The Image of God. Who Serves Who?

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Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

On the basis of these verses it has been said that the animals and other creatures were created on a level below Adam to serve Adam.  This statement requires explicit clarification in order that it can be understood to teach, as it ought to be understood, that humanity will be held responsible by the Creator of all creatures for their welfare, rather than being understood to teach that humanity can look on all other creatures as being given to it by the Creator as mere resources or slave beings for use in its own self-gratification.

First, it is important to realize that while Adam was made in the image of his and her Creator, it is only the Son of Adam who is said to actually be the image of the Creator.  Thus it is only by our unification with him that the Creator can actively express his image through us.  As we read:

From Hebrews 1:1-3 God...has... spoken unto us by his Son... Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person...

John 5:19 Then answered Yehoshua and said unto them, With certain truth, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do: for whatsoever things he does, these also the Son does likewise.

What things, then, do we see that the Son has done?  From these things we will know what the Father does.  We read:

From Philippians 2:5-7 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Mashiach Yehoshua:  Who...made himself of no reputation, and took the form of a servant...

Clearly, from these actions of the Son we know that the Father, the Creator of all, serves all, even graciously lowering himself to the lowest level in order to be the servant of all and to sustain the existence and life and welfare of all through his own unselfishness.

We should be careful, therefore, that we do not understand our being given dominion over all other creatures in a way that makes us proud and puffed up, as if it were a matter for us to boast about and a reason for our having a measure of disdain for our Creator's other creatures.  If we are more important to our Creator than the sparrow (Luke 12:7) it is not because the sparrow is less inherently divine than we are but because we were given free choice, so that we might take the responsibility to become the servant of the sparrow and all other creatures, as the Creator himself is the servant of all, and the sparrow and all other creatures were created to be our assistants in this work of serving the Great Servant and all his creation. 

Thus it is for us to know only that our responsibility is greater than that of the sparrow, for we are responsible for the welfare of many sparrows.  This knowledge, then, should fill us with modesty and not with pride and is the true meaning of Adam being delegated the dominion over all creatures of the earth by the Great Servant and Creator of all.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Mashiach Yehoshua...

A Little Lower than Elohim

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John 10:34 Yehoshua answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, You are elohim?
35 If he called them elohim, unto whom the word of Elohim came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
36 You say of him, whom the Father has sanctified, and sent into the world, You blasphemy; because I said, I am the Son of Elohim? 

Let us look at some of the Scriptural background to the exchange from which this quote is taken:

Deuteronomy 18:18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other elohim, even that prophet shall die.

Psalms 82
1 Elohim stands in the congregation of El; in the midst of elohim he judges.
2 How long will you judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
6 I have said, You are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
7 But you shall die as mortals, and fall like one of the princes.
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth: for you shall inherit all nations.

Psalms 8
1 O HASHEM our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth! who has set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings you have ordained strength because of your enemies, that you might still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained;
4 What is adam, that you are mindful of them? and the son of adam, that you are present with him?
5 For you have made him a little lower than the elohim, and have crowned him with glory and honour.
6 You made him to have dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet:
7 All sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field;
8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passes through the paths of the seas.
9 O HASHEM our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth!

Hosea 1:10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea,
which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass,
that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them,
The children of the living Elohim. 

Yehoshua asked, When the Scriptures call you elohim, why are you offended when I say that I am the Son of Elohim?

In order to understand this, we can look at another Scripture, one that can tie the children of Israel being called the children of Israel being called the children of the living Elohim together with their being themselves called elohim.

Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. 

God's (Elohim's) choice of Israel is His choice to be with Adam even in Adam's fallen state, even in Adam's death. It is a choice of grace and mercy, but it is also a choice of judgment, for only one branch of the family tree of Adam is chosen. Indeed, God chose to direct the creation of this family branch of Adam Himself, and to call it His own and to be revealed to the lost world through His choice of it and ultimately through its corporate salvation. Just as every family branch of Adam is fallen because there is a corporate solidarity to Adam that remains, and must remain in order for Adam (mankind) to be Adam, so Israel also in Adam is in a fallen state. In every family branch of Adam, every nation or people, there is a natural affinity for the original sin of Adam, a disposition of rebellion against Elohim and a proclivity for seeking knowledge and wisdom that should belong to Elohim alone. In Israel, this affinity for the original sin of Adam was illustrated by the sin of the golden calf.

