Read Genesis 1:24-27 and Genesis 2:7, 19. What similarities and differences can you see between the way God created the animals and humanity? What does Genesis 2:7 tell us about human nature?

 The Genesis account declares that on the sixth day of Creation week the Lord God brought to life land animals and the first human beings, a couple (Gen. 1:24-27). We are told that He “formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky” (Gen. 2:19, NIV). He also “formed a man from the dust of the ground” (Gen. 2:7, NIV).

 Although both animals and man were alike made from “the ground,” the formation of the man was distinct from that of animals in two main ways. First, God shaped the man physically, and then “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7, NIV). He was a physical entity before he became a living one. Second, God created humanity as both male and female in the very image and likeness of the Godhead (Gen. 1:26, 27).

 Genesis 2:7 explains that the infusion of the “breath of life” into the physical body of Adam transformed him into “a living being” (Heb. Nephesh chayyah) or literally “a living soul” (KJV). It means that each of us does not have a soul that can exist apart from the body. Rather, each one of us is a living being or a living soul. The claim that this “soul” is a conscious entity that can exist separate from the human body is a pagan, not a biblical, idea. Understanding the true nature of humanity prevents us from accepting the popular notion of an immaterial soul and all the dangerous errors built upon that belief.

 There is no conscious existence of any isolated part of the human being separated from the person as a whole. God created us in a fearful and wonderful way, and we should not speculate beyond what the Scriptures actually say about this specific matter. In fact, not only is the very nature of life a mystery (scientists still can’t agree on exactly what it means for something to be alive), even more mysterious is the nature of consciousness. How does the few pounds of material tissue (cells and chemicals) in our heads, the brain, hold and create immaterial things like thoughts and emotions? Those who study this idea admit that we really don’t know.