"Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." (Genesis 1:26, NASB)
A first-time reading (or hearing) of this narrative can easily give one pause, and perhaps prompt the unsettling thought– "Did I read that right?
It must be a typographic, transcription, or translation error. That can't be right..." God's apparent self-reference here clearly takes the plural form. Not once, but three times "He" uses a first-person plural pronoun ("Us," "Our," and "Our") referring to Himself. Or maybe He is talking to someone else– angels? But that couldn't explain it, because they wouldn't have the same "image" and "likeness" as God.
This passage, found in the opening scenes of Genesis, forms one of the earliest hints we possess of the manifold nature of God. While it certainly requires a much larger survey of the whole Word of God to conclude that God exists in a triune (three as one) state, this understanding surely presents itself here in embryonic form. And God isn't so much talking to Himself here as much as He is talking within Himself.
The mysteries of God's person and character are inexhaustible and this aspect is certainly one of those. Although we may only dimly understand that God exists both as one and three, we have invented numerous, clever ways of explaining how He is a triune being. But of course, all of these explanations and descriptions pale as mere analogies of the reality. They ultimately satisfy our spirits no more than an expertly painted still-life of a plate of perfect pears and grapes satisfies a starving man. Though skillful, the picture remains a thin, flat, and tasteless substitute for the reality itself.
But the passage continues, and the mystery deepens.
"God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." (Genesis 1:27)
From an examination and investigation of the whole Word, we can easily come to the conclusion (though we cannot fully understand it) that God is three-in-one in character– not two-in-one, not four-in-one, but three-in-one. However, when God creates man in His own image ("in Our image") He creates them as a pair– "...male and female He created them." How can this pair (a two-in-one) possibly reflect the image of a God Who is three-in-one?
There is almost certainly not a single answer here, as God's creativity stands strikingly manifold and multi-dimensional, but let us explore some of the possibilities. The fact that man and woman formed a perfect pair was a remarkable invention of the Creator. This pair was not perfect in the sense that they were identical (in fact, they were quite different in profound ways) but they were perfect in the sense that "perfect" means "complete." Each was the elegant complement of the other, and together, they formed a perfect whole, a perfect union, a perfect pair.
"So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man 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.' For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed." (Genesis 2:21-25)
The continuing narrative of creation here explains the deep nature of their union– "...they shall become one flesh." This pair-ness of the two is complete and extreme, as the two, in fact, become one. This seems to echo the oneness of God in three Persons. And yet, we don't see the two as directly reflective of the three-ness of God.
However, the result of the two becoming one flesh should be more than obvious. As the man and woman "become one flesh," (and this surely encompasses the physical, the sexual), the result of such union is naturally a third, new person. The union, literally, conceives and gives birth to another human being. This is a marvelous and miraculous development. The man and woman are created by God, with such a design, that their highest completion and purpose in union is the ability to create another like them (in their image).
This is the first family: a man, a woman, and a child of their union. So this family, three in number, does, indeed, reflect the three-ness of God. So, perhaps, when God speaks of making man in His image, He is already looking ahead, looking beyond the first two in the Garden for the fullness of His image.
But more awaits discovery here. It may be there is even more to the perfect union than the man and his woman, more than the woman and her man. The perfection of union, that God originally intended, today seems nowhere to be found, or very rare at best. When God pronounces that the highest reason the man is joined to his wife is that "...they will become one..." we wonder why this is so hard to realize in marriage today.
We need to understand that man was made for intimate relationship, not only with a woman, but with his Creator more so. God walked in the Garden with the two, and while we don't know the substance and details of their time together, surely deep and sweet fellowship prevailed, drenched with the dew of perfect communication between a perfect God and a perfect couple. Nevertheless, at some point they found themselves alone and away from God in a corner of the garden, making decisions on their own and acting without His consultation, and the tragic results of those decisions have ricocheted down through the ages to this present day.
The only way the original and perfect union of man and woman, as intended by God, can be recaptured is for the two to first seek re-union with God. Only God Himself can provide the mysterious and potent "glue" of His Holy Spirit to unite the man and woman truly as one. So here again is the third that completes the three-in-one as God's created image– God Himself. The man plus the woman (the pair), plus God their Creator, is the complete and perfect union that God originally designed.
Undoubtedly, much more awaits discovery here, but this should be sufficient to awe us as we view the creative art and handiwork of our Designer and Maker.
"For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen." (Romans 11:36, NASB)
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>>> Except for quotations, all text is Copyright, Bill Brockmeier, 2015. All rights reserved. Image is detail of Claude Monet's "Still Life With Pears and Grapes," 1867
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