![]() Another hypothesis suggests that the plural form is used to convey dignity and splendor, a language device called “ plural of majesty.” Others chalk up the plural language to a technique known as “plural of deliberation,” used when a speaker consults with himself as the Lord does in Isaiah 6:8: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’” However, this theory falls apart because nowhere in Scripture does God say that the angels are made in His image or likeness. Some believe that in Genesis 1:26 God refers to Himself and includes the heavenly assembly of angels, as in Job 1:6 1 Kings 22:19–20 and Psalm 89:5. So how can we understand the plurality of His name Elohim together with His statement, “Let Us make man in Our image?”īible scholars present several possible explanations: We know from Scripture that there is only one God, there is no other God, and He is one (Deuteronomy 6:4 Isaiah 45:5, 6, 18 Mark 12:32 Galatians 3:20 1 Timothy 2:5). We find the plural Elohim more than 2,550 times in the Bible. ![]() This passage is not the only instance in which God refers to Himself in plural terms (see Genesis 3:22 11:7 and Isaiah 6:8). In Genesis 1:26-the first time in the Bible that God speaks about Himself-He uses the plural pronouns Us and Our. God, our Creator, chose to introduce Himself to us with a plural title. The original Hebrew word for “God” in Genesis 1 is the plural masculine noun Elohim. Jesus Christ shows us what God meant when He said, “Let Us make man in Our image.” To see Jesus is to see the Father (John 14:9). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the preeminent and perfect image of God: “The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God” (Hebrews 1:3, NLT see also 2 Corinthians 4:4 Colossians 1:15). Since the beginning of time, God has desired to bless us and enjoy close fellowship with us, and for this reason He made us like Himself. Instead, God’s likeness denotes our capacity to rule over creation and be in relationship with God and other humans and to exercise reason, intelligence, speech, moral consciousness, creativity, rationality, and choice. Some Christians like to say we are “imagers of God.” Our likeness with God is not a physical resemblance. Having God’s image means we are fashioned to resemble and represent God on the earth. We were created directly by God to represent Him on the earth and have dominion over every other creation in His name (Genesis 1:26–28). We did not evolve from other lower forms of life. “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us,” says Genesis 1:26 in the NLT. ![]() Human beings-both men and women-are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27 5:1–3 9:6 James 3:9). ![]() When God reaches His crowning creative act-the formation of human life-His wording changes from the impersonal “let there be” to the deliberate and intimate expression, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” God’s plan for humans included giving them responsibilities on the earth: “And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (Genesis 1:26, ESV). Genesis 1 details the creation account of the all-knowing, all-powerful, sovereign God.
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