SPIRITUAL MAN

RETURN TO SYLLABUS

GENESIS 1:26-31 (continued)

Lesson #06

SPIRITUAL MAN

• Memory verse: Gen 1:27
• Read Gen 1:26-31
  • God created man on the sixth day.
    • What is the significance to the day?
      • Number 6 is the number of man — one short of 7, God’s perfect number.
      • Therefore man is fallen short of the glory of God.
    • The references to the Holy Trinity in this passage:
      • “Let us“, “in our image“, “after our likeness“. (26)
      • All these pronouns are plurals referring to the Holy Trinity.
    • What do you think it means “in our image, after our likeness“? (26)
    • It means we can see some parallel likenesses:
      • Both God and man have a personal will.
      • Both God and man are spiritual beings.
        • God created man a spiritual being so as to be able to have fellowship with man.
        • Read Joh 4:24
        • Animals do not have a spiritual consciousness.
      • Both God and man have moral consciousness.
        • Man is able to make judgments of right and wrong.
        • Animals do not have this capability.
      • Both God and man have intellect and reason.
      • Both God and man have emotion.
      • Both God and man have dominion. God gave man dominion over creation from the very beginning.
      • Both God and man are capable of unconditional love.
      • Both God and man have the power of intelligent speech. (Jam 1:26 Jam 3:2-13 Pro 18:21)
      • Both man and God have three parts. (1The 5:23)
        • God is 3 persons in one, which we call the Holy Trinity.
        • The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
        • Man is a 3 part being of body, soul, and spirit.
  • A description and definition of body, soul, and spirit:
    • The soul of man: (Gen 2:7 Pro 23:7 Psa 103:1-2)
      • Gen 2:7 says “breath of life” = life is plural in the Hebrew to indicate “breath of lives” (spiritual and physical)
      • Nepes in Hebrew, psyche in Greek. (Pro 23:7 “heart”).
      • The soul is the seat of self-consciousness.
        • It is that part of us that lives forever. (Mat 10:28).
        • It is the ego and the personality.
        • It is what makes each person a unique one of a kind.
      • The soul consists of 3 aspects:
        • The mind = intellect, reason, and memory.
        • The will = free choice. (Psa 24:4 Eph 6:6).
        • The emotion = love, hate, etc. (Psa 86:4).
      • The soul consists of 3 levels:
        • A conscious awareness. (Phi 4:8-9).
        • A sub-conscious level: This is the memory bank of information.
        • The unconscious level: This is a sum total of every experience.
    • The spirit of man:
      • Man’s spirit is ruah in Hebrew, pneuma in Greek = breath, life
      • It is the seat of God-consciousness.
        • It is that part of us that makes us aware deep within that there is a God out there somewhere.
        • Our spirit enables us to comprehend God (Luk 1:47 Mat 26:41)
        • Our spirit houses:
        • Our conscience.
        • Our creativity. (1Cor 16:18)
        • Our insight. (Joh 13:21)
        • Our motivation. (Act 17:16; 18:25)
        • Our sensitivity. (Mar 2:8 Joh 11:33)
      • The spirit of man is that part of us that receives Christ and the Holy Spirit of God when we are born again. (Rom 8:16 Gal 6:18)
      • It is that part of us that lives forever. (Luk 8:55)
    • The body of man:
      • The physical body is the seat of sense-consciousness.
      • It is physical flesh and bone.
        • The word for body is basar in Hebrew, soma in Greek.
        • The body was created (molded) from the dust of the ground like a potter would mould clay. (Gen 2:7)
        • There are 14 chemicals from the ground that make up the 14 chemicals of the human body.
      • The physical body is uniquely tied to the soul and spirit. (Jam 2:26)
        • We can see this connection by the evidence in a lie-detector test and the fact that psychosomatic illnesses exist. The Old Testament Jews did not separate man into 3 distinct parts, as we understand it today.
        • The physical body is that part of man which physically dies, but will be transformed into a new incorruptible body one day if the person has received Christ into his heart. (1Cor 15:42-52)
  • The three-part nature of man:
    • The nature of man was different after Adam and Eve sinned than it was before the sin of Gen 3.
