Results 1 - 2 of 2
|
|
|||||
Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | TRINITY | Bible general Archive 1 | GeneralWAS | 14472 | ||
The Creation of Man - A Picture of God (Part 1 of 2) I recently completed a study on the creation of man in Genesis which yielded some interesting discoveries for me. One of these led me to what I believe is the "best" analogy of the Trinity that I had never heard. I include the article I wrote for you to review and study. Because of it's length I must break it into 2 submissions: The Creation of Man - A Picture of God 26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:26-27) Man is created in the image of God. While the Bible does not come out directly and tell us just what it means to be created in the image of God, it is clear that it is this aspect of man's creation which makes him unique, above all else, positioned to rule. When God decided to create man, it was a joint decision, made amidst the entire Godhead (notice how he says "Let Us make man...") This is one of the first references, if not to the Trinity directly, at least to the plurality of God. The text of Genesis moves back and forth effortlessly between describing God in the plural and the singular. Here, in Genesis, we find that nothing has been created that is the same as man, God's last and final creation. In order to understand the uniqueness of man in relation to the rest of his creation, we need to look at all that God created, and see how man differs. This may at first seem a daunting task, but the fact is that God only created three times. We tend to use the word create in a loose form to describe our world, our lives. We speak of men being creative or creating a new work of art. The Genesis account is much more specific and focused in it's usage. Although creation was spread over six days, the Hebrew word, "bara", to create, is only used three times in the creation account. This word has the connotation of causing something to come into being out of nothing. The form of this verb which means to create is used of God and God alone throughout the Old Testament. The three verses in Genesis where it is mentioned that God creates are in Genesis 1:1, 1:21 and 1:27. Looking a little closer at these, we see that God creates three things. In Genesis 1:1 God creates all that is physical, elemental. This includes air, rocks, water, stars, planets, the sun, the moon and plants. The common denominator of these items is that they do not have life, they are merely physical. Notice that God made many other things after the likeness of His initial creation of the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:7,11,12,16). This word, made, is the Hebrew word "asah", which implies forming out of that which already exists, or in a word, producing. God created once, and then made many similar things. The second occurrence of creation occurs in Genesis 1:20-21 where God creates things that have life. This is the Hebrew word "nephesh", literally soul. God here creates something new, he creates the soul and mind, that creation with instinct, reasoning, intellect, and the capacity to make decisions. It is this creation which separates living, breathing creatures from the inanimate. All living things have souls. Again, as before, God created the soul, and then made many things with souls (Genesis 1:25). Finally we come to the creation of man in Genesis 1:27. God creates man, both male and female. He creates them in His own image. It is here that God creates the spirit of man. We see this in the Genesis record more clearly in the detailed account of the creation of man in chapter 2, verse 7 "Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." God literally breathed spirit (Hebrew "neshamah") into the man. Man became more than a soul, he became a living soul, a spiritual being, alive to God. It is the fact that man has a spirit which makes Him most in the likeness of God, since God is Spirit (John 4:24). It is our spirits, and our spirits alone which can have relationship with God. They can either be dead (having no relationship) or alive (in relationship). Man was both made (asah) AND created (bara). He consists of three parts: body, soul, and spirit. Animals have the first two. All else which God created and made have only the first. Man has all three. We are unique in God's creation!!! |
||||||
2 | TRINITY | Bible general Archive 1 | Ray | 14553 | ||
Hi GeneralWAS, My questions after reading the article would be, "Did God breath spirit into man?" or "Was the breath of Life breathed into his nostrils? The way that I composed those questions show the way that both can be true. In other words, if one speaks of the "breath of life" one would think of oxygen and air to breath and live. If one speaks of the "breath of Life" one can then speak of the "spirit of God." |
||||||