Yauwana Janam

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“Us” and “Our” vs. “He” and “His”

In the very first chapter of Genesis, it states that as God was preparing to create the first man, He said,

“Let us make man in our image, in our likeness....”  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him... (Gen. 1:26a,27a).

Within these statements, it is disclosed that “God” is comprised of more than one Person (“us” and “our”); yet there is an implication that each Person in the Godhead is One in unity and agreement (“his”), having the same goal of creating.

This quality of “plurality in unity” is further demonstrated by a statement made by God after Adam (and Eve) had eaten of the tree of good and evil:

“The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil....”  So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden....  After he drove the man out,... (Gen. 3:22a,23a,24a).

Again, both plurality (“us”) and singularity (“one,” “the Lord God,” and “he”) are apparent.

Moreover, when God was commissioning Isaiah as a prophet to speak to the Jews, Isaiah said that he

...heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?” (Isa. 6:8a).

Here, the word “I” is another indication of the singular essence of God, while “us” is an indication of His multiple nature.

extra dimensions

Admittedly, it is impossible for someone who does not know God, and even difficult for someone who does, to comprehend how He could be both multiple and single at the same time.  This difficulty is understandable, though, since we live and breathe in a 3-dimensional realm; whereas, the Almighty God, our Creator, exists in multiple (and, I suspect, infinite) dimensions.  Moreover, we are bounded by time (which actually is another dimension created by God for us—see “purpose of time”: C-15, P-I), while God is completely independent of time, existing in eternity and in the present all at once.  We will not even begin to comprehend the vastness and complexity of God until we transcend this domain and continue on into the next realm of higher dimensions.  The only way to “see” all aspects of God is through purely spiritual “eyes.”

The following is one way, though, which helps me to grasp the combined multiple and singular properties of the Godhead.  Imagine two flat people living in “Flatland,” a 2-dimensional realm (plane), all which you have “created.”  In front of one person, you project three of your fingers through Flatland; he sees three single circles where your 3-dimensional fingers intersect the Flatland plane.  Then, in front of the other flat person, you slide one finger through her plane of existence; she, of course, perceives one circle where your finger penetrates the plane (see Figure 2).

Now, each person explains to the other his/her perception of “god.”  One claims that the god of Flatland is single; the other insists that this god is multiple.  They will not agree until they both begin to think and visualize in extra dimensions.  Then they may realize that their “god” (you, in this case) is not only both one and three at once but is more multi-faceted and complex than either one of them could ever have imagined with the limited insight they had.  Of course, to even begin to comprehend you (their “creator”), they would have to become 3-dimensional themselves.  (Note:  Let me make it clear that I do not believe people can “create” anything by themselves; only God can do that.  The words “created,” “creation,” “creator,” and “god” in this portrayal are strictly for the purpose of illustration.)

For a different visualization, picture a cardboard isosceles triangle (one having two equal sides) laying flat on a table.  Now, consider this:  Can that triangle become a circle?  The question is absurd in the realm of the 2-dimensional plane of the table top; of course it cannot.  However, if the apex angle (between the two equal sides) is lifted upward into a third dimension, pointing straight up, and then the triangle is rotated 360°, the base of the triangle will outline a circular disc on the table (see Figure 3).  Therefore, in that 2-dimensional plane, the triangle can “become” a circle if it is given the freedom to move in three dimensions.  Moreover, in three dimensions, the 360° rotation of the triangle will circumscribe a cone.  A cone is an infinite number of circles of decreasing size piled on top of each other and an infinite number of triangles in every lateral direction—all coexisting in the same place and at the same time.  The point is that, once we have access to additional dimensions, ideas which seem ridiculous and impossible in our own 3-dimensional world—such as the simultaneous plurality and singularity of God, as well as the simultaneous coexistence of the two concepts of 1) human predestination by God and 2) free human choice—become entirely sensible and plausible.

- Ted Montgomery

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