NATURAL MAN VS SPIRITUAL MAN

Hello Doves!!

I began writing a book last year. My purpose was to do a study of how the Book of Genesis relates to the Book of Revelation. My main focus was to show the birth of the Truth, and the birth of Religion, in Genesis and how it relates to these two components in the end times. I had studied the Book of Revelation for years and years, but, I had never studied the Book of Genesis in depth, before this time. I wanted to find out the truth for myself and used only The Holy Bible (KJV) and a Strong’s Concordance, so that I would not be influenced by other opinions or studies, but come to my own conclusions. The results just blew me away!!! I thought it would be interesting to share my findings with you all. I know this is a controversial issue, but, one that really helps us understand the rest of the Bible.

Most Christians, that trust in others to read and interrupt the Bible, believe that Genesis chapter 2, is just a rehash of Genesis chapter one, where God goes into more detail about what he did in that chapter.

I tell you honestly, that on the whole, I also fell for this explanation, until I began really looking at what is conveyed in these two chapters. Any thinking person would see the vast differences in what is occurring in these two chapters, and question how they could be considered to be saying the same thing at all!!!

TWO CREATIONS

The two Creation stories take place at different times. It is widely accepted that God created man on the 6^th day of Creation, and that is what is described in Genesis chapter 1. But, chapter two describes an 8^th day creation, after God had rested on the 7^th day; He then “formed” Adam and places him in the Garden of Eden. We will start this study by looking into each of these chapters and focusing of the differences between them. I am going to quote from each chapter, first, so that you can see for yourself how very different they are.

SIXTH DAY CREATION OF NATURAL MAN

Genesis 1:26-28

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepest upon the earth.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female he created he them.

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

EIGHTH DAY CREATION OF SPIRITUAL MAN

Genesis 1: 1-2

"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made."

Genesis 2:5-8

“And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.”

But, there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.”

I am sure, just by reading both of these descriptions, as conveyed in the first two chapters of Genesis, you can find many discrepancies between the two accounts. We are going to explore the most obvious one, first; the difference between who is doing the creating in Genesis, chapter one, and who is doing the forming, in chapter 2. In chapter one the “creating” is done by “God”, and in chapter two the “forming” is done by the “LORD God”.

God

This is very interesting, just by looking into Strong’s Concordance we see that the Hebrew word to describe God, as used in Genesis 1, is different than the two words to describe the LORD God in Genesis 2. Genesis 1 uses the meaning found as H-430; let us take a look at that first.

Strong’s Concordance; page 1467, H-430 states:

‘elohim’; plural of H-433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:-- angels, gods, godly, great, judges, mighty.

The Creator of natural mankind in Genesis Chapter 1 is actually God and the angels. Natural mankind was “created” in the image of God and the angels. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”: this makes sense that God is with the angels as He creates natural man and natural woman. He creates them both male and female, at the same time.

The LORD God

In Genesis chapter two, it is the LORD God doing the “forming” of Adam. Let’s see what definition is used here. We find it is H-3068.

Strong’s Concordance; page 1506, H-3068 states:

‘YHWH’; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God: -- Jehovah, the Lord.

We can see from these varying definitions that God and the angels “created” natural man (mankind) in Genesis 1, and God, the Lord, the Almighty Eternal God, and Him alone, “formed” Adam, and then later made Eve from Adam.

Before we go any further, let us look into a few more informative definitions; the use of the meaning of word “man” in both chapters. Also we will look at the difference between the words “created” and “formed”, as they will explain a great deal, too.

The Hebrew word for man is ‘adam’, and it is used to describe any man, men, mankind, and human beings. This is the appropriate usage, in Genesis 1, as we can see that many men were created, not just one. The Hebrew word for man, when used with the word ‘the’ in Genesis 2, means something different. The word is haa-adam, with Article is ‘the man’, and eth haa-adam, as used in Genesis 2, means ‘this particular man’. From this, we see that many human beings (mankind) were created in Genesis 1 and only one particular man is being formed in Genesis 2.

We now know who (or whom) was doing the creating and forming in these two chapters, and also what was created or formed. Now let’s take a look at the meaning of the words “created” and “formed”. The word created is used in Genesis 1. We find the meaning of that word in H-1254, which simply means; ‘to shape new circumstances and conditions, make, choose or dispatch’. Whereas, the word “formed” as used in Genesis 2 means; ‘to mold into shape, form a resolution, to make with purpose, preordain, or plan divine activity’.

