(Genesis 1:26-27) Then 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
birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over
every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in his
own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
IN HIS OWN IMAGE
The word “image” is
translated from the Hebrew: “Tzelem”, which means photocopy in
modern Hebrew. It comes from the root word “Tzel”, which means
shadow. The word “likeness” in Hebrew is “Demut”, which means model,
shape, similar.
We were formed to be like
God… not to be gods, but as a His Shadow, doing in the Earth what he does in
Heaven. God wants us to be an image, a reflection of what He is.
In contrast with the rest
of the living creatures, which only have body and soul, human beings also have
a “spirit”. This is a feature that makes humans like God. Man also has free will, which comes from the
spirit, unlike the animals that live only by instinct.
When it comes to the
God-man relationship, there is a clear difference between the Greek and the
Hebrew point of view. The Hebrew perspective considers that man was created in
the image of God, while the Greek made their gods in the image of man, plagued
by the same passions and human emotions, only with “super-powers”. The effect
each of these perspectives has, greatly influences our every day lives. Are we
going to rationalize our passions and desires? Or are we going to make an
effort to be better, seeking to be an image of God here on Earth?
MALE AND FEMALE HE CREATED
“HIM”
God created Adam as a
perfect and complete being.
(Genesis 1:27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he
created him; male and female he created them.
Here we see how this verse
has been translated. But in the original Hebrew text this verse ends by saying:
“he created HIM”. God formed a complete human being out of dust from the
ground, male and female in one, just as Jewish tradition explains. It may sound
strange, but it should not surprise us, since we later see how the woman was
taken out of the side of Adam, and then they were a man and a woman.
(Genesis 2:21-23) So 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. And
the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and
brought her to the man. Then 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.
Adam was formed of dust
from the ground. The word formed is from the Hebrew “Yatsar”,
meaning: to shape or mold, as the potter forms the clay.
(Genesis 2:7) Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living
creature.
On the other hand, Eve was taken
from the man (2:22). What is translated in this verse as “made into” is from
the Hebrew “Banah” which literally means: to build or
reconstruct.
When Adam saw Eve, he
recognized in her an essential part of him. When they are joined together they
become a complete and perfect being once more. Eve represents Adam’s
complement, not a rival. When a man and a woman get married they again become
as one.
(Genesis 2:24) Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and
hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
AND GOD SAW THAT IT WAS
GOOD
When we study the first
chapter of the book of Genesis, we can not miss a phrase that is repeated
several times: “And God saw that it was good”. On every day of creation God
said that what he had created was good. However, there was one day when he did
not say it: on the second day, when he separated the waters from the waters.
And there is yet another day that draws our attention: on the sixth day he said
that he saw that it was “very good”.
(Genesis 1:31) And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was
very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
This was the day on which
God created man.
Knowing this, it should
surprise us when he later says on chapter two: “It is not good…”, because it
clashes with what he just said a few verses behind.
(Genesis 2:18) Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man
should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him."
He said it during the
occasion when God gave Adam the task of naming all the animals. Every one of
them had a helper, except for Adam. God had not made a mistake, because he had
created Adam perfect. Nevertheless, it was not good that he should be alone.
There is a parallel linking
this story to the relationship between God and man. God is perfect, and he does
not need anyone. Nevertheless, he created human beings to keep him company, and
he created us in his image, after his likeness. The complete story of the Bible
points to that day when man and God will unite, on the day of the Marriage of
the Lamb, when the New Jerusalem will descend. We will become one with Him.
A HELPER FIT FOR HIM
God had said that it was “not good that the man should be alone”. He
immediately presented a solution: “I will make him a helper fit for him."
What does he mean by a “fit
helper”? We may imagine that is someone who will contribute with man and help
him reach his goals. In a way it is, but not necessarily as we imagine it to
be.
The Hebrew word for it is “Ezer
Neged”.
Ezer means: help, aid.
Neged means: counterpart, opposite, against or in front
of.
It may seem that these are opposite
words; yet together, they form a concept of “divine design”. A “fit helper” is
not the one that does anything her man desires, but one who helps him become as
he should be. If he is on the right path, she would walk by his side, but if he
turns away, she would step in front of him, against him, as an anchor, to
straighten his path.
FIRST BLESSING
Have you ever wondered
which the first words God spoke to man were? They must have been truly
important.
In the first chapter of the
book of Genesis we find which these first words were:
(Genesis 1:27-28) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he
created him; male and female he created them. 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 birds of the heavens
and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
God’s first words to man
were a blessing!
This blessing consisted of
giving them the capability to be fruitful. This is not limited to the
propagation and reproduction of the human race. It includes the blessing of
being productive in everything they did.
According to the Bible,
working is not a “curse”, but a BLESSING. The curse, concerning work as a
consequence of sin (chapter 3), is not working per se, but the fact that there
would be great effort in his labor and the difficulty to produce fruit
(unproductive labor).
It is a blessing when we
work and produce abundance of fruit. It is part of our nature. That is why
unemployment is one of the toughest and more painful social problems. However,
when a person works and is productive, he gets a feeling of accomplishment,
because he is fulfilling his mission on earth.
Additionally to the
blessing regarding work, God placed man in charge of all the earth. God gave us
the capability to use all the planet’s resources. But we must not forget that
we are only stewards of this world. Everything there is belongs to God and we
will have to give an account to Him for everything we do.
After explaining to man his
mission on earth, God instructed him about his diet:
(Genesis 1:29-30) Y And God said, "Behold, I have given you
every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree
with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the
earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the
earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant
for food." And it was so.
Yes, initially the diet was
vegetarian. It was not until after the Great Flood that God authorized men to
eat meats.
(Genesis 9:1-7) And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them,
"Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The fear of you and the
dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the
heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea.
Into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food
for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. But you
shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. And for your lifeblood I
will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From
his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. "Whoever
sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his
own image. And you, be fruitful and multiply, teem on the earth and multiply in
it."
After the Great Flood God
blessed humanity again, in the same way he did with Adam. He told them that
they should be fruitful and safeguard the earth. The only difference in this
blessing is the diet: they were authorized to eat meat, only not with its
blood.
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