Broadlands Bible Church
October 19, 2022
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Thesis: Man is a composite being made up of "body", "spirit", and "soul".
Introduction: In our last two studies, we considered the creation of man "out of the dust of the ground" and the breathing of God into the creation of dust so that a "spirit" was imparted that gave the man of dust the capacities of activity. 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 has received the "breath of God" in the form of a "Spirit of Life".
This evening we are going to look into what man "became" once the body of dust was infused with the breath of the spirit of Life: Genesis 7:22.
- 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.
- 3. It addresses the "consequent reality" of the union of "dust" and "breath".
- B. The key phrase is: "and man became a living soul".
- 1. The Hebrew word, translated "soul" in the older translations of the Bible, is a word that is used in 625 texts of the Old Testament and the word chosen to be the Greek equivalent is found in 91 texts of the New Testament.
- a. The magnitude of the number of times these two words are found in our Bible has created a host of confusion for one reason: inconstancy of translational values in English.
- 1) In the NASB, the Greek word used in the New Testament is translated by the use of our English words "heart", "life", "mind", "person", "soul", "suspense", and "thing".
- 2) In the NASB, the Hebrew word used in the Old Testament is translated by the use of more than 45 different English words.
- 3) With this level of translational confusion, it is no wonder that most "theologians" simply refuse to give the words of Hebrew and Greek solid definitions; some have even "kicked the can down the road" by claiming that the words simply refer to "the nonmaterial aspect of man".
- b. This "host of confusion" has had one profound consequence for us: the words have no meaning for us.
- 2. In order to attempt to cut through the fog, I have decided to go back to the basics.
- a. There are many biblical "metaphors" that attempt to give understanding regarding the "non-physical realities of creation" so that by the use of the "physical" we might at least begin to understand those things that are beyond "physical".
- 1) Man's body is the "physical" dimension of what he is.
- 2) The infusion of the "breath of life" into that physical dimension generated a veritable host of "beyond physical" elements of what man is.
- 3) Thus, we find the Bible resorting to the "physical" aspects of what we are, to attempt to give us an understanding of those elements of what we are that we cannot put under a microscope to discover.
- b. The "physical" meaning of "nephesh" (the Hebrew word originally translated "soul") is the part of the torso that begins below the eyes and goes down to the bottom of the neck.
- 1) This "physical nephesh" includes the senses of smell, taste, and touch, and the functions of initial digestion (including chewing and saliva), and breathing and speaking (and, perhaps, a few other sense and function issues I have overlooked).
- 2) Thus, as a "metaphor" for the "soul" of man, there are several possible non-physical realities that have their "physical mirror" in the "nephesh of the body".
- c. From this set of analogies between the "physical nephesh" and the "beyond physical nephesh", we can reasonably conclude a few "basics".
- 1) The most basic issue is man's retention of "spirit" within his "body": if "the breath of the spirit of life" is cut off, the spirit cannot be retained in the body (Genesis 7:22) and the body dies and begins to return to its mast basic component (dust).
- 2) From that most basic issue arises a second basic fact: man's "hephesh" is almost completely dependent upon outside input.
- a) This is derived from the fact that the physical "nephesh" cannot provide for itself; air must be present for breathing, food must be put into the "nephesh" in order for the processes of eating to be possible; air must be available to push through the larynx in order for speech to be possible; etc. .
- b) This issue of total dependence upon outside input reinforces the fact that man is, by deliberate design and necessity of creation, a "dependent" of God.
- 3) And then, from these basic issues, we can apply the remaining details of the physical nephesh to those elements of "soul" that have their meaning for us in the analogies that exist between the "physical nephesh" and the "beyond physical nephesh".
- 3. The most critical issue for us, in respect to our having become "souls", is that we do not possess a soul, we are a soul, and as "souls" we can never cease to exist as creations that are subject to the things to which we are subjected by outside forces.
- a. This is the essential "danger" if "Death" because of "Law" is the final state for eternity.
- b. But this is also the essential "blessing" if "Life" because of "Grace" is the final state for eternity.
