Bible Question:
If the spirit of man is dead at the point of physical birth, and his body and soul are alive, how can the soul be part of the spirit, when God's word clearly divides the three? CDBJ |
Bible Answer: Body/Soul/Spirit Part 1 In Gen.1:27 we are told "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." This is a very familiar verse to most people, but let's stop and think about what it means. The Bible teaches that God is a Spirit, without a body or physical form. Therefore in the verse just quoted, God is not saying that we physically look like Him. All created life forms have a body: that is a physical form that grows, feeds, breathes, and reproduces. What is it that separates man and the animal kingdom from the plant kingdom? Man and animals have what the Bible calls a soul. The simplest definition of a soul is mind, emotions, and will. It may seem strange at first to think of animals as having souls, but consider a dog. Does a dog have a mind, emotions, and a will? Of course he does, and you can tell what is going on in the dog's soul by watching his body. If he comes up to you directly with tail wagging, and his tongue hanging out, you would think the dog is safe and likes you. But if he cowers back, tail between his legs, and is growling, you would keep your distance. The animal kingdom does therefore have a soul. Conscious life expressed through intellect, emotions, and will. Of course, it is understood that man has an eternal soul, while an animal has only a temporal soul. The question then must be asked, “In what way, then, is man more than an animal? The answer is first hinted at in Genesis 2:7, where we are given a more detailed account of mans creation: "The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being." Unlike all other forms of life that God created by speaking the Word, here He is shown imparting of His own life to man. This is the aspect known as the spirit. The human spirit is the part of man that enables him to relate to, and to know God, and is the source of his inner drives for love, acceptance, and meaning and purpose in life. The human spirit was created to be dependent upon and united with God's Spirit, and was the means through which man was intended to enjoy perfect fellowship with his Creator, Jesus Christ. The human spirit in man is what makes the difference between man and the animal kingdom. Have you ever seen an animal, such as a dog sitting with a thoughtful look on his face asking, “Why am I here? What does all this mean?” Do you see him in depression, pushing his bone aside and complaining, “There must be more to life than this?” Absolutely not, how ridiculous. But there is nothing more human, than the asking of these questions. Sometime in the life of every human being they begin to ask, “Why am I here? Who am I? What is the meaning of life?” That is the working of the human spirit. We have all heard the word “instinct” and know that it refers to the animal kingdom. What instinct means is that there is built into the animal kingdom something like a computer program, which compels them to act in a certain way. Animals do not make a moral choice to do what they do by obedience. They do it because they must. Animals do not have the ability to choose good or evil. God wants His relationship with man to be a love relationship. Received and expressed back to Him by the working of faith. In the Garden of Eden that God created for Adam and Eve, He placed two trees, the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They were given total freedom to eat of any tree in the Garden, except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God had said, “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17). Only God ultimately knows the difference between good and evil. As an act of love, God was showing Adam and Eve, that dependence upon Him through the tree of life, was the only way they could experience abundant life, as He intended man to have. He was also protecting them from the choice to become their own god, which is the reason, that satan fell earlier, resulting in our spiritual death. |