What does it mean when God said man has become like one of us?

This is one of those Scriptures that needs to be read in context to find the actual meaning.

Gen 3:22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.”

At the time only God knew the difference of what is good and what is evil and what it would bring.

Previously God instructed Adam  “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Gen 2:16-17)

Man was already created in God’s image in that he had finite characteristics that God had. He was personally being instructed and trained by God. When Eve ate from the tree and offered it to Adam and he ate, they both immediately had the effect of sin manifest in their lives. Shame and guilt. They saw themselves as naked they felt guilty inside and their conscience changed – so they hid from God who showed up in the evening to fellowship with them each day.

 God responds “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?"  after god pronounces the punishment on each of them

Gen 3:22  “Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"--

Man became like God in to know good and evil. Before this man was innocent not knowing what disobedience is and the sin. Now that he experienced this he know what God already know – the very reason he warned man not to eat from the tree he called the tree of knowledge of good and evil. To become as one of us expresses God’s plurality. It did not say man became as I or me singular but God used the plural expression.

He uses this expression other times throughout the Scripture.

 Gen.11:7: God speaking, “Let us go down, and there confound their language.”

Isa.6:8 God, speaking to Isaiah: “Who shall I send, who will go for us.” Both the singular and the plural are used in the same verse.

Gen. 1:26:  “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”  Let us make man in our image-Naase = let us make, adam bitzalmanu- nu = our, tselem = image in our likeness- keedmutenu- nu = our, demuth = likeness. The words our and us are interconnected with other words and cannot be separated.  The words image and likeness are also attached to the plural pronouns our and us, which means more than one. So the speaker and the other ones addressed who are to be in the act of creating are of the same image that man will be made after.

God is not speaking with the angels in Gen.1:26. The Bible refutes this. Isa.40:12-15 when speaking of God creating the world it asked, “With whom did he take counsel.” For the other subject to be angels it would mean they have the power to create as God does, and that man was made in their image also, which we know is not true. Man is made in the image of God.

The speaker of Gen.1:26 is God, the other[s] He is speaking to are of the same nature and essence. The Bible teaches us that Jesus -not the angels - created all things: “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:3) which means whoever God is speaking to has the same power as him. God did not create the world with assistance from any other being.