The Grapevine
Setting the Record Straight - Part 3
by Jack Northart
  
In our last issue of The Grapevine, we discussed the difference between the words FORMED, MADE AND CREATED.  Understanding the meaning and the usage of these words in the Bible is a vital key to help unlock the Scriptures and find THE WORD OF GOD as it was originally given to holy men of God.
  
   Genesis 1:1
   In the beginning God created the heaven(s)
   and the earth.
  
The heavens and the earth did not exist until God created them.  In the beginning, whenever that was, God created the heavens and the earth which included everything except soul and spirit.

   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.

This verse explains two parts of man. The Lord God formed the body of man out of the dust of the ground, and then breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. That was the very moment that man became a living human being. The words "living soul" in the Hebrew is nephesh [soul, life that has movement] chai [living], living soul or life. The breath life of man is the soul life of man.  Adam became a living soul when he drew his first breath.  As long as a man has breath, he has soul life. The soul is nothing more or nothing less than that which gives life to a person's body.
  
So far we have learned from Genesis that the body of man was FORMED out of the dust of the ground.  God MADE man a living soul. So, what part of man was CREATED?

  Isaiah 43:7
   Even everyone that is called by my name: for I   
   have created him for my glory, I have formed
   him; yea, I have made him.

Taking this verse into account along with:

   I Thessalonians 5:23
   And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly;
   and I pray God your whole spirit, soul and body
   be preserved blameless unto the coming of our
   Lord Jesus Christ.

We can see that there are three parts to man that God formed, made and created. BODY, SOUL and SPIRIT.  And with vivid clarity, we have seen that God FORMED his body, MADE man a living soul, and now God is going to CREATE something in man.  
  
   Genesis 1:27
   So God created man in his own image, in the
   image of God created he him; male and female
   created he them.

God states that He created man in His own image.  So what is the image of God?  In the Gospel of John it describes the image of God.

   John 4:24
   God is a Spirit… [literally, God is Spirit]

God created His spirit in Adam and Eve.  This was the most vital aspect of the original man, spirit.  Spirit is not something that can be discerned by the five senses. God created within man His spirit, His image. This spirit is what sets Adam apart from the animals and allows communication between God and man.  It is God that takes credit for forming, making and creating man, not evolution.
  
We could spend a great deal of time going through the various sections of God's Word to see just exactly when and where God FIRST created soul life after Genesis 1:1, and we will.  But I want to focus on this one part of man that made him so special; the spirit that God created within him.
  
You see, when God gave Adam and Eve this spiritual life, it enabled him to have fellowship or communion with God.  At the time God formed, made and created Adam, He gave him complete rulership, dominion and authority over all of His creation as stated in Genesis 1.

   Genesis1:28
   And God blessed them, and God said unto
   them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the
   earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over
   the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air,
   and over every living thing that moveth upon
   the earth.

   Adam was God's under-ruler, His steward.  But Adam transferred his dominion later to the fallen angel, Lucifer, the Devil, at the time of the original sin. In addition to transferring this authority to the Devil, Adam also lost his connection with God, spirit, and he died spiritually on the day that he sinned.  Since that time, the Devil has had dominion, power and authority.  But, by God's plan of redemption, Jesus Christ has brought deliverance from the power of darkness, and set us apart.  He is our savior. He is the answer for mankind. And spirit is now available once again.
  
On the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, Christ, by way of the holy spirit, came into believers and reestablished all the power and authority that Adam had lost.  This also made available the wonderful fellowship with God once again.  Oh what a day and time in history to live!
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