God’s Promise of Fruitfulness

Beginning with this unit of study, each week we will look at the six covenants that God has established with humanity. As we walk through the six covenants we can simultaneously see God’s ongoing relationship with us and the common thread that runs through the Bible regarding God’s plan for us.

Today we look at God’s Promise of Fruitfulness, and in the coming weeks: God’s promises of preservation, of blessing, of becoming a holy nation, of a king, and of a new covenant.

The Bible is actually sixty-six separate books written down by around forty different individual who were inspired by God to record God’s teachings. There are undoubtedly andditional inspired books, but these sixty-six have been determined by consensus to be the foundational books of faith. These sixty-six books all have one author – the Divine (derived from a word meaning shining). These books contain many themes, but highlight the Divine’s desire for humanity. These books have one central figure throughout them all – the Divine’s messiah or savior, whom we hold to be Jesus, the Christ.

We live in a world where we see many promises broken. In fact lying has become so rampant that it seems that if someone it speaking, they are lying, evading, concealing truth, or just plain out of touch with reality. It is easy to become discouraged (dis-heartened). The Bible, however, declares that God keeps his promises. Or stated another way, if God said something it WILL occur!

Today we look at how God has blessed humanity with a purpose – He blessed us to be his image bearers as we steward his creation around us.  

We look at Genesis 1:26-30; 2:16-17; and 3:16-19.

Genesis chapters 1 and 2 are considered by many to be the first covenant between God and humanity, known as the Adamic or the Edenic covenant. Let’s look at God’s first covenant with humanity.

Genesis 1:26-30

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female. 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” 29 God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you, 30 for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

The phrase God said expresses the idea of God’s creative mind and will, Man exists by the will of God; man exists because God chooses for man to exist. In verse 26 we see a dialogue within the triune Godhead and aspects of the cooperation between the members of the Trinity in creation can be seen: Let us make man in our own image according to our likeness.  

Genesis 1:26 suggests the triune nature of the Godhead – Father, Spirit, Son, or perhaps described as: Divine desire, Spiritual action, and Physical results. While the Old Testament indicates that creation was the work of God alone, verse 26 suggests a multi-faceted nature of God, even while verse 27 indicates God’s unity.

In these verses the words image and likeness are used. While two different Hebrew words are used—tselem (image) and demuth (likeness) – together they emphasize that God made humanity in His image, making them distinct from all other creation.  The words are used interchangeably so let’s delve deeper into what they describe.

The Hebrew word for shadow (tsel) comes out of the word tselem.  We certainly don’t look like shadows, but our shadow behaves exactly like we do. If we jump, so does our shadow; if we wave, our shadow must wave as well. It is an exact replica, a mirrored image of who and what we are. We don’t look like it, but we behave like it.  If God is Light and God created humans as his shadow on earth then we need to realize that the closer we are to God, the “sharper and more clearly the image of God is cast upon the earth.  

The farther we are from God the more indistinguishable the shadow becomes. Think shadow puppets. To project a recognizable image the puppet must be close to the light for if there is a great distance from the light the shadow will be too weak to project far into the world. To state it bluntly YOU are the projection, the shadow, of God into the world. If you are close to God in thought and action God will be adequately projected into the world. If you are far from God you will just blend in with all of the other dim shadows in the world. So if the word tselem (image) provides, like a shadow, the connection between God’s actions and our existence as humans, then why add the second word demuth (likeness)?  What additional images are provided by this second word? Let‘s dig deeper still.

You know how Greek and Roman letters are used as numbers, e.g. I, II, IV, IX, etc or alpha, beta gamma, delta, etc., Hebrew is used in much the same way.  Let’s begin with a pictograph. Demuth is written with the letters Daleth-Mem-(Vav)-Taw.  The Vav in this word acts as a vowel rather than a consonant.  That’s why it is placed in parentheses here. The three building blocks of the picture are Daleth (representing door, pathway, enter), Mem (chaos, massive) and Taw (seal, sign, covenant).  If the Vav is to act as part of the picture, it carries the imagery of a nail (to add, to secure, to conjoin).  

What picture can we paint with these elements?  We can suggest the combination of a seal or covenant concerning a pathway through chaos.  Perhaps the “likeness” of God is about His trustworthiness, His promise, His reliability in spite of the apparent disorder in the cosmos.  Perhaps to be in God’s likeness is to exhibit trustworthiness and steadfastness in the midst of turmoil. Perhaps it is as simple as “relatives often look alike over time.”

If we look at the linguistic umbrella of demuth, we find that it is often used to draw a comparison between two dissimilar things.  The most frequent use of demuth is in Ezekiel where it is used to compare what is seen in heaven with what is seen on earth.  In other words, demuth acts as a linguistic bridge.  It offers me a way to move from one picture to another by pointing out similar elements.

Applying both the pictographic and linguistic insights to the Genesis passage helps us see that Our likeness is a statement about the bridge between God and Man.  That bridge is found in the covenant that exists as soon as God forms Man.  In other words, when God determined to form His representative on earth and to empower this representative with His authority to bring order to creation, God formed a covenant bridge between heaven and earth.  Man is that bridge.  Man participates in both the heavenly directive and the earthy engagement.  To be in God’s likeness is to stand over the gap between heaven and earth, to provide a pathway so that what is true in heaven becomes true on earth.  To be in God’s likeness is to pray: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” and then go about making it happen.

