After likeness of God

A solution for a damaged relationship 1 All vegetation for food except one fruit

January 5, 2017Relating to God13 Comments

When God created everything, all things where like He wanted it and every time when He saw that it was good He continued creating something else. In this way the earth came to put forth living souls according to their kinds, domestic animal and moving animal but also wild beast of the earth according to its kind.

Genesis 1:24-25 MKJV And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind, cattle, and creepers, and its beasts of the earth after its kind; and it was so. (25) And God made the beasts of the earth after its kind, and cattle after their kind, and all creepers upon the earth after their kind. And God saw that it was good.

In the same way God decided to make man in His image according to His likeness. He allowed man to have those other living creatures in subjection. He wanted them to be fruitful and become many, meaning that the earth would be filled with human beings living in unison with each other and with their Divine Creator.

Genesis 1:26-28 MKJV 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 heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creepers creeping on the earth. (27) And God created man in His image; in the image of God He created him. He created them male and female. (28) And God blessed them. And God said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply and fill the earth, and subdue it. And have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the heavens, and all animals that move upon the earth.

From the sixth day onward man was part of the universe and could created their earthen vessels, unfolding new life. But like clay pots are characteristically inadequate and vulnerable, man showed also to be so vulnerable, or susceptible, open to temptation, persuasion, censure, etc.. His vulnerability making man exposed to everything around him, having a soft spot, his effectiveness depending on his own free choices.

God had placed man in a safe environment, where man did not have to worry. A garden where there was nothing which could endanger man or would bring man open to attack or damage.

God had given all green vegetation for food except the fruit of one tree.

Genesis 1:29-30 MKJV And God said, Behold! I have given you every herb seeding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree seeding seed; to you it shall be for food. (30) And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the heavens, and to every creeper on the earth which has in it a living soul every green plant is for food; and it was so.

The man made out of dust formed from the ground could use everything for him from that ground. After the water came down from heavens, watering the entire surface of the ground, out of it grew every tree desirable to one’s sight and good for food. As such there was also the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and bad.

Genesis 2:7-9 MKJV And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (8) And Jehovah God planted a garden eastward in Eden. And there He put the man whom He had formed. (9) And out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food. The tree of life also was in the middle of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

The man was settled in that beautiful Garden of Eden to cultivate it and to take care of it. This means God trusted him to make something good out of it. Though having him placed there God also laid a command upon the man, him to be allowed to eat from every tree to satisfaction, but as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad he was not allowed to eat from. God also warned him that in the day he would eat from it he was positively to die.

Genesis 2:15-17 MKJV And Jehovah God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. (16) And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, You may freely eat of every tree in the garden, (17) but you shall not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.

God also found it was not good for man to continue to himself and therefore had made him a helper, as a complement of him.

Genesis 2:18-25 MKJV And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him. (19) And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every animal of the field and every fowl of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. (20) And Adam gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field. But there was not found a suitable helper for Adam. (21) And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept. And He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh underneath. (22) And Jehovah God made the rib (which He had taken from the man) into a woman. And He brought her to the man. (23) And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called Woman because she was taken out of man. (24) Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife and they shall be one flesh. (25) And they were both naked, the man and his wife; and they were not ashamed.

She noticing that tree of which God had said not to eat, questioned if God had really said it to protect them, avoiding death to death, whatever this could mean (because they had no idea at all of pain or death), or because God did not want them to have the same knowledge He had. She started wondering if she would eat of its fruit she could not receive the same knowledge or understanding and powers as God did have.

So her doubting thoughts about God‘s honesty is presented in the third chapter of Moses book as a creeping hissing in the mind, like a creeping snake or serpent, because that animal proved to be the most cautious of all the wild beasts of the field that Jehovah God had made.

Genesis 3:1 MKJV Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said to the woman, Is it so that God has said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

She wondered why she was not allowed to eat form its fruit nor to touch it and doubted God’s integrity.

Genesis 3:2-3 MKJV And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. (3) But of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.

