The following is an excerpt from my book: The Community Life of God
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“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

Here we see a corporate God creating a corporate man in His corporate image.

Who exactly was God referring to when He spoke in these plural pronouns? Who is “Us”? Some have theorized that God was speaking to the angels when He said, “Let Us make man in Our image.” However, there are two major problems with this theory. First of all, angels do not create. If God was speaking to the angels when He said, “Let Us make (create) man,” He would have been asking the angels to join in and help Him create man. Only God has the power to create life, so this just doesn’t make any sense. The second problem with this theory is that the angels do not have an “image.” God has an image, but angels do not. We must always remember to interpret the Bible with the Bible. No where in the scripture does it say that angels have an image. Only God has an image and we will take a look at that in just a moment.

The Communal God Seen in Creation

It is obvious that plural pronouns are used in this passage in reference to the Triune God. We could say that the Trinity – The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, took counsel together and decided to make a communal man (mankind). In the thought of God, when He created Adam, He was creating a whole race. Inside of this one man was the whole race of men. This is why when Adam fell (sinned), the whole race fell. The account here in Genesis 1 says, “let them rule over the fish of the sea . . .” God created a “them.” Even though within the “them” were individuals, He still considered this creation to be one man.

This is in keeping with His nature. Remember, our God is not an individual. He does not think or act as an individual. He always thinks and acts communally. When He created man, He created a corporate entity that would express His communal nature and life. This is why plural terms such as “Us” and “Our” are used in the act of this creation. This was the motion of a communal God acting communally! He created a communal man. He created a “them.” His whole plan would revolve around this communal man called “Adam.”

This whole passage of scripture is completely bathed in corporate terminology. The word for “God” in Genesis 1:26 is Elohim. This is a plural-singular noun in the original language. The closest word to it in English would be the word “community.” The One who is speaking in this passage is the plural-in-one God – the God who is Community. It is this God who is Community that creates a community of humans who are to live in His image.

Created in His Image

Many have come up with “ideas” and “theories” about this image thing. In what way is man created in the image of God? Is it because man is a tripartite being just like God? Is it because man has a spirit just like God? Actually, I believe that we have missed the whole point in this area of the image of God.

The passage does not say that man was created as the image of God. It says that man was created in the image of God. One little word can make all the difference. We read this verse as if it says that man was created as the image of God. But nowhere in scripture is man ever called “the image of God.” Yet I have heard many people say that man is the image of God. This is a huge misconception and one that has kept us from seeing God’s true eternal purpose for man.

Is there anyone who is called “the image of God” in the scriptures? You know there is. He is called the Christ, the Son of the living God! (II Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15) Christ is the image of the invisible God. There is no other image of God. Man is only a “derived” image. This means that man derives his likeness of God from Christ who is the image. This is why the scripture tells us that man was created in the image and likeness of God. Christ, the Son, is the image of God. Man was created in Him! Man only has the image of God because He was created in Christ who is the exact expression of His being (John 1:18).

The Image Must Be Community

Also notice with me that here in Genesis 1:26, it tells us that man was created in the image of God. It does not say that a man called Adam was created in God’s image. This is not one sole individual that is referred to here. The image of God is a communal matter. When God speaks of “man” He is referring to the whole race of men and women referred to by Paul as “the first Adam.” This is the Adamic race. This is a corporate entity.

It only makes sense that a corporate God would create a corporate image. But to be community means much more than just quantity. Just creating a race of many people is not in itself a communal act. In order for man to be “like God” he would not only need to have the many, he would also need to have the “one.”

As the doctrine of the Trinity indicates, the one God is the social Trinity, the community or fellowship of the Father, Son, and Spirit. Because God is a plurality – in – unity, the ideal for humankind does not focus on solitary persons, but on persons – in – community. God intends that we reflect the divine nature in our lives. This is only possible as we move out of our isolation and into godly relationships with others.
Stanley J. Grenz
Created for Community
Baker Book House, 1998, p. 51

As I have shown in the last chapter, God is a fellowship (or community) of three Persons who are one. They are not separated, isolated, individuals, but are distinct personalities who live, think, and act as one. No one Person acts independently of the others. They each coinhere or indwell one another. They also coexist with one another which means that they all exist at the same time. The scriptures tell us that all of the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ (Col. 2:9). This means that God has invested all that He is into His Son. Christ is the very embodiment of the Triune God.

When God created this race called “man,” His intention was to place this “man” into Christ and place Christ into this man. Christ is the image of God, but by placing man into Christ and making him one with Christ, man would take on the communal nature of the Godhead. The corporateness of man would be the same corporateness of God (in Christ) and therefore man would truly be the image of God on the earth. The communal God would have His communal man. But this could only happen “in Christ.” It has always been God’s intention that man only exist in and through His Son. But how would this take place practically?

God’s plan was for Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of life. This tree represents the life of the Divine Trinity in Christ. Jesus told us that He was the true Vine. But before He became the Vine to us, the Father was a Vine to Him. Christ was even called a Branch in the Old Testament (Jer. 23:5). In other words, the Lord’s relationship to us is based upon His relationship with His Father (John 6:57). So, in the tree of life, we can see the life and relationship of the Godhead being made available to man as food. If man would eat the fruit, he would assimilate and participate in the life and fellowship of the Triune God.

This is why God put a human spirit into Adam. God’s life (Christ) would find His home in the spirit of man as he ate of the tree of life. Then man would have the same life as God, that is, community life. Then man could live by that Life and be the visible expression of the invisible, communal God! This would fulfill God’s purpose to have an image.

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