LET THERE BE LIGHT
Dawn
DRAPER’S PAPER ROUTE
LET THERE BE LIGHT
by Adam Carroll Draper
At bottom, my quest for intimacy with God has made me come to grips with the fact that I cannot possibly fathom how much He longs for us. In fact, that truth itself is key to understanding what is to come of us, individually and together. He loves us each, but He longs for us all as His bride. What a wonder it is to be His bride.
We are each precious to God. That is fine enough to say, but it has to dawn on us before we can let the light of that reality change the way we see ourselves. In Genesis 1:26, Elohim said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” According to Strong’s Concordance, the Hebrew word selem means “image (usually referring to an object of worship)”; and the Hebrew word demut, translated as “likeness” in English, can also be translated as figure, image and form.[1] So we have to come to grips with what that means. We are made as part of God’s own form, in his own substance, if you will. In defense of the doctrine of the Trinity in the late second century, the great Christian apologist Tertullian said that Father, Son and Holy Spirit were together before creation, and that they were then (and are now) simultaneously three individuals, who are one by “unity of substance.”[2] Elohim made us in that image, corresponding to His own substance, to share in the dance the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit danced before creation.[3]
We, alone in all creation, share God’s demut.[4] This nature is the very thing that is celebrated (or despised) in the heavenlies.[5] We are of His very own light. This idea is far too much for us to fully comprehend, but we can consider those aspects of God that we do know a little better. God is love.[6] God is light.[7] Faith, Hope and Love endure forever.[8] We take part in, carry this, or shine this light within our earthen vessels – not shining ourselves, but Jesus, through whom we were transformed.[9]
Satan was one of the cherubim, angels at the throne who reflect the light of God, but do not correspond to the substance of the light as we do. In fact, Satan was the chief of the cherubim, and he was so proud of this that he wanted to be glorified in himself. Only Elohim is worshipped and glorified. When Satan was cast out along with a third of the angels of heaven, he had no light at all. He still has no light in himself. He steals it from us. Jesus told us that Satan is a murderer, a liar and the father of lies, and that he comes only to steal, kill and to destroy.[10] Understanding this is key to understanding spiritual warfare.
[1] Strongs Concordance of the Bible, Strongs 6754 selem; and 1823 demut.
[2] Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, Against Praxeus.
[3] The Hebrew word ke is translated “after” in Genesis 1:26 (“after our own likeness”). Strongs translates ke (3509.1) as “marker of comparison: as, like, marker of similarity or correspondence.”
[4] See Reiss, Moshe; Adam: Created in the Image and Likeness of God, Jewish Bible Quarterly, Vol. 9, No. 3, 2011.
[5] See Ephesians 3:8-19; and 1 Corinthians 2:5-9. This footnote is, admittedly, something of a tease. Angels do not know what is only revealed in our spirits by the Holy Spirit. See also Romans 8:10-17; and 2 Peter 1:2-4. Selah!
[6] 1 John 4:8.
[7] 1 John 1:5.
[8] 1 Corinthians 13:13.
[9] 2 Corinthians 4:6-7.
[10] John 8:44; and John 10:10.
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