Created in the image of the Elohim to use their likeness properly

Created beings

In the previous posting we have looked at the bara or created elements, marking the introduction of each of the three great spheres of existence  —  the world of matter, of animal life and of Nefesh chayyah (living soul) or human soul (human beings), all three of which, though intimately associated, are distinct in essence, and constitute all the universe known to us, they receiving order out of the Tohu va vohu (תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ) (waste and void). Whenever the simple form of “bara” is used in the Hebrew Bible it always refers to a work made by God and never by man. These considerations, with others, justify the statement that “created” here means created out of nothing.

Moshe lets the Divine Creator speak in the plural form to indicate His Hadar Highness. He and the writer of the book Iyob (Job) (possibly Job or Moshe or Solomon or Elihu) as well as King David declare Him to be the only one in charge of the creation and of their being.

Job 33:4 OJB  The Ruach El [Ruach Hakodesh] hath made me, and the Neshamah of Shaddai hath given me life.

Job 32:8 OJB  But there is a ruach in enosh, and the neshamat Shaddai giveth them binah.

Job 33:4 OJB  The Ruach El [Ruach Hakodesh] hath made me, and the Neshamah of Shaddai hath given me life.

Psalms 33:6 OJB  By the Devar Hashem were Shomayim made; and all the tz’va (host) of them by the ruach (breath) of His mouth [MJ 11:3; Yn 1:1; Psa 56:5].

Psalms 104:30 OJB  Thou sendest forth Thy Ruach [Hakodesh], they are created; and Thou renewest the face of adamah (earth).

Created according likeness

17th capital in easthern corridor of Santa Maria la Real de Nieva church, Segovia province, Spain. Furry savage human beings riding strange animals (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When having come to create the last set of living creatures, God made them more special than the swimming and creeping living beings as reptiles and other animals. Next to the mammals he made out of the dust of the earth physical beings that could be a reflection or mirror image of Him.

“God said: Let us make humankind, in our image, according to our likeness! Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the fowl of the heavens, animals, all the earth, and all crawling things that crawl about upon the earth! So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God did he create it, male and female he created them.”
(Genesis 1:26–27 SB)

According to the likeness, lit., “as,” meaning “in essence as”. “Image” (צֶלֶם) is used figuratively here, for God does not have a human form, Him being a Spirit (John 4:24). No such image was imparted to the other living beings and as such we can imagine that God wanted to give those living beings something extra. We shall come to see how God had a purpose in creating human life and that creating them in His image was functional, they to govern or rule or have dominion (Bereshith 1:26, 28).

Being in God’s image means that humans share, though imperfectly and finitely, in God’s nature, that is, in His communicable attributes (life, personality, truth, wisdom, love, holiness, justice), and so have the capacity for spiritual fellowship with Him.

Maker’s right to rule

Can you imagine you created something? Would you when you made yourself a house and a garden, not to be the owner of that house and garden, having the right to decide what to do in and outside the house and how you would arrange the garden?
If you have made children would you not want your children to have respect for you and to listen to you?

God who is the Most High Maker of everything wanted everything to go according to His Wishes. by making the human beings in His image He also hoped they would use those similarities with Him to please Him. In a way a parent also hopes his child to honour him and to be blameless , not defiling the name of the family.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 OJB  (23)  And now Elohei HaShalom wholly set you apart as Kadoshim and may your whole ruach and nefesh and basar be preserved without blame at the Bi’as HaMoshiach Adoneinu Yehoshua.

The Elohim wanting each member of those living creatures having come out of the zachar and nekevah to be in the knowledge according to the image of their Creator.

Colossians 3:10 OJB  And instead enrobe with the Adam HaChadash, the one being renewed in da’as in accordance with the demut (1:15; Bereshis 1:26-27; Pp 2:6) of the One having created him.

Orders for the first human beings 1 To Multiply

Having male and female out of the earth being set-apart having to bring inheritance on the earth.

Ephesians 1:18 OJB  It is my tefillah that the eynayim of your levavot may be enlightened so that you may have da’as of what is the tikvah of His kri’ah (his summons from Shomayim), what is the osher (wealth) of the kavod of His nachalah (allotted inheritance) in the Kadoshim,

Man and mannin where given life in the Royal Garden and received their as their first task to multiply and as second task to give names to all things around them.

“So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God did he create it, male and female he created them.”
(Genesis 1:27 SB)

“God blessed them, God said to them: Bear fruit and be many and fill the earth and subdue it! Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the fowl of the heavens, and all living things that crawl about upon the earth!”
(Genesis 1:28 SB)

The elements having been created could evolve and many new things could come in front of man, or each time he could uncover new things which were there already, but he did not know yet. And each time he discovered something new he could give that element a name and place it where it belonged or classify it.

Man would be able to uncover and classify by the knowledge God had implanted in him. Having been created in the image of God or in likeness with God In his purity and rectitude. The Elohim now making nefesh chayyah or living souls able to be in His image, makes Him giving them a brain or possibility to think and to have  knowledge, tzedakah or righteousness, and kedusha or true holiness, (Eph. 4: 24; Col. 3: 10).

