Introduction

Open your Bibles, please, to the book of Genesis, chapter 2. We will begin our study with verse 4 because that is where chapter 2 actually begins. We have mentioned to you at other times that the chapter divisions of the Bible are not always where they might be for the subject matter. I personally am very grateful for the effort that went into dividing the Bible into chapters and verses. In the original Hebrew and in the original Greek, there were no chapters and no verses, and a number of scholars went to monumental effort to divide the Bible so that we might be able properly to locate things.

But the fact remains that they did not always make the chapter divisions according to subject matter. Theologians have a little joke they tell among themselves, and you hear it often in seminaries and colleges. It is that one of the bishops who did a good bit of the dividing of the Word of God into chapters and verses did his work on horseback, and every time his horse missed a step, he put a new chapter mark down when he did not really mean to.

A New Section of Genesis

It really is not a great big thing to be concerned about, one way or the other, but as far as actual divisions are concerned, chapter 2 of the book of Genesis should begin with verse 4. This is the key verse of this section, and it contains the key phrase for the divisions of the book.

Genesis 2:

When we first considered the book of Genesis together, we called your attention to the phrase, “these are the generations.” We said that every time you find that phrase, you find a new section of the book. Since we are beginning a study of the first portion of the book other than the introduction, I suggest that we go hurriedly through this portion of the book and notice the divisions.

The Third Section of Genesis

Turn with me to chapter 5:

Genesis 5:

In chapter 2, we are told that we will have discussed for us the beginning of creation with special reference to man. In chapter 5, we find a new portion beginning, and we are told that we will have a discussion of the beginnings of Adam and his descendants.

The Fourth Section of Genesis

Then turn to chapter 6, verse 9:

Genesis 6:

From verse 1 of chapter 5 to verse 9 of chapter 6, we have one division. Then begins another division which carries through the rest of chapters 6, 7, 8, and 9.

Other Sections in Genesis

In chapter 10, verse 1, we have the phrase again:

Genesis 10:

In chapter 11, verse 10, we find the phrase again, indicating another division:

Genesis 11:

This is an important division of the book, because here we are introduced to the founding of the Jewish nation, the descendants of Shem.

Then notice chapter 11, verse 27:

Genesis 11:

This introduces a rather long division of the book. There is a discussion of Abraham's life and the life of his family until verse 12 of chapter 25:

Genesis 25:

You will remember Ishmael was someone whom God did not intend to come on the scene. He was the result of human flesh and human effort. A portion of the book of Genesis is devoted to him, but it is a very brief portion. Then look at verse 19:

Genesis 25:

We have a much longer portion related to Isaac. It goes completely through chapter 35. Then notice chapter 36, verse 1:

Genesis 36:

The story of Esau is told because Esau and Esau's descendants played a very important part in the life of the nation of Israel.

In chapter 37, verse 2, we find the he-man in the story, as Isaac had been the he-man in earlier years:

Genesis 37:

This is a long section, and it is the last division of the book. From chapter 37 to the end, Jacob and his descendants are presented to us.

A Review of the Facts in Genesis 2

I would like for you to read chapter 2 with me, that we may have the facts in our minds, and then we will go back and think about it together:

Genesis 2:

Let us notice what we do have in this chapter. In verses 4 through 7, we have presented to us the origin and the nature of man. In verses 8 through 14, we have the environment in which man was placed. In verses 15 through 16, we have man placed on probation. In the remaining portion of the chapter, we have the story of man's companion, or man's counterpart.

Creation of Plants-Not Evolution

You will notice in verse 4 the phrase, “these are the generations of the heavans and of the earth.” That phrase is never a subscription in the Scriptures. It is a superscription. It is an introduction of what is to follow. In chapter 1, we had what we might call the highlights of the creation . In chapter 2, we have the details of the story. That is important if we are to understand verse 5:

Genesis 2:

The only way we can understand that verse is to go back and combine verses 4 and 5, reading them this way: “These are the beginnings of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, and the beginnings of every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew.”

The reason we are emphasizing that is that the plants and vegetation, etc. were not the result, as people would have you believe, of a certain period of evolution. They were the result of a creative act of God. God created the earth, and He created the plants. God was the gardener. He planted them in the ground, and from the original plants which God placed there, we have the vegetation we have today.

