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In Genesis God says let Us make man in Our own image. So we know Jesus existed in the beginning. This is also how people get the trinity.
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I have a Genisis 1:26 study if your interested
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Why does this verse use a plural pronoun for God? Before we answer this, let us note that the Bible uses singular pronouns to refer to God hundreds of times. The very next verse uses the singular to show how God fulfilled
verse 26:
"So God created man in his own image" (Genesis 1:27).
Genesis 2:7 says,
"And the Lord formed man." We must therefore reconcile the plural in
1:26 with the singular in
1:27 and
2:7. We must also look at God"s image creature, which is humanity. Regardless of how we identify the various components that make up a person, he definitely has one personality and will. He is one person in every way. This indicates that the Creator in whose image humans were made is also one being with one personality and will.
Any interpretation of
Genesis 1:26 that permits the existence of more than one person of God runs into severe difficulties.
Isaiah 44:24 says the Lord created the heavens alone and created the earth by Himself. There was only one Creator according to
Malachi 2:10. Furthermore, if the plural in
Genesis 1:26 refers to the Son of God, how do we reconcile this with the scriptural record that the Son was not born until thousands of years later in Bethlehem? The Son was made of a woman
(Galatians 4:4); if the Son was present in the beginning, who was His mother? If the Son was a spirit being, who was His spirit mother?
Since
Genesis 1:26 cannot mean two or more persons in the Godhead, what does it mean? The Jews have traditionally interpreted it to mean that God talked to the angels at creation. This does not imply that the angels actually took part in creation but that God informed them of His plans and solicited their comments out of courtesy and respect. On at least one other occasion God talked to the angels and requested their opinions in formulating His plans
(1Kings 22:19-22). We do know that the angels were present at creation.
(Job 38:4-7).
Other commentators have suggested that
Genesis 1:26 simply describes God as He counseled with His own will.
Ephesians 1:11 supports this view , saying that God works all things
"after the counsel of His own will". By analogy, this is similar to a person saying "Let"s see" (Let us see) even when he is planning by himself.
Others explain this passage as a majestic or literary plural. That is, in formal speaking and writing the speaker or writer often refers to himself in the plural, especially if the speaker is royal. Biblical examples of the majestic plural can be cited to illustrate this practice. For example, Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar,
"We will tell the interpretation thereof before the King," even tho Daniel alone proceeded to give the interpretation to the King
(Daniel 2:36). King Artaxerxes alternately referred to himself in the singular and the plural in his correspondence. Once, he wrote,
"The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me" (Ezra 4:18). In a letter to Ezra, Artaxerxes called himself
"I" in one place
(Ezra 7:13) but
"we" in another place
(7:24).
The use of the plural in
Genesis 1:26 also may be similar to the plural Elohim[/i] in denoting the greatness and majesty of God or the multiple attributes of God. In other words, the plural pronoun simply agrees with and substitutes for the plural noun Elohim[/i].
Still another explanation is that this passage describes God"s foreknowledge of the future arrival of the Son, much like prophetic passages in the Psalm. We must realize that God does not live in time. His plans are real to Him even though they are in the future as far as we are concerned. He calls those things that are not as though they are
(Romans 4:17). A day is a thousand years to Him and a thousand years is as a day.
(2 Peter 3:8). The incarnation existed from the beginning in the mind of God
(John 1:1). As far as God was concerned , the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world
(1Peter 1:19-20; Revelation 13:8). It is not surprising that God could look down the corridors of time and address a prophetic utterance to the Son.
Romans 5:14 says that Adam was a figure of Him who was to come, that is, Jesus Christ. When God created Adam, He had already thought about the Incarnation and created Adam with that plan in mind.
Taking this idea a step further,
Hebrews 1;1-2 says that God made the worlds by the Son. How could this be, seeing that the Son did not come into existence until a point in time much later than creation?
(Hebrews 1:5-6). God used the Sonship to make the world. That is, He hinged everything on the future arrival of Christ. Though He did not pick up the humanity until the fullness of time was come, it was in His plan from the beginning, and He used it and acted upon it from the start. He created humans in the image of the future Son of God, and He created humans knowing that although they would sin the future Sonship would provide a way of salvation.
God created humans in the beginning so that they would love and worship Him
(Isaiah 43:7; Revelation 4:11). However, by reason of His foreknowledge God knew that they would fall into sin. This would defeat God"s purpose in creating them. If this was all there was to the future, then God would have never created humans. However God had in His mind the plan for the incarnation and the plan of salvation through the atoning death of Christ. So, even though God knew humans would sin, He also knew that thru the Son of God they could be restored and could fulfill God"s original purpose. It is apparent, then, that when God created humans He had the future arrival of the Son in mind. It is in this sense that God created the worlds through the Son or by using the Son, for without the Son, Gods whole purpose in creating humans would have failed.
In summary,
Genesis 1:26 cannot mean a plurality in the Godhead, for that would contradict the rest of Scripture. I have offered several other harmonizing explanations. (1) The Jews and many Christians see this as a reference to the angels. Many other Christians see it as (2) a description of God counseling with His own will, (3) a majestic or literary plural, (4) a pronoun simply agreeing with the noun Elohim[/i], or (5) a prophetic reference to the future manifestation of the Son of God.
Eternal Son
