Spiritual Treasures of Genesis: What does Man, Blood and God’s Likeness have to do with each other? (Part 2/3)

One of the most defining and enlightening verses about the meaning of life is Gen 1:26. Today we are going to unravel an amazing aspect of God’s intentions for us revealed in how He created us. I have never heard anyone speaking of this and it came about as I was meditating on these verses over the last few days.

Photo by John Jason on Unsplash

This is the second of three parts of this series entitled ‘Spritual Treasures of Genesis: What it means to be created in His image.’

Here is the verse, first in English, then in a transliteration of the Hebrew with the English in brackets:

“And God said, Let Us make Man in Our Image, according to Our Likeness, and let them have Dominion…”

“waYomer [and said] élohiym [Elohim or God] naáseh [let Us Make] ädäm [Man] B'tzal'mënû [in Our Image/Shade]Kid'mûtënû [according to Our Likeness] w'yir'Dû [and let them have dominion]…”

Adam is a 3 letter word in Hebrew – Alef – Dalet – Mem literally meaning “to be red”. Breaking the word apart, however, reveals something great insights. D and M together are pronounced as something between “Dum” and “Dam” and it means simply “blood”.

The letter Alef symbolizes the God Head, the Ox, the Chief, the Leader. In other words, “Adam”, as a pictogram and by its root syllables is really “God-Blood” and also the “Chief of Blood”. Man is really a being of flesh and blood, made in the image of God and is chief of all creatures with blood.

And it goes further. “According to Our Likeness” (Gen 1:26) is in Hebrew “Ki-Damutnoo”. This word’s root is “Damah” and it is made of three Hebrew letters, Dalet – Mem – He. So it's basically blood with the letter at the end of it He.

What does that mean? Think about how Abram’s and Sarai’s name was changed to AbraHam and SaraH. The added He brought about life in something dead (their child conceiving). It brought about Grace (they would have a child not by their efforts by God’s gift). The Ancient Hebrew letter, “He”, always symbolizes Life, Grace, and even Worship (and definitely this is another post). So “According to our Likeness” or “kiDAMotnoo” is really “According to Our LIFE-BLOOD”. Wow! Are you getting this?

So Genesis 1:26 is really God is saying “Let us make the God-Blood/Chief Blooded Creature in our Shade/Reflection, According to OUR LIFE-BLOOD”.

(This is another wonderful example of how deep Scriptural Hebrew and God’s Word really is. It takes a very compounded sentence in English to describe just a few words in Hebrew as each one has various facets of meanings, roots and hidden symbols).

On the One hand, by being made in His Image or Shadow we are already connected to the Creator. There is nothing else in Creation made in His image. But this is showing something even far deeper than just a mere reflection of our Creator (both shadows and reflections are only superficial, on the surface). 

Amazingly, we are made according to His Life-Blood too (Blood is the stuff flowing deep in each part of our bodies giving life to our cells and organs)! Understand that from the Biblical mindset, Blood is seen as the life of a creature. By being made “According to His Likeness” we are made as His Blood, or with the Same Life-Giving Force of God (deep inside us, our very substance and essence). That is we were made to have the Blood of Elohim, His LIFE flowing through us. That’s how powerful and primary God placed humankind in His Creation and may even explain why a rebellion occurred in Heaven (Satan etc) that eventually led to the Fall of Adam in the Garden.

You’re wondering how does this apply to me, the follower of Christ?

Well, let's zoom into another very deep treasure – Communion. Jesus taught us to eat His flesh in remembrance of Him, drinking His blood, the Blood of the Covenant, for the remission of sins. Literally, practicing the communion is not a religious ritual, dry and bland but it is a physical act with profoundly spiritual consequences in your life that leads to manifestations that extend far beyond the spiritual. For example, Paul spoke to the Corinthian church long ago, telling them that the reason many of them were not benefiting from a vibrant and healthy life (but instead were sick and dying) was because they could not “discern” and spiritually meditate on what they were doing if and when they took Communion. (I’m not saying God punished them with sickness and death but simply they were living very ordinary lives and were not availing themselves to the supernatural benefits of this deeply spiritual thing Jesus told us to do as often as they remembered Him – who knows, and not only did they esteem the communion so light, but maybe they just exercised this privileged so rarely).

In the first Passover which the Communion fulfills, a lamb was slaughtered and the blood of the animal sprinkled here and there. If this shadow of the real thing provided them protection from Death how much more the Flesh and Blood of the Real Lamb of God which we Eat and Drink in the Communion?

Communion is a restoration of what we were meant to be. Whatever we lost in the fall of Adam, we regain doubly so with the Second Adam – Jesus Christ our Lord – offering us His Flesh and Blood. We are now New Creations, Born Anew in His Image, called to Imitate God our Father and be as He is for that is what we already are. We now have His Life-Blood flowing once again in us, deep within us! On the outside, His glory rests and light shines, but its all because of Him deep on the inside! And that is why we cry out to Him Father, why the Spirit of God within us teaches us to call the Creator, FATHER, My Daddy with complete confidence and boldness.

This was a lot. I hope you take the time to meditate on these things with me this week. The Peace and Abundant Grace of Jesus be with you all. Amen.