What Is God Like?
And Elohim said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, and let them rule over . . .” Genesis 1:26 ISR
Image/Likeness – God created you. You are the representation of His image and likeness. What does that mean? How are you like God? If you can’t answer that question for yourself, how will you know what to do today – or any day? How can you answer the question, “What does God demand of me?” if you don’t know how you are made?
In Hebrew thought existence is a result of purpose. Nothing exists unless it serves some function in God’s order. God’s decision to make human beings springs from purpose. What purpose were you made to fulfill? You were made to rule. In our culture, ruling usually implies some sort of sovereign power. We think of kings, queens and dictators. That seems entirely appropriate since most of the occurrences of this verb, radah, are about kings. In fact, radah is almost exclusively a human function. The sun and the moon do not rule with the verb radah. But here we need a word of caution. When God made man He did not include other men in the scope of radah. God limited the rule of man to the fish, the animals, the birds and all creeping things. There isn’t the slightest hint that some men were designed to rule over others. The reason is obvious. God rules men. He is their only true King.
We need one other insight into radah. While the verb is about domination, it is not about subjection. Radah is about making creation useful. It is about extending God’s purpose to the rest of the created world. Man is made to bless the earth by bringing forth the functions God designed into it. Human rule is to have positive consequences for all.
Now that we know why you were created, we can ask once more how you are like God. The answer is powerful. The answer explains why the yetzer ha’ra resides in every man, even Man before the first act of disobedience. The Hebrew words for “image” and “likeness” are demut and tselem. The pictograph of demut is path-chaos-nail-seal (Dalet-Mem-Vav-Tau). It could mean “the path securing a covenant over chaos.” To be in God’s image is to be the pathway (the means) that guarantees life over destruction. This is like God’s activity for He is the God of life, opposing forces that lead to death and destruction. The focus is on the similarity in actions, not in essence. Human beings are not miniature gods, but they are capable of acting in ways similar to God when they walk according to the pathway that secures life. When the prefix and suffix are added to this picture, we get “Allow the path that secures a covenant of guaranteed life over chaos”. [1]
Being human means acting according to God’s path to life. It means standing against chaos. It means participating in a covenant guarantee. It means knowing what is permitted and what is not, and acting accordingly. Any behavior that denies, negates or rejects these goals is not human behavior and the creatures that exhibit non-human behavior are not creatures that exhibit God’s image. Before sin entered the world, God made human beings as perfect representatives of His image and likeness. This is an active and dynamic condition. In the perfect creation, nothing prevents human beings from taking on the image and likeness of God. They are human because they act as God acts.
This insight is directly connected to the yetzer ha’ra. The evil impulse is all about desire. That’s what Havvah struggled with. That’s what seduced her. The question facing every human being is the question of direction. Which way will I allow my desire to take me? This is the engine of all life. Without desire, there is no motivation to rule. There is no drive toward purpose. The yetzer ha’ra is absolutely essential to human life. But here’s the kicker. Desire is also essential to God! The only difference between my desire and God’s desire is that God’s desire is always for the Good. God always chooses what is holy and righteous. But desire is just as much a part of God’s image as radah.
You were made to decide. You were made to choose. God chooses. He is holy because He chooses to be holy. He asks you to make the same choice. That choice can only be present when there is an alternate choice not to be in God’s image. You are human because you stand at the crossroad. Exult in the fact that God trusts you to choose. Then decide – and be what God made you to be.
Topical Index: human, man, demut, tselem, choice, yetzer ha’ra, Genesis 1:26, radah
[1] The full phrase (“according to our likeness”) is kidmoo-tenoo. Ki is the Hebrew word for “according to.” But the consonant Kaf is the picture of an open hand. It means “to allow, to open, to cover.” Noo adds two consonants to the word, one that acts as a vowel. They are Nun-Vav. The picture is life secured or added.
“Now that we know why you were created, we can ask once more how you are like God. The answer is powerful. The answer explains why the yetzer ha’ra resides in every man, even Man before the first act of disobedience.”
You suggest that the answer to how we’re made in God’s image explains the yetzer ha’ra. Does that mean that God also has the yetzer ha’ra and he implanted that part of His image in man at creation?
What is day 6 associated with? Why is it that beasts are also created on that day. Do animals also have impulses that drive them? As Skip said has before, if a man CHOOSES not to walk in the ways of Elohim, he’s not being human. It’s an odd thing that 666 is the number that represents the BEAST as well as man, just like in Genesis.
Robert,
I understand the notions of obedience and choice. I’m struggling to find a scriptural reference that a disobedient person is no longer human – made in God’s image. Does disobedience eradicate that image, completely or partially? If so, how? And if a disobedient person is not “being human,” what is he “being”? A disobedient human? Or a disobedient something-else?
