The Nature of Man Before the Fall
To understand what man would have looked like before sin, we would need to have an idea of what God looks like, since we were created to resemble Him not only in mental and spiritual faculties but also physically. The Scriptures give us several clues and even describe what God looks like.
Whenever God is described in the Scriptures, He is described as having white hair, eyes like flaming fire, His feet like brass, or more accurately amber (electricity), emitting large amounts of light and having the appearance of a man (Revelation 1:14-15, Ezekiel 1:26-28, Isaiah 6:1, Daniel 7:9).
"And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. 27 Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord" (Ezekiel 1:26-28, NKJV, emphasis mine).
The word used in the Hebrew is “Adam” meaning man (Ezekiel 1:26-28). Therefore, God looks like Adam, or more accurately, Adam looks like God. He is also described as having fire and the colour of amber coming out of Him (Ezekiel 1, Isaiah 6:1, Daniel 7:9). The Hebrew word used in these texts is “chashmal”. In Greek this means “electros”, in English this means “electricity” or “a shining substance” (Strong reference H2830, Hamp, 2011). God has a nature that seems to be made of light (Psalms 104). God emits so much light that He has an appearance of a great cloud and a devouring fire (Exodus 16:10, 24:15-18, 33:10), The Son of God, Yeshua haMashiach (Jesus Christ), is also described in this way in Revelation 1:12-18; and we are told that we will be “partakers of the divine nature” with Him (2 Peter 1:4, Romans 8:17). One day we will look like Him. God’s body emits light that looks like flaming fire and electricity consuming Him, this is His glory. Whenever angels appeared to man they were described as emitting so much light they were often mistaken for God himself (Daniel 7, 10; Ezekiel 1, Matthew 28:3, Revelation 10:1-22). Even when God appeared to Moses the first time, the bush nearby was burning but not being consumed (Exodus 3:2). It was not being consumed because it was only absorbing and reemitting the glory of God. We see another example of this after Moses came down off the mountain and His face shone due to being in the presence of God (Exodus 34:29-30,33). Everything God touches blaze with his glory (Exodus 24:15-17). “…Thou art clothed with honour and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment…who layeth the beams of His chambers in the waters…who makest his angels spirits; his ministers (angels) a flaming fire…Thou coverest it (the earth) with the deep (the ocean) as with a garment…” (Psalms 104: 1-6, KJV).
Even in a fallen state, our bodies can absorb and re-emit light. The light our bodies emit now is so weak it cannot be noticed with the naked eye. However, “all organic life absorbs, emits, and processes light” (Amano, et al). This was first discovered by a Ukrainian Biologist, Alexander Garwitsh, in 1923 and was later confirmed independently by Russian scientists in 1930 and Italian Nuclear Physicist, L. Colli et al, in 1955 (Hamp). If in our fallen state we are still able to emit light from the only available light source that we have, the sun, what would Adam and Eve have looked like in their sinless state in the very presence of God, the ultimate source of all light in the universe? The Midrash Rabbah 20:12 (Rabbinic literature from the first and second century AD) remarks that Adam and Eve’s original clothing was described as smooth as a fingernails and shone like a jewel. In Hebrew, this is the noun אור (aleph-vav-resh), pronounced “or”, meaning “garments of light” (Strong’s H216) as opposed to עור (ayin-vav-resh), also pronounced “ôr”, the leather garments God made for them after they sinned (Hamp). In Genesis 3:21, the Hebrew word used is “ôr” meaning “skin” (Strong’s H5785) and only describes the garments given to Adam and Eve by God after they sinned (Hamp). The Hebrews, however, understood that Adam and Eve had light bodies before they sinned (aleph-vav-resh) and their skin reflected the glory of God in the same way that angels reflect His glory.
The Nature of Man After the Fall
Scientists are just beginning to discover that the DNA is a book, that is, information (Gitt, 2000). They are beginning to understand that our DNA contains information of not only the history of the individual it comes from but also information about the history of humanity (Hamp). They have discovered that there are changes that occur in our genes over time, and they are now beginning to learn how to read this book, copy it and even rewrite it!
Geneticists have discovered that a significant change occurred about five thousand years ago in the human genetic code; and what is interesting is the fact that the change only occurred in the male Y chromosome (Sanford, 2005). They do not know what happened and why it happened. Some may even attribute the change to the activities of aliens or the Annanaki. However, the Scriptures told us exactly what occurred.
When Eve sinned, it seemed nothing happened – everything still reflected the glory of God, they did not feel physically different and everything was still at peace. However, when Adam sinned, everything changed immediately; the earth grew thorns, their skin stopped shining, revealing that they were naked, and they felt fear and shame for the first time. Literally the man, Adam, fell and everything fell with him including his wife, Eve (Romans 5:12). The genetic code of the man became corrupted and man have been passing down these corrupted genes down through the generations, father to son, intact. The Y chromosome in every man and who have ever lived on earth is an identical copy of Adam’s. The only exception to this is Yeshua haMashiach (Jesus Christ). Since God was his biological father[1] (Isaiah 53:10, 1 John 3:9, 1 Peter 1:23).
What we know about the DNA today has only been discovered in recent years. The DNA was first discovered in 1944 by Avery, MacLeod and McCarty who realised that this was the hereditary material in our bodies. However, most of what we know today about our genes was only discovered in the last ten to fifteen years. Surprisingly, the writers of the Scriptures seemed to be aware of its existence long before modern scientists did. John in Revelation was told to eat a scroll (a book) that tasted sweet and became sour in the stomach (Revelation 10:9-10). The DNA strand is supported by sugar molecules and thus would taste sweet on the tongue. Even King David was inspired to write about the DNA as a book (Psalms 139:16).
