I. IN ETERNITY THE TRIUNE GOD
HOLDING A COUNCIL AND MAKING A COUNSEL
CONCERNING THE CREATION OF MAN
In eternity the Triune God must have held a council and made a counsel concerning the creation of man (Gen. 1:26a; Eph. 1:11b). A council, or a conference, must have been held between the three of the Divine Trinity. A council indicates that more than one person is involved. A council or conference must be held by a group of people. In Genesis 1:26 God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." This verse indicates that before creating man, the Triune God held a council in which the three of the Divine Trinity made a counsel concerning how to make man. This counsel was God’s view. God came in to create man in the view of His dispensing. Why did God create man in His own image and after His likeness? The reason is that this was God’s view. Why did God create man by forming a body out of clay? And why did God form a spirit for man with the breath of life out of Him? Why did God, after His creation of man, put him in Eden in front of the two trees? Why was there a river flowing beside the tree, with three different kinds of precious materials produced in the flow of that river? The answer to all these questions is that God had a view, and this view came out of His counsel.
God’s creation was mentioned in a very brief way in Genesis 1, but the details of His creation, especially concerning His creation of man, were not defined and unveiled until chapter two. Chapter one tells us only that God created man in His image and after His likeness (vv. 26-27). But chapter two tells us that God made two parts of man—his body out of clay and his spirit out of the breath of life breathed out by God (v. 7). When these two parts were combined together, the soul was produced. In other words, the combination of man’s body and spirit produced a complete man.
The man created in Genesis 1 is both male and female. Man is a couple. In chapter one the male and female are mentioned (v. 27), but in chapter two the details of their creation are given. In verse 18 God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone." This indicates that it is not good for man to be a bachelor. By himself, a man is not complete. Man needs a counterpart; he needs another part to match him. A man is completed or consummated by his wife. Thus, God had to make a female to match the male. In making this counterpart, God used a small part of man, a rib, to build a woman (vv. 21-22). Hence, the woman was something that came out of man and was a part of man. All females are just parts of the males. For this reason, they cannot stand by themselves.
After the creation of the woman, God brought her to the man, and when the man saw the woman, he was very happy. Adam said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh" (Gen. 2:23). The male and the female became one flesh (v. 24). Eve came out of Adam, and she went back to Adam. Adam and Eve became one couple, one corporate person. In this way God’s creation of man was consummated.
God created man in a certain view, according to a certain design. This view was God’s blueprint. When someone builds a house, the first thing he must have is a blueprint. Then he builds the building according to the blueprint. He builds it in the view of the design shown in the blueprint. God made a design in His divine counsel. That counsel was the view in which God created man. When God created man, He had a blueprint. That blueprint was His counsel, and that counsel was the view in which He made man.
God created man in the view of the divine dispensing, which is according to the divine economy. In eternity the Triune God had a council and made a counsel concerning the creation of man. Ephesians 1:11 says that God operates all things according to the counsel of His will. In God’s creation of the heavens and the earth and in His creation of man, a counsel was made. This counsel was made in God’s council. Our being chosen and predestinated to be the church as the Body of Christ was all according to the counsel that the three of the Triune God made among Themselves.
(The Central Line of the Divine Revelation, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee)
