The never-ending experiment… (part 4)
Humanity’s relationship with God was confirmed when He created the first male human, forming him from the dust of the ground and breathing into his nostrils the breath of life, making him a living soul (Genesis 2:7)
In Part 2, we learned of two distinct parts of identity—the surface and the internal core. God formed Adam from the dust, giving him a physical body, but he wasn’t a living soul until God breathed the breath of life into his nostrils. That divine breath combined with the physical body made him a living, functional, and conscious being; therefore, you don’t have a soul; you are a soul—it’s your consciousness, your desires and your emotions. This is who you are as an individual being.
At the deepest center of your core is the spirit, which is that very breath of life that God breathed into Adam and into each of us to connect directly with Him. He’s the life force. Whether we look at our internal design as a whole or break it down into these interconnected parts, the reality in the beginning is this: Adam’s entire being—body, spirit, and soul—was in perfect alignment with God.
Then, God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to work and maintain it. The man was surrounded by every tree that was pleasing to the eye and good for food, according to the blessing God had given:
“...Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food” (Genesis 1:29).
In the midst of the garden stood the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There, God gave man his very first direct command:
“...you may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17).
God then acknowledged it wasn’t good for the man to be alone, and thus needed a suitable helper. But before that helper was formed, God brought every living creature that He has formed out of the ground to Adam to see what he would call them. Because of Adam’s perfect relationship and connection with God, Adam intimately knew exactly what to call them.
Yet, among all the creatures, there was no living creature found suitable to him. So God put the man in a deep sleep, took one of his ribs, and using that rib, He formed the woman. Under God’s authority, the man and the woman became one—perfectly aligned with each other.
From the very time of creation, God has intended for the whole earth to be populated by those who know Him, who are internally aligned, and who serve wisely as His representatives, glorifying Him.
Morgan