Genesis 1:26

Let us make man. The Sacred Record proclaims at the very outset the preeminence of man above all the other creatures of the earth. The plural “us” was regarded by the early church theologians almost unanimously as indicative of the three persons of the Godhead. The word “us” requires the presence of at least two persons counseling together. The statements that man was to be made in “our” image and was made in “God’s” image leads to the conclusion that those counseling must both be persons of the same Godhead. This truth, implied in the OT, in various passages such as the one discussed here, and Gen. 3:22; 11:7; Dan. 7:9, 10, 13, 14; etc., is fully and clearly revealed in the NT, where we are told in unmistakable terms that Christ, the second person of the Godhead, called God by the Father Himself (Heb. 1:8), was associated with His Father in the work of creation. Texts like John 1:1—3, 14; 1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:16, 17; Heb. 1:2 teach us not only that God the Father created all things through His Son but also that all life is preserved by Christ.

Even though it is true that this full light of truth did not shine upon these OT texts previous to the revelations contained in the NT, and that distinct understanding of the different persons of the Godhead was not so readily discernible from the OT passages alone, the initial evidence of the existence of Christ at the time of the creation as collaborator with His Father is present on the first page of the Bible. These texts offer no difficulties for those who believe in the inspiration of the OT as well as the NT, in view of the fact that one part explains the other and that both fit harmoniously together, like the stones of a beautiful mosaic. Not only do vs. 26 and 27 contain hints of the activity of Christ as the second person of the Godhead in this creation work, but v. 2 mentions the Holy Spirit as collaborating in the same work. We are therefore justified in declaring that the first evidence for the sublime mystery of the Godhead is found on the first page of the Bible, a mystery that is placed in clearer light as the pen of inspiration of the different authors of the Bible books was moved to reveal this truth more fully.

The word “man” is ’adam in Hebrew, the very word God employed in naming the father of the human race (ch. 5:2). The meaning of this word has been variously explained. It is descriptive of either his color, from ’adam, “to be red”; or his appearance, from an Arabic root which signifies “to shine,” thus making Adam “the brilliant one”; or his nature as God’s image, from dam, “likeness”; or, and most probably, his origin, “the ground,” from ’adamah, “the one of the soil.”

In our image. “Man was to bear God’s image, both in outward resemblance and in character” (PP 45). That image was most evident in terms of his spiritual nature. He became a “living soul,” or rather living being, endowed with a free will, a self-conscious personality.

This nature reflected the divine holiness of its Maker until sin shattered the divine likeness. It is only through Christ, the brightness of the glory of God and the “express image of his person” (Heb. 1:3), that our nature is transformed into the image of God again (Col. 3:10; Eph. 4:24).

And let them have dominion. The relationship of man to the rest of the creation was to be one of rulership. The use of the plural “them” shows that God planned from the very beginning to create more than one individual. By transferring to Adam ruling power over “all the earth,” God planned to make man His representative, or viceroy, over this planet. That the beast of the field is not mentioned has been taken by some commentators as an indication that the animals that are now wild were not subjected to Adam. This opinion is untenable. The plants are also missing in the enumeration of created works subjected to Adam, although no one will deny that man has had the right to rule over the vegetation to the present day and that the plants must have been included in the phrase “all the earth.” This phrase, in fact, covers everything on this earth not mentioned by name, including “the beasts of the field” (Ps. 8:6—8). However, God limited man’s supremacy to this earth, not transferring to Adam rulership over the celestial bodies.