The DNA is a nucleic acid made up of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and phosphorus. They have structural units called nucleotides that consist of three components – a nitrogen-containing base, a pentose sugar (deoxyribose) and a phosphate group. Alternating sugar and phosphate molecules form the backbones that support the double helix stand. In diagrams this looks like the legs of a ladder and the nucleobase looks like rungs (Marieb, 2004). In the Scriptures, what we now know as DNA is mentioned as “the books” with Yeshua’s DNA being called the “Book of Life”.
In the French translation of the Holy Bible, the blood is described as containing the soul of the animal, "But you shall not eat flesh with its life (the French translation uses the word 'soul'), that is, its blood. Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man" (Genesis 9:4-5, NKJV, emphasis mine). In the English translation it is translated “life”, however, I believe that soul is a more accurate translation (H5315), and this is being verified by scientific research. Scientists in recent years have begun to suspect that the DNA (the only unique part of our blood) may in fact contain the soul and that the DNA strand contains codes, some are commands to specific cells and others are stored information (Gitt). The DNA seems to function in a similar way to the computer’s hard-drive and operating system, which stores information in codes, some for commands and others for data retrieval.
“And the books were opened…and the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books” (Revelation 20:12, emphasis mine). God is described here as reading more than one book, and infers that each book holds a record of every deed the owner of that book had ever done. It is amazing that scientists have discovered that the DNA is an organic database capable of storing twenty million times the information that can be stored in thousands of books and that this information can be read like a book. It seems that a person’s DNA holds not only a list of instructions on how each cell in the body must work (Marieb, 2004), but it also holds a record of every sickness, broken bone or trauma we have ever had (Lui, et al, 2009; Yehuda, et al, 2009) as well as every sin we have ever committed!
Dr. Courtney Griffin, a researcher in the field of epigenetics, did a study on epigenetic marks. These are “chemical signals that tell the cell which genes should be turned on or shut off” (Griffin, 2012). She found that some of these marks influence behaviour and can be passed down from parent to child. Habits have epigenetic marks. These marks have been found in rats for obesity and in humans for alcoholism, obesity (Griffin, 2012), theft, adultery, and homosexuality (Rice, et al, 2012). These if practised by the parent at conception may be passed down to the child in their genes. However, epigenetic marks can be ‘switched off’ if the parents change their habits before conceiving the child, then the child is born without those marks. Science has thus confirmed what is said in Exodus 20:5 and 34:6-7 about generational curses: "You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations (gene- rations) of those who hate Me" (Exodus 20:5, NKJV, emphasis mine). This is another reason why we should also repent of our parent’s sins (Exodus 20:5, Numbers 14:18, Deuteronomy 23:2), because we inherit their epigenetic marks (their sins) and they remain in our DNA as a record testifying against us!
Forgiveness seems to have a connection to the epigenetic marks found in our DNA as well. The Scriptures speak of the “Lamb’s Book of Life” and those whose names are written in this Book are saved and their sins covered or masked literally by the blood of the Lamb, while those who do not repent, their names are blotted out and their works remain naked to the judgement. Note that this book is not just called any old ‘Book of Life’ but the Book, the ‘Lamb’s Book of Life’ – it is one of a kind. The DNA of Yeshua has our names written in it by default[2]. The onus is on us to confirm our reservation. Otherwise, our works are laid bare and we will be judged by them. Thankfully, for those who repent, God blots out the curses (the epigenetic marks) from our books, He switches off those sinful epigenetic marks so that they can no longer testify against us and we no longer commit those sins. Our unconscious sins are masked, hidden from judgement, because our DNA is grafted into Yeshua haMashiach’s. In other words, His DNA gives us immunity from judgement for “it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life” (Leviticus 17:11; Revelation 12:11).
Our DNA holds a record of our entire life and the whole history of mankind, that is, if you are a man carrying and passing on the exact copy of Adam’s corrupted Y chromosome. However, because of what Yeshua did for us and what His sacrifice means, we have been given the opportunity to be partakers of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-4, 1 Corinthians 15:20) through the witness of His blood, His DNA.
For more on this teaching read Made in His Image and Why did God Create Human Beings.
Footnotes:
[1]It is evident in Scripture that Yeshua did in fact have a biological mother, Mary (Acts 3:25, Romans 1:3, Luke 1:1, Mathew 1:20). As revealed in prophecy, He was “born of a woman, born under the Law” (Galatians 4:4) and “therefore I put enmity between you and the woman; her seed and your seed” (Genesis 3:15). The Scriptures goes even further to differentiate his relationship to Joseph as his step-father and the “husband of Mary” but Mary is identified as “the mother of Jesus” (Matthew 1:16). This makes him our biological kin (brethren) and a literal descendant of his Father David, giving Him the right to become King of Israel (Luke 1:31-35). It is important to note that Yeshua had no earthly father. His paternal DNA was provided by Him when the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary, thereby effectively mingling His DNA with our (a necessary action for us to become adopted as sons of God). His Y chromosome was therefore perfect as Adam's was before he fell (Hamp). God himself became incarnated into the flesh of man. However, He was also God because His mind (spirit) was God, but one hundred percent human biologically as Adam was one hundred percent human, who was also the son of God (Luke 3:38). Go back to where I left off.
[2]When Yeshua died He inherited the epigenetic marks (sins) of the world (a sort of soul tie between us and Him). Go back to where I left off.
Sources
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