Tag: perichoresis

Mystery of God

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 13 – Distinctives within the body of Christ

Mystery of God

[Bible references: Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 55:8; Luke 3:21-22; John 10:30; 1 Corinthians 2:11-14; Philippians 2:5-11; 1 Timothy 3:15-16; 1 Peter 4:14; 1 John 1:6-8; 2:18-22]

How is it that there is only one God and yet Jesus is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and the Father is God?

The Bible reveals but doesn’t explain this paradox. From the beginning of the Old Testament there is an explicit teaching that “The Lord our God, the Lord is one,” a teaching that contrasted with all the other cultures around at the time. And yet, from the beginning of the Old Testament we have hints that this One God is complicated. The New Testament gets more explicit about the situation but still does not explain it. This paradox, that there was a person, God, and that there are three persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) who are equally God, was given a name, Trinity.[1] The Greek side of the church uses a term, “perichoresis” to describe the interpenetration, etc. of the persons of the Trinity.

But just because a name was given to this paradox did not make it easy to accept. Various explanations were given to explain how this worked and how the three persons related to each other. Discussions involved how to define terms like person, substance and nature.

The following list shows a few of some different explanations that have been espoused but are considered to be heretical:

  • The three persons are three different modes of God expressing himself,[2]
  • The belief that God is only one person,[3]
  • Jesus was created and was less than the Father,[4]
  • God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are subordinate to God the Father not merely relationally, but also in nature and being.[5] This eventually led to the belief that neither Jesus nor the Holy Spirit are truly God.[6]

How can Jesus both be God and human?

There are two views held: 1) the one person Jesus has two natures, human and divine, combined in one person, or 2) the one person Jesus has one nature in which his divinity and humanity are combined, [7] In either case Jesus is made of the same substance as God[8].

There were controversies over whether that God could have suffered,[9] that Jesus only seemed to suffer,[10] or whether a human like Mary could have given birth to God.[11] 

So exactly what is the relation of the Holy Spirit to God the Father and God the Son?

There is a question about whether the Spirit proceeds from just the Father or the Father and the Son. This question was captured in a statement in the Nicene-Constantinople Creed which originally stated, “And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father ….” In disagreement with the Eastern Orthodox side of the church, the Roman Catholics felt the need to add the words “and the Son.” [12]

How does one develop knowledge of God?[13]

We need to distinguish that we are not trying to know about God as much as to know God, the person. We get to know a person by more than studying about a person, but rather spending time and doing things with that person. We are not a just a student, but a disciple.

When to comes to knowing about God, we find that He has revealed himself to all people through his creation and through our ability to reason.[14] That type of knowledge is not the same as knowing God as a person. To know God as a person, we need to be in his presence and allow him to reveal himself to us. We can do this through prayer, meditation, or scripture. Sometimes God will spiritually reveal himself to us or sometimes he will act through miracles. Other times we interact with God as we do things in His name.[15]

Whether we are learning through general or special revelation,[16] in either case, we are finite creatures trying to understand the infinite God, which is a task we can only do in part. But either way, the knowledge we seek is not an end itself but is for the sake of our relationship with God.

The following examples are some of the particular ways different parts of the church have practiced the pursuit of knowing God:

  • Eastern Orthodox traditions recognize our utter limits in knowing God through negative theology – that is, God’s infinite qualities are so far from our comprehension that it makes more sense to define what we know God is not, instead of trying to define what God is.[17]
  • Many traditions, including the Eastern Orthodox, posit the impossibility of our finite minds to be able to know God by intellectual means and we need to extend our knowledge of God through various spiritual practices such as fasting, prayer and meditation.
    • In the early church, an innovation introduced by Montanus[18] promoted revelations from the Holy Spirit. This caused the church to back away from any other innovations in theology.
    • Quakers have emphasized quieting oneself and waiting for God to reveal himself through the “inner light” that is available to all people.
  • The Eastern Orthodox tradition emphasizes the necessity of becoming transformed by God to become more like him to know God.[19]
  • In a reaction to an overemphasis on knowing God through intellectual means, a movement developed which emphasized spiritual disciplines such as Bible study and prayer.[20]
  • Some in the church over-emphasized knowing God by faith, leading to an anti-intellectual strain in the church. This despite the Christian heritage which did much to support the life of the mind. Christians founded universities, were some of the first to use science to investigate the natural world and have invested much towards loving God with “all our minds.”
  • Some in the church stressed the mysteries of God and the need to develop the more mystical disciplines of prayer, meditation, and contemplation.

