MAN BECAME A LIVING SOUL:
When God breathed His breath into Adam he gave him an inner being that would live eternally. He also gave man the choice of where his soul will spend eternity.
Genesis 2:7. “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
The soul of man is the only thing that we have been studying about in the story of creation that will last eternally.
The Bible talks about a day when, “the stars will fall from heaven,” and also a day when, “the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements (atoms) will melt with fervent heat, and the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10). The soul of man will endure the conflagration that will completely annihilate observable creation. Only the unseen world, the heavenly world, will remain.
Jesus tells us how important the soul of man is and the value of redeeming it. “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”(Matthew 16:26). The Psalmist says, “For the redemption of their soul is precious..” (Psalms 49:8) He also says, “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me.” (Psalms 49:15).
In the light of what we have read let us make an all out effort to save our soul. The soul is the spiritual part of man; it is given by God to everyone born into this world and returns to God who gave it when we die (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
Paul’s prayer for the Church at Thessalonica seems to recognize the fact that man is composed of three parts, Spirit, Soul, and Body. “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). At the second coming of the Lord the soul will be reunited with a spiritual body at the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:5-54); (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
God designed the three parts of man, Spirit (mind, mental), Soul, (spiritual), and Body (physical), to live in harmony. If too much attention is given to the mental and physical part to the neglect of the spiritual part, there is disharmony which leads to emotional and mental problems. To have full and complete harmony in our lives we must invite God into His rightful place in our life.
MAN’S FIRST HOME, A GARDEN, A PARADISE:
The creation of man and the establishment of his home seems to be what the story of creation has been pointing toward. Nothing could have been more personal than God Himself planting and arranging the garden that was the first home for man.
Genesis 2:8. “And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.”
Of all His works God only “created man in His own image: in the image of God created He him.” This expression refers not merely to the intelligence with which God endowed, and the immortality with which He gifted man, but also to the perfect moral and spiritual nature which man at the first possessed. And all his surroundings were in accordance with his happy state. God put him into the Garden of Eden “to dress it and to keep it,” and gave him a congenial companion in Eve, whom Adam recognized as “bone of his bones, and flesh of his flesh.”
Thus as God had, by setting apart the Sabbath day, indicated worship as the proper relationship between man and his Creator, so He also laid in Paradise the foundation of civil society by the institution of marriage and of the family.
One of the greatest thing about this home was the presence of God was in it. “And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day” (Genesis 3:8). I like to think that it was God’s custom and delight to walk about in the Garden home of Adam and Eve. God should feel at home in our parlor, den, bedroom, and be welcomed into our conversation and society. This is the only way our house can be a home is to have God, not as a guest, but as an occupant.
In many homes today people are so preoccupied with one another, their food and drink, clothes, comfort, and entertainment, that they lose contact with the One Who should be at the center of all decisions. Don’t neglect the Creator of the home, or it will become an empty shell.
Take time to ask Him to bless your food, help you make the choice of the clothes you wear, the places of entertainment you attend, and above all let Him talk to the family through His word. In His word you will find rules to go by to make for a happy home. And we find that these rules and benefits are still given by the Creator to the families who will live by His commandments. Every day let us pray, “God Bless Our Home.”
GOD COMMANDS OBEDIENCE TO HIS LAWS:
If there was no Creator, then you are the result of some accidental happing, having come from nowhere and on your way to nowhere. You are just a nobody with no ultimate accountability or eternal value. That is depressing. Praise God it’s not true.
Genesis 2:16. “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
In the beginning God gave only one law, or commandment to the human race, which consisted of Adam and Eve. “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
After the flood God gave two laws, or commandments, when He emphasizes the sacredness of human life, “a life for a life,” and not to “eat blood” (Genesis 9:4-6). Then 600 years later, God, by Moses, brought a code of many laws centered on the Ten Commandments which the people were commanded to keep.
God’s commandments are not to be taken lightly, because there are consequences, usually severe, to breaking His laws. Adam disregarded the consequences and brought sorrow and struggle on the entire human race. In the same way people are still breaking God’s laws and bringing sorrow, pain, and disappointment on themselves and on their family.
Sin is a spiritual disease that has been transmitted to every single person in every generation from Adam. It infects the entire population of the world and is the cause of all problems, of war, greed, hate, prejudice, cruelty, corruption, and all other ills that plague us.
What temptation is facing you? When you are at ease, relaxed, off-guard, secure, watch out, that ancient “serpent” called the “devil,” or Satan, is always lurking in the background, still as subtle, as he was when he approached Eve. He comes with lies and deception, tempting everyone to break God’s commandments.
That is the way he approached Eve, when she was off guard and alone. Satan is easily recognized when he comes “as a roaring lion” bringing terror and destruction, but the Bible also tells us that sometimes he comes as an “angel of light.” Paul speaks of the “wiles of the devil,” and gives us instruction on how to battle him (Ephesians 6:10-18).
THE SERPENT’S DECEPTION AND MAN’S SHAMEFUL FALL:
We all are born with a nature that has a strong tendency to sin, our lives bear the “fruit” of sin through the choices we make—which is where sin started in the beginning.
Genesis 3:4. “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, (she made the choice) she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
In John 8:44 Jesus tells us that the devil is a liar and the father (beginning) of it. This was not the first lie the devil told when he talked to Eve. Isaiah 14:13-14 tells us he said “I will ascend into heaven, I will exaltmy throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” These lies got him kicked out of heaven, but he didn’t stop his lying.
He deceived Eve by telling her, “Thou shall not surely die:” it’s not for sure, it’s a maybe. Also, “Your eyes will be opened,” “You will be as God.” You will have intelligence.
“She doubted God’s word, she saw. she desired,