      • Man before the fall: (Gen 1:27 Joh 4:24 Gen 2:7)
        • Before the sin of Adam and Eve, man had a close relationship with God.
        • Therefore, man’s spirit was the predominant part of man’s being.
        • The next dominant part was man’s soul.
        • Man’s body was least important.
      • How do we know this? Adam and Eve were naked but were not ashamed until after the sin. (Gen 2:25)
    • Man after the fall: (Gen 2:16-17)
      • After the sin of Adam and Eve, man’s fellowship with God was broken. He now had a relationship with Satan. As a result, man’s spirit became less aware of God and was no longer the most dominant part of man’s being. Instead it became the least important. Now the physical body with its desires and needs became the most important part of man.
      • The spirit of man that once was the highest part of man’s complex nature, no longer dominated man’s nature after the fall into sin. It fell below the level of the soul. Therefore now it is difficult to discern the difference between soul and spirit. (Heb 4:12) The body and the soul now dominate man.
  • What did God give man to do??
    • God gave man dominion. (1:26)
      • The word dominion means = to prevail against, to reign, to bear rule over, to tread down, to subjugate.
      • What is the significance of this dominion?
        • God gave man sovereignty over the earth, over all creation, and over time.
        • This means man is a steward, given power and authority.
        • However, man is still subject to and accountable to God.
        • This means man was crowned with glory and honor.
        • Read Psa 8:3-8
      • What happened to this dominion when Adam fell into sin? And what is the current condition of man’s dominion?
        • Man lost this dominion when Adam fell. He sold his authority to Satan in the garden.
        • Man regains this dominion through the redemption of Jesus Christ.
        • Read Eph 1:19-22 Eph 2:6
    • God told man to multiply and fill the earth.
    • Man was to eat a vegetarian diet. Animals were not to be used for food until later in time.
• Application:
  • What differences do we see in Adam’s world from our own today?
    • In Adam’s world originally, there was no death, no struggle for existence, no violence, not even among the animals.
    • There was a close relationship with God.
    • Man had dominion over his environment as a good steward.
      • In other words, he was to use his environment to sustain his life, but he was also to balance his use with taking care of his environment.
      • Today we either wantonly destroy our environment, or we elevate it to the level of godliness, worshipping it and making it more important than man.
  • What do we learn about Christ from Gen 1?
    • Christ, the creator (John 1:1-5,12-13 Col 1:15-17, 20-22)
      • Christ, the eternal creator (Joh 1:1-2 Col 1:17)
      • Christ, the initiator of creation (Joh 1:3,10 Col 1:16 Gen 1:26-27)
      • Christ, the creator of things in heaven (Col 1:16)
      • Christ, the creator of things on earth (Col 1:16)
      • Christ, the creator of things visible (Col 1:16)
      • Christ, the creator of things invisible (Col 1:16)
      • Christ, the creator of thrones, dominions, principalities, powers (Col 1:16)
      • Christ, the creator of man (Gen 1:26-27)
    • Christ, the giver of life, (Joh 1:4)
      • Physical life (Gen 1:26-27)
      • Spiritual life (Joh 1:12-13)
    • Christ, the possessor of all creation (Col 1:16)
    • Christ, the sustainer of creation (Col 1:17)
    • Christ, the redeemer and re-creator of all creation (Col 1:20 Rom 8:19-23)
      • Creation on earth (Col 1:20 Rom 8:19-21)
      • Creation in heaven (Col 1:20 Rom 8:19-21)
      • Man (Col 1:21-22 Joh 1:12-13 Rom 8:23)

Homework

Genesis 2 (background)

• Application of Genesis 1:26-31
  • Think about your nature as body, soul, and spirit.
  • Write a statement about how each of the following areas dominate your personal life
    • Soul:
    • Spirit (of man):
    • Body:
• Preparation for Genesis 2 (background):
  • What is your definition of a covenant?
  • Why do you think God made covenants with man?
  • How do you think Old Testament people were saved?
  • How did God plan that man would recognize Jesus, the Messiah, when he came?
• Memory verse: Psalms 111:9