[1] In AD 185, Irenaeus claimed that this concept was the teaching of the apostles, but it wasn’t until AD200 that Tertullian created the term, Trinity. Tertullian was responding to the teaching of modalism.

[2] Theopedia “Modalism” Theopedia theopedia.com/modalism

[3] Theopedia “Monarchianism” Theopedia theopedia.com/monarchism

[4] Arian (AD 256–336) was a presbyter in Alexandria. He did have some success in persuading people of his view and for a while it became quite a controversy in the church, but it was eventually denounced.

[5] Theopedia “Subordinationism” Theopedia theopedia.com/subordinationism”

[6] Theopedia “Unitarianism” Theopedia theopedia.com/Unitarianism

[7] Plante, Evan. “What is the difference between Dyophysitism and Miaphysitism?” Mainsail Ministries mainsailministries.org/index.php/q-a-a-god-bible-theology-culture/105-what-is-the-difference-between-dyophysitism-and-miaphysitism.html Dyophysitism (Christ has two natures, fully human and fully God) is the view of the Protestant, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox. denominations. Miaphysitism (Christ has one nature that is both human and divine) is the view of the Oriental Orthodox denomination.

[8] Homoousios – In Greek, the argument looked even more subtle. Was Jesus made of the same substance (homoousios) as God or a similar substance (homoiousios).

[9] OrthodoxWiki “Nestorianism” OrthodoxWiki orthodoxwiki.org/Nestorianism

[10] OrthodoxWiki “Docetism” OrthodoxWiki orthodoxwiki.org/Docetism

[11] Theotokos means “God-bearer”

[12] This additional phrase, referred to as the “filioque” is held by the Roman Catholics and the Protestants but the original wording is held by the Eastern Orthodox.

[13] Epistemology is the study of how we can know things.

[14] This is sometimes called “general revelation.” Trying to understand God this way can be called “natural theology.”

[15] These different ways of knowing God by being with him in these activities is sometimes called “special” or ”divine revelation.”

[16] Got Questions “What is general revelation and special revelation?” Got Questions www.gotquestions.org/general-special-revelation.html

[17] OrthodoxWiki “Apophatic theology” OrthodoxWiki orthodoxwiki.org/Apophatictheology

[18] Early Christian History “Montanus” Early Christian History www.earlychristianhistory.info/montanus.html

[19] Theopedia “Theosis” Theopedia www.theopedia.com/theosis

[20] Theopedia “Pietism” Theopedia www.theopedia.com/pietism

Reflect

We truly have reached the limitations of our knowledge of God when we consider both the concept of the Trinity and the concept of Jesus being both fully God and fully human. How do you handle that limitation?

Observe

Read Philippians 2:5-11; 1 Timothy 3:15-16; 1 John 1:6-8; 2:18-22. What does it  mean to us that God came to us in human form as Jesus?

Living temples

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 1 – Shadows of the Kingdom – Chapter 3 – The image-bearers

Living temples

[Bible references: Genesis 1; 3:6; Isaiah 35; 54:10; 60; Jeremiah 29:1-23; John 2:19-21; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21; Revelations 15:8; 21:22]

Although God’s first image-bearers had close, unhindered, intimate contact with their Creator, there was enough space given them to think freely, as if they were not being watched all the time. It was in this space that they – and we – were given several blessings: the freedom to procreate (be fruitful and multiply), to oversee God’s creation (subdue the earth and have dominion over its creatures), and to nurture God’s creation (work it and take care of it).[1] We were given the assignment to be fruitful, to fill all the earth, discover its possibilities and care for the world in the same way that God would care for the world.[2] Just as God continues to create more living things and sustain all that he has created, we as his co-regents[3], can join him in sustaining and creating those things entrusted to our care.

