...the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis2:7
Genesis 2 tells the creation story again, but from another perspective. This should not unsettle us. When describing a car accident, one witness will say "The red car skipped the stop street and was broadsided by the blue car." Another witness will say "The Audi Cabriolet was hit by the Ford Focus and spun around three times but the airbag deployed and the driver got out ok." They are simply relating different details of the same story.
What Genesis 1 describes in one sentence: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them..." Genesis 2 describes in a couple of sentences, including how God made Eve from Adam's rib.
The point of the description here in Gen 2 is that God breathed life into Adam. The Hebrew word for breath is also the Hebrew word for Spirit and so it is clear that what is implied here is that humankind are set apart from all creatures in that we have the capacity to be filled by the Spirit. We can be given life by the Spirit.
This imagery is Genesis' way of telling us that human beings are created to have a relationship with God through the Spirit. The French mathematician, Blaise Pascal, said: "There is a God-shaped hole in every person - a space that only God can fill." Augustine said: "We are restless until we find our rest in Thee."
Human beings are unique - God has breathed into us.
We are eternal and we can relate to God in "Spirit and Truth." (Jesus confirmed this in his conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4)
So as human beings were are created in His image (to reflect Him) but He breathed His Spirit into us (so that we can relate to Him.)
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
