WHAT IS MAN

WHAT IS MAN

“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 soul” (Gen. 2:7).

Man was made from the dust of the ground, a physical being with five natural senses such as: smell, hearing, sight, taste and touch, together with the heart, the seat of human function where emotion and passion emanates, “For you created my inmost being…” (Ps. 139:13). And, with carnal nature subject to sin. A perfect creation of God, designed according to the intended purposed of its specification that could be molded in God’s image. The English word “breath” in this verse is translated from the Hebrew word neshamah; force of wind, a vital breath from God through which man received the spirit of life. It is the same Hebrew word used in Job 27:3; 34:14-15 (NIV) as follow.

“For as long as life is in me and the breath of God is in my nostrils”; “If it were his intention and withdraw his spirit and breath, all mankind would perish together and man would return to the dust”

God impart the spirit of life after He formed the man from the dust of the ground. And this is the same spirit mentioned in Ecclesiastes 12:7 that return to God when the body dies. This spirit couldn’t be the man or self of man; it is the spirit of life from God, the Bible says it is HIS spirit and breath, so it has to return to its source at death, “the spirit returns to God who gave it.” The Scripture is clear, that spirit that returned to God is not the self of the man.

This essence of life of the spirit has no consciousness by itself. Its function is to give life to the body; it is the body that becomes conscious˗˗˗an animate life, upon imparting the spirit of life from God˗˗˗by breathing to man’s nostrils. Trees, plants or weeds have the same life that comes from God, but without soul or consciousness, they are not a living soul˗˗˗like man. The Scripture say, “The body without the spirit is dead,” it has no consciousness. Spirit and body put together [In the case of man and animal] produce life with consciousness, or “became a living soul,” says the bible. When God breathe the breath of life into man’s nostrils, man became a living soul. For a soul to exist there must be body and spirit. Similarly, two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen (H2O) put together produce water. Separate these two elements, there is no water. Physical death is the separation of the spirit from the body. Likewise, spiritual death is separation of man from God which is cause by sin, like what happened in the Garden of Eden; that very day they died the spiritual death.

The following verses of the Scriptures are explicit that the spirit and breath from God gives life to the body. This spirit is not the personality or the self of man, i.e. in this context of the spirit. Breath (ruach in Hebrew) is also rendered spirit inter-changeably with breath elsewhere. Take note throughout the following Scriptures [Bold letters added] the word breath and spirit is not the self of man, it is from God imparted to the body and man became a living soul.

“The body without the spirit is dead” (James 2:26).

“But after three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet” (Revelation 11:11).

“If it were his intention and withdraw his spirit and breath, all mankind would perish together and man would return to the dust” (Job 34:14-15).

“The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life” (Job 33:4).

“When their [God given] spirits departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing” (Psalms 146:4).

“For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6).

“Whatever your hands finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom” (verse 10).

The two parts of man are Body and Spirit. Soul cannot be considered a third part, distinct from the body and spirit, but rather the result of their combination. Separate the body and the spirit parts and there is no soul or consciousness. Ecclesiastes 12:7 says, at death, these two parts will separate and will return from where it came from; the body to the ground and the spirit to God [No mention of soul] and, the soul [as far as the living is concern] will go to the unknown, or to the unseen or grave, which is sheol in Hebrew. Likewise, water is not a third thing, distinct from the two gases but rather the result of their combination.

Soul is the term used in English from the Hebrew word nephesh. From the above study of this paper we garnered that the word “soul” is related to consciousness. It is the entity of the term that denotes consciousness. Hence, the word soul has a deeper significance in meaning than mere consciousness when refer to man. Because the word soul (nephesh) was also applied to the animal kingdom (Ecclesiastes 3:21), to creatures on land, air, and sea, even before it was referred to man. The attributes of the soul in its essence of consciousness or awareness of existence are the passions and emotions, i.e. love and compassion, hate and anger; joy and sadness, fear and boldness and other attributes which are the products of being conscious such as the five natural or physical senses. You can prove this with your own experience‒‒from your perspective of being awake, looking back when you were in a deep dreamless sleep; you remember nothing, it is a period that nothing exist together with all the said attributes above˗˗˗not to mention the passing of time. In this state your soul is in the unknown, unseen, it does not function as the dead in the grave.