  “There are two ways in which God imposes his law on the cosmos, two ways in which his will is done on earth as in heaven. He does it either directly, without mediation, or indirectly, through the involvement of human responsibility. Just as a human sovereign does certain things himself, but gives orders to his subordinates for other things, so with God himself. He put the planets in their orbits, makes the seasons come and go at the proper time, makes seeds grow and animals reproduce, but entrusts to mankind the tasks of making tools, doing justice, producing art, and pursuing scholarship. In other words, God’s rule of law is immediate in the nonhuman realm but mediate in culture and society. In the human realm men and women become coworkers with God; as creatures made in God’s image, they too have a kind of lordship over the earth, are God’s viceroys in creation.” [4]

We were also given the responsibility to subdue the earth and have dominion over its creatures. When there is resistance, we still have the responsibility to bring the rule of God to the world. Then we are given the responsibility to work and take care of the earth, starting in the Garden of Eden and then expanding to all of God’s creation. Implied in all these things is that we should do everything in context of God’s love, to care for each other and to care for the earth and its creatures with the mind of the God who created us for love.

The work that we were designed to do was more than just tending the garden. In Genesis 2:15, we were given a mandate to “work” and “take care of” the garden God had created. These tasks in light of Ancient Near East culture, were more of a priestly nature, taking care of this temple where we reside with God.

“The verbs ʿbd and šmr (NIV: “work” and “take care of”) are terms most frequently encountered in discussions of human service to God rather than descriptions of agricultural tasks… ‘bd can refer to … work connected with one’s vocation, to religious service deemed worship … šmr is used in the contexts of the priestly responsibility of guarding sacred space, as well as in the sense of observing religious commands and responsibilities … it is likely that the tasks given to Adam are of a priestly nature: caring for sacred space. In ancient thinking, caring for sacred space was a way of upholding creation.”[5]

We were to take care of this place which was designed to be a “very good” place for us to flourish in, creating whatever structures we needed to “increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it.” This task, this mandate, meant that we would eventually go beyond the capacity of gardening and create not just a bigger garden but cities, a flourishing civilization as pictured in Revelation 21 and 22.[6]

When examined closely, we can see the breadth of what was committed to Adam and Eve. Subduing the earth would entail many physical, social, and intellectual activities. In the gardening we can see cultivation and farming; in taking care of the animals, we can see shepherding and domestication; in the naming of the animals, we can see a cultural and scientific activity which required understanding the nature and attributes of the animals and establishing authority over them. We can see that God had created things to be beautiful and as his image-bearers we would be expected to also create beautiful things.

As we look forward to the new earth which will manifest when Jesus comes again, nature’s comeliness will reach its pinnacle; the wilderness itself will burst into blossom, and streams will gush in the desert. To complement all this natural beauty, human culture will flourish. All the great creativity of humankind-artistry in music, dance, painting, woodcrafts, sculpture, architecture and more-will be brought into the New Jerusalem.[7]

There is a sense in which we, as members of the Kingdom of God, now seem to be living in a foreign land. This puts us in a position similar to the Israelites when they were taken in exile into Babylonia. During their stay in Babylonia, God’s instructions were to settle down, build houses, get married, have children and to seek the prosperity of the city they were sent to, for “if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

But above all these things we can do, we should not lose focus on who we are. We are creatures designed by God to be like God to be in relationship with Him, the God who is a community in Himself: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Everything we do should be done in context of who we are. We should remember that we were designed to be human “beings,” not human “doings.” This viewpoint become clear when we compare the Biblical view of creation to the view of other Ancient Near East cultures. For the surrounding cultures humans beings were created to feed the gods and serve the gods who created them, whereas the Biblical viewpoint sees God being the provider for the people.[8]

Originally, we see Creation designed as a temple, a place for us to “be” with God. Later on, Jesus refers to himself as the temple, a human in whom God resides. Later on, Paul declares that our own bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. So here again, we see the mystery of perichoresis, where we are distinct from the Holy Spirit, yet the Holy Spirit becomes a part of who we are. In this we see the mystery of perichoresis unifying the persons within God, unifying the body, soul and spirit within humans, and unifying God and humans.

