Creature vs. Creator

The following is part of the book, Why Adam Cannot Be Saved, whose sections can be accessed here.

Man’s Relationship with God

The first chapters of Genesis also give us insight into man’s relationship with God. One fact becomes immediately clear: There is a God…and it is not man.

Man is not the master of his own domain. He was not even the purveyor of his own existence. Prior to being bought (redeemed) with a price, man was made for a purpose. We are not our own and have never been our own.

Man is a created being, designed by an omnipotent Creator. Yet from the beginning, man shared an intimacy with God that no other creature did. Man was made in the very image & likeness of God because he was made with the ability to contain God within.

The word 'adam translated as “man” means “to be red”, representing the clay from which God made him. Once the Potter formed this clay from the earth, Scripture says that He breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life so that he became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). This breath is representative of the Spirit of God being imparted to man’s spirit.

“All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils.” Job 27:3

“The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” Job 33:4

“And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” John 20:22

With the Spirit of God being in man, God Himself was abiding in man (I Corinthians 3:16, 6:19; I John 3:24). As a result, man knew God and was known by Him.

After God breathed life into man by His Spirit, man became alive to God. God placed the treasure of His Spirit in earthen vessels so that man would have knowledge of the glory of God (II Corinthians 4:6-7). Notice that God did not have to teach Adam who He was. Man knew this instinctively because of the Spirit within him (Jeremiah 31:33-34; Romans 8:16; Hebrews 8:10-11; I John 2:27). Having the Spirit allowed man to recognize and love God as his Father (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6-9; I Corinthians 8:3).

The Spirit of God was then able to lead man and communicate the mind of God to him (Romans 8:14; Galatians 4:6; I Corinthians 2:11-16); even to the point where man was more conscious of God than he was of himself.

self-conscious: conscious of oneself or one's own being; unduly aware of oneself as the object of the attention; embarrassed.

When told what to do by God, you don’t see Adam struggling with his own perceived inadequacies or limitations. He doesn’t wonder how he will carry out what God has tasked. He doesn’t consider his own ability or inability at all. He simply walks in obedience, depending on the Spirit to enable him.

This also allowed man to be completely transparent before God (Proverbs 20:27; Job 32:8). There was nothing to hide from Him and not even an inclination to do so. He and the woman were both naked before God, yet not ashamed (Genesis 2:25).

Without God’s Spirit within, man was dead to God; unable to know God or His ways. However, when God breathed life into him, man became more than just as created being; man became a son. As a son, man trusted and depended upon his Father, being sincere before Him and conscious primarily of Him.

Continue...