Skip to main content

God’s Problem: Part 2

 


In my previous email I stated that “God’s problem is getting people to love Him.” This wasn’t a surprise, because for people to “love,” they must be “free to not love.” If people did not have that choice, they could not love. God created humans to be “choice making creatures” (Genesis 1:24, 26-27):

 

“And God said, ‘Let the Earth bring forth a living soul

according to her kind . . . Let Us make ADAM in Our image,

according to Our likeness . . . God created ADAM with His image . . .

male and female He created them.”

 

The words “Us” and “Our” have created many theological debates. To whom do they refer? We use linguistic models in our work and in this context, they refer to “God and the Earth.” Prior to creating ADAM, God and the Earth were both involved in creating the animals.

 

1. God told the Earth to bring forth an Earth soul for the animals and the Earth did it.

 

2. After that God created ADAM.

 

3. Our models indicate the Earth also brought forth an Earth soul.

 

4. Then God created ADAM.

 

5. ADAM is “a couple” -- one male and one female human – not an individual.

 

6. God created the couple with His image. Note that I said “with,” not “in His image.”

 

7. The only thing revealed about that in this story is found in Genesis 1:2 – RUACH ELOHIYM -- “Spirit of God” (“the presence of God”).  

 

8. All humans are created with the Spirit of a Being that values TOV; a  Being that is unlike humans, and compared with all else is incomprehensible to humans.

 

9. Each human has an Earth soul with earthly appetites, desires and longings that drive animal and human behaviors.

 

10. God created humans with conflicting forces and the ability to choose between them. That is what makes it possible for humans to love.

 

This is reflected in teachings of the rabbis about yetzer hatov (good inclination/impulse) and yetzer hara (evil inclination/impulse). It supports the idea that humans are created with contradictory forces pulling away from each other. 

 

God created all humans to be alike, but He did not create them to function like preprogramed robots that love Him. However But God did something that makes it possible for humans to love Him and each other – He blesses them.

 

I will discuss this blessing in my next email. But I will close with an amazing fact from science that is related to what I have been discussing. Our bodies are created from a DNA code and the DNA code in humans is over 99% identical. Genetically we are alike!

 

May your Shalom increase,

Jim Myers

 

Helping People Examine Their Beliefs

● Adopt Shared Morals & Values ● Network to Make SHALOM

● Donate ● Subscribe ● “Like” on Facebook ● Visit our Bookstore


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It’s a Yod -- NOT a Jot and Tittle!

Not only did Yeshua read and speak Hebrew, so did his followers and disciples! Two very well known, but not accurately understood words in the Gospel of Matthew prove it – jot and tittle . For some reason jot and tittle stick in the minds of Christian Bible readers. But when you ask them what jot or tittle mean, you get a lot of conflicting and some really weird answers. Today, you are going to get the facts about what Yeshua originally said and how they ended up in English translations of the Bible as jot and tittle . Let’s begin by reading Matthew 5:18 from the King James translation: For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. If you have not read the article “ From Yeshua to Jesus ” in Yeshua’s Kingdom Handbook please take a moment to read it online by clicking here before you continue. In it you will see how we began with the name “ Jesus ” and traced it through Lati...
Post a Comment
Read more

Do Not Say RAQA! - Yeshua on Anger (Part 2)

In the last blog, we covered the first part of Yeshua’s lesson on Anger -- An Angry Person Should be Tried in Court like a Murderer – keep in mind that “anger” is the focus of Yeshua’s lesson. “Whoever says to a brother, ‘ RAKA ,’ shall be answerable to the Sanhedrin.” [i] Yeshua reveals that the seriousness of the offense has become greater by elevating the crime to the next highest court – the Sanhedrin . It is the highest court in the nation and would be the equivalent of our Supreme Court. What makes this offense more serious than murder, to keep things in the context established by Yeshua? It is because of what the angry person said out of anger – “ RAKA !” RAKA is the English transliteration of the Greek word found in the ancient manuscripts of Matthew. Interestingly, the Greek word is also a transliteration of a Hebrew word into Greek. Keep in mind that when a translator working on a translation of a Greek manuscript transliterates a Greek word, he only finds ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Prayer Yeshua Prayed Twice Every Day

One of Jesus’s earliest memories was no doubt watching and listening to his family when they gathered to pray the Shema at sunrise before the day’s work began and after the working work day was over at sunset . He also heard and participated in praying the Shema at their synagogue. He was surrounded by neighbors who also prayed the same prayer in their homes every day. The Hebrew word for prayer is tefilah . It is derived from the root Pe-Lamed-Lamed and the word l'hitpalel, meaning “ to judge oneself .” This surprising word origin provides insight into the purpose of Jewish prayer. The most important part of any Jewish prayer, whether it be a prayer of petition, of thanksgiving, of praise of God, or of confession, is the introspection it provides, the moment that we spend looking inside ourselves, seeing our role in the universe and our relationship to God. [1] Most of Jewish prayers are expressed in the first person plural, "us" instead of "me," an...
Post a Comment
Read more