As
stated earlier, God’s spirit is in every created man. This occurred by God
breathing His “breath of life” (Genesis 2:7) into Adam’s body of
clay, resulting in the total animation of Adam and all his human lineage.
God’s breath (spirit) was to give the created man spirit-life
on-loan. When God breathed His “breath of life” into
Adam, Adam also immediately “became a living soul.” Adam’s body
and soul thereby became lively and animated by God’s one “breath
of life.”
Here,
in Gen 2:7 “breath of life,” the word “breath” is the
Hebrew word “neshamah,” meaning “spirit”; and the word “life”
here is the Hebrew word “chay,” meaning “lives.” The KJV
translates “chay” as “life,” but it more correctly is “lives.”
God’s one “breath of life” gave man three kinds of life; in
spirit, in soul and in body. The English transliteration of the Greek for “physical
life” is “bios,” as being the biological life;
and for the “soul life” it is “psuche,” as
being man’s metaphysical organ, having the faculties of mind, emotion, and
will. The Greek word for “spirit-life” is “Zoë.”
These three are the sum of the parts of man.
God’s
breath breathed into man is called “the spirit of man” and the “the
spirit in man” in the Old Testament Scripture. Apart from God’s breath
(spirit-life) in man there is no life at all in the created man. Adam’s
physical body creation was as his outer clothing. Man’s body and soul derive
their life from man’s spirit that was given by God’s spirit-breath.
The core of men then, is their human spirit. This spirit is man’s human
life source – the core of man’s whole created living being. 2
Corinthians 3:6b …the spirit
giveth life. James 2:26a …the body without the spirit is
dead…
The
humanist and religious liberals, those who may admit to there being a God at
all, often erroneously refer to God as the Father of all mankind, but this is
not accurate. Actually, God is only “a father of sorts” to the
original created man. Adam and Eve were only created by
God; they were not born of God’s Seed (sperma). Only a birth
father is a genuine father. As creator of man, God is
not man’s birth father. A father is one whose seed (sperma)
births His own child to life. Thus, God only “sort of fathered”
humanity, when He created humanity and imparted His breath (spirit) to
be the “spirit of man.” God did NOT impart His Seed.
Nevertheless,
the human spirit that God gave man is the source of man’s human life, and
that spirit is “on-loan.” This is not
what it is to be born-again of God, by His “Seed.” 1
John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God
doth not commit sin; for his (God’s) seed (sperma) remaineth
in him... Each believer, now in “the body of
Christ,” has been conceived of God the Father's Seed (Greek, sperma),
which is Christ (1Pet 1:23, Gal 3:16). By that Christ-Seed we bear
His very life and nature.
The
human spirit “on loan” in the created man has need to become regenerated
(Titus 3:5) by Christ’s resurrected “spirit of life” in
order to become a genuine, eternal, birthed child of God the Father – born
of God’s Seed (Greek, sperma). The believer is regenerated
because he has additionally received the resurrected “spirit of life
in Christ Jesus.” Jesus Christ is God’s One Seed
that became available via Jesus’ incarnation in Abraham’s lineage
(see Jesus’ genealogy in Luke), then dying, to rise as “the
life-giving spirit” (1Cor 15:45). Now a
man may simply receive Christ's resurrected Spirit into his human spirit,
to be born of God. John 3:6 That which
is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit
is spirit. John 1:13 ...born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.