We are all familiar with cultivated plants and hothouse plants, and we are aware that if left to themselves, they will revert to the original plants that God planted. Man may change the appearance, the size, the shape, the form, but left to themselves, plants will revert to what God put in the earth originally.

It is emphasized here that rain did not come upon the earth. The earth was watered by the mist until the Flood, in order that God might be recognized as the Creator of all the plant and animal kingdom.

Creation of Man, Not Evolution

In verse 7, we have the verse we want to discuss, and the crown of all God's creations:

Genesis 2:

Will you go back to chapter 1, please, and notice verse 26, where we have an announcement of this creation. In Genesis 1, we have the announcement, and in Genesis 2 the details:

Genesis 1:

These two verses tell us simply that God created man, and that is all. They do not tell us how God created him. If we did not have the verse in Genesis 2, we might fall into the error of the evolutionist authorities and say, “Well, of course, God was the primeval cause. He was the primary reason. But God created man a little piece of protoplasm, and through successive centuries, man has developed into what he is today.”

We go to chapter 2 for the details:

Genesis 2:

This verse reveals two things to us. One of them is the word formed , which is a translation of the Hebrew word which describes making something in perfect mold and in perfect pattern. There is no indication at all in the original text that God made anybody like the Neanderthal man or some other awful ape-like creature. God molded man in exactly the way he should have been molded, perfect in every way. That is all involved in the one little word formed . It is not apparent in the English translation, but it is in the original text.

A Three Part Man

The other thing that we get from this verse is that God created man a tripartite being—body, soul, and spirit. Notice very carefully what I am saying. Distinction is always made between the body and the inner man. For example, Paul said that our outward man perisheth, but our inner man is renewed day by day (II Corinthians 4:16).

The inner man is composed of both the soul and the spirit. That is the immaterial man—the soul and the spirit. Though man is recognized as a tripartite being, distinction is not always made between the soul and the spirit. Quite often the two words are used interchangeably.

I think these brief statements will become the clearer if we examine a few passages of Scripture. Will you turn, please, to I Thessalonians 5, and notice a prayer the Apostle Paul made for all believers. This is a tremendous prayer, and we accept it by faith because the Word of God declares it:

I Thessalonians 5:

Here is a definite statement that we are a tripartite being—body, soul, and spirit. The tremendous thing about this verse is that Paul is saying, “My prayer is that your whole body, soul, and spirit will be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.” They will be, because the Word of God declares they will be. The verse is tremendous from a number of standpoints.

For example, the Bible teaches us that when we die, the spirit goes to God who gave it, and here the spirit and the soul are spoken of as one. The spirit goes to God who gave it, and the body returns to dust. Yet Paul is saying here, “I am praying that your whole body and soul and spirit will be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

They certainly will be, because the Bible very plainly tells us that when the Lord Jesus Christ returns for His Church, these bodies of ours which have returned to dust will be resurrected. In the process of resurrection, they will be changed and made like unto the glorious body of the Lord Jesus Christ, blameless, without any fault, without any blemish whatsoever (Phil. 3:21). I say that is a tremendous truth. We believe it because the Bible declares it, but our finite minds may not be able to comprehend it as quickly as we can some other truths.

Turn with me, please, to the book of Hebrews, chapter 4, and notice that here again a distinction is made between body, soul, and spirit:

Hebrews 4:

We will not discuss this verse from an expository standpoint. The only reason we read it is that you may see again that there are the soul, the spirit, and the bones and marrow constituting the body. Once again, man is a tri-partite being.

Soul and Spirit

What I would like for you to recognize—I personally am not able to explain it—is that soul and spirit are used interchangeably to speak of the inner man. What I am saying is this: Man has a soul, and man has a spirit, because the Bible says he does. But the Bible does not always speak of the soul and the spirit as separate. Many times it speaks of them interchangeably or together. If you will look with me at a few verses of Scripture along this line, I think you will be able to see that. In the Gospel of John 12:27, we have a word of the Lord Jesus Christ concerning His soul and His spirit:

John 12:

These are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ when He was speaking about the Cross which He was approaching. You will notice that He said, “Now is my soul troubled.” Then turn, please, to John 13:21:

John 13:

One time He said His soul was troubled, and another time John said His spirit was troubled.

