Genesis 1:26
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Genesis 3:22
And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

1. The "us" of Genesis 1:26"
    From Genesis to Revelation the presentation of God to Man is that God is one. Therefore when reading Genesis 1:26, when God uses the terminology "us", should we draw the sweeping conclusion that "God exist in three separate and distinct persons who are "co-eternal"? No- of course not. That would be blatantly adding to the word of God and preaching against everything else He has said in His word.
    Any potentate, such as the Queen of England speaks on behalf of their kingdom or nation in the same manner. How many times have you heard a United States President use such terminology? One example is that of John Kennedy in his 1961 Inaugural Address when he said;

"...let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on Earth God's work must truly be our own." -- John F. Kennedy
It would be Kennedy himself that would actually lead the nation, however he spoke on behalf of that nation saying, "let us".

2. The "us" of Genesis 3:22"
    But to prove that God was speaking of the heavenly hosts that surrounded Him during creation we look at a parallel usage of the term "us" by God in Genesis 3:22. Because it was used in the same manner, it will help us to rightly understand the first usage in Genesis 1:26.

    When judging the fall of man, God says that man has "become as one of us, to know good and evil:". If the errant Trinitarian logic used to analyze Genesis 1:26 was used here, does this mean that Adam became a God? Were there now four persons in the "Trinity" of that doctrine? Of course not. Man had become as one of the heavenly host to know or to learn good and evil.

    And as a matter of fact, this is exactly what Satan told Eve would happen when tempting her in Genesis 3:5. Satan said,

Genesis 3:5
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Did you notice that Satan told Eve she would become as "gods" with a small "g"? This is of course referring to the heavenly host and not the Godhead. And this part of what Satan was saying was apparently true when looking at God's verification of this reality in Genesis 3:22. However, it is clear to see from Genesis 3:5 that the subject of the "us" of Genesis 3:22 is the heavenly host, not the Godhead. A simple realization of good and evil does not exclusively equate one to Almighty God as the angels of heaven know these realities as well. They too had come to know good and evil in the rise of Lucifer and the fall of Satan.

    A second point to understand from Genesis 3:22 is that since we believe God to be eternal from everlasting to everlasting, and all knowing as well, then God would have had to be referring to the heavenly host by the use of the term "us" in Genesis 3:22. This is because God not only already *knew good, He *defines everything that is goodness. It would have to be the heavenly host that would come to learn or "know" the revelation of good and evil.

    Almighty God did all along... from before the foundations of the earth.

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 Web Author:Michael Stevenson Updated: 12/16/2004 7:26PM