[1] Jacobsen, Eric O. The Space Between: A Christian Engagement with the Built Environment, Baker Academic, 2012, (Page 20 )

[2] Crouch, Andy. “What is the Cultural Mandate” The Village Church, 6 Jan 2017 www.tvcresources.net/resource-library/talks/what-is-the-cultural-mandate

[3] Walton, John H. “The Lost World of Adam and Eve: Genesis 2-3 and the Human Origins Debate (Proposition 4) InterVarsity Press. 2015 Kindle Edition

[4] Albert M. Wolters. Creation Regained: Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview William B. Eerdmans Publishing 1985, 2005. eBook(Locations 203-208)

[5] Walton, John H. The Lost World of Adam and Eve: Genesis 2-3 and the Human Origins Debate Edition(p. 105-106).

122 Buzenitz, Nathan. “The New Jerusalem”

[7] Sherman, Amy L. Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good. Intervarsity Press, 2011 eBook location 291

[8] Walton, John. “The Lost World of Adam and Eve,” I “Proposition 12: Adam is Assigned as Priest in Sacred Space, with Eve to Help” (p.104)

Observe

Read Genesis 1; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 6:16. What difference does it make if the universe is God’s temple or that our bodies are God’s temple?

Body, soul and spirit

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 1 – Shadows of the Kingdom – Chapter 3 – The image-bearers

Body, soul and spirit

[Bible references: Genesis 2; Matthew 3:16-17; 19:6; Acts 2:42-47; Romans 5:5; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19-20; 12:4-30; 2 Corinthians 9:6-8; Colossians 1:18; Revelation 21-22]

The mystery of perichoresis which tries to describe the one person God consisting of the relation of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit may very well be the best approach to understanding the mystery of God’s image-bearers. There are conflicting views on whether a person consists of a body and soul or body and spirit or body, soul, and spirit. Are we two parts or three parts then which parts? A similar issue arises in the attempts to figure out the relation between the brain and consciousness.[1] Some researchers think that consciousness is only due to biology and that we will be able to eventually build a computer with a conscious, but it is likely that the mystery of perichoresis will prevail.

As image-bearers, being created as community of male and female points one way to the community of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but also points in another way to their unity as represented by becoming “one flesh.” The term, “one flesh,” refers to the way in which the sexual union of husband and wife signifies the reconnection of Adam and Eve. Genesis 4:1 says that “Adam knew [Hebrew yada]Eve, his wife and she conceived …” The term yada is rich in meaning; it does not refer to knowing information about, but to know intimately on an emotional level. Also significantly, in the Ancient Near East, yada was used to indicate a covenant relationship.[2] All this together heightens the sexual intimacy to much more than a simple physical relationship.

In Genesis 2:22, most English translations translate the Hebrew word צלע (tsela) as “rib” but it more properly means “side.” Adam’s own words clarify that Eve came from one of his sides when he declared of his wife, “Finally, this is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh!” (Gen 2:23). Had Eve been created from the man’s rib alone, Adam would only have been able to say that she was “bone of his bone.” As Adam’s bone and flesh, the woman is the man’s “other half.”

So, Adam’s “deep sleep” (תרדמה, tardemah) was probably like a hospital patient’s sleep via anesthesia, more like a vision in which God removed half of Adams’ body to create Eve, she is metaphorically then, Adam’s other (better?) “half”. This vision then would present the woman as an equal to Adam.[3]

So the sexual union husband and wife reunites the two halve as husband and wife become “one flesh.”[4] Our male and femaleness show us our human incompleteness without each other. The joining of the male and female bodies brings completeness.

This completeness does not just happen at a physical level. Humans are unlike all other creatures in that we are made in God’s image with body, soul and spirit, and our spirit is joined to God’s Spirit. So as husband and wife become “one flesh,” they create a living metaphor of the union of Christ with the church. The love, intensity, and passion of two different but complementary bodies united both in spirit and in “one flesh” is an extension of the perichoresis of the Trinity as the bodies of the image-bearers united in spirit with Christ become the body of Christ on earth, joined in love, intensity, and passion, enjoying the overflowing goodness and shalom that God has intended for us.