Her thoughts told her it was ridiculous that she would die. On the other hand she became more convinced that on the day she would eat from that tree her eyes would go open further and she would become like God. This attracted her so much see wanted very much to eat from that fruit which would give her the same powers as God.

Genesis 3:4-6 MKJV And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die, (5) for God knows that in the day you eat of it, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as God, knowing good and evil. (6) And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasing to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make wise, she took of its fruit, and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

Having pulled her husband too in her adventure of opposing God’s command, she not only became herself an adversary of God but made man an accomplice. As an abettor Adam now had also to bear the consequences of his act. He still had the choice not to eat from that fruit and to keep faithful to God. But he made himself an accessory of Eve doing an act against God’s Wishes.

As accessory the 1st man contributed to or aided an activity or process in a minor way; subsidiary or supplementary to Eve’s adversary against God. In this way his relationship with God also became damaged, because in a certain way he gave higher value to his relationship with Eve than with God.

Preceding articles

Coming to the creation of human beings in the image of God

Creation of the earth and man #17 Man in the image and likeness of the Elohim #1 In the image and after the likeness

Creation of the earth and man #18 Man in the image and likeness of the Elohim #2 Assimilation of character

Creation of the earth and man #22 Man in the image and likeness of the Elohim #6 Spirits, spiritual bodies and illusory perception

Man in the image and likeness of the Elohim #8 The Formation of woman #1

Man in the image and likeness of the Elohim #9 The Formation of woman #2

A multifold of elements in creation and a bad choice made

Genesis – Story of creation 6 Genesis 3:13-24 Enmity and curse

First mention of a solution against death 1 To divine, serpent, opposition, satan and adversary

First mention of a solution against death 2 Harm or no harm and naked truth

First mention of a solution against death 3 Tempter Satan and man’s problems

Forbidden Fruit in the Midst of the Garden 1

Forbidden Fruit in the Midst of the Garden 2

Forbidden Fruit in the Midst of the Garden 3

Forbidden Fruit in the Midst of the Garden 4

What others think about the tree of knowledge of good and evil

Additional reading

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Man in the image and likeness of the Elohim #9 The Formation of woman #2

April 7, 2016Christadelphians9 Comments

The testimony of Moses in regard to the formation of woman brings to light a very interesting phenomenon, which has since been amply proved to be the result of a natural law. It is, that man may be made insensible to pain by being placed in a deep sleep. The Lord Elohim availed Himself of this law, and subjected the man He had made to its operation; and man, because he is in His likeness, is also able to influence his fellow-man in the same way. The art of applying the law is called various names, and may be practised variously. The name does not alter the thing. A man’s rib might be extracted now with as little inconvenience as Adam experienced, by throwing him into a deep sleep, which in numerous cases may be easily effected; but there our imitative ability ceases. We could not build up a woman from the rib. Greater wonders, however, than this will man do hereafter; for by “the Man Christ Jesus” will his Bride be created from the dust, in his own image after his own likeness, “to the glory of God, throughout all ages, world without end. Amen”.

When the Lord God presented the newly formed creature to her parent flesh, Adam said,

“This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Ishah (or Outman), because she was taken out of Ish, or man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh”. {a Genesis 2:21–24}

Thus, Adam pronounced upon himself the sentence that was to bind them together for weal or woe, until death should dissolve the union, and set them free for ever. This was marriage. It was based upon the great fact of her formation out of man; and consisted in Adam taking her to himself with her unconstrained consent.There was no religious ceremonial to sanctify the institution; for the Lord Himself even abstained from pronouncing the union. No human ceremony can make marriage more holy than it is in the nature of things. Superstition has made it “a sacrament”, and inconsistently enough, denied it, though “a holy sacrament”, to the very priests she has appointed to administer it. But priests and superstition have no right to meddle with the matter; they only disturb the harmony, and destroy the beauty, of God’s arrangements. A declaration in the presence of the Lord Elohim, and the consent of the woman, before religion was instituted, is the only ceremonial recorded in the case. This, I believe, is the order of things among “the Friends”, or nearly so; and, if all their peculiarities were as scriptural as this, there would be but little cause of complaint against them.

