I am a spirit, who has a soul, living in a 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).
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow (body), and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).
Of course, this illustrates the truth of the Triune nature of God…since we are created in the “image and likeness” of God, as stated in the creation story, Gen 1:26.
When the writer uses “image” and “likeness” it is a common technique in the Hebrew to reinforce one truth…that we are like God in form … that we have a Spirit.
This also differentiates us from animals who have both “body” and “soul” (with is the seat of emotions). That we are “LIKE” God in this capacity is the core truth of our identity.
Those who start with Genesis 2:7 take the lesson out of context and distort its meaning. The first verses (Gen 1:26) is thought widely to be from a theological creation story – while Genesis 2:7 is a narrative/story creation, as the Hebrew culture is very “story” focused.
In story form…God formed/created humanity from the dust of the earth…God formed a body and soul from the soil…and then God breathed His life into them, making them (like Him) also spiritual. Humanity has a triune nature, like God is Triune God.
That’s one key theological/biblical issue that many of us have with the “Man’s nature in Gen 2:7 must be understood” mantra from some groups (religions, movements, sects, cults). If lifts that verse (Genesis 2:7) out of its context and creates a meaning that the biblical writers never intended.
Put it back in its context, coming after then theological statement of Genesis 1:26, and you will find the truth and sound words and the proper order of things. Take it out of context, and it is out of order, not sound words, and not rightly dividing the word.
To put it another way…it makes humanity’s dust primary, and God’s “likeness and image” secondary. That is the error of all wrong-headed doctrine. It places humanity at the focus, rather that God. That is a poor foundation upon which to build theology.
Are we just discussing a difference in term and dictionary definitions? I do not think so. It sounds close…but close only counts in horseshoes and hand-grenades.
The difference leads to the divergence on the nature of God’s being, a profoundly unbiblical definition of sin, extreme error about the nature of Christ, confusion about the message of the cross, numerous mistakes about the truth of atonement.
IMHO, a proper understand of God is foundational to the Gospel. Further, we only can properly understand the nature of humanity when we understand who God is. We cannot reverse engineer God by looking at humanity. We must start with the truth that we are CREATED IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD.
Understanding the triune nature of man, body, soul, and spirit
by: Wiley S Drake
publisher: Brentwood Christian Press, published: 1989
ASIN: B00072NX32
price: $49.95 (new)
wOnderFUL sharing! thanks, Bill 🙂