We are created body, soul, and spirit with the intention that when heaven and earth are rejoined, we will be restored body, soul, and spirit (although it will be in resurrected bodies) in the new heaven and earth. It is also through our bodies that we are restored to Christ. When he took on flesh.

God created the flesh of man, which the Son assumes in the Incarnation, all so that he might save the flesh of man.

Tertullian states this idea straightforwardly: caro salutis cardo, the flesh is the hinge of salvation …Thus, our bodies are not meat-suits to be discarded or clusters of atoms that will disintegrate and disappear. They are made to last, because God’s kingdom will last, taking up from this world all that is good and preserving it. All that is made in and through Christ – including the body – will find its ultimate meaning in him. “My soul longs, yea, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God” (Ps. 84:2 RSV).[5]

When fellow Christ-bearers assemble together, they are together the Body of Christ, with each person bringing different gifts to support and strengthen the others in the Body. By wedding himself to humanity, Christ truly becomes “one flesh” with them (Ephesians 5:30–32), making them his members, “the body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:27), with Christ as their Head (Colossians 1:18). Head and body are joined through the “bond of charity,” the love that has been “shed abroad in our hearts” by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). The union of love between Head and body is so close that “Head and body speak as one,” because they are “no longer two, but one flesh” (Matthew 19:6).[6]

[1] Tolson, Jay. “Is There Room for the Soul?” CBS News 15 Oct 2006 www.cbsnews.com/news/is-there-room-for-the-soul/

[2] Hegg, Tim. “As a Covenant Term in the Bible and the Ancient Near East” Torah Resource torahresource.com/hebrew-word-yada/

[3] Schaser, Nicholas J. “Splitting the Adam” Israel Bible Weekly 23 July 2021 weekly.israelbiblecenter.com/splitting-the-adam/

[4] Schaser, Nicholas J. “Did Eve Come From Adam’s “Rib?” Israel Bible Weekly 8 May 2021 weekly.israelbiblecenter.com/eve-come-adams-rib/

[5] Franks, Angela. “What’s a Body For?” Plough Quarterly 6 Aug 2018

[6] Colbrook, Niamh. “Inhabiting Our Feeling Bodies” Comment Essay 26 Aug 2021 comment.org/inhabiting-our-feeling-bodies

Reflect

If God’s love is expressed through our current bodies which were used to shape our character, do you think that it is possible that our resurrected bodies will retain aspects of our current bodies which have shaped us in the same way that Jesus’ resurrection body still bore his scars?

Observe

Read 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 12:4-30. Together we are God’s temple and together we share the Spirit and His gifts. What do we miss if we try to be a Christian apart from other Christians?

Brooding, moving, dancing

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 1 – Shadows of the Kingdom – Chapter 1 – Prelude

Brooding, moving, dancing

[Bible references: Genesis 1; Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 8:19-21; Galatians 3:13-14; Ephesians 3:20; 1 Peter 5:10]

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth … and the Spirit of God brooded[1] over the face of the waters …

Like a bird sitting on eggs keeping them warm until the eggs would hatch and bring forth new birds, the Spirit hovered, brooded, over the earth ready to bring forth life of all sorts, but particularly creatures that would be like God, creatures that would reflect the character of God: transcendent, loving, wise, fruitful, etc. This is how the story begins, full of anticipation and hope for what must be a grand and wonderful future. But even before the story begins, we may contemplate another mystery, the mystery of how there can be one God and also three persons identified as God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The early church[2] struggled with this concept and eventually, in the second century, a Christian apologist, Tertullian, coined the term “Trinity” to describe this 3 persons in 1 God concept.