We should notice that tselem (image) and demuth (likeness) do not address the same issue.  God’s image is about the actions of authority, actions that purposefully overcome chaos.  God’s likeness is about the bridge between heaven and earth, the pathway that guides what actions must be taken in order to bring heaven to earth.  To be human is to be both God’s authority in action and God’s bridge between heaven and earth.  That is why the prime directive immediately follows this definition of human being.  Only human beings can fulfill this dual purpose.  And only those who fulfill this dual purpose are human.

Verse 26 uses the word man, but the Hebrew word (adam) here is inclusive. It is referring to humanity not just male humans, nor is it just the proper name of the first man. It can be, just as you might name your dog Dog or your cat Cat. So remember that the Bible references the rights and responsibilities of ALL HUMANS, not just male humans. Don’t believe that? Just look at the rest of verse 26 Let them have dominion…. Using the plural pronoun in this phrase clarifies the inclusive meaning of the word adam since the Bible is referencing only TWO individuals at this time. God gave mankind, male and female together, authority to rule over all other creatures because mankind alone is made in His image. Verse 27 clarifies it further in that God made humanity in two flavors – male and female; each with their own unique status as image-bearers.  

Just as God may be the Old Testament’s authoritarian dangerous, jealous God, God may also be the New Testament’s loving and gentle God.  They are the same God, but different “extremes” of the same whole. The orientals use a good descriptor, the yin and yang to describe the energies of something.  Yin is used to describe principles that are passive, sustaining, lower in energy. It is represented by the black part of the yin-yang symbol.  Yang is used to describe principles that are active, bright, higher in energy, and is represented by the white part of the yin-yang symbol. The contrasting dots in the yin-yang symbol indicates that each individual has components of the other yin has SOME yang and yang has SOME yin. While the symbolism can be more complex than this, you may think of it this way:  yang is, like the daylight, a time to be active, bright, hot, and energy producing; while yin is, like the night time, a time to be more passive lower in energy, and more sustaining and nurturing as one rests.

Genesis tells us that humanity’s assignment is to be fruitful (productive) and multiply (grow).  We are also assigned to fill the earth and subdue it. The Hebrew word used (kabash) means to have dominion—to subjugate and bring under control. Humans, male and female, were entrusted by God to act as His representatives on earth, exercising authority over all His creation by being good stewards. 

God blessed humanity with his image; he blessed them with purpose; and finally he blessed them with provision. Both humanity and all other creatures were supplied with food to sustain their physical bodies. God alone is the Source of life. God is also the source of the aliveness of Life. The Hebrew phrase used is nephesh chay. The term nephesh has a broad range of meaning. It can refer to life itself, that within a person that makes life possible, the soul, the seat of emotions and desires, the whole of a being, the physical body, and a corpse. Chay means “life” or “alive.” Thus it is that God GIVES life and God BRINGS life.

Next we see humanity’s first assignment under the Adamic, or Edenic, Covenant.

Genesis 2:16-17

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”

In these verses the phrase Lord God is a substitution for God’s personal name and descriptive name. It might behoove us to think of it as “God’s full name”, though that would be inaccurate. It is saying the Jehovah the Deity commanded the humans. God told humanity “you are free (derived from ancient words meaning to love) to eat from any tree (a word derived from words indicating truth) of the garden, EXCEPT do NOT eat from the truth of the knowledge of good and evil.”  There are many trees, truths, in the world. We are free to explore them, but when we know ("perceive a thing to be identical with another,") good and evil, when we think that good and evil are the same, or are irrelevant, then, God says, you will certainly die (a word indicating to be removed). 

Genesis paints a picture of Eden generously providing for the man’s needs by planting a garden in which he was to live and work, as well as trees from which he could eat. God’s command indicates that He made the man free in the sense that he was able to make moral choices. The man was free to either obey or disobey God. For some it may help to think that God made humanity an officer – given an assignment to carry out, but allowed latitude in HOW to carry it out; or perhaps a manager told by the boss how to do something and given the latitude on how to order it done.

Humanity had only only one prohibition and that demonstrated Adam’s trust, obedience, and loyalty. This prohibition also demonstrated there were limits to Adam’s freedom. Humans were to live within the limits of goodness that God had established. The consequence for disobeying God’s command would be death. God’s intent for the man (and the woman) was that they would live forever. But such life was contingent on their obedience to God’s commands. 

Think of it this way. We have a number of gardeners in here. There’s a lot of freedom in how you grow a tomato plant. You may grow them in a pot on the porch, in a container garden, a large garden plot, even in water alone in a hydroponic garden. And yet there are parameters as well. You can’t expect this plant to live if it is planted in sand, or clay, or concrete, or if you put it in a dark room with very little light. It has to be where it can receive sunlight and water. 

