MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD?

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“When God created man (Adam), he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.” Genesis 5:1-3

Adam is said to be made in the image of God but after The Fall things have changed such that Adam’s son is not described as created in God’s image but in fallen Adam’s image and likeness. This is a statement of theological significance confirmed in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15.

“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned… ” Romans 5:12

“For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners,” Romans 5:19

“Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust,” 1 Corinthians 15:49

Adam’s image includes two things that God’s image did not include. It includes SIN and DEATH. All humans have become dead sinners because we bear Adam’s image. Sin is pollution, which is why Jesus describes the human heart as the source of all kinds of wickedness.

“What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” Mark 7:20-23

Whilst we are no longer made in God’s image the good news is that Jesus is made in God’s image.

“He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” Colossians 1:15

“the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4;4

“He 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.” Hebrews 1:3

The entrance of Jesus Christ into world history was not a surprise. It was part of God’s plan to undo the Fall as prophesied in Genesis 3:15. These words were spoken to Satan.

“I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15

Jesus is the woman’s child. He will be injured (bruised heel). But he (Jesus) will destroy sin and death by crushing Satan’s head.

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:4-5

This is important because sin and death are our problem, not God’s. It is on us to put it right, but it is beyond our power to put it right because it is against God. So the powerful God became man to put things right for mankind.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

Scripture records that:

“For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

“so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” Hebrews 2:9

Just before His death, Jesus said this astonishing thing in prayer.

“I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” John 16:4-5

ANCIENT SUMERIANS RECORDED THE DIVIDE OF HEAVEN AND EARTH IN ACCORD WITH THE BIBLE

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Before Adam ate the forbidden fruit, the heavenly (spiritual) dimension, and the earthly dimension were one realm— one domain, one plane of existence in which God, angels, and man had open communication and relationship; There was no separation between the spiritual realm, and the physical realm. There was perfect compatibility and agreement between them, an idea also found in Mesopotamian literature: “Heaven talked with Earth. Earth talked with Heaven.” (The Xianhua Wang Metamorphosis of Enlil (Satan) in Early Mesopotamia Pg. 152)

“Anu (the creator god) carried off heaven while Enlil carried off the earth and assumed most of An’s powers.” (Kramer, Samuel Noah The Sumerians The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1963. Pg. 37-41)

“Enlil … was at about the same time cosmologically considered the deity who separated Heaven from Earth and Earth from Heaven.” (Xianhua Wang The Metamorphosis of Enlil in Early Mesopotamia. Pg. 100.)

God walked in the Garden, and man could look at his face and endure God’s fire and lightning. Man’s transgression brought decay, degeneration, and death. God’s perfection and the fallen physical, earthly realm became incompatible. Now God’s fiery presence would scorch the ground like when He descended on Mt. Sinai (The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth. Psalms 97: 5). Now man could no longer see God’s face and live. The Garden of Eden, where God, angels, and man could commune together was gone. Open, unveiled fellowship became impossible. This divide of heaven and Earth caused by Satan (Enlil) was recorded by the ancient Sumerians ( Kramer, Samuel Noah The Sumerians The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1963. Pg. 37-41).

After The Fall, when God came into the Garden in the cool of the evening, Adam and Eve were compelled to hide themselves. Why? The first sign of disconnect was when they realised they were naked. They had been clothed with light like God covers himself “with light as with a garment” (Psalms 104: 2). They observed the glow in which they had previously been clothed was fading. This reality was displayed after Moses spent forty days with God and upon coming down the mountain, he “did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him” (Exodus 34: 29). When the congregation saw him, “The skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him” (Exodus 34: 30).

After God announced the consequences of man’s actions, God had to remove Himself from his own creation, lest His fire destroy it. This removal is what the Scriptures call the veil. It is what marks the boundary between our earthly, physical domain and the spiritual domain. Isaiah first spoke of its removal: “And He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces” (Isaiah 25: 7– 8). The prophet Isaiah also pined: “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down” (Isaiah 64: 1). Whatever the veil is, it can be torn and removed.

There are four other distinct places where the veil (heavens) was opened: “I saw the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God” (Ezekiel 1: 1). “Jesus came up … and the heavens were opened to Him” (Matthew 3: 16). Stephen: “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” (Acts 7: 55– 56). John: “I saw heaven opened … Jesus was on a white horse” (Revelation 19: 11).

Since The Fall the cosmos exists as two realms— the one in which we live, and the other where spirit-based beings live and where God’s presence is manifest. The one realm was split into two: the earthly dimension is what Satan rules, he is the god of this world; the heavenly or spiritual dimension is where God rules. (God rules all, of course, but Satan has authority in the earthly realm.)

God did not curse the ground because of Adam; rather, like a reporter, He simply presented the consequence of the degenerative decay-death reaction that Adam triggered (Genesis 2: 17). God said, “Cursed is the ground for your sake” (Genesis 3: 17).

God created Adam from the adamáh (earth); Adam was the earth-man, the federal head of creation. Adam and the adamáh were linked physically and hence their fates were linked. When Adam ate from the fruit, death, degeneration, and decay happened upon Adam and upon the Earth and material cosmos as well. Decay permeated the entire creation from the invisible world of cells and DNA to all the animals, birds, and fish that God had formed out of the adamáh. Degeneration began within all living and non-living matter; the atoms of every tree, flower, blade of grass, rock, mountain, planet, and star. The complete composition of all physical creation became incompatible with God’s fiery presence.

I have found it liberating to understand the true history of God and His Cosmos and that the ancient world like the Sumerians recorded it in accord with God’s Word. I hope you find it liberating as well.

The information in this post has been extracted from Douglas Hamp’s book, Corrupting the Image 2: Hybrids, Hades, and the Mt Hermon Connection. Eskaton Media Group. There is a third book in the series: Corrupting the Image 3: Singularity, Superhumans, and The Second Coming of Jesus. I have not read it as yet but I am sure I will find some gems in it.