THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING WHY GOD GAVE US A SPIRIT, WHAT IS ITS PURPOSE FROM A BIBLICAL STANDPOINT? Written by Diana Jackson

Lets again start with Genesis 2:7  TLC  Then Adonai  Elohim formed  man out of the dust from the ground and he breathed into his nostrils a breath of life, so the man became a living being.  Breath, hebrew word 'Rauche' Is the source of life.  God breathed His Spirit into man.  In Job 32:8 it says spirit of man is the breath of the Almighty, giving understanding, emphasizing the connection between God and man.  1 Corinthians 2:11 states no one knows the spirit of that person, implying a unique ability of the human spirit to understand and relate to God.  Romans 8:16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.  In essence God uniquely gave us a spirit; breathing life into man, giving him a spirit differentiates him from other creatures in creation.  The human spirit can commune with God; it is an understanding and a channel that allows God's power, His love and His guidance in our lives. 

In Genesis 1:26 says, Then God said, “Let us make man in Our image, according to our Likeness:  let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping things that creeps on the earth.” 

I want to make a further comment here on this passage above.  God created us to be His ambassadors, and rulers of this earthly realm under the authority He has given us.  It is through His guidance and protection we can put our trust in Him for the things we can accomplish according to His will and purpose.  What an awesome opportunity given to man, God created a human being full of His attributes to be caretakers of His creation. What a thought to comprehend! 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them.  28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and 'subdue it'; have 'dominion' over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” So can you see now what God has provided for us?  

• We have a Spirit to Spirit connection with our Creator, our spirit was born of His Spirit
• He gave us His dominion and authority to rule over all of His creation. 
• He told us to multiply and fill all the earth
• He gave us His attributes to rule, to reason, a conscious of right and wrong, and a creative ability to create things in this life. 

As far as I know nothing has changed since then, we are to rule and reign with Him here on this earth.  Daniel 7:27 And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominion shall serve and obey Him.

Revelations 5:10 And have made us kings and priest to our God, and we shall reign on the earth. 

All of these things have been given to us for His will and purpose in this planet,  if we choose trust in Him. 

The next passage is very interesting that he mentions herbs first.  29 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree  whose fruit yield seed; to you it shall be for food.  

(Food bring nourishment and sustains our whole being, to keep it in a healthy state.  Natural food, not tainted food with chemical, preservatives, food coloring and the list goes on. )

 30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life.  I have given every green herb for food”;  and it was so.  31 Then God saw everything that He made, and indeed it was very good.  

As we read through this passage you can see that God created man in His image and likeness, who is God and what is His likeness?  

The Hebrew word for image 'tselem', means something to carved out or cut out. God is a Spirit not made of natural elements, however I believe He created us as how He would see Himself if he were made of flesh and bone.  We are made in His image in this natural world.  We are a mirrored reflection of Him.   The same language was used in Genesis  5:3 which talks about Adam has a son: “he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image.  Just as Seth bore a resemblance to his father, so Adam resembles his Father.

Another perspective that is spoken of would be God is a spirit and does not possess a body, so we can value the image of God within our 'human nature' our character which is clearly above other animals and creatures in our world. The image of God resides in our memory, our understanding and our consciousness to make appropriate choices, He gave us a will to choose.  We also have a spiritual awareness of something greater than ourselves, being the God who created us.  We are spiritual beings who live in a body, who longs to know our spiritual connection with God.   Often times we have heard people talk about the ‘God hole’ in our heart that needs to be filled.  Which is a very good description of our search in knowing the one who created that hole in us, which can only be filled with HIM.  We have an inner longing to know who we are and why we are here, something inside of us is hungering to know and have understanding regarding our place in this sphere of existence.   

We were created to have fellowship with him.  Isaiah 65: 24 Before they call I will answer:  while they are yet speaking I will hear.”  This verse highlights Gods responsiveness and eagerness to hear and to answer the prayers and the requests of those who come to Him in Faith.  Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  This scripture lets you know that he created you for a purpose and a  predetermined plan for the present and for your future long before you ever existed. He is demonstrating how much he cherishes you and desires for your well-being.   In other words to take care of you in every way as we put our whole trust in His plan for us, knowing it is the most fulfilling plan for our lives. I want to emphasis the word Well-being.  It is inclusive of everything that pertain to our whole being, Body, Soul and Spirit in this life; our spiritual wholeness, our physical wholeness, our mental wholeness and our emotional wholeness and everything connected to it. 

In conclusion I hope you can see how important it is for us as spiritual beings to have an intimate connect to our Heavenly Father who created our spirit to desire to know Him, because we came from Him and we are a part of Him and He is a part of us.   

In the creation story it shows God's original plan.  Man was made perfect in everyway.  What would our world look like now if man never sinned?  It would be difficult to fathom.  As we know God is omniscient, he knows the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end.  So he knew that man was going to go his own way and fall into sin.  But, thanks to the Lord, He had a plan in place, He sent His only begotten son, Jesus Christ, the last Adam to rescue man 1 Corinthians 15:45.  The first man Adam became a living soul" the last Adam became a life giving Spirit. John 1:14 The word became flesh and dwelt among us.  Jesus came to give us a path back to the Father to regain the fellowship that was lost with Him, the same fellowship he had with Adam, free of unrighteousness.  Jesus paying the penalty for our sin on the cruel cross and then gaining victory once and for all overcame sin, death, hell and the grave.  We now can experience eternal life with the Father and begin our journey to rule and reign with Him again in this life.  

The Bible says in 1 Timothy 2:4, that it is His will that all men come to the knowledge of the truth, the truth about HIM.  In Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all of His righteousness and all these other things in this life and Godliness will be added unto you.   Jesus quoted a scripture from the Old testament in Matthew 22:37 “You shall Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with your mind, Deut 6:5 includes the word strength.  

Our love for Him should be our first expression of the day above everything else in our lives. These are promises to those who believe and rely on Him.   This is the proper alignment to experience the fullness of God for our lives, our direction in our life in fulfilling the purpose we were and are created for. Everything else in our lives will follow this first step in regain wholeness in every area of our life.