“Man”,

says the apostle,

“is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of the man”;

and the reason he assigns is, because

“The man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man”. {b . 1 Corinthians 11:7–9.}

She was not formed in the image of man, though she may have been in the image of some of the Elohim.

“Man” is generic of both sexes. When, therefore, Elohim said,

“Let us make man in our image”;

and it is added,

“male and female created he them”,

it would seem that both the man and the woman were created in the image and likeness of Elohim. In this case some of the Elohim are represented by Adam’s form, and some by Eve’s. I see no reason why it should not be so. When mankind rises from the dead, they will doubtless become immortal men and women; and then, says Jesus,

“they are equal to the angels”;

on an equality with them in every respect. Adam only was in the image of Him that created him; but then, the Elohim that do the commandments of the invisible God, are the virile portion of their community: Eve was not in their image. Theirs was restricted to Adam; nevertheless, she was after the image and likeness of some of those comprehended in the pronoun “our”. Be this as it may, though not in the image, she was in the likeness of Adam; and both “very good” according to the subangelic nature they possessed.

– Thomas, D. J.; Elpis Israel: an exposition of the Kingdom of God (electronic ed., pp. 49–50). Birmingham, UK: The Christadelphian.

Notes:

a. Genesis 2:21–24 (ESV):

²¹So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. ²²And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. ²³Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called Woman,

because she was taken out of Man.”

²⁴Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

b. 1 Corinthians 11:7–9 (ESV)

⁷For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. ⁸For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. ⁹Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.

Preceding:

Creation of the earth and man #17 Man in the image and likeness of the Elohim #1 In the image and after the likeness

Creation of the earth and man #18 Man in the image and likeness of the Elohim #2 Assimilation of character

Creation of the earth and man #19 Man in the image and likeness of the Elohim #3 Beholding image and likeness of the invisible God

Man in the image and likeness of the Elohim #8 The Formation of woman #1

Find also

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Man in the image and likeness of the Elohim #8 The Formation of woman #1

February 24, 2016February 24, 2016Christadelphians10 Comments

The Formation of woman

“The woman was of the man.”

Adam, having been formed in the image, after the likeness of the Elohim on the sixth day, remained for a short time alone in the midst of the earthborns of the field. He had no companion who could reciprocate his intelligence; none who could minister to his wants, or rejoice with him in the delights of creation; and reflect the glory of his nature.

The Elohim are a society, rejoicing in the love and attachment of one another; and Adam, being like them though of inferior nature, required an object which should be calculated to evoke the latent resemblances of his similitude to theirs. It was no better for man to be alone than for them. Formed in their image, he had social feelings as well as intellectual and moral faculties, which required scope for their practical and harmonious exercise. A purely intellectual and abstractly moral society, untempered by domesticism, is an imperfect state. It may be very enlightened, very dignified and immaculate; but it would also be very formal, and frigid as the poles.

A being might know all things, and he might scrupulously observe the divine law from a sense of duty; but something more is requisite to make him amiable, and beloved by either God or his fellows. This amiability the social feelings enable him to develop; which, however, if unfurnished with a proper object, or wholesome excitation, react upon him unfavourably, and make him disagreeable. Well aware of this, Yahweh Elohim said,

“It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a help fit for him”. {a Genesis 2:18.}

But previous to the formation of this help, God caused “every living soul” (kol nephesh chayiah) to pass in review before Adam, that he might name them. He saw that each one had its mate; “but for him there was not found a suitable companion”. It was necessary, therefore, to form one, the last and fairest of His handiworks. The Lord had created man in His own “image and glory”; but He had yet to subdivide him into two; a negative and a positive division; an active and a passive half; male and female, yet one flesh. The negatives, or females, of all other species of animals, were formed out of the ground; {b Genesis 2:19} and not out of the sides of their positive mates: so that the lion could not say of the lioness,

“This is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh; therefore shall a lion leave his sire and dam, and cleave unto the same lioness for ever”.

The inferior creatures are under no such law as this; as primaries, indeed, the earth is their common mother, and the Lord, the “God of all their spirits”. They have no second selves; the sexes in the beginning were from the ground direct; the female was not of the male, though the male is by her: therefore, there is no natural basis for a social, or domestic, law to them.

