Genesis 1 · a question people ask
"Let’s make man in our image." Who is God talking to?
The text doesn't say. Verse 26 has God say "Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness"; verse 27 then says "God created man in his own image", in the singular.
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
The Trinity
Those who hold this view read "us" as Father, Son and Spirit. They point to God's Spirit over the waters in verse 2, and to the New Testament: "All things were made through him" (John 1:3), and "by him all things were created" (Colossians 1:16).
Genesis 1:2 · John 1:1-3 · Colossians 1:16
The heavenly court
Those who hold this view read "us" as God speaking to the heavenly beings around him, while verse 27 says God alone created. They point to "all the army of heaven standing by him" when the LORD asks, "Who will entice Ahab…?" (1 Kings 22:19-20), to "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" (Isaiah 6:8), and to "all the sons of God" who "shouted for joy" when God laid the earth's foundations (Job 38:4-7).
1 Kings 22:19-20 · Isaiah 6:8 · Job 38:4-7
A way of speaking
Those who hold this view read "us" as the way God speaks when he announces a solemn act, not as a sign that anyone else is there. They point to the singular "his own image" straight after (1:27), and to the same plural in God's speech in Genesis 3:22 ("like one of us") and 11:7 ("let’s go down").
Genesis 1:27 · Genesis 3:22 · Genesis 11:7
The verses
“God said, “Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.”