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Adam Kadmon is the pattern of the Crown Diamond. Composed of straight lines, its intersections and points of termination are known as "Sephiroth"-- as "brightnesses," literally, or as "spheres" or as "emanations," traditionally: a cognate of the Hebrew word sefer, meaning "scroll," or "book." Adam Kadmon is both the symbol upon which the Crown Diamond is built and the key by which it is approached for understanding. A succinct symbol of the logos-- of the Word, its components are fully replicated in the diagram four times in a circular arrangement by which the upper portions overlap, one sphere positioning upon another (compare Ezekiel, Chapter 1). In the diagram's entirety then, the Crown Diamond is an amplified image of the Chariot of Elohim, the vehicle of the Spirit: the unified, mystical Body of Mashiyach. The open center formed by its parts-- by the four overlapping Adam Kadmons-- is therefore understood to represent the Bosom of Avraham, in which is hidden the path leading, through Yahushúa haMashiyach, even beyond the heavenly throne of Elohim into the Realm of Pure Spirit (Rev. 3:21; Jn. 1:18, 14:9-11, 16:28; Eccles. 12:7; 1 Kin. 8:27; 1 Tim. 6:16). These magnified aspects of the mystery will be a focus within the presentation on the Crown Diamond, itself. As symbol of the logos-- of the Foundation Stone, the Cornerstone-- Adam Kadmon is defined as the spiritual projection of the Complete Adam (1 Cor. 15:45-49). Since Messiah declares that He is the First, and also the Last-- the first, and also with the last (Rev. 22:13; Is. 48:12; 41:4)-- and that we are to be conformed to the image of Mashiyach Yahushúa (Rom. 8:29), we understand that we, as sons of Adam within the vast interval, also must bear in our members the image and life of the Complete Adam (Jn. 6:53-57): for "he who denies that Jesus Christ, the beginning of the creation of Elohim, IS come in the flesh IS antichrist" (2 John 7; Mt. 28:20). We have defined Adam Kadmon as the spiritual projection of the Complete Adam. It is understood, therefore, that it speaks simultaneously of both the flesh and the spirit (Gen. 1:27; Jn. 4:24). The beginning of its study, whether or not one is familiar with the symbol itself, involves discovering the nature of Elohim by the creation parable of the flesh; the fruition of its study is the knowledgeable, priestly sacrifice of the faculties of the flesh to the will of the Spirit: to the end that every thought, word, and deed becomes a conscious offering to Ruach haElohim, the Spirit of God (2 Cor. 10:5). Because the carnal mind in the isolation of sin is enmity with God (Rom. 8:7), this study can be successfully undertaken only in the name-- only in the spiritual position-- of mashiyach Y'shúa (Jn. 14:6). The first Adam fell by allowing the flesh to predominate the Spirit, that he might accompany Eve in the eons of judgment that would come because of her deception by the reasonings of the carnal mind (Gen. 3:13; 1 Tim. 2:14). In doing so, Adam demonstrated perfection in the law of love (Rom. 13:10; Jn. 15:13): he was willing to lose his life-- to invest it-- in faith that he would one day aid in the redemption of the one sheep for which he was responsible (Jn. 10:11; Amos 3:6-7). Eve had yet to be separated from Adam when the law of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was given (Gen. 2:7-9, 21-24). She therefore learned the law, consciously, from Adam by instruction, and not from Elohim directly by revelation; and she was unable to understand the scope of its report (Is. 53:1). Thus Adam, in his decision to share with her the death to come by also partaking of the forbidden fruit, rightly accepted responsibility for her deception. The answer to the question by Elohim-- "What has thou done?"-- is not answered merely by Adam's words, "I did eat," nor even by the apostle Paul's words concerning the significance of Adam's decision, but by every word of scripture given unto man throughout the ages, as well as by those words that shall yet proceed from the mouth of the Living Word of God unto the inhabitants of the farthest reaches of eternity. By accepting a covenant with death: by agreeing to enter into the process that would lead to their "full extension" (in accordance with the spiritual understanding of the English term meaning cessation of life), Adam and Eve became the progenitors of all mankind. Before the separation of Eve from Adam, Adam walked with Elohim, thinking, "We are." He continued in this awareness upon awakening to Eve's separation, including in that awareness the thought, "Thou art also of us." Eve was born to the thought, "Thou art; I am; we are; and God is." The dynamics of the Fall were therefore inherent in the process of creation itself, in that creation necessitated awareness of self and opened mankind to the potential for pride, which comes by forgetfulness of unity within the isolation of individuality. The Adversary is the body of thought built by man in the blinking of an eye (Acts 17:30). Satan, and the hosts of Amaleq fathered by him in his ongoing conjunctions with man's perceptions of experience, would be bound in the fullness of time by Yahushúa's prayer, "that they may be One" (Jn. 17:21). The second Adam triumphed over the inward adversary (Mt. 4:1-11; Rev. 3:21; Col. 2:15) by reconciling the deceived (the uncircumcision) and the not deceived (the circumcision): by aligning the flesh in its fallen state with the redeeming will of the Spirit (Eph. 2:11-16; Col. 2:10-13). Yahushúa's earthly walk unto physical death in the triumph of that inward victory assures the ultimate salvation