Last Sunday I reluctantly got out of bed (I'm not a morning person!) and stumbled to the bathroom, and as I looked at myself in the mirror I realized I
looked like I hadn't slept at all, and my wrinkles looked deeper and I had a moment of "wow, I'm really aging"....not that I usually care
about such things, it was more like an observation. But anyways, as I was thinking that the scripture from Genesis came into my mind:
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
Genesis 1:26
and it struck me as I pondered my reflection in the mirror that I was looking at my "image" but that the "image" wasn't the "real" me, and also that what I was seeing was an "opposite reflection" of me....I thought about what Bill has written about an adversary being God in disguise, and the one coin with two sides, and God's left hand and right hand etc etc etc...
...and then I wondered why it said: "in our image" AND "after our likeness"....I've learned that every word in scripture is important and I realized that though on the surface it seems that the phrases "in our image" and "after our likeness" are saying the same thing, perhaps there is an important piece of the puzzle in what's actually different about these phrases...
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
Genesis 1:26
and it struck me as I pondered my reflection in the mirror that I was looking at my "image" but that the "image" wasn't the "real" me, and also that what I was seeing was an "opposite reflection" of me....I thought about what Bill has written about an adversary being God in disguise, and the one coin with two sides, and God's left hand and right hand etc etc etc...
...and then I wondered why it said: "in our image" AND "after our likeness"....I've learned that every word in scripture is important and I realized that though on the surface it seems that the phrases "in our image" and "after our likeness" are saying the same thing, perhaps there is an important piece of the puzzle in what's actually different about these phrases...
| What I found especially interesting is the Hebrew word for "image":
tselem this is from an unused root meaning to shade....the meaning is according to my lexical aid is "image, likeness, resemblance, illusion, a representative figure, an idol, a phantom, nothingness... This word is used sixteen times in the OT, five of them refer to man but most of the time it denotes an idol. Twice it refers to the golden copies of the mice and swellings which afflicted the Philistines (1Sam 6:5, 11) Since God is spirit nothing material can really be used to represent Him...tselem (image) therefore can not mean an exact duplicate. Ps 39:6 shows that it is only the SHADOW of a thing, representing the original in an imprecise manner, lacking the essential characteristics (reality) of the original... Surely a man goes about as a shadow (tselem).... Psalms 39:6 Interestingly the root of this word is also in the Hebrew word tsela which is translated "rib", as in the rib God took from Adam's side to make Eve.....interesting yes? God took a part of the very body of Adam to make a helpmate for him...however on the surface it looks like Eve has gotten herself and Adam in a heap of trouble....it LOOKS like she has done the opposite of "helping" Adam....but, we know that in this process God is refining and abrasive tools are needed in this process...adverse conditions are like sandpaper and chisels, helping to REVEAL the hidden work of art in stone... so the soul (Eve) experiencing "good and evil" actually helps to reveal the treasure of spirit within...and begins the journey of the invisible merging with the visible....Adam (spirit) would never leave Eve (soul) and so together they step into the world of duality....good and bad....for better or for worse...
now we know the tool IS the serpent...God says, I created the waster to destroy...that is, to sandpaper and chisel away the stone so the beautiful art underneath can shine through...through this world of dualities... whatever forces drive our minds to be carnal....these things are at the same time tools chiseling away the lies of our minds....and I see the tree of knowledge of good and evil as the expression of the carnal mind....the soul seeking wisdom through fleshly means... But I also realize that this is all part of the plan... So I'm considering that the "image" is that which is the opposite reflection of God....the nature we carry while in a material body living in a world of form is carnal....at this point....God wanting to manifest and express himself in the world of form has to squeeze and birth himself out in a painful process it seems (this also reflects the definition of the Hebrew word "create")...a squeezing and pounding out, like into fine silky powder.... these bodies we carry are yet carnal, though when the process is finished they will be spiritual bodies...God is mining gold out of the ore and sludge... In the Etymological Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew, on page 217 under the root (for image) we find: "what appears to be, appearance." God began by making man into "what appears to be" God but is not...YET that is.....notice also how many times the word tselem is translated as idol in the scriptures...what have we done with this flesh....idolized it? Hasn't God said "do not worship graven images", but isn't that what we are doing when we are trying through carnal means to make this flesh righteous? It's the carnal sitting in the temple (us) claiming to be