When we go to the gospel of John in the New Testament, this is the creation account we read there, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” That is the second member of the trinity, Jesus Christ. Now we are introduced to Jesus Christ that says all things came into being by Him and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In John 1 we find that the second member of the trinity, the Word who became flesh, John 1:14, that has to be the second member of the trinity, Jesus Christ, was in fact the creator. Genesis 1 we see God as the creator. Genesis 1 we see the Spirit of God in creation. John 1 we see the Son of God or the Word of God, the incarnate Word in His creative character. We now are introduced to the fact then that God is more than one and we know from all of the testimony of Scripture that God is three persons in one.
We are now introduced to a relationship. This is very, very important. He doesn’t employ the impersonal fiat…let there be…terminology. He uses language that reveals He is communicating with others. He is in communion with others in this creation.
Now I want you to follow this because this is really important. This is a clear unmistakable, inarguable reference to the trinity, though the fullest clarification of the doctrine of the trinity doesn’t really unfold until the New Testament. You can’t fully understand the trinity until the third person…the second person of the trinity rather is incarnate and until the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit, comes at Pentecost and begins to do His mighty work as revealed at that time. But the seeds of the doctrine of the trinity are planted here. It would be fair to say that we would overstate the case if we expected any original reader of Genesis to grasp the doctrine of the trinity from Genesis chapter 1. That would be overstating the case…the case…it’s not there. B.B. Warfield, the great Princeton theologian, once wrote, “The times were not ripe for the revelation of the trinity in the unity of the godhead until the fullness of the time had come for God to send forth His Son unto redemption and His Spirit unto sanctification.” And that’s exactly right. We don’t see the fullness of the trinity until the Lord Jesus Christ comes and until the Holy Spirit is sent.
So this verse cannot in some simplistic way be used as a proof of the trinity, but looking back at it from the vantage point of the incarnation and the vantage point of the coming of the Holy Spirit, we can see the richness of the meaning here because we have the full revelation. Now there are throughout the Old Testament, and it needs to be mentioned, there are throughout the Old Testament passages of Scripture which indicate communication between the members of the trinity. For example, in chapter 2 of Psalms, or Psalm 2 verse 7, the psalmist writes, “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord, He said to Me, ‘Thou art My Son, today I have begotten Thee.’” And there is the first member of the trinity, the Father, communicating to the second member of the trinity, the Son. And that, of course, prophesies what was fulfilled in the incarnation of Christ and referred to in Hebrews chapter 1.
Later on in the Psalms, in Psalm 45, and this is very foundational so I’m going to take a minute with it here, in Psalm 45 and verse 7, again the Father is speaking..speaking of the Son, He says, “God, Thy God, has anointed Thee with the oil of joy above Thy fellows.” Again that is referred to in the book of Hebrews as being directed at the second member of the trinity, the Son. So there is the communion between the Father and the Son again.
And maybe the more familiar one would be Psalm 110:1, some of you may be familiar with and you have a very direct communication there, if I can find it here, “The Lord says to My Lord,” there it is. Two Lords, one speaking to the other. The Lord being the Father says to My Lord, being the Son, “Sit at My right hand until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet.” And again that is referenced in the New Testament as being a messianic prophecy.
You could look at Isaiah 48:16, you find the same thing, where there is communication between the members of the trinity. But again I say, until you come to the incarnation you don’t see the full identity of the second member. And until you come to the book of Acts with the coming of the Holy Spirit, you don’t see the full presentation of the third member, namely the Holy Spirit. But here you have back in Genesis indication that God by nature is in relationship to Himself. He is multiple persons in perfect relationship.
Now let’s dig a little deeper into this. In verse 26, “Let us make man in our image,” implicates the whole of the trinity in the creative act. The whole of the trinity are brought together to do this. “Let us make man in our image,” and then verse 27 says, “And God created man.” You can speak of God as one as in verse 27, or you can refer to God as more than one as in verse 26 and He says, “Let us make man in our image.” God is one God and yet He is three persons, as we know.
What you have here then is the council of the trinity in the purpose of creating man and now the time is right. Now I have to stop at this point, I wouldn’t be faithful to the intent of Scripture if I didn’t do this. Through the years I have tried to show you that God had a divine purpose before the world began and that that divine purpose was to…to take a bride, as it were, for His Son, that God the Father desired to give to His Son an expression of love in a bride that would be a redeemed humanity to be given to His Son to love and adore and praise and glorify His Son forever and ever and ever and also to serve Him. That et eternal purpose of God unfolded within the executive council that is God within the trinity.
Let me just give you a brief reminder of it because it is so very important…so very important. Speaking of Christ in 1 Peter 1:20 it says He was foreknown, which means predetermined, before the foundation of the world but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you. So Jesus who has appeared in these last days for your sake to die on the cross, to rise again, to be your Savior, Jesus who has appeared in these days was planned before the foundation of the world. So before Genesis 1, before day one of creation, before this creative week unfolded, redemption was already planned. Okay?
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
