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 creeps upon the earth.
All Commentaries on Genesis 1:26 Go To Genesis 1
John Chrysostom
AD 407
To begin, it is worthwhile to ask why God did not say, when the heavens were created, “Let us make the heavens” but instead, “Let there be a heaven…. Let there be light,” and similarly for each other aspect of creation. “Let us make” suggests deliberation, collaboration and conference with another person. So what is it whose pending creation is granted so great an honor? It is humanity, the greatest and most marvelous of living beings, and the creation most worthy of honor before God…. There is here this deliberation, collaboration and communion not because God needs advice—God forbid saying such a thing!—but so that the very impact of the language of our creation would show us honor.