In the same way, our call to steward God’s creation is not without limits. Our responsibility comes with God-established parameters, and we are free to manage within those parameters and to learn from our mistakes when we go outside of those parameters because doing so brings sin and failure.  This is how we learn.

Next we see some of the consequences of such failure under the Adamic or Edenic covenant.

Genesis 3:16-19

16 He said to the woman: “I will intensify your labor pains; you will bear children with painful effort. Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will rule over you.”17 And he said to the man, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’: The ground is cursed because of you. You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life.18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust.”

Genesis 3 details how, at the instigation of the serpent, the man and woman disobeyed God’s prohibition and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. “You had ONE job….!”

Because of their disobedience, they faced the negative consequences of trying to be closely associated with God while at the same time deeming their own opinions more important than God’s commands. God said “as soon as you DON’T make the distinction between good and evil you will begin to die. Our current world is an illustration of this. So, as a result of thinking that the human way was just as good as the divine way, the natural consequence stated in one simple statement was the production of your fruit will be painful and difficult.  Even more simply – It will be harder for you if you DON’T do what I have taught you! The result was that each role of humanity, the yin and the yang, the masculine and feminine, the male and female, had specific painful and difficult components that were realized. Women in child bearing, and all humans in just being productive in their work.

The marriage relationship between the woman and man was also changed verse 16 tells us. In Genesis 4:7 The Bible shows God telling Cain if you do good will you not be accepted? And pointing out if you don’t do good then failure will certainly follow. It is your DESIRE and your ACTIONS that will determine your success or failure.  In other words it highlights for us our eternal struggle between the spiritual and the physical. Between wholesome and polluted. Verse 16 points out the struggle between the sexes – women WANT to be the boss, but when “push comes to shove” the man will be able to consistently overpower them….now this not to say that women CAN’T beat men, they certainly can, but the desire for TWO people in a marriage to be THE dominant partner is a making for disaster. Partnership is the name of the game and 50-50 partnerships never work…there is no leader. Partnerships have to be 51-49 or more.

The first humans were given by God the charge to care for and watch over the garden. Part of Adam’s watch care should have been coming to his partner’s aid when the serpent confronted her and distorted God’s command. He should have corrected the serpent. He should have stopped his wife from eating the forbidden fruit. Instead, he joined her in sin by eating the fruit she gave him. As a result of their choices childbirth was the evil fate that befell women, and the ground was to befall its own harmful fate because humanity screwed up. Because of humanity’s failure to stay true to God, all creation would suffer and man and women would have to work harder until they could figure out how to do the work smarter.

Loosely put, it could be said that God said “I gave you GOOD.  I told you NOT to choose to know EVIL (harmful).  Now, because you humans have chosen to know EVIL (harmfulness) you will get to EXPERIENCE EVIL (harmfulness).  Then maybe you will desire to choose and know GOOD.”  In modern language we might say “you want BAD, you get your wish.  Enjoy bad ‘until’ you learn to choose good.”

The phrase used in verse 17, in sorrow is the same word used to describe the “sorrow” multiplied in the process of bearing children in verse 16. So both men and women, ALL of humanity, suffer similarly from the harm that they bring upon themselves – labor pains and painful labor. Until he sinned, the man’s work of harvesting would have been comparatively easy, rewarding, and fulfilling. Work remained the God-ordained purpose of humanity, but fulfilling that purpose would now entail pain, struggle, and often times frustration. As a result of their own choices, the promise of life, the ultimate yang had now been exchanged for death, the ultimate yin. 

While the immediate result of their sin was spiritual death (they were no longer perfect in righteousness and in fellowship with God), eventually physical death would be another consequence of their disobedience. Because offspring are in the image and likeness of their originators, all of humanity’s descendants would likewise suffer because they are the image and likeness of Adam and Eve.

These consequences of Adam’s sin would be reversed only through the atoning work of Jesus Christ, and only by OUR choice to seek GOOD and shun EVIL rather than to follow our natural inclination to “ignore the rules and just try anything.” 

God is absolute good and always chooses good things.  But some in the cosmos, Satan and his followers, seek to make the good things appear bad, and the bad things appear to be good.  God is not fooled, but humanity has been and will ALWAYS be subjected to being fooled, unless they chose to be CLOSE to God.  BUT those who place their faith in God’s messiah and who seek good, have been provided with the Holy Spirit who will always guide us TO the Good. 

BUT, as with Adam and Eve, it is STILL always OUR choice to choose good, or to “just do it MY way.”  We will still fail, but because we are SEEKING to draw closer to God, our image or representation to the world of what God is like will be beneficial.  Because Jesus paid the price of death on OUR behalf we can also know that we have eternal life, RIGHT NOW, and we don’t have to stay focused only on the harmfulness of evil choices and the resulting death – the distancing from God – that it brings.

Even though Adam and Eve “screwed it up”, and so do we because we are in their image and likeness, God has not changed our work assignment. We are still to be productive, reproductive, and the dominate species on the planet. We are to be the leaders in managing our world – physical, mental and spiritual – in a straight (just, upright) line to God. We know this because…

God called humanity to rule (move in a straight line) his creation for God’s behalf.