Human Creation

So if God created the human body at creation in the form of Adam, and that physical form is conceived at conception by the parents what does that mean for the soul and spirit? Are the soul and spirit created by God at conception or are they passed along by the parents at conception along with the body? God created only once at the beginning of time with the seven days of creation and He will recreate a new heaven and new earth at the end of time as well but He does not create every time at the conception of new babies. So does that mean that the parents can create a soul and spirit every time they conceive a new child? Psalms 51:5 supports the idea of parents passing everything to their children in stating, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me”.  This would explain how and why every human being is born in a sinful state. It would show that Adam’s sin is imputed to his ancestors and that no one excluding Jesus Christ can escape the penalty for being born sinful. Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit with Mary so that is how Jesus was not born sinful or with a sin nature. That is why Jesus was the only one who could ever die for sin and the penalty for that sin.

To know that all men are sinful and have fallen is the more important truth to gather and to see how far men have fallen is the much better understanding to have when it comes to the soul. All men’s souls are totally depraved and fallen and a need for something is where the focus needs to be on, which brings us to the fall and the realization that all men are sinful and ugly in God’s sight. To understand the fall and how far humans have fallen is a great truth to focus on in respect to mankind and the relationship to God. As was established earlier, man was made in the image of God. This means in respect to the fall of man many things were lost or distorted. First the fall of man from its perfect state must be confirmed as an actual historical event, not some mere mythological story. Genesis 3 records the events of man and woman failing their first test from the serpent to challenge God. Genesis 3 also records man and woman playing the blame game then to pass the fault and guilt to someone else. Jesus confirms this event as actual history when He talks about the creator stating, “That in the beginning the Creator made them male and female” (Matthew 19:3). So the historical event of the fall is recorded and proves that mankind actually fell from the perfect state to a marred sinful state.

But what exactly was the fall, what took place and what were the results of the fall of man? The first step in the fall came in the form of a test from the serpent, filled with the devil, to Eve. The serpent says, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’”. The serpent is testing Eve and leading her down a path that leads to ruin. After Eve’s response the serpent then questions God, stating, “You will not surely die”. Eve then falls for the three lusts in the sin nature, the lust for the flesh, “Saw the fruit was good for food”, lust of the eyes, “pleasing to the eye”, and the lust of pride, “Desirable for gaining wisdom”. Eve falls to her temptations and Adam joins her when he also eats some of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. A direct disobedience of the will of God takes place. A fall from the perfect created state ensues, and there are many results of this fall. First and foremost is a spiritual separation and break from a direct relationship with God the Creator, a break in the fellowship. Another major result of the fall of man is a physical death and spiritual death. God realized He could not have a sinful fallen man living forever in the world that He created, so God let a physical death come to mankind. (Genesis 3)

Each participant of the fall also received consequences from God for their actions. The serpent was punished by having to crawl on his belly for the rest of time. The devil will ultimately be sent to hell and was punished by having his head crushed by Jesus Christ’s death on the cross and the defeat of sin and death. The woman will experience pain in childbirth, and her heir, Jesus, must die for the salvation of all man because of the fall and entering of sin into the will and plan of God. As for Adam, first he must work for his food and weeds will spring up in nature so that toiling and work are now required. Death and the curse to all of creation were given to Adam. Romans 8:19 tells us, “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed” and later in 22, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time”. All of creation has suffered because of the fall of man, not just mankind.

But what does the fall mean for mankind today? How does Adam’s sin and stumble affect us in the world today, and what sort of results has it given us besides the results given by God in Genesis 3? Romans 5:12 reminds us, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned”. So all men have sinned, because it has been imputed to us through Adam, which means all men are separated from God because of that sin. All men have sinned though Adam and that first sin in the Garden of Eden. All men are fallen and separated from God. All men are totally depraved and lost without hope. Ephesians 2:1 reminds us, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sin”.  Mankind chases after their sin nature and desires rather than chasing after a relationship with God. Man can do nothing on their own because they are all lost and need God’s help. Man is sinful in all of its being and nature because of the fall. Romans 7:18 reminds us again, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature”. Every single ounce of the human being is pushing away from God and racing head long into the lust of the flesh and sin nature. Titus 1:15 clarifies it again even more sating, “But to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure”. The fall and entry of sin into the perfect existence ruined everything, especially man in God’s eyes. Man needs help from our Creator to get back in a right standing relationship. God must first call us back so that man can chase again after God and His perfect will and decrees.

Humans are amazing creations by God. Creatures that if left perfect could do mighty and creative activities to worship the Creator. But mankind could not stay in this perfect state. Even with the moral code and the image of God as part of us we still made mistakes. So the sin nature infiltrates every human down to the core and flows through every aspect of man, the body, soul and spirit. Man is fallen and needs to get back in that right standing with God. But man, cannot in his own will or desire, he still needs God and depends upon God. Romans 3:10-12 needs to remind us again and again, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one” (NIV). The human mind body and soul are amazing but still depraved. The question then is are you letting God call you and run from the sin nature or are you letting the sin nature control you. Romans 8:8 remind us nicely, “Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God”.