God created mankind on the 6^th Day and he formed the man (Adam) on the 8^th day, and this forming had a direct preordained purpose, that most likely involved ‘divine’ activity.

There are many more differences between these two chapters, and we will cover them all, here. I felt that the ones that we have mentioned, so far, are the most important. We know who and what was being created and formed, and also who was doing the creating and forming. The other differences are also informative, so let us continue to look at them.

Probably the most striking evidence, other than what we already mentioned, is the difference between when the plants and animals were created, in Genesis 1, and when the plants and animals were formed in Genesis 2. In Genesis 1 the plants and animals are created before mankind is created. In Genesis 2, the plants and animals are formed after Adam is formed.

These chapters cannot be describing the same thing! Also, the animals are called beasts of the “earth” in Genesis 1, and are called beasts of the “field” in Genesis 2. Let’s take a brief look at these two kinds of beasts.

Beasts of the earth: (earth is H-776); ‘eres’, be firm, the earth at large, land:--common country, land, nations, wilderness, wild plants, wild animals, natural man and woman.

Beasts of the field: (field is H-7704); ‘sadeh’ or ‘saday’, spread out, a field as flat:-- country, field, land, ground, soil.

The beasts of the earth are the wild beasts, and the beasts of the field are domesticated beasts. This is also true of the plants, in Genesis 1, the wild plants are created, and in Genesis 2, the domesticated plants are formed. Another important word we need to look at here is the word “ground”. There is no mention of anything or anyone being created out of the ground in Genesis 1, they are all created to live on the earth. The word “ground” is first mentioned in Genesis 2, “But, there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground”. Let’s see what the word “ground” means as used in this verse.

Strong’s Concordance, page 1462; H-127 states:

‘adama’; from H-119 meaning ‘soil’ (from its general redness):--country, earth, ground, husbandman, husbandry, land.

The earth is the earth at large, and the ground is “soil”, that is used to grow domestic plants and to raise domestic animals. Husbandry is something that farmers and ranchers are familiar with. This ground is also a specific place, the scared ground of the Garden of Eden.

Other Differences

We have looked at the major differences between Genesis 1 and 2, and by now, they are very obvious. But, to complete this study, we need to look, briefly, at the other contradicting verses. The following chart is presented to make this easy to see and compare.

Genesis 1 Genesis 2

Male and female created at same time Adam formed alone, Eve later

Sent out into the world Brought into the Garden of Eden

Told to be fruitful and multiply No such command given

Told to replenish the earth Told to dress and tend the garden

Given dominion over wild animals Named the domestic animals

There was no rain yet Clouds (mist) rain created

The creation of mankind complete “no man to till the ground”

There you have it….certainly these are two different accounts of two different creations and formations. Mankind was a new creation upon the earth, and Adam was a new formation, formed from out of the ground (soil) of a very special garden. Let’s take a good look at the LORD God’s special formation of the first “living soul”, formed on the 8^thday. (Note: “Living soul” means this special man is an “eternal” soul, which will live forever.) And, we will also find out the importance of the “eighth day” throughout the Scriptures, which point, directly back, to Genesis 2.

Adam

Adam was the first human being created by God, and God alone. Before him, there was no created being upon the earth that possessed all of his mental and spiritual features. If all mankind was created on the 6^th day, why is there “not a man to till the ground” before God formed Adam on the eighth day? Adam was fashioned by God from a pattern. What was that pattern? According to the apostle Paul, in Romans 5:14; “Adam was created in the figure, or pattern, of him, who was to come”, Jesus. It was in his, the Lord God’s image, that The Adam was formed. We know this because the New Testament Jesus is referred to as the last Adam.

First Adam

Genesis 2:7

“And the Lord god formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

Last Adam

1 Corinthians 15:45-47

“And so it is written, the first man, Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.”

The first man and the second man are referring to the first Adam and the last Adam. This has nothing to do with the creation of human kind; it has to do with the salvation of the creation of mankind. The word earthy, as used here, is translated from the Greek word meaning “dust” from which Adam was formed. The peoples of the 6^th day creation are not said to be formed from the dust, we are not told in what manner they were created.

Corinthians 15:48-49

“As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.”

