IN HIS IMAGE AND AFTER HIS LIKENESS

IN HIS IMAGE AND AFTER HIS LIKENESS

(Sergio Jesus Fernandez - May 15, 2009)

26And God said: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth”. 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1: 26 and 27 - KJV)

According to some theologians, this text refers to a conversation between God The Father, God The Son and God The Holy Spirit, in other words; The Holy Trinity. Notice that on verse 26 the expression “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” is in plural (Latin Vulgata “et ait faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem Nostram”). Then on verse 27 the text refers to man also in plural: “male and female He created them” (Latin Vulgata “masculum et feminam creavit eos”). This text does not seem to be referring to man and woman; which does not take place until Genesis 2:22. Therefore, if woman has not been created yet, “male and female” may refers to mankind male/female genetic characteristics. Then, the text “created them” (Latin Vulgata “creavit eos”) may refers to the fact that God, being a trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit created man also as a trinity, in this case of soul, body and spirit.

Understanding that man was created in the image and to the likeness of God as a trinity and not as a physical resemblance, helps also understand why the Word of God states: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above” Exodus 20:4 - KJV (Latin Vulgata “non facies tibi sculptile neque omnem similitudinem quae est in caelo desuper”). Man, in his limited knowledge, cannot imagine the infinite divinity of God. Therefore, every time man tries to enclose the infinity of God into a shape, or form, man can neither understand, nor believe how God can be omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. But of course, how could a God of infinite proportions be limited to a physical shape? God neither looks like man, nor like anything could man imagine. Even if man tries to imagine God as the entire universe, man would be misleading himself because God also created the universe.

Instead of imagining the appearance of God, we should understand that man is a trinity of soul, body and spirit, as God is a trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The human trinity resembles the Holy Trinity even in its mystery, because we know that although The Father is God, The Son is God and The Holy Spirit is God, The Father is neither The Son, nor The Holy Spirit. Equally, we know that although the soul is human, the body is human and the spirit is human, the soul is neither the body, nor the spirit.

Each person in the Holy Trinity is God, as each person in man’s trinity is human, nevertheless; in both trinities each person is individual, and each person has its own characteristics and specific functions. Let us use water as an example. Depending on the specific conditions, water could manifests in a liquid state, a solid state or a gaseous state, however; in all its states it will continue being the same element, water (H2O). Then we can say that water is H2O, ice is H2O and vapor is H2O, independently of the fact that water, in its liquid state, is neither ice, nor vapor.

I insist in trying to explain the trinity because it is the only way we can understand how important it is for the wellbeing of man to keep a balance between soul, body and spirit. We give attention to our body through nutrition, exercise, hygiene, rest, medicine, etc. We take care of our spirit through faith and religious practices. But we do not care that much about our soul. The soul is the part in our trinity where all our emotions reside, and one of the ways in which we can take care of our soul is by avoiding and pushing away all negative emotions, and cultivating and nurturing all positive emotions, as revealed by the Word of God in Galatians 5: 19-23:

“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, revelling, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”  (KJV)