Turn, please, to Matthew 20:28:

Matthew 20:

Will you notice the word life . Keep in mind that here in Matthew 20 the Lord said He came to give his life a ransom for many—His soul. And then in Matthew 27:50:

Matthew 27:

So here again are the soul and spirit used interchangeably in the Word of God.

Will you turn, please, to Hebrews 12:22:

Hebrews 12:

Here the inner man of a human being is referred to as a spirit in the presence of God. Now will you turn to Revelation 6:9:

Revelation 6:

In this passage, those who are in the presence of God are referred to not as spirits, but as souls. This should help you to see that the two words soul and spirit are used interchangeably in the Word.

You may be asking, “What difference does all this make?” The difference it makes is that if you are aware of this fact, you will not be led off into error, straining at gnats when there are no gnats there, and swallowing camels which you ought not to swallow because the Bible does not make the careful distinction between the soul and the spirit that many of the false cults of our day make. Keep in mind that the two words are used interchangeably.

Why Have A Tri-partite Man?

Why did God create man a tri-partite being? What is the purpose of man's having a body, a soul, and a spirit? Perhaps if we can answer that question, the picture of man as a tri-partite being will be the clearer to us.

Let me say that God created man a soul, using that term very generally, that he might be self-conscious. He created man a spirit, that he might be God-conscious. He gave him a body, so that his soul and his spirit could become world-conscious. If we examine some Scripture along that line, I think you will understand the better what we are talking about. Will you turn with me, please, to I Corinthians 2:11:

I Corinthians 2:

Notice this verse:

I Corinthians 2:

Ability To Be Self Conscious

Notice the word natural . It is the adjective form of the Greek word which is translated “soul.” You could read this verse of Scripture: The soulish man—the natural man—receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him.” A soulish man, then, is a man who understands things purely on a human level, and in no other way.

If you will look at verse 11, you will find that the words spirit and soul are used interchangeably:

I Corinthians 2:

By means of a soul, man is made conscious of himself, for the soul is the seat of the emotions. That is why the natural man is so unpredictable. He is a soulish man, living purely at the prompting of his emotions. A Christian man, a man who is born again, need not (Notice what I said.) live at the prompting of his emotions, for he is a spiritual man, not a soulish man.

Ability To Be God Conscious

Will you turn with me, please, to Romans 8:14, and notice why God gave us a spirit:

Romans 8:

Notice this verse particularly:

Romans 8:

If God had not made us a spirit, then we would not be conscious of God. It would be impossible for us to be conscious of God. It is possible for a person or even a creature to be subject to emotions and to feel, to feel love and to feel anger related to soulish inclination. But only man who has a spirit can be in contact with God, for it is that which responds to Him.

The Spiritual Image of God

One other word I would say about the creation of man, certainly not suggesting that we have exhausted everything that could be said about it. If you will, go back to Genesis l:26 and 27:

Genesis 1:

What does it mean for man to be created in the image of God? What does it mean for man to have the form of God? We can learn what it means by examining a few verses of Scripture, but let me tell you where we are going before we go so you will be able to follow.

The two terms which describe the complete man—soul and spirit—are used in reference to God. The term used to describe man in his body is never used in reference to God. The image of God that is presented to us in the Bible is God as a soul, God as a spirit. If we say that man was created in the image of God, we must recognize that it was not in the physical image of God because that would be another impossibility; rather, in the spiritual image of God, God being a soul and a spirit.

Turn with me, please, to Isaiah 42. This is God speaking:

Isaiah 42:

Here God is spoken of as having a soul. Look at Jeremiah 9:9 for another illustration. There are many in the Word. God is speaking again:

Jeremiah 9:

Summing all this up in regard to the creation of man, I would say that the inner man is created in the image of God, but not the outer man. The outer man is created in the image of man. The inner man is created in the image of God. The reason I mention this is that when we insist that God looks as some of us look, it gives a sorry picture of God. This gives rise to idolatry.

Let us look at Romans 1:18:

Romans 1:

Notice these verses very carefully:

Romans 1:

Notice:

Romans 1:

If man were made in the image of God, then we would try to fashion a form or figure of God that looks like a man. That would give rise to idolatry. It is the desire on the part of man to have a God that is like him that causes him to make idols and images. There is no way to make an idol to represent the inner man. If the outer man were created in the image of God, then we would want to make an image of God that looks like that man. But it is not. The outer man is made in the image of man.

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