But in the formation of a companion for the first man, the Lord Elohim created her upon a different principle. She was to be a dependent creature; and a sympathy was to be established between them, by which they should be attached inseparably. It would not have been fit, therefore, to have given her an independent origin from the dust of the ground. Had this been the case, there would have been about the same kind of attachment between men and women as subsists among the creatures below then.

The woman’s companionship was designed to be intellectually and morally sympathetic with “the image and glory of God”, whom she was to revere as her superior. The sympathy of the mutually independent earthborns of the field, is purely sensual; and in proportion as generations of mankind lose their intellectual and moral likeness to the Elohim, and fall under the dominion of sensuality; so the sympathy between men and women evaporates into mere animalism.* But, I say, such a degenerate result as this was not the end of her formation. She was not simply to be “the mother of all living”; but to reflect the glory of man as he reflected the glory of God.

To give being to such a creature, it was necessary she should be formed out of man. This necessity is found in the law which pervades the flesh. If the feeblest member of the body suffer, all the other members suffer with it; that is, pain even in the little finger will produce distress throughout the system. Bone sympathizes with bone, and flesh with flesh, in all pleasurable, healthful, and painful feelings. Hence, to separate a portion of Adam’s living substance, and from it to build a woman, would be to transfer to her the sympathies of Adam’s nature; and though by her organization able to maintain an independent existence, she would never lose from her nature a sympathy with his, in all its intellectual, moral, and physical manifestations. According to this natural law, then, the Lord Elohim made woman in the likeness of the man, out of his substance. He might have formed her from his body before he became a living soul; but this would have defeated the law of sympathy; for in inanimate matter there is no mental sympathy. She must, therefore, be formed from the living bone and flesh of the man. To do this was to inflict pain; for to cut out a portion of flesh would have created the same sensations in Adam as in any of his posterity. To avoid such an infliction, “the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept”. While thus unconscious of what was doing, and perfectly insensible to all corporeal impressions, the Lord “took out one of his ribs, and then dosed up the flesh in its place”. This was a delicate operation; and consisted in separating the rib from the breast bone and spine. But nothing is too difficult for God. The most wonderful part of the work had yet to be performed. The quivering rib, with its nerves and vessels, had to be increased in magnitude, and formed into a human figure, capable of reflecting the glory of the man. This was soon accomplished; for, on the sixth day, “male and female created he them”: and “the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, he made a woman, and brought her unto the man”. And

“God blessed them, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish (fill again) the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth”.

Believing this portion of the testimony of God, need our faith be staggered at the resurrection of the body from the little dust that remains after its entire reduction? Surely, the Lord Jesus Christ by the same power that formed woman from a rib, and that increased a few loaves and fishes to twelve baskets of fragments after five thousand were fed and satisfied, can create multitudes of immortal men from a few proportions of the former selves: and as capable of resuming their individual identity, as was Adam’s rib of reflecting his mental and physical similitude. It is blind unbelief alone that requires the continuance of some sort of existence to preserve the identity of the resurrected man with his former self. Faith confides in the ability of God to do what He has promised, although the believer has not the knowledge of how He is to accomplish it. Believing the wonders of the past, “he staggers not at the promise of God through unbelief; but is strong in faith, giving glory to God”. {c. Romans 4:20.}

Thomas, D. J.; Elpis Israel: an exposition of the Kingdom of God (electronic ed., pp. 47–49). Birmingham, UK: The Christadelphian.

Notes & quotes

a. Genesis 2:18 (ESV): ¹⁸Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

b. Genesis 2:19 (ESV): ¹⁹Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.