However, that tidy little term can mask over the impossible to understand idea of God being one person and three persons at the same time. There is Greek word available to us that addresses the complexity of this three-in-oneness, “perichoresis”[3] which comes from two Greek words which mean “around,” and “to give way” or “to make room.” This is meant to describe the interpenetration or mutual indwelling of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

“In that regard the term “perichoresis” (meaning “interpenetration,” “circumincession” or “mutual indwelling”) has been used theologically at least since the time of John of Damascus to refer to the way the three divine persons live in joyful, dynamic communion without merging, loss, or distinction. It is said to be derived from the Greek term perchoreuo meaning “to dance around.” However, the evidence indicates that the term is derived from the different though similar looking perichoreo which refers to “interpenetration” but does not refer to dancing…. this does not mean that the concept itself is inappropriate, as evidenced by those who appreciate its use in that way.” [4]

While this term may be partly helpful in understanding this impossible to understand concept, there is another word that is very similar to another Greek which means “to dance around,” which gives us a word picture of our living and complex God in which the Father, Son and Holy Spirit not only interpenetrate but interact with one another, in a freewheeling but synchronized dance. This means that, as God’s image-bearers, we can reflect the image of the loving, interpenetrating, interacting, and dancing God as we participate in His work of taking care of His Creation and of one another.[5]

This dance which started before Creation, has been joined by God’s image-bearers since the beginning of humanity. It is now our turn. We just need to learn the moves and join the dance.

[1]  Biblehub “Genesis 1:2” Bible Hub biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/1-2.htm Most translations or this phase use the terms “hovering” or “moving,” but there is also a case for using the term, “brooding,” as in a bird sitting on a nest of eggs.

[2] Van Ee, Joshua J. “The Church in the Old Testament” Westminster Seminary California 9 Nov 2017 www.wscal.edu/blog/the-church-in-the-old-testament The term “church” as used in this book will refer to what may more properly be called the “new testament church.” I wish to make that distinction because the term “church” may be properly applied to all of those who are “called out” to follow Yahweh.

[3] Compelling Truth. “What is the meaning of ‘perichoresis’?” Compelling Truth www.compellingtruth.org/perichoresis.html

[4] Edgar, Brian. “The God Who Plays: A Playful Approach to Theology and Spirituality,” Cascade Books 2017 (e-book) Chapter 9: Kingdom: Playing with God, The Dance of Life

[5] Miller, Darrow. “Perichoresis: Great Dance of God and Creation” Darrow Miller and Friends 16 July 2018 darrowmillerandfriends.com/2018/07/16/perichoresis-great-dance-god-creation/

Observe

Read Genesis 1.  Think of the Spirit of God hovering, moving and brooding over the earth. In your imagination, think about a spiritual being “giving birth” to physical living things, what would you expect to happen?

Body, Soul and Spirit

Dancing in the Kingdom – Table of Contents

Part 1 – Shadows of the Kingdom, Chapter 3 – The Image-bearers

[Bible references: Genesis 2; Matthew 3:16-17; 19:6; Acs 2:42-47; Romans 5:5; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19-20; 12:4-30; 2 Corinthians 9:6-8; Colossians 1:18; Revelation 21-22]

The mystery of perichoresis which tries to describe the one person God consisting of the relation of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit may very well be the best approach to the mystery of God’s image-bearers. There are conflicting views on whether a person consists of a body and soul or body and spirit or body and soul and spirit. Are we two parts or three parts then which parts? A similar issue arises in the attempts to figure out the relation between the brain and consciousness.[1] Although some researchers reductionistically think that consciousness is all biology and that we will be able to eventually build a computer with a conscious, it is likely that the mystery of perichoresis will prevail.

As image-bearers, being created as community of male and female points one way to the community of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but also points in another way to their unity as represented by becoming “one flesh.” There is an element of equality with a difference between male and female as represented by the woman being created from, what has been commonly translated, a “rib” from Adam’s side. The equality becomes more apparent however, when we understand the word that has been translated as “rib” is more usually translated as “side” – as if Eve were constructed from a full half Adam’s side.[2]

Yet the Hebrew word צלע (tsela) does not mean “rib,” but rather “side.” … Adam’s own words clarify that Eve comes from one of his sides when he declares of his wife, “Finally, this is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh!” (Gen 2:23). Had Eve been created from the man’s rib alone, Adam would only have been able to say that she was “bone of his bone.” As Adam’s bone and flesh, the woman is the man’s “other half.” When man and woman cleave to one another and return to being “one flesh” (2:24), the two equal halves of humanity are brought back together.[3]

