This brief six-part series is intended to offer a perspective of six promises that the God of the Bible has provided to humanity. This offers but a brief, high-level overview of these promises. These articles are not intended as doctrine, dogma or necessarily even theology, but as a thought stimulating exercise looking at reality as we know it.
Executive Summary:
- Humanity’s purpose – generate a “workforce” and “do good.”
- Divine “shadows” – look like a shadow of the divine, act LIKE the divine.
- Divine “Order” – bring order from chaos.
- The “Course” of curses – choosing harm results in harm, choosing good usually results in good.
- One is either WITH absolute good, OR NOT with absolute good – you are either ON or OFF there is no real on/off.
The Bible is actually sixty-six separate books written down by around forty different individuals who were inspired by God to record God’s teachings. There are, undoubtedly even more inspired humanity written books throughout time, but these sixty-six have been determined by a consensus to be the foundational books of Judeo-Christian faith. It also contains principles and wisdom utilized by other faiths in their relation to the divine. These books contain many themes, but highlight the shining one's desire for humanity.
Humanity is blessed with a purpose. Genesis tells us that humanity is created in the image and likeness of divinity. The word blessed is derived from a word indicating beneficial. Humanity can find beneficial results through the pursuit of divine teachings regarding humanity's purpose.
We steward this divine creation around us. Genesis chapters 1 and 2 are considered by many to be the first covenant between the divine and humanity, known as the Adamic or the Edenic covenant
Let’s look at the divine's first covenant with humanity by starting with Genesis 1:26-30. In verse 26 we see a dialogue within all of the aspects of the divine. Let us make man in our own image according to our likeness. Where humanity often "talks to itself" with the singular pronoun "I" the divine has MANY aspects and "talks to itself" with the plural pronoun "we". This triune nature of the divine may best be described as. Divine desire, Spiritual action, and Physical results. Or feeling (desire), thinking (consideration [indicating "with the stars"]) and action (physical results) might be another way of expressing this concept.
If the divine is the shining one (light) and created humans as his shadow on earth then we need to realize that the closer we are to the light, the “sharper and more clearly the image of the divine is cast upon the earth. The farther we are from the divine the more indistinguishable the shadow becomes.
Shadow puppets project a recognizable image when the puppet is close to the light. If there is a great distance from the light the shadow will be too weak to project far into the world. To state it bluntly YOU are the projection, the shadow, of the divine into the world. If you are close to the divine in thought and action, the image of the divine will be adequately projected into the world. If you are far from divine you will just blend in with all of the other dim shadows in the world.
The word used for likeness come from words, which when considered together portray an image of a seal or covenant concerning a pathway through chaos. Perhaps the “likeness” of divinity is about trustworthiness, promise-keeping, and reliability in spite of the apparent disorder in the cosmos. Perhaps to be in the likeness of the divine is to exhibit trustworthiness and steadfastness in the midst of turmoil.
Our likeness is also a statement about the bridge between divinity and humanity. When the divine determined to cast their likeness and image upon the Earth and to empower this representative with authority to bring order to creation, divinity formed a covenant bridge between heaven and earth. Humanity participates in both the heavenly directive and the earthy engagement standing over the gulf between heaven and earth, to provide a pathway so that what is true in heaven becomes true on earth. To be in the likeness of divinity is to pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” and then go about making it happen.
This definition of human being the Hebrew word (adam) is referring to humanity not just male humans, nor is it just the proper name of the first man. Though it can be, just as you might name your dog Dog or your cat Cat. So remember that the Bible references the rights and responsibilities of ALL HUMANS, not just male humans. Don’t believe that? Just look at the rest of verse 26 Let them have dominion…. Using the plural pronoun in this phrase clarifies the inclusive meaning of the word adam. Divinity gave mankind, male and female together, authority to dominate over all other creatures because mankind alone is made in His image. Further, humanity comes in two flavors – male and female; each with their own unique status as image-bearers. Just as the God may be perceived in the Old Testament portion of the Christian Bible as a authoritarian, dangerous, jealous God, this same God may also be perceived in the New Testament as a loving and gentle God. They are the same God, but different “extremes” of the same whole spectrum.
While the symbolism can be more complex than this, you may think of it this way: yang is, like the daylight, a time to be active, bright, hot, and energy producing; while yin is, like the night time, a time to be more passive and lower in energy, more sustaining and nurturing as one rests.
This biblical passage also tells us that humanity’s assignment is to be fruitful (productive) and multiply (grow). Humans, male and female, were entrusted by divinity to act as His representatives on earth, exercising authority over all creation by being good stewards.
