Genesis 1: 26: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Before the beginning, Elohim dwelt alone with His thoughts (or attributes) locked up inside Him. He was the Great Fountain of invisible Spirit, without beginning or ending. When the Logos (the Pillar of Fire) came out of Elohim, then Elohim became the Father, and that which had come out of Him was the Son.
The Logos was Jesus Christ in His pre-incarnate form (before He became flesh). This was the Son of God called Melchizedek (Jesus the Word) in the form of a Ball of Light, and all that the Father is, was wrapped up inside that awesome Ball of Light. When God said “Let us (plural) make man (singular) in our (plural) image,” the Father is speaking to the Son about bringing the attributes inside Himself into expression, of bringing sons and daughters into existence.
The theophanies of every son and daughter of God rotated out of Melchizedek (Jesus the Son/the Logos) at that time, for when God continued speaking to the Son about making man (singular), He said, “and let them (plural) have dominion…” Thus God was speaking about all His sons and daughters when He said, “Let us make man,” and God was expressing His eternal purpose for them, that those theophanies would later come into glorified flesh on the earth and have dominion over the creation.
Genesis 1: 26 – 28 is a portion of scripture so rich in depth and scope, and there is very much more to be looked at when examining this. Extra details such as God’s original purpose of us coming into glorified flesh by Spoken Word creation, of why we bypassed our theophany and came into fallen flesh, the mystery of the female masterpiece inside the male masterpiece etcetera, will all be explored in other articles so as to not overwhelm the reader with too much information.