In Lesson One we learned that God is the Creator of all things—the universe and everything in the universe. He created all living creatures—the birds, fish, and animals—and gave them the ability to reproduce themselves according to a fixed principle, "after his kind."
This phrase "after his kind" is repeated eight times in the first chapter of Genesis. This meant that every living creature could produce creatures like itself and only like itself. No animal could change into a different kind of animal. This principle is just as true today as it was then. Every living creature produces offspring like itself.
What was God's most wonderful creation?
God's most wonderful creation was man. Man did not come up from lower forms of animal life. God created him.
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness and let them have dominion…over all the earth…" Genesis 1:26
Why did God create man?
He created man for His glory. God wanted a man in His image, after His likeness, and He wanted this man to rule over all the earth under Him. God wanted man to glorify Him, to worship Him, to love Him, and to have fellowship with Him. The Bible says,
"So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him…" Genesis 1:27
This first man He called Adam.
How was Adam created? We find the answer in Genesis, chapter 2. Adam was created out of the dust of the earth by the power of God. The Bible says,
"And God formed man of the dust of the ground…" Genesis 2:7
What was Adam like?
Since Adam was the first man and thus the head of the whole human race, it is important that we know what Adam was like. Adam was formed with three main parts: body, soul, and spirit. The body is the outer part of man which can be seen. The soul is the inner part of man which cannot be seen. The spirit is the innermost part of man by which he can commune with God. We are going to consider each of these three parts of man.
Adam's body
Adam's home was to be the earth, and God made a body for Adam out of the earth. The Bible says, "The first man is of the earth, earthy…" With his body man can see, hear, touch, taste and smell. Thus he has contact with the world around him.
The body which God created for man is truly amazing. It is really a combination of many marvels.
God made the human ear somewhat like a grand piano except that it is a million times smaller and has 100 times as many "strings." These nerves enable the ear to distinguish between thousands of sounds. How tiny is the hearing mechanism, and yet how perfect!
God created the human eye so that it is more remarkable than any camera ever made. It has been called "the wonder of wonders."
God made the heart of man so that it could beat 100,000 times a day and work a lifetime without requiring replacement.
God made the brain of man so that it could do what tons and tons of complicated computers cannot do. The human brain contains more nerve lines than all the telephone lines of the world put together, and yet it weighs less than three pounds!
Every part of the human body is a testimony to the infinite wisdom and skill of the One who created it. We can say with the psalmist,
"I will praise You; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…" Psalm 139:14
Adam's soul
Adam not only had a body, but he also had a soul. The Bible says,
"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." Genesis 2:7
We can see the body of a person, but we cannot see his soul. Of what, then, does the soul consist? The soul of man consists of three parts: the mind, the emotions, and the will. With his mind, Adam could think. With his emotions, he could love. And with his will, he could choose. Because he could think, love, and choose, Adam was a living soul.
Adam had a mind: he could think.
Adam was a person of very high intelligence. He had the power to think clearly and to express his thoughts in words. There is no doubt but that his mental powers were very great. Remember, Adam was created in the image of God. God gave Adam the task of naming all of the living creatures. The Bible says,
"Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name." Genesis 2:19
Adam had emotions: he could love.
As a Person, God loves and expresses His love. God created Adam with an emotional nature so that he too could love and express his love. From the Bible, we know that God is capable of other emotions also. For example, He hates sin. Adam too was given the power to hate that which was wrong.
Adam had a will: he could choose.
God has a free will, and Adam was like God in that he too had a free will. He had the power to choose what he would do. He could choose to obey God, or he could choose to disobey God. Since he was free to choose what he would do, Adam was responsible for his choices. He could not say that anyone had forced him to act against his will.
Adam's spirit
We have seen that Adam was created with a body and a soul. But Adam had something that made him different from all other creatures. Adam had a spirit. The Bible says,
"God is a Spirit: and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." John 4:24
God wanted Adam to be able to know Him, to worship Him, and to commune with Him; so God created Adam with a spirit.
What is the spirit?
The spirit is that part of man which can know God and receive His life. Man's spirit was created so that God would have a place to dwell in man. We can think of the spirit as a room deep inside of man, a room intended only for God's Spirit. Because God made man with a spirit, God's Spirit can dwell in man.
Remember that God created man for His glory. The only way that man can glorify God is by having God's Spirit dwelling in him and controlling him. This is why God made Adam with a spirit. God wanted Adam to receive His life and to be controlled by His Spirit. Apart from this, Adam would never be able to fulfill God's purpose.
God said Adam was "Very good"
We have seen that God created Adam with three main parts: a body, a soul, and a spirit. As he came forth from the hand of Almighty God, Adam was perfect and complete in all three areas. The sinless Adam stood before his Creator, and God pronounced him "very good."
Three important things we have learned
We have learned three very important things from this lesson. They are:
We were created by God.
Man did not just "happen." Neither did he come up from lower forms of animal life through a long process called evolution. The theory of evolution is not only false, but it is also directly opposed to the teaching of the Bible. The Bible clearly states that the first man, Adam, was created by God and that he was created in the image of God. The Lord Jesus Himself said in Mark 10:6, "from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female." (Mark 10:6 )
Each one of us must choose for himself whether he will believe man's theories concerning the origin of man or whether he will believe what God has revealed in His Word.
We were created to glorify God.
God always has a purpose in doing whatever He does, and He had a purpose in creating man. God created man for His glory. In Isaiah 43:7, God says concerning man, "I have created him for My glory." We are here to glorify God, to worship Him, to love Him, and to have fellowship with Him.
We are accountable to God.
Because Adam was given a free will, he was responsible for his choices. Each of us has been given a free will, and we, too, are responsible for our choices. One day, every human being who has ever lived will have to stand before his Creator and give an account of his life.
The Bible says,
"…it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Hebrews 9:2