* animalism: Among the numerous animals that are prominent in religion and magic, the wild animals of the forests, the sea, and the air that are most important for the hunter are the most significant. Hunting and gathering societies, rooted in the earliest human cultures, believed that they not only had to kill animals—which were economically important as nourishment and raw materials—but also that they had to avoid their revenge. { Encyclopaedia Britannica > continue reading}

c. Romans 4:20 (ESV): ²⁰No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,

Preceding article: Man in the image and likeness of the Elohim #7 Corporeal and spiritual change

Additional reading

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Tribe Of Judah Your Hair Even Identifies Who You Are (prophecynewsandviews.wordpress.com)
Today’s Scripture… (thetruelight2014.wordpress.com)
Victory Over Fear (charispsallo.wordpress.com)
Gods Image of Humans
Throwback Thursday: Eve
Feminism: Why Does it EVEn Exist?
What Eve Has Taught Me – Debbie Kea
“Can I Be Naked With You?” by Dr.J.
Marriage and the Garden of Eden
Temptation of Eve
Corruption: Sin Enters the World
Who is man? [of the fall and transgression]
Lust – the original sin?
Lent Part 1. Destination, the Garden
Effects of the Fall
When God Was Mad for the First Time (The Original Sin)
Death came through Eve…
Adam and Eve
If You Knew God’s Plan for Your Life: Part 1
Open Eyes
The Fall

Creation of the earth and man #18 Man in the image and likeness of the Elohim #2 Assimilation of character

November 28, 2015December 2, 2015Christadelphians13 Comments

Seth was also “in Adam’s own likeness”. While image, then, hath reference to form or shape, “likeness” hath regard to mental constitution, or capacity. From the shape of his head, as compared with other creatures, it is evident that man has a mental capacity which distinguishes him above them all. Their likeness to him is faint. They can think; but their thoughts are only sensual. They have no moral sentiments, or high intellectual aspirations; but are grovelling in all their instincts, which incline only to the earth. In proportion as their heads assume the human form in the same ratio do they excel each other in sagacity; and, as in the monkey tribe, display a greater likeness to man. But, let the case be reversed; let the human head degenerate from the godlike perfection of the Elohim, the standard of beauty in shape and feature; let it diverge to the image of an ape’s, and the human animal no longer presents the image and likeness of the Elohim; but rather, the chattering imbecility of the creature most resembling it in form. Adam’s mental capacity enabled him to comprehend and receive spiritual ideas, which moved him to veneration, hope, conscientiousness, the expression of his views, affections, and so forth. Seth was capable of the like display of intellectual and moral phenomena; and of an assimilation of character to that of his father. He was therefore in the likeness as well as in the image of Adam; and, in the same sense, they were both

“after the likeness of the Elohim”.

But, though Adam was “made in the image and after the likeness” of the “Holy Ones”, the similitude has been so greatly marred, that his posterity present but a faint representation of either.
The almost uncontrolled and continuous operation of “the law of sin and death”, {a: Rom. 7:23.} styled by philosophers “the law of nature”, which is an indwelling and inseparable constituent of our present economy, has exceedingly deformed the image, and effaced the likeness of God, which man originally presented. It required, therefore, the appearance of a New Man, in whom the image and likeness should re-appear, as in the beginning. This was “the man Christ Jesus”, whom Paul styles “the last Adam”. He is

“the Image of the invisible God” {b Colossians 1:15.} (εἰχὼν του̂ Θεου̂);

“the effulgent mirror of the glory, and the exact likeness of his person,” {c: Heb. 1:3.} (ἀπαύλαδμα τη̂ς δόξης χαι χαραχτὴορ τη̂ς ὑποστάσεως αὐτου̂).

Hence, in another place, Paul says, he was

“in the form of God” {d: Phil. 2:6, 7, 8.} (ἐν μορφῃ̂ Θεου̂)

and also

“made in the likeness of men, and in the form of a man”.