The word nephesh or soul is used in different aspect in the Bible, yet they were all related from being conscious such as the account of the death of Rachel in Genesis 35:18 (NKJV), “And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she is dying).” This simply means her consciousness was fading away together with all its attributes (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6). Another one in Genesis 17:14 (KJV) “… that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.” Soul in this context is used as metaphor for a person; hence, a person who is aware and conscious of being cast out or separated from his people. There are lots of other usages of the word soul, and all of these pertained to being conscious. Never the soul is used in an inanimate life, such as trees, plants or weeds and much more to object without life such as stone, planets, earth, statue and the like, except in figurative language and poetry, e.g. in the book of Isaiah 55:12, “The mountain and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”

Strong’s Concordance with Hebrew and Greek Lexicon
Outline of Biblical Usage H5315 Nephesh, translated Soul in English KJV
1) soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion
a) that which breathes, the breathing substance or being, soul, the inner being of man
b) living being
c) living being (with life in the blood)
d) the man himself, self, person or individual
e) seat of the appetites
f) seat of emotions and passions
g) activity of mind
1) dubious
h) activity of the will
1) dubious
i) activity of the character

We can all agree that the above biblical usage of soul (nephesh) pertain to being conscious. In the context concerning man [Distinct from animal], Soul and Spirit goes together as one. This is not my personal opinion. This will be elaborated with the supporting verses of the Scriptures as we continue in this subject of Soul and Spirit. There are truths in the Bible that were not directly stated, but the context within the Scripture is implicit to what it meant. The best example is the doctrine of Trinity as it can be understood. This is a universal doctrine and, is one of the pillars in Christendom’s faith; but nowhere this word ever existed in the Bible.

Man is a Soul Spirit
All living creatures received the spirit of life from God by His mere word, (Genesis 1:24-25). Animals has the spirit of life, but with man, God formed his body from the dust of the ground and received the spirit of life by God’s breathing into his nostrils, and through that same breath, God also formed the spirit within man which animal doesn’t have; this is what makes man distinct from animal and other breathing creatures.

Animal has soul (nephesh) or the commonly used term for consciousness or awareness of existence. God created animals with instinct and they follow the same pattern of instinct from the time God created them. Man is a soul spirit with its moral, intellectual, relational, and spiritual capacities. Man is capable of being created into the perfect image of God. His consciousness is imbued with the power of God’s spirit; inherent of spiritual awareness. People who were born far from civilization who doesn’t know about spiritual things still looking for spirit god to worship. Some worship the sun, or the mountain, the stone or anything they can worship thinking there is spirit behind those objects. Christian and non-Christian both have the sense of spiritual consciousness; this is axiomatic. The following verses witnesses to the fact that God formed the spirit within man as He gave life to the body by breathing to his nostrils.

“The Lord…who forms the spirit of man within him…” Zechariah 12.

“But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him the Understanding, (The human mind)” Job 32:8.
“The lamp of the Lord searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being.” Proverbs 20:27.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made…” Psalms 139:13-16.

“The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Job 33:4.

Man’s soul or consciousness which was infused with the spirit that comes from God’s breath is the very essence that man is made in the image of God. This soul spirit in the body of flesh is being process into the perfect image of God, such as wills and choices, his holiness and righteousness and other attributes of God’s image that are communicable to man. It is not an easy experience for man to be molded in the spiritual image of God, because it entails tests and trials, sufferings and endurance that requires overcoming that sometimes makes life uncomfortable. This is the reason why Christians has to undergo and face various trials mention in James 1:2-4; likewise, in Ephesians 4:22-24 that Christians has to go through such process to the end of what verse 24 say, “…CREATED TO BE LIKE GOD IN TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS.”

The fall of man was just the beginning of the process of God’s plan in creating man in His image. God created man not by random. The creation was well planned with tender care toward the ultimate product of perfection (Ps. 139:13-16). God placed man on this earth’s environment to be processed and molded in his spiritual image. The carnal sinful nature of man will be changed into a holy, righteous image of God. At the last stage man will be given a spirit body (1 Corinthian 15:42-44 and 2 Corinthian 5:1-5), a perfect creation of God; a finished product that can never sin nor rebel against his Creator. The book of Hebrews 2:6-8 has an awesome revelation about what man is:

“What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet. In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.”

This is the potential of what man is. #