Let Us Make Man

[dave c]

simpletruth #139a revisited 31OCT11 salicart@msn.com

For This Reason—Page One: Let Us Make Man

by rev. dave carter

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground" (NIV).

When a baby is born, for all intents, it is the center of his or her universe. As we grow, we begin to discover that life does not actually revolve around us. While we may be very important to our family and friends, we soon learn that the world is a big place with billions of other people. The surrender of an ego-centric existence is essential to maturity and it is a process that al-lows us to become integrated into the rest of humanity. In the same fashion, the ancient world naively assumed that the Earth was the center of the Universe because...well, because it just had to be. Known as the Ptolemaic System, this theory was chal-lenged in the 1600’s by the more “scientific” Copernican System that placed our Sun at the center, which in turn was supplanted by the “modern” understanding that our planet, our solar system, and even our galaxy is just a small part of the overall design of the Universe. The humbling knowledge of our individual and collective material insignificance in space and time, when di-vorced from real spiritual understanding, has resulted in the current “Post Modern” sense of loss, despair, and futility. This is manifested in our culture as the two raised fists of New Age religion: The totalitarian aspirations of humanistic Globalism on the left hand, and the anarchy of self-indulgent Eclectic Pragmatism on the right.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Just as in the account of the creation of the Universe in Genesis 1:1, the Bible account of how and why and when the first human being came into existence begins by assuming the presence of an Eternal and Almighty Creator in the Persons of God: “Then God said….” If we begin our understanding of who, and why, and where we are with the knowledge that we have a great and good God, we are simultaneously brought to a place of genuine hu-mility in our concept of self and a place of comfort because we are truly not alone, unprotected, or meaningless.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness….” While there is a concerted effort on the part of main-stream theology to lump “image” and “likeness” together as a redundant literary device, there is a not so subtle difference in the meanings of the Old Testament words from which they are translated. The Hebrew word for “image” is tselem, which is from an unused root meaning to shade; a phantom, i.e. (figuratively) illusion, resemblance; hence, a representative figure, especially an idol (Strong’s #6754). “Likeness” is translated from dmuwth, meaning resemblance; concretely, model, shape; adverbially, like (Strong’s #1823). The distinctions here rest in tselem (image) being a phantom...an illusion, while dmuwth (likeness) is a con-crete representative model (in the sense of being actual).

This distinction is most easily understood if I consider a photograph of myself as compared to my daughter. The photo image (tselem) of me “looks” more like me...but it is an illusion of me. Other than being a visual representation, the photo and I have nothing in common. It is non-rational paper and chemicals...I am flesh and blood with the ability to reason. On the other hand, although my daughter and I are very different from each other (we are of a different gender, she is over four decades younger, she is a very different size, we have different hair and eye color, etc.)—in spite of these apparent differences, we bare a pervasive and concrete likeness (dmuwth) in that we are two examples of human beings. This concrete likeness between my daughter and me is due specifically to the fact that she is born of, and from, my wife and myself.

Being created in the image of God, where image is an illusory representation of God, means that we were created a trichotomous being (as mind, body, and spirit), but out of a very different substance, form, and function than the Godhead (Who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). In a sense we are created as a symbol of God within all of creation—a “snap-shot” of our Triune God. To be created in His likeness, that is, as a concrete representation, is to have the capacity for love, discernment, and communication. Note that there is a difference between having the capacity for these attributes and the personal quality of those attributes, as well as the degree to which we possess them. It is through these characteristics that we share some of what it is to be God, not in the sense of His eternal power, but through His divine nature in the ability to love, to discern, and to communicate.

As I learn that I am not the center of life on this planet, and that my planet is not the center of the Universe, I am faced with ei-ther the isolated despair of my temporal insignificance born of random chance, or the elation of knowing that I am specifically and intentionally created to be an eternal part of a great plan. No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" -- but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit (1Cor 2:9&10; NIV). Amen.