Being thus the image and likeness of the invisible God, as well as of man, who was created in the image and likeness of the Elohim, he made himself equal with God in claiming God for his Father, {e: John 5:18.} though born of “sinful flesh”. Though thus highly related in paternity, image and character, he was yet

“made a little lower than the angels”;

for he appeared not in the higher nature of Elohim, but in the inferior nature of the seed of Abraham. {f: Heb. 2:16.} This was the first stage of his manifestation, as the present is of the saints who are his brethren. But he is the appointed

“heir of all things, on account of whom” (διʼ ου̂̔),

“the ages were rearranged (χατηρτὶσθαι τοὺς αἰω̂νας) by the word of God, so that the things seen exist not from things apparent”. {g: Hebrews 1:2; 11:3.}

But, says the apostle,

“we do not yet see all things put under him: but we see. Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that by the grace of God he should taste death for every man”. {h: Hebrews 2:8, 9.}

Having been thus laid low, and for this gracious purpose, he is no longer “lower than the angels”. He is equal to them in body: and made so much superior to them in rank, dignity, honour, and glory,

“as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they” {i:Hebrews 1:4.}

– Thomas, D. J.; Elpis Israel: an exposition of the Kingdom of God (electronic ed., pp. 39–40). Birmingham, UK: The Christadelphian.

Notes and quotes:

a: Romans 7:23 (ESV) ²³but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

b: Colossians 1:15 (ESV): ¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

c: Hebrews 1:3 (ESV): ³He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

d: Philippians 2:6–8 (ESV): ⁶who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

e: John 5:18 (ESV): ¹⁸This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

f: Hebrews 2:16 (ESV): ¹⁶For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.

(IEHE): For certainly (it needs hardly to be said) not of angels does he take helpful hold, but of Abraham’s seed he does take helpful hold.

g 1: Hebrews 1:2 (ESV): ²but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

g 2: Hebrews 11:3 (ESV): ³By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

h: Hebrews 2:8–9 (ESV): ⁸ putting everything in subjection under his feet.”
Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. ⁹But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

Preceding

Creation of the earth and man #13 Formation of man #5 Living soul

Creation of the earth and man #17 Man in the image and likeness of the Elohim #1 In the image and after the likeness

Gone astray, away from God

Additional reading

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Creation of the earth and man #17 Man in the image and likeness of the Elohim #1 In the image and after the likeness

November 20, 2015Christadelphians17 Comments

Man in the image and likeness of the Elohim

“Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels.”

Men and beasts, say the scriptures,

“have all one ruach or spirit; so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast”.

The reason assigned for this equality is the oneness of their spirit, which is proved by the fact of their common destiny; as it is written,

“for all are vanity”:

that is,

“all go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again”.

Yet this one spirit manifests its tendencies differently in men and other creatures. In the former, it is aspiring and God-defying, rejoicing in its own works, and devoted to the vanity of the passing hour; while in the latter, its disposition is grovelling to the earth in all things. Thus, the heart of man being

“deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know or fathom it?”

—Solomon was led to exclaim,

“Who knoweth the spirit of the sons of Adam, ruach beni headam, which exalts itself to the highest, and the spirit of a beast which inclines to the earth?” {a: Eccles. 3:19–21.}

We may answer,

“None, but God only”;

He knoweth what is in man, and needs not that any should testify of him. {b:John 2:25.}
But, from this testimony someone might infer that, as man was made only “a little lower than the angels”, and yet has “no pre-eminence over a beast”, the beast also is but a little lower than the angels. This, however, would be a very erroneous conclusion. The equality of men and other animals consists in the kind of life they possess in common with each other. Vanity, or mortality, is all that pertains to any kind of living flesh. The whole animal world has been made subject to it; and as it affects all living souls alike, bringing them back to the dust again, no one species can claim pre-eminence over the other; for

“one thing befalleth them; as the one dieth, so dieth the other”.

Man, however, differs from other creatures in having been modelled after a divine type, or pattern. In form and capacity he was made like to the angels, though in nature inferior to them. This appears from the testimony that he was made “in their image, after their likeness”, and “a little lower than the angels”, or Elohim. {c: Psalm 8:5.} I say, he was made in the image of the angels, as the interpretation of the co-operative imperative,

“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”.