God! And isn't that what the religious world has done to Jesus' flesh? They are worshiping a graven image... Aren't we running rampant identifying ourselves with the flesh and it's lusts, worshiping idols of our mind, thinking this is our true identity, when in reality it is an ILLLUSION (as stated in the definition of image)...what we see in the mirror is just a phantom of divinity....the form not yet married (as one) with the formless because we've aligned our souls (minds) with the serpent nature...the image/opposite of God...rather than with the LIKENESS which is the true substance of God.... the image is only meant to be a vehicle for the expression of God, not God Himself...and yet the Christian world has done this with themselves because they have done this with Jesus, knowing him only after the flesh (image) rather than after the likeness (spirit). Now the word "likeness" is demûth and means resemblance; concretely model, shape; adverbially like: - fashion, like (-ness, as), manner, similitude. But here's what's interesting again... this is what I found: In Genesis 5:3 we read "And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begot in his likeness and image, and he named him Seth." Notice that Seth was also in the image of his father, Adam. But more is implied here by the use of both terms. It seems we have here "an exact replica" of his father containing a special essence of him. In Genesis 4:10 when Yahweh tells Cain that his brother's "blood" cries out we find the root word is (inc) from this word demooth (likeness). It appears again as "blood" in Genesis 9:4 "But flesh with the life thereof which is the "blood" thereof, shall you not eat." and in Deuteronomy 22:8 "When you build a new house, then you shall make a battlement for your roof, that you bring not "blood" upon your house, if any man fall from thence." Is this coincidence or does it have significance and relationship to the "blood" of the sacrifices and the "blood" of Jesus? Consulting the Webster's New World Hebrew Dictionary we find the following in words under this root: " dnc - demey: blood; demey 'eravon: earnest money; demoot: image; figure; character! So couldn't we say then, that "likeness" has more to due with the substance of God, his very character and essence....the formless hidden in this earthen vessel of form....blood/spirit which we are covered with when we are in Christ....annointed spirit which is poured into OUR flesh.... the "likeness" holds the key to our true identity and that which will transform the carnal mortal body into a spiritual immortal body... when we look at "demah" in the Etymological Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew, on page 51 we see terms and phrases like "being similar;" "losing distinctiveness; " "intending similar action (character);" "conceiving;" "blood (essence);" So then, God made man originally CARNAL (image) but ALSO with the substance of SPIRIT hidden within, like a treasure in a field... There was no choice or no other path for Adam and Eve (mankind) to take but to eat of dualities...the friction which is like sandpaper smoothing out the path for the spirit within to come forth....John the Baptist making way for the Lord Christ... For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness (of our darkened minds): 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'" Matthew 3:3 The waster is like a timed self-destructing bomb...the bomb disassembles carnality which is reassembled by Christ into spirit
God has lowered himself (humbled himself) to this lower dimension which is really also an expression of Himself as all things are of God...but it is his OPPOSITE expression at this time....it's only his image which is a SHADOW, even an ILLUSION, a PHANTOM...it's everything that is opposite to God that even GOD HIMSELF is dying to....does that make sense? He is making sure that nothing in our own future as co-creative gods would bring forth further suffering....Trying to find the right words to express what's going in my head. God knows all....he knows what is opposite to himself and he is expressing this in the world of form right now IN ORDER to refine and perfect his ULTIMATE expression which is purity in Love so that we, as His offspring, will truly be like Him... And so he brought forth these dual natures in us...the carnal man and the spirit man....the image AND the likeness.... ....this further shows the works of the flesh is where 'satan' (adversity/dualities) has its origin....because the works of the flesh are ADVERSE to the works of the spirit...thus the reason Christ has to come INTO the flesh in order to destroy its workings...overcome the adversities of the flesh in order to swallow it up and transform it into spiritual "flesh" or form....God has to die in the flesh...(the last adam/red earth) in order to bring forth fruit (spirit)....just as a seed must die in the darkened earth to bring forth fruit... Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:24 isn't this God? coming in form, dying to that expression of himself in order to bring forth fruit....A FAMILY, OFFSPRING...otherwise He would remain alone....giving birth is truly a messy business folks!! HA! (are you feeling me moms! )
Anyways, what do you guys think? I hope you know I'm just rambling here....trying to grasp what the spirit is showing me...it's good to get it out sometimes so I'm not alone in my looniness...lol... Peace and love, Diana |
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