Hi Ian, sorry it took so long for me to respond. It’s been a busy afternoon. I really do understand your struggle here. I’ve wrestled with these same issues for a while now, and they’re just now becoming clearer. Anyway, let me try a different approach with you and perhaps it will help you. If not, throw it out!
Go back and read the account of God’s creation of man, the whole deal. How He formed him, made him, the “job description”, the whole deal. Then ask yourself a coupla questions. When God speaks of “making” man in His image, was He just speaking of the 1 man Adam, or all men, male and female throughout all time? Or was it both? Was the act of that specific creation completed at that time, or does it involve a process? The surprising answer to that one (I would submit) is yes and yes. God states it as finished, yet He puts Adam in a situation to show us that it’s not finished. In other words, if man is already made in God’s image, why the test? Here we find that same tension that comes up in the discussions on this board. God tells us it is finished, but yet there’s a process. He doesn’t bother to tell us what the description is of someone is who is only half way there, or anywhere else along the way. Apparently, to God, that’s not what’s important for us to know. What does seem to be important is the fact that if we don’t do God’s will and purpose in our lives, dying we die and if we do those things, we live, and are made in His image.
In my opinion, I think God left it that way on purpose. That way it gives us only 2 choices. We’re either moving in one direction or another. In one direction, we know the end is sure, made in God’s image, yet we understand that we’re not finished yet. In the other direction, there’s no certainty at all. Everything’s up for grabs. It’s not so much where we’re at that’s important, or what even defines us, but rather which way we’re moving. That is determined by the decisions we make. As Skip said below, the potential is not necessarily in us, but rather in the decisions we make. God says as much in what He DOESN’T say, as He says in what He DOES say. 🙂 !!
YHWH bless you in your searching for Him.
An interesting implication, isn’t it? If the yetzer ha’ra is NOT sin, but only the necessary complement of choice; if the yetzer ha’ra is desire, a desire that stands behind the crossroads of choice and is essential for purpose, then the yetzer ha’ra is also a reflection of God, the God who chooses, who desires, who directs Himself toward holy purposes. It is absolutely essential that we acknowledge that the yetzer ha’ra is NOT EVIL, NOT SINFUL. It is simply the opposite possibility, the drive that brings us to decide. Yeshua certainly expresses this in the Garden – the desire for another way – that is then relinquished in submission to the way the Father wishes. Anyway, I am sure this will cause a lot of interesting thought.
If the yetzer hara is simply “the drive that brings us to decide”, what then is its opposite, the yetzer hatov?
“If the yetzer hara is simply “the drive that brings us to decide”, what then is its opposite, the yetzer hatov?”
Hi Ian,
I look at it the same way, as “a drive that brings us to decide”
A desire to do the right thing (good) doesn’t matter (count) if we don’t do the right thing
Likewise, a desire to do the wrong thing (evil) doesn’t matter (count) if we don’t do it
If I were tempted to cheat on a test and did not cheat, why beat myself up?
By the same token, if I think about helping an old lady cross the street but don’t do it
Should I give myself a “pat on the back” for thinking about it? 🙂
Brilliant! Thank you. Both yetzer ha’ra and yetzer ha’tov function to provide the framework of CHOICE. What is choice if there is no alternative. The desire to follow my own agenda rather than God’s is not sin. It is simply motivation. Just as the desire to follow God’s instructions rather than my own way is not righteousness. It is simply opportunity. We must move out of the metaphysics that sees human being in parts (good and evil) and rather see human being in the dynamic of relationship, in the choice itself. That is what models God, the one who chooses. We must also note that in Hebrew the act and the consequences go together, so the emphasis is on the decision rather than on the potentials represented in the decision.
OH THANK YOU JESUS – WHAT A BEAUTIFUL LIBERATING ARTICLE OF TRUTH – MOST OF US HAVE KNOWN ALL ALONG THAT IT ALL COMES DOWN TO CHOOSING & CHOOSING GOD’S BEST FOR SURE – CHOOSING WHAT GOD CHOOSES (BEING HIS WILL FOR HIMSELF & US – IMAGINE THAT)!!! JAN
Yes, we were made to rule. “G-d blessed them and said to them, (our not so grand, grandparents) “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.” We were made to have dominion and to rule over creation.
Seems like we have a chain of command here. G-d is our King and we (at the top of the food chain) are to rule over the critters. This mission has been accomplished, but we have forgotten, (could it be due to our successes or prosperity?)- Who it is that rules over us. My G-d is King. Our Sovereign LORD. He rules and He reigns- amen. G-d is, (not was) totally Sovereign.
There is yet Another who reigns and ONE who now reigns supreme. Master and Commander of all. King of kings and LORD of lords and one day (soon?) we too shall see Him as He is and we (too) shall fall at His feet as dead men.