of Eve, as Adam is a figure of Messiah in Torah and as Eve is a figure of the Church, his bride (Eph. 5:31-32; Rom. 7:14). United in the hidden faithfulness of his Adamic death, they shall also be united in the faithfulness apparent in his Messianic life (1 Cor. 15:22). Therefore, in the beginning of mankind's sojourns upon Earth--before the impact of Eve's separation from Adam began to assert itself, before awareness of its significance came by the fruit of the Fall-- there was harmony between the flesh and the Spirit (Gen. 2:18, 25). A far greater harmony, magnified in understanding by Truth and in comprehension by Grace (Is. 42:21; Lk. l:46; Jn. 1:17), is restored in Messiah by the voluntary sacrifice of self for the building of the Temple made without hands (Lk. 12:50; Mk. 10:39; Jn. 17). As the Spirit was sacrificed in the beginning for the expedience of the flesh [Rev. 13:8; Gen. 2:7; 1 Cor. 15:42-45 (Verse 46, and following, speaks of the maturation of natural things, as we know that the Spirit predates and inhabits all that appears)], so Mashiyach Yahushúa gave His flesh to be sacrificed to the expedience of the Spirit (Jn. 11:50-52; Eph. 2), calling everyone to take up their staves-- their crosses-- and to follow. Furthermore, as the fall of the first Adam is an epic process whose continuing effects are yet evident both in the world at large and within the Church itself (Rom. 7; 1 Jn.; 2 Thess. 2:3), so is the resurrection of the Complete Adam a greater, countervailing process (Rom. 5.20; 1 Cor. 15:22, 26), whose scope will be fully recognized only in the manifestation of its mature effects (Eph. 4:13; Rom. 8:19). We therefore conclude that the cross of Messiah-- like the sticks of Ephrayim and Judah in the hands of Ezekiel, a son of man-- encompasses the entire history of the human race, the carnal legacy of the first Adam being crossed and canceled at every point in time by the awesome spiritual legacy of the second Adam (Rom. 11:22-26). In Adam Kadmon, then, are symbolized both the man of flesh and the man of spirit. The Sephiroth, or spheres, speak of specific locations and functions in the body as Temple of Elohim (2 Cor. 12); therefore, they also speak of the spiritual principles housed in the bodily forms and displayed by the bodily functions (Rom. 1:20). The connecting lines of Adam Kadmon are symbolic of the organization, coordination, and communication of members and faculties. The courtyards delineated by the connecting lines symbolize the unity of operation of connected spheres. The united order of the whole, then, symbolizes the physical body of man and speaks metaphorically of the spiritual body of Messiah (Eph. 4:15-16). As man is also symbolic of the organizational order of Elohim, in that man is made in His image and in that Mashiyach is His express image (Heb. 1:3), Adam Kadmon speaks also of the invisible reality of the Heavenly Father of Spirit: we reason because He reasons; we see because He sees; we are able to stand, to grasp, and to reproduce because these functions have their corollaries in the Realm of Pure Spirit (Col. 1:15). This is not to say that our thoughts are as His thoughts (Is. 55:8-9), nor that our members are as His members (Deut. 32:31), but that the forms and functions to which our souls have been united in this life are like a prism, enabling us to see the Light that shines within them from the Source as we are given ability in grace. Yet further concerning things below, the logos is the pattern of all creation, not merely of man (Rom. 1:20). Adam Kadmon, as symbol of the logos (the Word), is therefore a key to the organization, structure, and spiritual significance of all things in the universe. Consequently, the Sephiroth can also be named and understood in every realm of investigation in every nominally secular sphere of human activity-- from speculative science to meal planning, whatever substantive difference there may be between them. Relentless scrutiny of man's endeavors discloses that the underlying reality of every assumption presumed as fact is faith; all human activities, therefore, are forms of religious practice and become clean as they are devoted to YHWH Elohim in Mashiyach. Though Adam Kadmon-- especially in its dimensions of extension in the Crown Diamond-- speaks oracularly of all things, it is not the means to understand all things. The Tree of Life is given to those who have overcome in and by the power of Messiah's Word: to those who have intimate knowledge of and reliance upon the indwelling Spirit of YHWH. Those who are consciously led by God's Spirit are His children and need rely on no exterior teacher, prophet, nor guide, having the confirmation of all these engraved upon their hearts by reason of the Rock upon whom they stand (2 Cor. 3:3; 1 Jn. 2:27). What, then, some may reasonably ask, is the reason we should study these symbols? For no more reason than one should study even scripture itself (Jn. 5:39), except that the wisdom of YHWH decreed these things for the benefit of His children, who can learn of His ways but here (Dan. 7:1) a little and there (Dan. 9:2) a little (Is. 28). There are no pressing needs in the walk according to the Spirit: he who believes will not make haste. Let us, then, proceed with frequent reference to scripture and with constant supplication to the Holy Spirit to see whether these things be so (Acts 17:11). Understanding that spiritual comprehension comes little by little (Dan. 9: 21-22), let us agree to take a closer look at Adam Kadmon, and at the wonderful Tree of Life it represents, to the glory of HaShem. |
Kadmon
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