heaven before creation there where Angels and saints , of variations , so that could be the us in reference to those in heaven . I have not seen a scripture that says this is not the case . But God is Spirit not flesh , Jesus was born of God and became the first man and God being by birth . Never where any angels begotten as Jesus was .

The only part of the trinity that we will ever "see" is Jesus, as the other two are invisible. We can only see the "glory" of the Father. Jesus said that "he who hath seen me hath seen the Father" implying that they would act the same. For our purposes, we will only see Jesus, so we therefore see God as a man. That being said, the image and likeness you speak of in Gen 1:26 is referring to man before The Fall. Once The Fall occurred, man became made in the image of fallen Adam and Eve, as seen in Gen 5:1. For example, fallen man dies, but God does not. Fallen man has a sinful nature, but God does not. etc.

Well Idk if that other answer answered it because I didn't read it but

Because Jesus was with God

John 1:1

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

John 10:30

"I and my Father are one."

So the Word was God and was with God since the beginning. So Jesus was the one with God and is also God.

Genesis 2:18

"And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him."

Genesis 2:21-23

"And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;"

"And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man."

"And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."

So MAN was created in the image of God but woman was created as a help meet for man so women were not created in the image of God if that answers anything.

Being created in the image of God means that mankind is threefold like God is ( body, soul, spirit). We are not like the animals which do not have an eternal spirit and do not go to Heaven or Hell. A suitable helper for man would need to also be threefold in order to relate to him on a spiritual level, otherwise they would not be truly "one." Woman was created for man but was also created in the image of God.

us here is talking about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Deuteronomy 6:4, "The LORD our God is one LORD". This is God's declaration & also believed by Jews, Christians & Muslims. There is no multiplicity of gods that sit on God's Throne. Yet, when God says, "Let us make man in our image...", we find a revelation about this Nature of God. God has accomplished all His creative work by His spoken Word ( Psalm 33:6, Genesis chapter 1 "And God said..") & in the Power of His Spirit. ( Psalm 104:30, Job 33:4). And this Word was made flesh, Jesus, for the sake of mankind's redemption ( John 1:1-14) & was also involved in creation in the beginning ( Colossians 1:13-19).

Those are a few Scriptures to show that God, Who is One, has sent out His Word & His Spirit to accomplish His Plans. So when we read, "God said, Let US make man in our Own Image", this plurality which you've observed, is God in His Fullness involved in man's creation as also in creating the heavens & earth. Man, (interpreted as Adam), was first created. And "them" would be his wife, Eve, & all his progeny after them that would "have dominion over the earth & its creatures".

Man was "created in God's Image". God is Spirit & no man has seen God at any time - he cannot be described in physically terms. But what we do see is not the physical Image of God, but the part of God He desired that man would also have & benefit from. So looking at God's Character, we see that He is first Holy ( Leviticus 11:44), His Spirit communes with man's spirit, He has the power of Love, of Choice, of Fellowship, of Righteousness (pure & holy living), of expressing Emotions, etc. That describes God & His attributes that Adam also enjoyed, but after Adam chose to disobey God & sin entered into him, sin subsequently marred his physical, mental & spiritual aspects. And this marring, or corruption, fell upon all mankind, i.e. we've inherited this sin nature ( Romans 3:23), & our own lives show us daily how far short we have fallen from that ideal & how far our sins have separated us from God.

In the Bible, we see God as a trinity because it mentions that God, Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit each did these things below:

Each is ETERNAL ( Rom 16.26, Re 22:13, Heb 9:14)

HOLY (Re 4:8, 15:4, Ac 3:14, 1 John 2:20)

OMNIPRESENT ( Jer 23:24, Eph 1:23, Ps 139:7)

OMNIPOTENT( Ge 17:1, Rev 1:8, Ro 15:19, Jer 32:17, Heb 1:3, Lu 1:35)

ONMISCIENT (Ac 15:18, Joh 21:17, 1 Cor 2:10,11)

CREATOR ( Gen 1:1, Col 1:16, Job 33:4, Ps 148:5, John 1:3, Job 26:13)

SANCTIFIER ( Jude 1:1, Heb 2:11, 1 Pe 1:2)

RESURRECTED CHRIST ( 1 Co 6:14, Joh 2:19, 1 Pe 3:8)

Hope that helps.