Earthy and heavenly, this is the difference between Adam and Jesus. While both are Adams, the first Adam is carnal flesh man, and the second Adam (Jesus) is the Lord from heaven in a flesh body. Adam was first sent to help mankind be saved, but he failed mankind before he even got started. He violated the very commandment that God had given him. Four thousand years later, God sent a Savior, in the person of Jesus Christ, to save mankind. Jesus came by Adam’s loins by genealogy. Thus, Jesus is here referred to as the last Adam, for He was the last in the plan, of God, for the salvation of mankind.

That is the difference between the sixth day and the eighth day creation events. The sixth was natural man, “failed man”; the eighth was formed especially to lead his fellow humans back to God; but he failed when he also fell into temptation and evil. The last Adam, Jesus Christ, would not fail, nor be tempted, nor fall away, nor sin. Before we move on, there is more to be covered about the 8^th day, let’s look at some verses from the Bible that this 8^th day of the week, foreshadowed.

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SIDE NOTE: This just blows me away!! When God, through John, in the Book of Revelation is speaking of the anti-Christ, he tells us that his number is 666, and that it is the number of a man…..could this man be “ultimate fallen man” from the human race on the 6^th Day creation?? It surely would seem so in the light of what 777 and 888 represent! 777 is the ultimate number of perfection and represents the LORD God, and upon researching 888, I found this is the number that the name ‘Jesus’ adds up to in both Hebrew and Greek!!!! This is just an example of how numbers, used in the Holy Word of God, can tell us a great deal. We will cover more on this later, but thought this a good time to mention it.

The 8^th Day, (Persons, Souls, Feast, and Resurrection)

The first thing we are going to do here is to follow this 8^th day through the Bible and see what it tells us. We will be looking at the most important meanings here; there are many studies on this, so feel free to do some research yourself. We already discussed the 8^th day Creation, which occurs in Genesis 2. Next time we hear mention of the eighth day is in Gen. 17:12, where the Lord God is speaking to Abraham, having to do with circumcision.

CIRCUMCISION:

Old Testament

Genesis 17:10-12

“This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed”.

New Testament

(John the Baptist)

Luke 1:59-60

“And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. And his mother answered, and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.”

(Jesus)

Luke 2:21

“And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.”

THE FLOOD and BAPTISM:

2 Peter 2:5

“And spared not the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.”

1 Peter 3:20-21

“Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us.”

THE LAST GREAT DAY:

There are 7 Jewish High Holy Days, called Feasts. You are most likely familiar with Passover and Pentecost, but the one we are speaking of here is called The Last Great Day. Following the Feast of Tabernacles there is an eighth day festival which is the seventh Holy Day of God. This feast is spoken of in both the Old and New Testament.

Old Testament

Leviticus 23:36

Lev 23:36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it [is] a solemn assembly; [and] ye shall do no servile work [therein].

Leviticus 23:39

“Ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a Sabbath.”

New Testament

John 7:37

“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If and man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.”

Christ’s sermon was clearly given on the Last Great Day, the eighth day, of the Feast of Tabernacles. He was referencing a wonderful time to come, a time when all humanity would be given the opportunity for salvation.

Last, but surely not least, is how the 8^th day has to do with Jesus’s resurrection from the tomb. It happened on a Sunday morning, which is the first day of the week, but is also considered by Christians to be the “eighth day”, new creation. That is why modern day Christians worship on Sunday, as they are worshipping the 8^th day creation, in its perfected form, the form of their Savior, Jesus, the second Adam.

Summary on 8^th Day: We can see how important this 8^th day creation becomes through the whole of the Bible. It is special, and it foreshadows everything else that is to come. Next we will look into the creation of Eve, and how she fits into this whole picture.

Eve

Genesis 2: 21-24

“And the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof, And the rib, which the Lord god had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman because she was taken out of Man.”

This is a very special event; no other woman was “made” from any other man, by any other ribs. Eve was from Adam, but all other women were created alongside the other men in the 6^th Day creation. There is no way that this Genesis chapter 2 event, regarding Eve, can be construed as simply a further explanation of all the women being created in Genesis chapter 1.

This seems like a very good time to look into the difference between “flesh and blood” and “flesh and bone”, and how this all relates to being “born again from above” and becoming a new creation, formed by God, returning to an eternal state of being, just like Adam and Eve before the Fall.

I will continue on with my study of FLESH AND BONES VERSES FLESH AND BLOOD, in my next post.

I am totally open to opposing opinions and welcome debate on this issue.

Bless you all!!!