Ephesians 4:24 OJB  And to enrobe yourself in the Adam HeChadash (the new Man, humanity) having been created according to the demut Hashem in tzidkat Eloheinu and in the kedushah of HaEmes.

Colossians 3:10 OJB  And instead enrobe with the Adam HaChadash, the one being renewed in da’as in accordance with the demut (1:15; Bereshis 1:26-27; Pp 2:6) of the One having created him.

Orders for the first human beings 2 To keep conformity with Creator

The Elohim made man straight, upright, but like we shall see, it was man who sought to go an other ways, wanting to find out many devices and/or inventions, having found many ways to be bad.

Ecclesiastes 7:29 OJB  Lo, this only have I found, that HaElohim hath made man yashar (upright, Gn 1:27); but they have sought out chishvonot rabbim (many schemes, Gn 3:6-7; Ps 51; Ro 5:12; 3:23).

Man created with an habitual conformity of all his natural powers to the whole Will of God had received from it Creator a free will. Being made in the likeness of God, like any child can look up at its father, man also could face its heavenly Father and know his position opposite Him. Man his understanding saw divine things clearly and truly, and there were no errors nor mistakes in his knowledge. In this lovely Garden of God, man’s will complied readily and universally with the Will of God, without reluctance or resistance. His affections were all regular, and he had no inordinate appetites or passions. His thoughts were easily brought and fixed to the best subjects, and there was no vanity nor ungovernableness in them, his desires conform the desires of his Maker.

Man and mannin knew their position and understood that the Elohim was their Maker to Whom they had to thank their life. In their mind should not have been any inferiority because the Elohim gave them the power to choose names for the other things around them and they could use those things to their advantage, the way they liked it.

Gan Eden giving everything and the need of respect for it

We can imagine how they could live in a peaceful garden where they had everything they wanted. In Gan Eden everything what plants animals and man needed was provided. Man came to to know that where they were living they had to respect all living beings and in having the image of God upon them, they would have the same love and honour for the created elements like the creator has. And this honour, put upon man at first, is a good reason why we should not speak ill one of another (Jas. 3: 9), nor do ill one to another or just kill for nothing (Gen. 9), and a good reason why we should not debase ourselves to the service of going in against the wishes of God or giving in to averah (it is to sin), and why we should devote ourselves to God’s service.

James 3:9 OJB  With this we say a bracha to Hashem, Adoneinu and Avoteynu, and with this we put a kelalah (curse) on Bnei Adam, who have been created according to the demut Elohim [Gn 1:26,27).

Wild beasts of the earth, birds of the sky, all things moving upon the earth, and all the fish of the sea, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah has placed them under the power of man. And man can make use of them for their own good, being fruitful not doing bad to each other.

Genesis 9:1-7 OJB  Vayevarech Elohim et Noach and his banim, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish ha’aretz.  (2)  And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of ha’aretz, and upon every bird of the air, upon all that moveth upon ha’adamah, and upon all the dagim of the yam; into your yad are they delivered.  (3)  Every remes that liveth shall be food for you; even as the yarok esev (green plant) have I given you all.  (4)  But basar with the nefesh thereof, which is the dahm thereof, shall ye not eat.  (5)  And surely your dahm of your nefeshot will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the yad haAdam; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the nefesh haAdam.  (6)  Shofech dahm (one who sheddeth man’s blood), by man shall his dahm be shed; for in the tzelem Elohim made He man.  (7)  And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly on ha’aretz, and multiply therein.

In the character of man should be seen the mirror image of God His Character. His way of being, moving, thinking, making up his mind, handling and speaking should be a reflection of their Maker or heavenly Father. That what dwells in man should be of the same purity as that what dwells in the Elohim.

Sefirot of God for man

The Elohim Hashem Jehovah created the universe with man in it, out of love and with a Plan. Man had to fit in His Plan and being made in His image was a reflection of the mirror or duplicate print of the personality traits of God. Those attributes of God could be found in the original man.

In the Most High God there was only place for purity completeness and man being made in His image also at the beginning of times did not have any form of corruption, tribalism, immorality or inhumanity. In the first man there was no uncleanliness but there was the goodness in him and satisfaction (at first). In him were several of the attributes of God.

The teachings of Kabbalah explain that there are seven “Divine Attributes” — Sefirot — that God assumes through which to relate to our existence:

Chessed, Gevurah, Tifferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod and Malchut (“Love”, “Strength”, “Beauty”, “Victory”, “Splendor”, “Foundation” and “Sovereignty”).

In the human being, created in the “image of God,” the seven sefirot are mirrored in the seven “emotional attributes” of the human soul: Kindness or Lovingkindness, Restraint, Harmony, Ambition, Humility, Connection and Receptiveness.
Each of the seven attributes contain elements of all seven – i.e., “Kindness in Kindness”, “Restraint in Kindness”, “Harmony in Kindness”, etc.–making for a total of forty-nine traits. The 49-day Omer Count is thus a 49-step process of self-refinement, with each day devoted to the “rectification” and perfection of one the forty-nine “sefirot.”

