…and man became a Living Soul

 All your comments are encouraged! If you choose the ANONYMOUS label in the dropdown you will not have to sign in or completa a profile. Please sign your name at the end of your comment.  

Gen 1:24-31 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

God completes the process of creating the animal kingdom on Day 6. We see a shift in methods as God creates man. Mankind is His final creation for whom He has prepared the Earth and everything in it.

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

God creates mankind in His own image and likeness. He does this in a “hands on” way as we’ll see later in Chapter 2 where God gives a more specific description of man’s creation. We know that God is a Spirit   (Jn 4:24) and invisible (1 Tim 1:17). We must understand that mankind is not created like God in a physical sense, but rather in His Spiritual attributes. God elevates man above all other creatures and creation by breathing into him the breath of God and making him a living soul.

Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (KJV)

The discussion of God’s image is a long and involved one. A study of the attributes of God would take us down a very long road. Primarily God is Love (I Jn 4:8) and all that absolute love encompasses. He is Righteous (Ez 9:15) and Perfect (Mat 5:48). Adam was made in His likeness. The Hebrew word used here for “likeness” is as a shadow of God. As a child can be in the likeness of his natural father, so were we made in the likeness of God. The child is not the exact copy of the father, but blends qualities of his parents into a new and unique individual. We incorporate God’s qualities into the unique personality

God has given us.

God had an original, perfect intention for Adam and equipped Adam for his role as a ruler of the earth and a child of God. Of course we know that Adam traded his place as ruler and his eternal life for the knowledge of good and evil which corrupted his soul.

Man is a three part being (as in the likeness of our Father) we are created with a body, spirit and soul. Man is not a Spirit, but he has one. Man is his Soul (the very seat of our personal being). We are the most unique creation of God in that we have a soul. Our soul creates our individuality. Our soul is a certain and unique package of abilities, talents, thinking, creativity, personality, goals, authority and self will; our particular “self”.

In our development to become the shadow of God (His image) in the world today God redeems our soul and brings us back to His original intent for our life. The death, resurrection of Jesus and return of His Holy Spirit to dwell within us enables us to be renewed into His Character and Attributes. His image is woven into our life and should regenerate our soul to the original character God breathed into Adam. We should each be a unique, individual representative of God. We must reflect (shadow) the qualities of His Image to the world. This is the highest level of our spiritual development. Let us pursue His specific intentions for our life in this world. Show others that each one of us can fulfill God’s intent in our lives by becoming a unique member of the family of God. Be the exact part of the body of God that He created you to be.

Finally, Jesus gave eternal life back to us and will prepare us to enter into the next world through His “life-giving spirit”.       I Cor.15:45-49 So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. …49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. He sent His Holy Spirit back to the earth to live within each of His believers.  We are must bear His image in all we do.

Gen 1:31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day When God looks at what you have done with your life will He decree that it was very good? Mat 25:23 "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.

He is using this world to prepare us to be unique members of the Heavenly family of God. We will rule and reign with Him eternally. Are you getting ready to fill your special, particular place in His eternal kingdom?