S:10 The Idolatry of Identity

E:2 Being Like God

My first blog in this series set out a foundation for what would follow in support of a rudimentary understanding of human identity: that human beings are made in the image and likeness of God; when human beings live independently from God the fullness of human identity is lost; and that Christ reclaimed the fullness of human identity.

In this blog, I want to build on that foundation by looking at four conditions that shed further light on this elemental understanding of human identity: chaos, order, non-order, and disorder. Recognizing these conditions, albeit briefly, will help navigate our thinking through what seems to be an idolatry of identity today. So, let’s begin at the beginning.

Chaos to Order

Genesis paints a chaotic picture of precreation, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep…” (Gen. 1:2). In ancient Near Eastern cosmologies, earth, darkness and water was common imagery for chaos. For example, the Hebrew phrase tohu wa bohu (formless and empty)[1] is used at least 20 times in the Old Testament. In each case, it conveys something that has no purpose or worth and because it completely lacks order. The chaos being described in Gen. 1:2 has no purpose therefore no function. So, chaos did not mean that material did not exist, but the material had no order to it.   

Further observations about Hebrew words and how they are used are necessary to understand the language of creation. First, the verb bā·rā is translated as “create” (Gen. 1:1)[2] and the verb way·ya·‘aś as “made” or “make” (Gen 1:7).[3] There is far more to these words than I have the scope for in this blog, but a basic grasp should be sufficient. So, to create or make something is to bring it into existence by giving it a specific purpose, role, and function. This is important for understanding human identity.  

On the sixth day God created/made human beings in his own image and likeness (Gen. 1:26). Ancient Israel was not interested in the process of manufacturing, but the purpose, role, and function of what God created. For example, God made the moon with the purpose of marking the seasons and stars to govern or navigate using the stars (Psalm 104:19; 136:7-9).[4] We observe the same thing when God made summer and winter (Psalm 74:17); the cedars of Lebanon (Psalm 104:16); and the north and south (Psalm 89:12). Everything God created had a purpose, role, and function. God made things work in a certain way for a certain reason.  

Furthermore, he sustains that reason in and through Christ. “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him” (Col. 1:16). Therefore, Scripture does not tell us that God built the earth, rather, he created (bā·rā) it and made (way·ya·‘aś) it to function with roles that have purpose. We should not be surprised when Scripture tells us that all creation was “good” (Gen. 1:9,12,18,21), and “very good” (Gen. 1:31) because it functioned as God intended. Following this thought, there is another observation we must make to understand human identity.

God separates preexisting material and then names it thereby distinguishing it. For example, I have a room in my house separated from the rest of my home with over 3000 volumes in it. It is a library separated from the kitchen, bedrooms, living room, dining room, or bathrooms. Separating it adds to the distinction and gives it a purpose, role, and function within the whole house. So, God not only created/made the earth from the macro to the micro, but in doing so, he gave everything a purpose, role, and function. In this way, chaos becomes ordered.  

Order through Naming

When God separated preexisting material, he also named it adding to its distinguishment. Let’s go back to my library. It is not only separated from other rooms, but I name it a library. I must emphasize that I named it a library.

Giving a name to something was a creative act in itself because it related to purpose, role, and function. As such, God created (bā·rā) all the animals and birds, but he did not name them. He left the naming piece to Adam (Gen. 2:19-20). This is an important observation as the delegation of naming things could only be given to humanity who bore the image and likeness of God. It could not be given to an angel. So, lets pause and ask what image and likeness means in Genesis as it relates to human identity.    

If we define the image and likeness of God neurologically, the result is something like a Marvel or DC comic character with superpowers. The image and likeness of God is not understood in this super-human way. It can be viewed in four categories:

First, the role and function God gave to humanity was to rule and subdue the earth (Gen. 1:28). Second, the identity bequeathed on humanity is distinguished from everything else in creation. Third, humanity serves as a vice regent acting for God in terms of creative powers. Fourth, God intended humanity to be in relationship with him. Consequently, no human being is more or less the image and likeness of God than other human beings.

Remember that “whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name” (Gen. 2:19). This is of utmost importance as part of our human identity made in the image and likeness of God. What we name a thing determines that things purpose, role, and function. Naming something in this context is far more about how we use words rather than etymology.[5] With this in mind, I must approach the third condition.

Order to Disorder

What happened to humanity in the Garden of Eden essentially admitted disorder into order. Here, we are introduced to sin, and when used in the text of Scripture, sin describes rebellion, transgression, guilt, iniquity and so on. We can be sidetracked in the etymology of sin within the original language of the Bible, but as I mentioned above, it’s not the origin of words I’d like to focus on but how those words are used: what sin does, not what sin is.[6]

In short, what happened in the Garden of Eden was a decision to be like God heard in the serpent’s voice as a chaos creature, “…and you will be like God…” This is of vital importance and shed light on the idolatry of human identity. Trying to be like God places humankind at the center of order. In doing so, order does not revert back to chaos, but disorder.

The English Poet John Milton wrote Paradise Lost (1667) focusing on the disorder introduced by sin in the Garden of Eden. A summary of losing Eden can be heard in the voice of Yoda lamenting about Luke Skywalker, “Reckless is he. Now matters are worse.”[7] Humankind certainly made matters worse.

However, the image of Eden must be understood in its creative context. Adam and Eve were placed outside of Eden. This shows us that the earth was not Eden, but only a very small part of it. Some theologians have suggested that Eden was an expanding paradise that fits the command to “fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28). So, before sin, the whole of creation was a combination of order and non-order.

Coexistence of Order, Non-Order, and Disorder

The world we live in is characterized by order. Human inventions and discoveries have benefited humankind throughout history. For example, we can harness the wind and create electricity. But the world is also characterized by non-order. Natural disasters, sickness, pain, and so on cannot be simply categorized because of sin. When humankind attempts to bring order to these things, we are left incapable. And we live in a world characterized by disorder seen in how humankind harms creation and each other. This is a direct result of sin. No wonder St. Paul said, “For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope, that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:19-21).

In fact, complete and total order is only established when Christ returns for his Church (Rev. 21). The vision that John had of Christ was a level of order that did not even exist before sin introduced disorder.

The idolatry of human identity is nothing new. If we believe that God created humankind assigning purpose, roles, and function and naming them male and female, we must accept that humankind has a tendency to be like God in a world partly characterized by disorder. As such, human identity becomes whatever humankind says it is, and if identified outside of God’s order, expands the world disorder.

[1] Compare Isaiah 34:11 and Jeremiah 4:23 to understand what these words conveyed.

[2] Strong’s 1254.

[3] Strong’s 6213.

[4] Sometimes called astronavigation.

[5] Study of the origin of words.

[6] Both are equally important but for the sake of this blog I want to focus on what sin does: separation from God.

[7] Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (1980).