Forgetting the 'Essence' of Things!
- tofostotisgnoseos
- Dec 4, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Dec 18, 2023
The problem is that we have forgotten who we are! We look in the mirror, and it convinces us that we are what we see. We have forgotten our true essence…
Genesis 1: 26-27
26 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ᾿ εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν καὶ καθ᾿ ὁμοίωσιν, καὶ ἀρχέτωσαν τῶν ἰχθύων τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῶν κτηνῶν καὶ πάσης τῆς γῆς καὶ πάντων τῶν ἑρπετῶν τῶν ἑρπόντων ἐπὶ γῆς γῆς.
27 καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον, κατ᾿ εἰκόνα Θεοῦ ἐποίησεν αὐτόν, ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐποίησεν αὐτούς.
[eng] 26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash
Defining Human:
A being belonging to the highest order of mammals, characterized by an upright posture, reason, articulate speech, abstract thoughts, consciousness of strength and autonomy, and the ability for ethical judgments.
The individual human as a unit with distinct physical, spiritual, and mental qualities.
Genesis 2:7
καὶ ἔπλασεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον, χοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἐνεφύσησεν εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ πνοὴν ζωῆς, καὶ ἐγένετο ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν.
[eng] Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
What did God breathe? He breathed the breath of life from Himself, meaning He gave a piece of His own essence, and man became a 'living soul.' So now we have man, a living soul, as he has flesh, breathes, and has the divine essence - God is spirit, immaterial in nature – “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24)
Human = Spirit + (Living) Soul + Body
As 'human' refers to the species God created (not the gender, female or male), to which He gave the capability and potential to become like Him. Thus, man has a body, is created a spirit with the nature of God, and possesses a living soul!
God created the world (Genesis 1:1, Isaiah 42:5)
God is the Creator and gave us the ability - quality to be creators of our own lives (since He breathed the breath of life from Himself). He gave us a body to live on earth, a spirit, meaning abilities and qualities that help us shape and compose our spiritual level, and existence, meaning a soul, vital power, so that as humans, we can rule over the entire earth and create our own reality.
But He also gave us something else; He gave us rules, to respect, to pray, and to believe in God, as 'God is love' 1 John 4:16.
Thus, He gave us all these blessings so that love would be the driving force behind everything we do!
Text: Maria Langaditi
Text editing: Ada Kiriazi
Source
Λεξικό Νέας Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Γιώργος Μπαμπινιώτης, Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας.
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