For you see we knew him as Jesus the meek. Jesus the weak. Jesus the Lamb, the Carpenter’s son from the nowhere town of Nazareth. But every time He spoke..- “change happened.” Lives were transformed, the blind received their sight, the deaf could hear and the halt and the maimed were made whole. How can these things be? Was this a man speaking? – or was this more than a man? Was this just a man or was this a Just man? ONE who is pure, just, holy, righteous in every way. ONE in whom Pilate was able to find no fault. Who was Jesus of Nazareth?
John said “the Word was made flesh and lived among us..” but he also said- “in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with G-d and the Word was G-d- the same was in the beginning with G-d. Is Jesus G-d incarnate? Why did He receive the worship of men? Was this, (as it was claimed to be) blasphemy?
Who was this then we crucified upon the execution stake? Did we or did we not, knowingly, willingly, purposefully kill our own Creator? Is this insanity? I can’t think of a better word, but yes, we did. “We will not have this man to rule over us..” –
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53.6)
Things haven’t changed much over the years- have they? Today, we still do not “esteem Him.” He is the (purposefully) forgotten, neglected Christ.
We are, according to the instructions of the scriptures, to give unto the LORD the glory due His Name. -Do we? or is this the purpose of eternity? Is this also a part of our Torah obedience? May we say it, know it, show it, confess and profess through our lips and our lives, our attitudes and our actions, our beliefs and our behaviors – “Blessed be the Name of the LORD.”
Our purpose? to reflect the character of the G-d who made us and to rejoice in our restored relationship with Him. We are to be holy, even as He is holy.
Define holiness (clearly) and you will find your purpose. G-d’s intention, His desire is for His children to be wholly holy. Holiness starts with Him and ends with Him and yes, holiness (sanctification) is “set-apartness” for a specific purpose or special occasion. Be clean you that bear the vessels of the LORD.
If we are priests and kings and ambassadors for Him- (and according to the scriptures we are!)- as His representatives in this world, we have some cleaning up to do to say the least. This place is a mess. This man is a mess. But G-d (love those two words!) specializes in making a message out of a mess. Clarity and calm emerges from chaos and confusion, and the Chief Musician gives us songs in the night.
Victory is ours through Jesus (the) Christ, our Savior and LORD. Salvation (deliverance) is a crisis followed by a process. We have been saved from the penalty of sin. We are being saved from the power (authority) of sin- (sin shall no longer have dominion over you!) and one day (soon, I hope!) we will be saved from the presence of sin. A three-part triune process- Salvation (deliverance).
The death, burial and resurrection of our Messiah was and is a three-part (triune) process, and all three are also necessary in our deliverance. We also have died with Him, are buried by baptism unto death (of self), and are raised again to walk in ‘newness of life’- living by faith and endued and energized by the power of the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Breath, now living inside and working in and through the life of every believer.
Body, soul and spirit, man is a triune three-part being. Our Elohim (plural) is a tri-unity, yet He is echad- ONE. Father-Son-Holy Breath- these three are ONE. ONE LORD, one faith, one baptism. G-d’s favorite number is ONE. That the two may become “one flesh”. G-d is a god of tremendous diversity, yet He is a G-d of three-part unity and a G-d of reconciliation, that in the ages to come He may show unto us the exceeding riches of His grace toward us in Christ Jesus.
How are we reconciled to G-d the Father (who we know to be holy?) – Through the death, burial and resurrection of our Messiah, the Lamb of G-d who has taken away the sin of the world. The cross of Christ is the doorway, the entry point, the threshold, the torn veil we all must enter in.
And the blood of Jesus Christ, G-d the Son, cleanses from all sin. – “And you has He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins” From death to life? Every blood-bought believer is a walking miracle..
“the drive that brings us to decide”
Hmmm
Sounds like Freud and Sartre to me 🙂
And makes me think of my senior year in college
In which I took a class on the philosophy of Jean Paul Sartre
My old master, Fred Jameson, taught Sartre’s Nausea, No Exit, and Being and Nothingness
It was my favorite undergraduate class and I’d like to share some of the ideas
Please bear with me as I over-simplify
For Sartre, man is essentially nothing but the freedom to choose
But this freedom to choose causes anxiety/nausea and creates a desire to live in “bad faith”
The most common form of this bad faith can be found in the view that believing in God can save you
For Sartre, nothing we can do can save us, but we can at least act authentically
Authenticity, in Sartre’s view, can be achieved only by taking responsibility for our actions
And, for Sartre, the bottom line is we are what we do
“For Sartre, nothing we can do can save us, but we can at least act authentically”
Why?
Sounds like a contradiction to me!! 🙂 or maybe 🙁 !!