FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
RENEWING
THE MIND – XXII
WHAT IS
MAN? - 2
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this
world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove
what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of IAUE.
What is man that IAUE is mindful of
him? The answer is: Man is the darling of the heart of IAUE. Nothing
would exist apart from IAUE were it not for His purpose in creating man to be the
object of His love. Once we grasp this
truth, how could we not aspire to obey His
every word?
Now that we
understand that “man” is the pinnacle of all the creative works of IAUE; and in
man rests the fullness of IAUE’s creative purpose, we need never again to
wonder if IAUE is for us or against us.
We need never concern ourselves with how long He will endure with us in
His efforts to bring us to repentance and to restore us to Himself. His mercy toward us is from generation to
generation, and His compassion toward us is renewed every single morning. He desires all men to be “saved” and to come
to the knowledge of this truth. IAUE is
not our enemy. We do not need to fight
him, barter with Him, negotiate with Him, or weigh our deeds upon a scale
before we approach Him with expectance that He will hear us and answer us. IAUE created us to dote upon us like a loving
Father whose love is endless and whose power to protect us and to meet our
needs is limitless.
Now, let’s take a
look at what IAUE created. What IS man?
Genesis 2:7 And IAUE Elohim formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Here we see how
IAUE’s man came into existence: Man was “formed”
(yatsar – to fashion as
a potter fashions a shape out of clay) out of the “dust” (aphar
– the dry earth) of the “earth” (adamah
– the earth/land). The first thing IAUE did was to use the raw
materials of the earth that He had created to shape a body for man, fashioning
it like a potter molds a vessel into the shape of his choosing? What was the shape chosen by IAUE?
Genesis 1:26 And
Elohim said, Let us make man in our image…
From this we
understand that the body of man has been shaped and proportioned to look like
IAUE. It might even be safe to assume
that Adam looked like IAUE’s twin. Man’s
body was made of the earth over which IAUE was to give him complete dominion
(see Genesis 1:26-30). This also lets us
know that man was intended to be an earthbound creature. His destiny was never to be “with IAUE in
Heaven,” but rather to walk and talk and have fellowship with Him upon the
earth. Man’s physical essence was of the land over which he was to exercise
dominion.
So, we see that the
body of man is an integral part of what “man” is for two specific reasons. One, his body was made in the image of IAUE;
and two, his body was made of the earth over which he was placed in charge.
What came next? IAUE breathed into the nostrils of man’s body
“the breath of life.” This clearly relates
to a spirit being breathed into man. We
know from James’ epistle (James 2:26) that the body without the spirit is dead;
so we may conclude that the body WITH the spirit is alive. Here we see after breathing spirit into the
lifeless body that had been shaped into IAUE’s image, that “man became a living soul.” It is the soul of man that is his true
identify. The soul of man (which
comprises the mind, the will and the emotions) is what forms the personality of
man. It stores the knowledge and memory
of man and forms the basis for the choices man makes. It forms his temperament, his attitudes, his
sense of humor (or lack thereof), etc.
The body of man is merely a vehicle through which the soul expresses its
identity. The body does whatever the
soul instructs it to do. The body has no
personality of itself, no will, no ability to make choices. It is what links man to the physical world so
the soul is able to exercise dominion over it. The body of man is what is made
in the image of IAUE; but it is the soul of man that is made after His
likeness.
Genesis 1:26 And Elohim said, Let us make man…after our likeness…”
This means that the
soul of man has built within it the capacity for maturing into the same
character, integrity, morality, compassion, etc., of IAUE; so that we are
reproducing His nature within us. It is
in this same way that fathers in the earth, today, raise up their children to
be like them. They want to reproduce
their character and wisdom and principles and morality within their offspring.
Notice that the
Scripture says IAUE formed “man” out of the dust of the earth; and that “man”
became a living soul; but it does NOT say that the spirit that was breathed
into him was “man” or “man’s spirit.” It
is imperative that we understand that the Scripture did NOT say that IAUE
breathed into his nostrils “the spirit of man.”
Why is this important? It is
because for the last 40 years or more there has been a prevalent, although
false, teaching that “Man is a spirit. He
has a soul; and he lives in a body.”
Man is NOT a spirit. Man is an
image with a likeness that is sustained by a spirit that is given by IAUE.
The spirit within
man is both the power source of the body (as long as the spirit remains within
the body, it animates the flesh and allows the soul of man to express its will
in the earth), and it is man’s link to and connection with the spiritual world;
thus, it is also man’s link to IAUE.
We see, then, that
IAUE created man to be a soul operating within a physical body in order to look
like IAUE and to behave like IAUE, and to exercise dominion over his domain;
much in the same way that IAUE is a spirit (John 4:24); and He exercises
dominion over His domain.
Solomon’s search for
whatever is profitable under the sun came to an interesting conclusion. As he paints a picture of an elderly man
coming to the end of his days and nearing death, he says:
Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the
spirit shall return unto Elohim who gave it.
The
body will decay back into its earthly elements (the dust of the earth); and the
spirit that had animated the body will return to Elohim who gave it. Here, the body and the spirit are more
plainly seen as man’s points of contact with the physical world and the spiritual
world. Neither the body nor the spirit is
seen as man’s true identify; but what of the soul? Of the soul, Solomon said
this:
Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let
us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear Elohim, and keep his
commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
We
have just scratched the surface of this subject. In the next couple of posts, we will examine
the impacts of both the fall of man and the redemption of man.
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the
performance of the will of IAUE.
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