Human beings are created as a microcosmic embodiment of the whole cosmos. The world, made up of the dyad of “the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1) is that which, by divine will, begets Adam as its “offspring” in Genesis 2:4, and it is is Jesus the Nazarene, the Son of Adam, who brings the creation to its consummation by rising from the dead as the Man of Heaven (1 Corinthians 15:49). The unique place of Man in the order of the cosmos can be seen in the very structure of the human body. The human body is designed so that the head reaches above the body towards heaven, his arms reach out towards his surroundings, and his feet reach towards the ground and enable him to move upon the face of the earth. Extension in space is a mode of relation- as St. Dumitru Staniloae teaches us in his Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, both space and time are a theater for the revelation of the triune communion. As the Father is utterly extended to the very heart of the Divine Son through the Holy Spirit, so also is the human family, the Image of God, designed to be extended outside of himself towards God from whom he derives his life and towards the world out of which his body was taken. The cosmos is a dwelling place for God- so man, a miniature cosmos, is likewise a dwelling place for God, who fulfills His intention for human beings in this respect by taking a human body and soul into His own life and glorifying it by union with Divinity. We see a correspondence between the architectural design of the temple and the design of the human body.
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