You will be as God?Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image (selem – a representation, resemblance), after our own likeness (mut – as us, like us). There are significant differences in the two words, however this statement ‘You will be as God’, or ‘like God’ was declared from the beginning by both Lucifer and God. The first we hear this statement is from out of the mouth of the serpent in the garden of Eden. Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said, Death will not certainly come...
You will be as God?
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image (selem – a representation, resemblance), after our own likeness (mut – as us, like us). There are significant differences in the two words, however this statement ‘You will be as God’, or ‘like God’ was declared from the beginning by both Lucifer and God. The first we hear this statement is from out of the mouth of the serpent in the garden of Eden.
Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said, Death will not certainly come to you: For God sees that on the day when you take of its fruit, your eyes will be open, and you will be as God, having knowledge of good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and a delight to the eyes, and to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and gave it to her husband.
Those tempting words from the place of darkness provoked a hidden longing in the heart of humanity to be like God.
The very same hidden longing to ‘be as God’ had already been consummated within the heart of pride within Lucifer and was now being passed on to humanity, his greatest rival among created beings.
Isaiah 14:12 How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground--mighty though you were against the nations of the world. For you said to yourself, "I will ascend to heaven, I will exalt my throne and rule the angels. I will preside on the Mount of the north, the place of the heavenly council. I will climb to the highest heavens. I will be as the Most High." But instead, you will be brought down to the pit of hell, down to its lowest depths.
This aspiration to be ‘like God’ or ‘as God’ is something that is pursued by those who walk in great darkness as well as those who walk in great light. It was said first in the Book of Genesis by the serpent where ‘being as God’ is connected to possessing the knowledge of good and evil whereby each person redefines the meaning of good and bad as being what is good or bad for them personally. However ‘being as God’ is more deeply embedded in the human psyche than we might think. God even corroborates the serpent’s words to Eve in some respects when he drives man out of the garden.
Genesis 3:22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever…” The word ‘lest’ in that sentence allows it to hang in the air unfinished. It is as if the Lord wants us to ask; ‘And…? And what, and why?’ There is a ‘please explain’ there somewhere. and before the verse even allows time for discussion it describes God going into action - therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden. God bans humanity from having access to the way of the tree of life.
In Isaiah 6.9 (spoken by Isaiah) and in Mark 4:12 (spoken by Jesus) and in Acts 28 (Paul) there is another similarly intriguing scripture that uses the word ‘lest’ in such a way that it also leaves us hanging in the air so to speak, asking the question ‘why Lord?’ and even ‘when Lord?’ or ‘for how long Lord?’ God is telling Isaiah what effect his preaching will have when he proclaims it.
Isaiah 6:9 When you preach to them tell them they will keep on hearing, but not understand, keep on seeing, but not perceive.’
Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
Please explain Lord, I have a question… The correct question here is ‘How long Lord’ and that is indeed what Isaiah does ask, and The Lord gives him a sobering answer.
Isaiah 9:11 Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land”.
This answer in some ways strangely describes the days in which we live…
So back here in the garden of Eden we have the unfinished ‘lest’ sentence swallowed up by; “therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard (sapor – preserve and reserve the way (path, road, journey) to the tree of life”.
God did not let Adam and Eve or any other human being have access to the tree of life (until Jesus) and he guarded the way to it with angels and a flaming sword. God is somehow letting us touch the mystery of eternal life.
THE BAD, THE GOOD, AND THE IN-BETWEEN ASPECTS OF ‘BEING LIKE GOD’
‘Being as God’ is seen in its darkest shadowy form in many narcissistic egomaniacs in their consuming passion of having control over everything in their world, which is impossible, but which is striven for with whatever devious power they can lay hold of. This is seen in cruel tyrants such as Pharaoh, Alexander the great, Caesar, and many others in ancient history and they were regarded by the people and by themselves as a god). Then there are the modern-day practitioners like Stalin and Hitler who acted as deluded savior gods convincing the people that they were needed o save the nation and its heritage and honour and status of dignity and equality in the world..
The term for this kind of grandiosity is ‘apotheosis’ (elevated by pride to divine status).
In its common or everyday form ‘being as God’ sits unnoticed and invisibly nested within the individual sovereignty of all of humanity under God, even if they don’t believe in God, because all of humanity was created in God’s image, or resemblance, or shadow. This includes the responsible citizens of good conscience who honour their social and political freedom which is a God given responsibility and status. It just so happens that nobody generally goes around thinking about this or saying it or discussing it, but this is a hidden reality that has been sown into humanity through a vast range of other expressions of individuality. A vast number of people worldwide would fall into the worldview of Secular humanism even if they may not describe themselves as such. They may believe that God is not necessary to be a moral and ethical person. In that sense they have become ‘as God’ by replacing faith in God with philosophical truth and reason as the basis of morality and decision making, rejecting religious doctrine or the supernatural, even though they may retain Christian values without Christian faith. Then there are the more energetic zealots of ideological activism who uphold some collective opinion as to how everybody should think and act on certain social issues of social justice or financial equality or health practices etc, and they find their collective identity in those ideologies. They often make their ideological opinions into virtues and become ‘as God’ in judging and even penalizing others for not agreeing with their virtue or morality.
However, ‘Being as God’ in its highest and most noble form is more than just being created in God’s image or resemblance. We are now talking about being made in his ‘likeness’ or ‘’as him’ in our inner being. It involves having a heart to worship God and to trust in his divine love and goodness and to be transformed by the Holy Spirit into his likeness. It also involves being willing to be discipled by God as our Father who delights to grow us in faith and love both for him and for one another, no matter what race or culture or gender or personality or status. This is being ‘as Him in the world.’ (1John 4:17)
2Peter 1:4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by corrupt human desires.
1Corinthians 3:18 … as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.
This was the reality of the life of Jesus.
Philippians 2:7 who, though his essential being was fully as God, did not use the grandeur of being equal with God something to be promoted but he humbled himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And serving obediently to the point of dying on the cross for us.
So as his disciples we are called to not just represent Jesus but to embody his life. In other words when Jesus died and rose from the dead and went to be with his Father he sent the Holy Spirit to live within us according to our own unique and individual life.
Our inflated egoic self is now constantly being invited to empty itself of pride and independence and self-importance and emotionally opinionated judgments. That tree of life can now live through giving us his wisdom in things through faith and love.
By faith we dare to become what without faith we are afraid to be - a vulnerable human being, but a real person, with real meaning in our lives. We have a saviour, and a leader, and a commander, in Jesus. If we always come to Jesus in this way and abide in him in utter faith, as vulnerable ordinary people, we will always find his strength and know his power and love. We draw aside from all other thoughts and focus on the one great thought of God toward us, that through the power of his Holy Spirit he is changing us into his likeness. This is an ever present reality of faith.
‘Being like God’ should be front and centre of our minds and being. It is our destiny and the ultimate goal of God for us that gives meaning to our existence no matter what the status or circumstances of our lives. You will be as God, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
