Creation Lesson # 5 (Genesis 2:7,21-15)
In Genesis 2 God gives some specific details about the days of the re-creation from chapter one. This is not an additional creation or something new but God, telling us exactly how he created certain things.
We are not going to study the chapter verse by verse or study the verses in order. In this lesson we are going to look specifically at the creation of man and woman who were created on the 6th day in chapter one. The verses we will use from chapter two are verses 7 and 21-15.
The Creation of Man: (Genesis 2:7)
Verse 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.”
Therefore man is a 3 part being (1 Thessalonians 5:23 ; Hebrews 4:12)
- Body (dust of the ground)
- Soul (living soul)
- Spirit (breath of life)
Now this makes sense because God is a 3 part being as well (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit). Remember that Adam is created in God’s image and likeness (Genesis 1:26).
The Body:
- The body is the easy part to understand it is the flesh. Just look in the mirror and there it is.
The Soul:
- The soul is the real you. The soul has a bodily shape. Therefore, when we die the flesh goes back to dust, but it is the soul that goes to Heaven or hell depending on whether a person is saved or lost.
- In Luke 16:19-31 we see that the rich man was buried (his flesh in the ground) but in Hell he lifted up his eyes in torments. His soul was what was in Hell and note that it had eyes, a tongue, and he could remember. He also was concerned about his brethren still on earth.
- Also in Revelations 6:9-11 white robes are said to be given to souls.
- We may not fully understand the body of the soul, but the soul is a bodily form.
The Spirit:
The spirit of man is life from God. This means that without your spirit you would be dead. This is seen in (James 2:26 and Ecclesiastes 8:8). James says that the body without the spirit is dead. Ecclesiastes says that no man can retain the spirit in the day of death. Therefore, the spirit of man is life from God.
This spirit is also connected with breath. This makes sense because without breath there is no life. Below we will list some verses that connect life with breath.
- Genesis 2:7 (God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life)
- Job 27:3 (my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils)
- Job 33:4 (The Spirit of God hath made me and breath of the Almighty hath given me life)
- Job 34:14 (he gathereth unto him himself his breath and his spirit)
- Psalm 104:29-30 (takest away their breath, they die)
- Isaiah 42:5 (he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:)
The verse for our study says that the Spirit of man is the candle of the Lord. From this verse we see that the spirit of man also connected with light. This makes sense when we look at the first chapter of John. In John 1:4 we see that in the Word (Jesus Christ) was life and that the life was the light of men. So light is connected with life. In John 1:9 we see that Jesus was said to light every man that cometh into the world. This is not talking about salvation because not every man that lives, gets saved. So, it is speaking about Jesus giving everyman life. So light is connected with life. See also John 8:12.
The Creation of Woman: (Genesis 2:21-25)
Even though woman is created on the 6th day (Genesis 1:27) she is not created in the same way that Adam was created. Here in chapter 2, we are given the specifics of how God created woman and these specifics have great significance.
In verses 18-20 God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him an help for him.”
So here we see the original purpose of the woman was to be a Help Meet. That is why we have proverbs like Proverbs 18:22 ; 19:14. If one would like to see the perfect help meet look at the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31:10-31.
In verses 21-22 we see the creation of the woman.
- Note God put Adam to sleep. This is the first surgery.
- Adam is a type of Jesus Christ. Sleep here is a type of death, just as Adam dies to get his bride, Jesus Christ died to get his bride (the Church). Ephesians 5:25
- Notice that God took woman out of Adam’s side. She is not to be over the man nor is she to be under his foot, but she is to beside the man. Remember the help meet.
- Now this is why is many cultures when man and woman are married, they stand side by side.
In verses 23-25 we see the description of Biblical marriage.
- Notice that Adam said that his wife is bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.
- Woman means man with a womb.
- Cleave means join together and notice they become one flesh.
- In the Bible marriage is flesh joining flesh. Matthew 19:3-6 ; 1 Corinthians 6:15-18
- This is the reason that fornication is such a horrible sin in the Bible. 1 Corinthians 6:15-18
- If Adam is a type of Jesus Christ, then his wife is a type of the Church.
So, Adam and his wife were created sinless in the image of God and were perfect until they sin. They also had no knowledge of good and evil, which is why they are not ashamed of their nakedness. (verse 25).
Creation Lesson # 5 (Genesis 2:7,21-15)
Handout
1) Which verse in chapter 2 shows us that man is a 3 part being and give 2 more references to prove this.
2) What are the 3 parts of man and how would you describe what they are?
3) Why did God create the woman for Adam?
4) How did God create the woman?
5) What can we see from the fact that the woman was made from a rib out of Adam’s side?
6) Why is it significant that Adam was put to sleep to get his bride?
7) What is Adam a type of?
8) What is his wife a type of?