Divinity blessed humanity with his image; blessed them with purpose; and finally blessed them with provision. Both humanity and all other creatures were supplied with food to sustain their physical bodies. Divinity alone is the source of life. Divinity is also the source of the aliveness of life. Thus it is that the divine GIVES life and the divine BRINGS life.
Next we see the first specific assignment for humanity under the Adamic, or Edenic, Covenant.
Genesis 2:16-17 points out that in the Edenic garden of this world, there are many trees (a word derived from ancient words meaning firm, solid, steadfast, and from which the word true is dreived). There are many "truths", in the world, and humanity is free to explore them, but when we know ("perceive a thing to be identical with another,") good and evil; when we think that good and evil are the same or are irrelevant, then humanity will certainly die (a word indicating to be removed).
Genesis paints a picture of Eden generously providing for the humanity's needs by planting a garden in which they were to live and work, as well as trees from which he could eat. Divinity indicates that humanity is free in the sense that they are able to make moral choices. Humanity was, and is, free to either choose to follow the guidance of the ULTIMATE shining, or to reject that guidance and wander around in the dark.
Humanity had only only one prohibition from divinity. It tested Adam’s trust, obedience, and loyalty demonstrating that there were, and are, limits to humanity's freedom. Humans are to live within the limits of goodness that divinity had established. The consequence for disobeying would be death. Divinity intended humanity to live forever. But such life was contingent on their obedience to the guidance of divinity.
Think of it this way. There’s a lot of freedom in how you grow a tomato plant. You may grow them in a pot on the porch, in a container garden, a large garden plot, even in water alone in a hydroponic garden. And yet there are parameters as well. You can’t expect this plant to live if it is planted in sand, or clay, or concrete, or if you put it in a dark room with very little light. It has to be where it can receive sunlight and water. In the same way, our call to steward divinity’s creation is not without limits. Our responsibility comes with parameters and we are free to manage within those parameters and to learn from our mistakes that get us coloring outside of the lines of those parameters.
Genesis 3:16-19 Because of their disobedience, humanity faced the impossible situation of trying to be closely associated with the divine while at the same time deeming their own opinions more important than divine commands. As a result of thinking that the human way was just as good as the divine way, stated in one simple sentence, the result was the production of your fruit will be painful and difficult. Each role of humanity, the yin and the yang, the masculine and feminine, the male and female, had specific painful and difficult components that were realized. Women in child bearing, and all humans in just being productive in their work.
The first humans were given the charge to care for and watch over the garden. Part of Adam’s watch care should have been coming to his partner’s aid when divinity's command was distorted. He could have corrected the serpent. He could have stopped his wife from eating the forbidden fruit. Instead, he joined her in consuming the knowledge of good and evil that she shared with him, in effect becoming the first teacher.
As a result of their choices their productivity would be painful. Men and women, by the inherited choice that the first humanity made, would have to work harder until they could figure out how to do the work smarter.
Loosely put, it could be said that God said “I gave you GOOD. I told you NOT to choose to know EVIL (a word indicating harmful). Now, because you humans have chosen to know EVIL (harmfulness) you will get to EXPERIENCE EVIL (harmfulness). Then maybe you will desire to choose and know GOOD.” In modern language we might say “you want BAD, you get your wish. Enjoy bad ‘until’ you learn to choose good.”
Work remained the purpose of humanity, but fulfilling that purpose would now entail pain, struggle, and often times frustration. As a result of their own choices, the promise of life, the ultimate yang had now been exchanged for death, the ultimate yin.
While the immediate result of their failing was spiritual death (they were no longer perfect in righteousness and in fellowship with divinity), eventually physical death would be another consequence of their disobedience. And because offspring are in the image and likeness of their originators, all of Humanity’s descendants would likewise suffer because they are the image and likeness of Adam and Eve.
Divinity is not fooled. Humanity has always been and will ALWAYS be subjected to being fooled. BUT those who place their faith in the plans of the divine and who seek good, have been provided with the Spirit who will always guide us TO the Good. BUT, as with Adam and Eve, it is STILL always OUR choice to choose good, or to “just do it MY way.”
We will still fail, but because we are SEEKING to draw closer to shining divinity, our image or representation to the world of what divinity is like will be more beneficial. Even though Adam and Eve “screwed it up”, and so do we because we are in their image and likeness, Divinity has not changed our work assignment. We are still to be productive, reproductive, and the dominate species on the planet. We are to be the leaders in managing our world – physical, mental and spiritual – in a straight line back to divinity.