Adam’s “deep sleep” (תרדמה, tardemah) connotes a hospital patient’s sleep via anesthesia. However, the practice of anesthesiology was unknown in ancient Israel; Genesis does not have modern medicine in mind. Rather than physical sleep, tardemah denotes a visionary trance … Instead of splitting Adam physically, God provides him with a vision to show him the meaning of the relationship that he will have with his wife: a fully equal partnership with a person who constitutes his “other half.”[4]

The mystery deepens further when we consider the sexual union of husband and wife. Our male and femaleness show us our human incompleteness without each other. In the joining of the male and female bodies we manifest a completeness. Humans are unlike all other creatures in that we are made in God’s image with body, soul and spirit, and our spirit is joined to God’s Spirit. Therefore, the sexual union of husband and wife, unlike other creatures, is described as becoming “one flesh.” The combination of spiritual union and physical union creates a living metaphor of the union of Christ with the Church. The love, intensity and passion of two different but complementary bodies united both in spirit and in “one flesh” is an extension of the perichoresis of the Trinity as the bodies of the image-bearers united in spirit with Christ become the body of Christ on earth, joined in love, intensity and passion, enjoying the overflowing goodness and shalom that God has intended for us.

We are created body, soul and spirit with the intention that when heaven and earth are rejoined, we will be restored body, soul and spirit (although it will be in resurrected bodies) in the new heaven and earth. It is also through our bodies that we are restored to Christ. When he took on flesh.

God created the flesh of man, which the Son assumes in the Incarnation, all so that he might save the flesh of man. Tertullian states this idea straightforwardly: caro salutis cardo, the flesh is the hinge of salvation …Thus, our bodies are not meat-suits to be discarded or clusters of atoms that will disintegrate and disappear. They are made to last, because God’s kingdom will last, taking up from this world all that is good and preserving it. All that is made in and through Christ – including the body – will find its ultimate meaning in him. “My soul longs, yea, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God” (Ps. 84:2 RSV).[5]

When fellow Christ-bearers assemble together, they are together the Body of Christ, with each person bringing different gifts to support and strengthen the others in the Body.

Paul’s marital imagery in describing the relationship between Christ and the church. By wedding himself to humanity, Christ truly becomes “one flesh” with them (Ephesians 5:30–32), making them his members, “the body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:27), with Christ as their Head (Colossians 1:18). Head and body are joined through the “bond of charity,” the love that has been “shed abroad in our hearts” by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). The union of love between Head and body is so close that “Head and body speak as one,” because they are “no longer two, but one flesh” (Matthew 19:6).[6]

[1] Tolson, Jay. “Is There Room for the Soul?” CBS News 15 Oct 2006 http://www.cbsnews.com/news/is-there-room-for-the-soul/

[2] Walton, John. “The Lost World of Adam and Eve” Genesis 2-3 and the Human Origins Debate”. InterVarsity Press. 2015 Kindle Edition. p. 78

[3] Schaser, Nicholas J. “Did Eve Come From Adam’s “Rib?” Israel Bible Weekly 8 May 2021 weekly.israelbiblecenter.com/eve-come-adams-rib/

[4] Schaser, Nicholas J. “Splitting the Adam” Israel Bible Weekly 23 July 2021 weekly.israelbiblecenter.com/splitting-the-adam/

[5] Franks, Angela. “What’s a Body For?” Plough Quarterly 6 Aug 2018 http://www.plough.com/en/topics/justice/culture-of-life/whats-a-body-for

[6] Colbrook, Niamh. “Inhabiting Our Feeling Bodies” Comment Essay 26 Aug 2021 comment.org/inhabiting-our-feeling-bodies

Reflect

If God’s love is expressed through our current bodies which were used to shape our character, do you think that it is possible that our resurrected bodies will retain aspects of our current bodies which have shaped us in the same way that Jesus’ resurrection body still bore his scars?

Observe

Read Genesis 2. Unlike other creatures who were simply created male and female, Genesis 2 gives a story of a man being specifically made from the dust and a woman being created from the side of the man. What do think was God’s purpose for describing the origin of his image-bearers?