Expert: Mrs. Priscilla Lyons - 4/27/2007

Question
Priscilla...

How is the plural reference to God in Genesis 1:26 explained?

The verse is "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness"

Thank you in advance...

Dan McCurdy  

Answer
Dan,
   Do you mean, why does Gen.1:27 say "in His own image" instead of "in their own image"?  
   You can see the oxymoron (miracle) of the Trinity throughout the Bible, but one clear comparison is Deut.6:4 "The Lord our God is one Lord" and John 14:23 and 26 "If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him."  "the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."  Also, Matthew 28:19 says, "baptizing them in the NAME of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."  It doesn't say to baptize in the NAMES of the three.
   It's our human nature to want a God made in our own image, a God we can completely understand and who is at our bidding, but I'm glad God is much more than I can ever understand completely, because I am so limited.  When an earthly father depends on his Heavenly Father, his children are pretty safe in relying on him, but even the best human falls short of the glory of God.Romans 3:23  We have no eternal hope besides what God provides through His Son.Romans 6:23
   The confusion of the Trinity underscores the necessity for faith in God, but the faith needed to eliminate God in this finely tuned world (despite the corruption of sin), would be harder to justify.
   Does this help?
   Priscilla