In suffering with Israel all that she suffers (Isaiah 63:9) there is the aspect of HaShem being there with Adam and cHavah in their fall, at least to the degree that He was present with that representative part of Adam which HaShem chose to be His nation, Israel. We can say, then, that Adam-Israel fell from the original hight in which Adam was created by turning to their own understanding and seeking to be as Elohim by the act of disobedience to Elohim in seeking wisdom and the knowledge of good and evil in its entirety in their own experience, having the beginning and end of that knowledge in their own experience without need of Elohim and thereby making themselves to be Elohim.

Now, what is this that HaShem was there with them by way of His suffering with them in this, their error, and in their falling from their hight but that He was made thereby a little lower than Elohim? For, indeed, Elohim was made a little lower than Elohim in order to suffer with Israel. This is because the one who was created a little lower than Elohim tried to make itself to be a little above Elohim and Elohim would not let them fall all the way to destruction. Rather, He made Himself personally to be their foundation so that when they should fall they should fall upon Him.

Thus it is that we see the suffering of Knesset Israel and the suffering of Mashiach as one. As it is one below, so it is one above, for as Israel is repentant and walks in the ruach of HaShem she is elevated to the rectification of her transgression. What is the rectification of her transgression? It is that she should have understanding and wisdom from above and not from below. Because she desired wisdom and did not simply desire disobedience she can hear the correction to the sin that she sought to give what was not hers to give, (the goodness and wisdom of the forbidden fruit). For wisdom is for nothing but to give. However, she sought to give as from herself as the source of giving while the source of giving was not hers. Therefore, being deceived through her desire to be the provider of all that is good she deceived the world and became worthy of condemnation, but HaShem was gracious to her and showed her the suffering of Mashiach's love for her for the sake of her rectification of all things from evil to good, and yet seeing her lacking of the Divine Presence of Elohim within her, she (Israel) repented, (she shall repent entirely when her hour comes), that she might become a true and complete instrument of goodness. Through walking in repentance she was thus elevated to the level of reconciliation with the One who loved her and gave Himself for her, the level of her sufferings being accounted as one with His sufferings. Thus, above, she is Knesset Israel, and she ascends from below unto herself and unto her beloved. Through Mashiach she is elevated again to be a little lower than Elohim, the place of her origin and her life and the place of her eternal estate.

Luke 20:36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of Elohim, being the children of the resurrection.

Emanation

The infinite point of emanation
from the One that is not like anyone ~

The Infinite Eternal One imploding with the gift of light ~
Divine luminescence imploding
becomes emanation exploding in a singularity,
as the singular point of potential emerges ~
Imploding and exploding of the Infinite One beyond eternity,
of the Eternal One beyond infinity,
is the gift of potential time, potential space,
a potential space for eternity,
a potential time for infinity ~
The True One giving all
without losing at all ~
Out of the Fulness,
the potential point of nothing,
in order that there can be something created
from nothing
and something more,
until there is enough,
a potential line,
a potential sphere,
a potential soul ~
The potential line drawing a beam of light
into and out of the finite continuous spatial point,
expanding potential into actual ~
Directions six ~
A circling six
orbiting a circling six ~
Expanding through infinite contraction,
until there is enough ~
The global Reason Why of the One being a gift,
a gift of being with the many,
the many given to Himself
and to one another
and to themselves ~
A billion light years in a moment of space ~
A billion billion souls in the space of six days ~

42

It has been said:

"One of the secrets of 42 in Kabbalah in relation to the creation of the universe is that the Divine act of creation begins with God's saying yehi ("let there be...") = 25, and concludes with God's seeing His creation to be tov ("good") = 17. 25 (the beginning of the creative process) plus 17 (the conclusion of the creative process) = 42 (the all-inclusive power of creation)."

However, precisely speaking the Divine act of creation did not begin with the imperative, "Let there be.." If one understands the relationship of "Let there be..," to Bereshit..., then it is possible to also understand the place and value of the values of 17 and 25 in this context. For the imperative has reference to the grace and faithfulness (which is to say, obedience) of G-d's word in the aspect of an imperative, "Let it be.. and there was..."