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Preceding articles

An other tool bringing words for understanding and wisdom

From nothingness, except an eternal Being, the Ruach brought into being

From dust and breath into living beings

Next

Orders for the first human beings and Rebellion against their Maker

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Additional articles

1. An anarchistic reading of the Bible (2)—Creation and what follows
2. Necessity of a revelation of creation 1 Works of God and works of man
3. Necessity of a revelation of creation 8 By no means unintelligible or mysterious to people
4. Coming to the creation of human beings in the image of God
5. 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
6. Genesis Chapter 2
7. Al-Fatiha [The Opening] Süra 1: 4-7 Merciful Lord of the Creation to show us the right path
8. God Loves All People
9. A 1st reply to the 4th Question Who is God 1 A Creating Being to be worshipped
10. Mishmash of a legal code but importance of mitzvah or commandments
11. Not making yourselves abominable
12. Let us not forget it was God who chose us
13. What is life?
14. Looking for Answers
15. Object of first woe
16. How do I know what God’s will is
17. Some one or something to fear #6 Faith in the Most High
18. Glory of God appearing in our character
19. Wisdom not hard to find nor hiding in remote places
20. That what dwells in man
21. Holiness is not fulfilled in passive standing aside
22. Just be yourself…
23. Broken, coming before God
24. There can only be hope when there is a will to be and say “I am”
25. The I Am to explore
26. When feeling sad, not sure of there being a Divine Creator
27. Purify my heart
28. What Is Sanctification?
29. United people under Christ
30. Holiness and expression of worship coming from inside
31. Making sure we express kedusha for 14-16 Nisan
32. Honesty beginning of holiness
33. How we think shows through in how we act
34. Materialism, would be life, and aspirations
35. From Despair to Victory

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Further reading

1. Explaining, Not Explaining Away: Why the cognitive science of religion is good news for people of faith
2. God
3. The Presence and Action of God
4. Christian Beliefs about Nature of Humans
5. Made in the Image of God 1
6. Made In The Image Of God 2
7. Image of God
8. In the image of God
9. In the image of God [96a]
10. Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
11. The Image of God vs. The Myths
12. Created in the image of God
13. God’s Image, Not Our Design
14. In the Image of God
15. In His Image…
16. Image
17. We’re the Projection
18. The Image of God and Human Dignity
19. The image of God in us
20. More Observations on the Image of God
21. What it Means to Bear the Image of God
22. The human characteristics of God
23. 022.1 Creative Expression, pt 1 – The Image of God
24. Image of God (a poem)
25. What is God Like? Attributes of God
26. What God says of our Identity 
27. What Communicable Attributes May or May Not Mean
28. The Pursuit of Beauty
29. Immeasurable Worth – Genesis 2
30. Being Human, Becoming Imago Dei – Part 1: The Garden of Eden
31. Being Human, Becoming Imago Dei – Part 2: The Serpent
32. Being Human Does Not Mean Being a Sinner
33. The Image of God (Or, How Two Become One)
34. The Hidden Face of God
35. The Right Time
36. When God Made You, Matthew Paul Turner @HeyMPTDiversity of creation
37. Born Again = Imago Dei
38. What are You Saying to Yourself Today? (Brief Reflection and Practice)
39. Episode 9: No One Is Better Than Me
40. What is Your Mental Image of God?
41. The Image of God and Human Dignity (2)
42. Creative People in the Image of a Creative Creator
43. Five Minutes of Imago Dei
44. Choices
45. Live Life through the Imago Dei
46. In the Image
47. Like us
48. The Death of Jesus – Why We Miss the Point
49. Whose image are you bearing? A question with far-reaching implications
50. Day 20: Poured Out
51. We become monsters
52. Dear You
53. The First Superstition
54. Authority and Idolatry
55. Why Do Kids Do What They Do?
56. The Image of God: Israel vs. Babylon
57. 04 Affection-Related Restoration
58. Race, Ethnicity and Culture …..continued
59. Excellence Stems from the Heart – Part 2
60. Renewing the Image: Why Jesus Christ is the Only True Apologetic (Reformission Monday)
61. The Final Word: H.R. Mackintosh on Jesus Christ as Revelation Made Flesh
62. Rethinking Salvation, Sin, and the Image of God
63. God’s Proposal
64. “For God Knows”
65. Daily Riches: The Surprising Nearness of God (James Finley and John Ortberg)
66. “Lovely”
67. Telling stories
68. Considering Good and Angry
69. In our faith let us ‘show, don’t tell’
70. This is How I Want to See
71. They were hiding in barn lofts
72. Athanasius, Atonement and the Image of God
73. The Image of Contentment
74. What is Dignity?
75. How Relational Is Your God?
76. Godly Institutions
77. Providence Spirituality
78. Adam, Evolution, and the Imago Dei
79. Made to Love
80. Imago Dei
81. The Divine Image – Shattered! Lord’s Day 3
82. Day 16: Last Adam
83. Second Death
84. My Alien Wife, Refugees and the Imago Dei
85. What is a good life?

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