Knowing God

When God breathed into its nostrils, the "clayman" he had made became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). This implies that man was a being with body, soul (life) and spirit (breath).

The day Adam sinned he "died" (Genesis 2:17, Ephesians 2:1). He became separated from God. The Lord made sure that he could not keep on "breathing in" life that lasts for ever (Genesis 3:22). He would need to be "born from above" to communicate with his Creator "in spirit" (John 3:3).

Adam kept on living for hundreds of years and each one of us, his descendants, is born with a body and soul. We naturally relate to the Almighty through our bodies and our souls. Through our 5 senses we experience the world our Maker has put us in charge of as his custodians. We also relate to him when our souls communicate with other human beings on matters beyond the physical. Job said of his early life that he knew God from what he had heard (Job 42:5). Knowledge restricted to our bodies and souls is inadequate to give us eternal life (John 3:6) which is to know God (John 17:3).

The fact that Adam and Eve were created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) implies that humans are like gods in many aspects (John 10:34). Each one of us has a "sphere of influence" in which we exercise a measure of control. Because of their disobedience Adam and Eve unwittingly handed some of their control to the devil. Those who sin become slaves to sin (John 8:34). It can become so bad that a person loses almost all control over his/her actions as in the case of the demoniac (Mark 5:2-5). Our human nature has been corrupted and its craving for comfort, pleasure and attention tends to hinder us from doing that for which we have been created (Ephesians 2:10; Titus 3:3).

The good news is that we can be born of God (John 1:12-13). Jesus breathing on his disciples (John 20:22) can be compared to God breathing into Adam. We can get some of that breath by absorbing the words in the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 4:12).