God(s), Humanity, and Open Eyes — Part 2: Humanity
As we saw in Part 1: God(s), the opening chapter of scripture is a poetic description of the creation of the world which highlights the character of God. It introduces us to a creator God who is a multiplicity of being — and thus inherently relational — who then creates a “good” creation (thereby a world that God wishes to maintain and not destroy) and invites it, and specifically humanity, to join with God in continuing to add to it’s beauty. The poem builds, day by day, into greater, more complex and beautiful creation — culminating in the introduction of humanity. Humanity is a unique creation within the poem as it is brought about not by God speaking it into existence but by God intimately forming it.
God, from the very beginning, is intimately bound in relationship with humanity, creating and forming humanity after God’s own likeness.
Which brings us to Part 2: Humanity.
The second chapter of scripture provides another depiction of the creation of the world. However, unlike the first chapter, this depiction is in the form of a narrative that focuses on the character of humanity. In this narrative, humanity is the first creation formed to inherit what was, at that time, a formless, empty world — unlike chapter 1, in which the entire creation is created by the time humanity is formed.
To argue which temporal created order is correct is to miss the point of the story. What chapter 2 highlights is that creation was created for humanity. Whether God prepared creation prior to inviting humanity into it — as one prepares gifts for arriving guests — or invites humanity into existence only to then lavish gifts of love upon them, the outcome is the same: creation is a gift of love to and for humanity, intended for their enjoyment and their participation in keeping.
A uniqueness that chapter 2 offers is that humanity gets to watch the creator at work. Can you imagine how amazing that would be? Not only would such a display of power be awe inspiring and bring about much joy (think of the joy and surprise each new firework explosion produces in you — and you expect these displays! How much more would the creation of new, good things illicit such childlike joy? “Do it again! Do it again!”), such a display would also be an introduction into what it is to follow in the likeness of the God we are created to be like.
God shows us the goodness of creation — a creation that not only serves a purpose (e.g. food for sustenance) but is also “pleasant to the sight,” a characteristic simply added for humanity’s enjoyment. God then invites us to “keep” it — to join in the furthering of and maintaining of the goodness of creation.
Yet, all of this is not forced upon humanity in such a way that they have no say in the matter. By God inviting humanity to enjoy creation while also placing boundaries on what should be enjoyed and what should be avoided reveals the ability within humanity to do otherwise. Humanity is created with the capacity to disobey. It is always within them to say no to God. Humanity is created with the capacity to choose whether or not they will be in relationship with God — or with one another for that matter. Yet, to choose to reject God’s invitation is to invite a certain kind of death — to step out of the life we were created to be fulfilled in.
Because to reject God is to reject the likeness of God within us. And life is intimately found within that likeness. It is the very breath breathed into our being. The very spirit that makes us “alive.”
As noted in Part 1, humanity is created in the image and likeness of a God(s) which, being an inherent plurality, instills an inherent relational characteristic within humanity. God acknowledges this wiring within humanity when he proclaims that “it is not good that a human being should be alone” (Gen. 2:18). Up until now, chapter 2 has presented humanity as a singularity and not a plurality — though, the relationship and invitation this singularity is invited into can be read the same for humanity as a plurality. The term used for the creature, ʾadam, contains both singularity (“human being”) and plurality (“humanity”).
God thus seeks to remedy this relational deficiency by showering the human being with more living creatures. However, it isn’t until God forms a second being who is like the first that a “helper” is found — which is not a term used for subordination but is the very term used throughout scripture for God and God’s own saving characteristic (which I would argue is best defined here as “making whole”). The second human is, like the first human, made in the image and likeness of God and is made in order for the fullness of life to be experienced. Humanity as singularity needs plurality in order to fully step into their identity as relational beings made in the image of God. And, like the relational characteristic found within the multiplicity of God, such relational holding of the other must be held in equality and not domination.
When the human being is presented with the woman (the first reference to gender) the human proclaims such equality along with the recognition of the uniqueness the other offers:
“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.” (Gen. 2:23)
Adam declares both a recognition of equality (“bone of my bones” and “flesh of my flesh”) as well as of uniqueness (“she shall be called ʾisha, / because she was taken out of ʾish”) by providing a name to differentiate the separateness and difference between the two.
This becomes the defining characteristic of relationship absent of shame. For, immediately following, the narrative names that “the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” (Gen. 2:25). This nakedness not only speaks to humanity’s ability to physically present themselves to each other in nakedness but also the ability to be emotionally and spiritually vulnerable with the other in full assurance that the other will hold them well. There is a mutual holding of the other in equality and celebration of the uniqueness the other offers. There is no question of whether or not the other will care for them well because this equality is equally self-sacrificial. And there is no questioning of one’s value or worth by being different from the other because such uniqueness is celebrated and makes the other more full.
Thus, Part 2 ends, leaving us with a depiction of what it is to be fully human. Humanity is invited to participate with God in being like God as well as caring for and facilitating the continuation of creation. To continue to gift existence with beauty. And at the core of being human is that we are inherently wired for relationship in a way that holds the other as equal and yet unique. Selflessly giving and receiving of the other in mutuality. This is where life is. This is where we come alive.
However, today, such a picturesque existence seems to have been lost. Life isn’t so easy. And the creation account, as a “cold open,” still has something to say about how things have turned out the way they have.