What does this mean? Can G-d's word obey G-d's word? To understand this clearly one must understand how G-d's command, His imperative, "Let there be light," was spoken as a part of, an assisting or helping of, the heavens and earth which already existed. Just as G-d first

The Ein Sof and the emanation of worlds

commanded Israel to have faith in Him by simply stating that He is the Lord, their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, so He at first commanded all things to exist and to be in perfect accord with His Torah, without imperfection, simply by stating that in the beginning He created the heavens and the earth. For the father who loves his child will at first let his child know his will simply by stating it. But afterwards, if his child does not fulfill the father's will, having been told it in confidence, then the father will turn and use an imperative form of speech and will give his child a direct command, Go and do this or that which I am commanding you.

However, in creating the world G-d was very careful not to seem to be correcting the heavens and the earth by seeming instead to be improving the expression of His own will by making His will that there should be light explicit. Thus we see that just as the commandmet that there should be light is G-d's word, so this light which obeyed the commandmet is G-d's word. This is His light that was not created, but rather preceded creation, becoming the original divinely created light of creation. For the heavens and earth themselves, on their own, were unable to shine in response to G-d's implied commandment, His first word, His statement, recorded in Genesis 1:1, that in the beginning He created the heavens and the earth. For in partial obedience to this word of G-d the heavens and earth come to exist, but had they obeyed the intent of this Torah they would have not only immediately come to exist but would have immediately come to shine with the light of the glory of their Creator.

However, it was necessary that G-d should assist them in their obedience. And so, accordingly, He condescended to Himself command the light to exist, in order that His creation might glorify Him. And it was, therefore in this act of assistance that the word of G-d acted in solidarity with the creature and attributed G-d's own merit to the merit of the heavens and the earth, thus becoming, as it were, not only the Author of creation but also a part of creation. This, then, is the aspect here of 25 and it was because of this aspect that G-d said, "It is good", the aspect of 17. One can begin to see the outline of Mashiach therefore, in the 42 letter name of G-d.

Free Will

You have almost endless choices in life. But most of those choices you or other people have created. Many others are incidental or inconsequential. You might make any such choices in this way or in that way. Is this free will? What good to you are choices that G-d has not created?

How many choices actually constitute choices of free-will? Certainly only those choices which G-d Himself creates for you, for only G-d has the power to guarantee that what you choose is what you'll get. Yet what does it mean to say that even such choices are free?

What does G-d have to do in order to make them free for you? What did G-d have to do in order to make Adam's choice free, to disobey G-d and eat of the Tree of the Kowledge of Good or Evil, or to obey G-d and not eat of it? Did He not have to create and destroy worlds?

We want to say that free choice is free in the sense of free will, that there is no constraint forcing you to choose one way or the other. But if you knew the consequences fully of each way you might decide would it not affect your decision? So is ignorance of the possible consequences a necessary part of free will?

But you are intelligent. How can you have no idea of what the consequences of your choices might be? In fact G-d told Adam what the consequences of disobedience would be and by implication what the consequences of obedience would be. It had to be through unbelief in what G-d said that Adam became ignorant of this. Is unbelief therefore a necessary element in free-will?

We run into many problems when we seriously try to understand free will and free choice. Perhaps we are at fault for creating these problems by using such a broad term as "free" in the first place. Do we simply not mean, unconstrained choice? And is it not really something more like responsible and accountable will that we are thinking of in describing this certain attribute of Adam?

What then do we mean by saying that there are choices that G-d has directly created and those which He has not directly created, but that have been created by G-d's creatures? It is clear what we mean when we say that G-d has given someone a choice. The choice consits of something in particular but what is most important about it is that it is a choice that is a part of G-d's relationship with that person. That is what was most important about Adam's choice.

Having to make the choice meant that Adam and cHavah had to choose what relationship they would have with G-d. In fact, it is only in this aspect that there is any free will or can be any free choice. For human beings, like other creatures, have no power and therefore no freedom to change anything in the world in any way on their own, that is to say, if G-d does not empower their choice. So every choice that is actually free to make a difference in the world is only free within the relationship that exists between G-d and Adam.

Free will is not something that exists in a vacuum - as if G-d created it as a power that Adam could use on their own and having created it then stepped back out of the way. But this is the way we often speak of it and think of it, as if we had been given power over creation to do as we will, and G-d had bound Himself to not interfere until the end when He would judge the results. These ideas just show our arrogance and insensitivity to G-d. No such power independent from G-d exists. Everywhere G-d actually gives us a choice He gives it to us knowing full well that He is the only power that can make any real changes in the world. Indeed, G-d is the only power.