The work of the six days, though elaborated by the power of Him “who dwelleth in the light”, was executed by

“his angels, that excel in strength, and do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word”. {d: Psalm 103:20.}

These are styled Elohim, or “gods,” in numerous passages. David says,

“Worship him, all ye gods”; {e: Psalm 97:7.}

which Paul applies to Jesus, saying, {*}

“Let all the angels of God worship him”. {f: Heb. 1:6.}

Man, then, was made after the image and likeness of Elohim, but for a while inferior in nature. But the race will not always be inferior in this respect. It is destined to advance to a higher nature; not all the individuals of it; but those of the race

“who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that age (αἰὼν μέλλων, the future age) and the resurrection from among the dead (ἐχ νεχρω̂ν) … who can die no more; for they are equal to the angels (ἰσάλλεγοι); and are the sons of God, being the sons of the resurrection.” {g: Luke 20:35, 36.}

The import of the phrase “in the image, after the likeness” is suggested by the testimony, that

“Adam begat a son in his own likeness, after his image, and called his name Seth”. {h: Genesis 5:3.}

In this respect, Seth stands related to Adam, as Adam did to the Elohim; but differing in this, that the nature of Adam and Seth was identical; whereas those of Adam and the Elohim were dissimilar. Would any one be at a loss to know the meaning of Seth’s being in the image of his father? The very same thing is meant by Adam being in the image of the Elohim. An image is the representation of some form or shape; metaphorically, it may signify the exact resemblance of one character to another. But in the case before us, the parties had no characters at the time of their birth. They were simply innocent of actual transgression; no scope having been afforded them to develop character. The Elohim, however, were personages of dignity and holiness, as well as of incorruptible, or spiritual, nature. The resemblance, therefore, of Adam to the Elohim as their image was of bodily form, not of intellectual and moral attainment; and this I apprehend to be the reason why the Elohim are styled “men” when their visits to the sons of Adam are recorded in the scriptures of truth. In shape, Seth was like Adam, Adam like the Elohim, and the Elohim, the image of the invisible Increate; the great and glorious archetype of the intelligent universe.

– Thomas, D. J.; Elpis Israel: an exposition of the Kingdom of God (electronic ed., pp. 37–39). Birmingham, UK: The Christadelphian.

Notes & Bible quotes:

a: Ecclesiastes 3:19–21 (ESV): ¹⁹For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. ²⁰All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. ²¹Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth?

b:John 2:25 (ESV): ²⁵and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

c: Psalm 8:5 (ESV): ⁵ Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

d: Psalm 103:20-21 (ESV): ²⁰ Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! ²¹ Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will!

e: Psalm 97:7 (ESV): ⁷ All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols; worship him, all you gods!

{*} *. Paul’s quotation is verbatim from Deuteronomy 32:43 (LXX)—not Psalm 97.

Deuteronomy 32:43 (ESV): ⁴³ “Rejoice with him, O heavens; bow down to him, all gods, for he avenges the blood of his children and takes vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate him and cleanses his people’s land.”

Psalm 97:9 (ESV): ⁹ For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.

f: Hebrews 1:6 (ESV): ⁶And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

g: Luke 20:35–36 (ESV): ³⁵but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, ³⁶for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

h: Genesis 5:3 (ESV): ³When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.

Children of Adam and Eve: All we are told about Adam’s offspring is that the first son was named Cain, the second son named Abel [Genesis 4:1-2 ], then after Abel’s murder, another son named Seth, who may not be confused with the beneficent god in predynastic Egypt, associated with darkness and later identified as a god of evil and the antagonist of Horus. Adam’s son Seth was “begotten when Adam was 130 years old.” After that, Adam “begot sons and daughters” [Genesis 5:3-4]. This same passage also tells us that Adam lived for 930 years [Genesis 5:5]. Therefore, according to Scripture, Adam and Eve‘s family consisted of sons Cain, Abel and Seth (who be came 912 years old), plus a minimum of two other sons and two daughters, giving a total of seven children. However, accepting that Adam, and likely Eve, lived for 930 years, seven children would be the minimum number.

In gnosticism, Seth is seen as a replacement given by God for Abel, whom Cain had slain. It is said that late in life, Adam gave Seth secret teachings that would become the kabbalah. The Zohar refers to Seth as “ancestor of all the generations of the tzaddikim” (Hebrew: righteous ones).

Preceding:

Creation of the earth and man #16 Formation of man #8 Dust, flesh, blood,breathing and life

Continues

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