Broadlands Bible Church
October 12, 2022
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Thesis: Man is a composite being made up of "body", "spirit", and "soul".
Introduction: In our study last week, we considered the creation of man "out of the dust of the ground". The main point of such a creation is that it is a "creation" so that it will never be a "Creator". "Dust" is, in this creation, significant as a "humble element" that makes man a "creature" in constant need of input from God and only capable of "Life" as one who recognizes his/her absolute dependence upon God.
This evening we are going to look into the second of the aspects of God's creation of man: God's giving a capacity to function to a creation of dust.
- I. The Key Text And Follow Up Texts.
- A. The key text is Genesis 2:7.
- 1. It addresses man's physical composition "out of the dust of the ground".
- 2. It addresses man's capacity to actively function.
- a. "Active function" is the issue and it is highlighted in the Old Testament by way of contrast to man's "creation" of "gods" who are physical creations made of things that are products of the dust of the ground (wood, as carved idols; minerals, as manufactured idols; stone, as idols chipped out of extremely compacted elements of dust; etc.) but have no "capacity to function".
- b. This capacity is attributed to "the breath of life" which God breathed into man's nostrils.
- 1) This "breath of life" immediately becomes a metaphor for "spirit" as a producer of activity.
- 2) In the flood narrative of Genesis 7, verse 22 combines "the breath in the nostrils" with "the spirit of life" so that we understand that our ability to inhale and exhale "air" unto "life" is a production of a "spirit".
- a) This also ties the ability of the "spirit" to remain in the "body" to the presence of the "air" we breathe, so that having that "air" coming in and going out is critical to the ability of the "spirit" to remain in the body to energize its activities.
- b) The presence of this "breath of the spirit of life" is what makes us "capable of action".
- c) Everywhere in the Scriptures, "spirit" is the energizer of action -- even in respect to God.
- c. This introduces man's capacities to function (live, move, have an active presence) in the creation.
- d. This is the root of man as a possessor of what I call "a stewardship of 'power'".
- 1) It is the ability to take action and pursue objectives of value.
- 2) It is a "stewardship" in that "all power" that is exercised in God's creation will initially, (before it is allowed generate its impact) be evaluated for its impact upon God's "Great Plan" and either permitted or frustrated, and ultimately be subjected to God's evaluation in respect to His purposes for granting it as a "stewardship".
- e. The significance of this gift of "spirit" continues the focus upon man's need to depend upon the Creator, but allows man, as a "steward", to make decisions and take actions whether, or not, he grasps his "dependency", or thinks himself to be "an independent actor" without any need for God's involvement.
- 1) The need to be deliberately "dependent" is rooted in the fact that the presence of "spirit" in a physical body can easily be snuffed out by any of a myriad of ways that "air" can be "cut off" from man's body of dust if God decides to employ any of those ways.
- 2) Man, as a creation of dust, infused with power, yet remains a "creature" with "eternity" as the final state of his existence.
