“A Living Being”

Read Genesis 1:24–27 and Genesis 2:7, 19. What similarities and differences

can you see between the way God created the animals and

the way He created humanity? What does Genesis 2:7 tell us about

human nature?

The Genesis account declares that on the sixth day of Creation

week the Lord God brought to life land animals and the first human

beings, a couple (Gen. 1:24–27). We are told that He “formed out of

the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky” (Gen.

2:19, NIV). He also “formed a man from the dust of the ground”

(Gen. 2:7, NIV).

Although both animals and man alike were made from “the

ground,” the formation of the man was distinct from that of animals

in two main ways. First, God shaped the man physically, and then

“breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became

a living being” (Gen. 2:7, NIV). He was a physical entity before he

became a living one. Second, God created humanity as both male

and female in the very image and likeness of the Godhead (Gen.

1:26, 27).

Genesis 2:7 explains that the infusion of the “breath of life” into the

physical body of Adam transformed him into “a living being” (Heb.

Nephesh chayyah) or literally “a living soul.” It means that each of us

does not have a soul that can exist apart from the body. Rather, each

one of us is a living being or a living soul. The claim that this “soul”

is a conscious entity that can exist separate from the human body is a

pagan, not a biblical, idea. Understanding the true nature of humanity

prevents us from accepting the popular notion of an immaterial soul

and all the dangerous errors built upon that belief.

There is no conscious existence of any isolated part of the human being

separated from the person as a whole. God created us in a fearful and

wonderful way, and we should not speculate beyond what the Scriptures

actually say about this specific matter. In fact, not only is the very nature of

life a mystery (scientists still can’t agree on exactly what it means for something

to be alive), but even more mysterious is the nature of consciousness.

How does the few pounds of material tissue (cells and chemicals) in our

heads, the brain, hold and create immaterial things, such as thoughts and

emotions? Those who study this idea admit that we really don’t know.

What a miracle life is! Why should we rejoice in the gift of not

just life but of eternal life, as well, an even greater miracle?