We should ask again, What is free will? What is free choice? It is something that only exists in G-d's love. If free will only exists in G-d's love then every choice which He gives to us which we make as He desires is a choice made in a manner that brings Him joy and every choice given to us which is made in a manner which He does not desire is a choice made in a manner that brings Him pain. And there is no other kind of free will.

Do we fear the day of judgment when G-d will look at what we have done and be pleased with us or displeased? Whatever we have done through the choices He gave us has already brought G-d joy or caused Him pain. Otherwise it would not have had any power to be done by us at all. On the day of judgment we will know this. We will know the joy we brought G-d and the pain we brought G-d. We will know that every choice that was given to us from Above that we made, we made in intimate relationship with our Creator, even if we deceived ourselves and did not believe it at the time.

It is time that we stopped thinking of ourselves as having any power apart from G-d to effect things either for good or for evil. It is time that we faced the truth that while we have turned our backs on G-d, He has not turned His back on us, otherwise we would not be here at all. It is time that we began to wonder about the mystery of G-d's love for us and how He suffers so much on account of us every day. It is time that we became again like very little children and prayed for help in making every choice that He gives to us. Then we will begin to know the true meaning of free will.

Bereshith and the First Commandment

"I am the Lord your God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."

This, the first commandment to Israel is not given in the form of an grammatical imperative. What does this fact say to us?

It is as if one said to his child, “I am your father!” From this the child ought to understand the implied meaning to be, “Believe in me! Obey me!” And from this chosen form of expression the child would be elevated much higher than if it were necessary for the father to say, “Believe in me! Obey me!” directly. For this direct expression would convey an element of rebuke and an implication that the child could not understand its relationship to the father naturally if reminded. This is the situation in the case of the giving of the Torah to Israel with the first commandment. In the case of the creation of the world. It was also not fitting that G-d should immediately command creation to come to be with a direct imperative, which would have had an overtone element of rebuke due to the lack of a gentle, soft form of expression.

Thus it is that just as the first imperative to Israel is, as it were, a hidden imperative, so the first imperative to the world to come to exist out of nothing is, as it were, a hidden imperative: Bereshith... In this form the commandment to heavens and earth to come to be is given like the statement of the fact that G-d created them. This is in the manner of a father saying, as it were in a statement of fact, to his child, "I am your father!" Heaven and earth were to understand themselves to be created from this statement of G-d creating them and being their Creator and obediently come forth and exist through the hearing of this statement.

On the nature of the soul of Adam

From Bereshit - Midrash Rabba:

"If Adam had been created out of spiritual elements only there could be no death for him, in the event of his fall. If, on the other hand, he had been created out of matter only, there could be no future bliss for him. Hence he was formed out of matter and spirit. If he lives the earthly, i.e., the animal life only, he dies like all matter; if he lives a spiritual life he obtains the spiritual future bliss."

Such observations as this make a statement about a certain aspect of human nature with poetic language. If the language is understood as though it were speaking clinically about the nature of the relationship of life and matter in the human being it could seem to be saying that in animals life and matter are of the same mortal nature but in Adam life and matter are of entirely different natures and that they are simply stuck together by some mysterious force, the mortal and the immortal.

It is very important that this misimpression not occur, or that if it does occur that it is corrected. Just as in all animals, life and matter in the human being are organically one. It is not somehow unnatural for the spiritual force of life to be united with matter in the human being but not in other creatures. Such a notion can lead to all sorts of false philosphies and theologies.

To clarify this, the distinction between Adam and the animals according to the Torah of G-d is that Adam was created with the potential of obeying or disobeying G-d's commandment. This unique potential meant that Adam's form of life had the potential for transcending mortality. This does not mean that all the other living creatures of heaven and earth have no hope of immortality. Precisely to the contrary, Adam is by nature so intedependent in creation with all other creatures that Adam could never be transformed into an immortal condition, body and soul, without all creation being transformed with them. If this transformation of all creation did not occur, Adam would simply not be Adam.

How Adam fell into complete mortality and therefore doomed all creation but was not abandoned in this state by the God of Israel is the story of the joy of all creation!