The Bible tells us God created the earth–the earth we’re standing on right now. And we’re told that when God created, He spoke. The first thing He created was light. He said, “Let there be light and light appeared.” And then God went through a process of creating the different things that now make up the earth in which we live. Water, fish, animals, and birds. The atmosphere, the sun, the moon, and the stars. God created all of it.
Then it was time for God to create humans. This is what God said in Genesis 1:26:
Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
This is really weird. Why is God talking to Himself and using a plural pronoun? The Bible tells us there’s one God, but when He speaks to Himself He says, “Let us make man in our image.” Now, I talk to myself sometimes. Are you in the “Talk to Yourself” club? Sometimes I look in the mirror and say, “Hey, Chaplain Milton. You’re going to preach a good sermon today, right?” When you look in the mirror, you’ve got to pump yourself up, right? When I sign off on my Sunday show I say, “Well, my time is done. Chaplain Milton is out.” But I speak to myself correctly with the correct terminology. I’m a single person.
And yet when God speaks to Himself, He says “us.” It’s a concept called the Trinity; you may have heard of it. That word doesn’t exist in Scripture. It’s a word we created to try to understand the reality of God being one, yet plural. As we look at the Bible we understand that there is the Father God, whom we hear speaking in this creation story. Genesis 1:2 says the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters, so we have the Holy Spirit. And then, of course, we know the story of Jesus. Yet those three entities somehow are one God. Don’t ask me to explain it. I’m just telling you what I read in Scripture. How does it work metaphysically? Your guess is as good as mine.
There’s another scriptural example of the 3-in-1 God: Jesus’ baptism in Matthew 3. In this chapter, He’s on this earth as a physical being. John the Baptist baptizes Him. When He comes out of the water, the Bible tells us the Holy Spirit came down upon Him as a dove, and the voice of God was heard speaking about Jesus. All three in one moment, existing at the same time. Yet, there’s one God. I don’t know. I’m supposed to know. I have a degree that says I’m a Doctor of Ministry. I’m supposed to know this. I don’t get it. But here’s what I do understand.
God is a being of community.
God exists as a community. He is already a community in and of Himself. God is a being of unity. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit united together.
“Let us make man in our image.”
So, God is a being of connection. This has implications for you and the kind of being you’re supposed to be, because the Bible says we are made in the image of God. That isn’t only a declaration about Christians. It’s a declaration of every human being that has ever existed and will ever exist. All are made in the image of God, which means you are a being of connection. You are a reflection of who and what God is. You are meant to be in connection.
Click on the link to hear Chaplain Milton speak more on this subject: https://youtube.com/live/tjiMP9d41cY