God Forms Adam From the Dust and Breathes Into HimBible World
33:4Job 33:4
The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
The Spirit of God is the Maker of mankind, and the breath of the Almighty is what makes a person alive. Man was formed from the dust as the crowning work of creation, given bodily form by the immediate working of the Spirit and made alive by the vitalizing breath of the Creator in his own image. That breath is the spirit in man's nostrils, the principle of life put into the formed body to make it a living soul, not a separate conscious being dwelling inside and not an immortal entity in itself. Human life is therefore conditional and wholly dependent on God, continued while he imparts his life-giving power and ending when he gathers back his spirit and breath so that flesh perishes and returns to dust. It is the same one life and breath that beasts have, and at death God keeps it where there is no thought or knowledge apart from the living person until the resurrection. Immortality is not in the life passed on from Adam but comes through Jesus the second Adam, and by the same brooding Spirit fallen men are recreated to receive the very life of God dwelling within.
Spirit Creates and Gives Life
Elihu speaks the words within his instructive discourses in Job 32-36, and they belong to the poetry of the book. God's Spirit made human beings and the breath of the Almighty gives them life, affirming God as the source of human creation and life. Breath or spirit is the means by which a person is made alive, and life depends on God rather than coming from any independent source.
God accomplishes his work through his own Spirit proceeding from himself, active in creation as the source of life and showing divine power in making humanity and giving life. That Spirit is God's operating agency in creation, the same Spirit moving over the waters and creating living creatures. After God's word had brought forth light, vegetation, and the lower animals, man was made as the crowning work of creation. His material form was produced from dust by the immediate brooding of God's Spirit over it, and his life was imparted by the vitalizing breath of the Creator, making him by direct and designed miracle a child of God in God's own image and a son of God.
That direct creation proves man did not come by evolution from lower animals. The same power of God's word in continued action gives life to all descendants of Adam, though because of sin that life has become mere animal life. In Job 33-41 the Creator is Christ, who laid the earth's foundations, set bounds for the seas, and made the creatures of earth and sea. The breath that caused man to exist and sustains him in his sphere is the word of Christ.
The Hebrew word neshama, translated breath, means breath or life, in its primary and almost exclusive sense simply air or breath, given by God to human beings and animals. It occurs twenty-four times, translated breath seventeen times, blast three times, spirit only twice, soul once, and inspiration once, and never means an immortal entity. The listing of all its uses shows it never means an immortal entity.
The breath of the Almighty that made man a living soul from the dust is the Spirit of God in man's nostrils, the principle of life bestowed on the formed person to make him alive. That breath did not itself become a living soul, and it is not a separate conscious heavenly being dwelling in the body. God gave this life to Adam, the common father of mankind, when he formed him, as he gave life to Elihu. Human life is conditional and dependent on God, created to fulfill the Maker's purpose and forfeiting the right to live if probation is failed.
The breath of life is God's life-giving power: its bestowal causes man to live, and its withdrawal causes him to die. When God gathers back his spirit and breath all flesh perishes and man returns to dust. It is the same one life and one breath that beasts have, so man has no preeminence over beasts in the mere possession of life. The life is organized in different ways, with growth without thought in plants, thought without higher developments in animals, and higher developments in man, and consciousness cannot exist without this life.
Death Resurrection and New Life
At death God takes back into his own keeping the life he bestowed, and that life has no thought or knowledge apart from the living person, so the dead have no thought or knowledge until the resurrection. The breath of the Almighty that gave life to Adam, the common father of mankind, when his formed body was made alive, was the principle of life itself and not a conscious being from heaven dwelling in the body. That same breath had no thought or knowledge before it was given, and when God gathers it back the person dies and the life remains in God's keeping until the resurrection.
The life passed on from Adam is not immortal life, for immortality comes only through the second Adam, Jesus, who has life in himself and gives life that never ends. The human spirit is the life-giving endowment received from God, and it is received again at the resurrection when the righteous receive eternal life and live with the Lord. The name Spirit means life because the breath of the Almighty gives life, so to receive the Spirit is to receive the very life of God himself dwelling with and living in a person and imparting his own spiritual life and power. That indwelling takes away the carnal mind and gives his own mind, setting a person free from the law of sin and death.
As God created humanity and gave it life in the beginning, through the same brooding influence of the Holy Spirit fallen men may be recreated and made again sons of God, in whom they live and move and have their being. In that new creation within people the Spirit brings order out of spiritual chaos and light out of darkness, giving new spiritual life even though because of sin the life continued to descendants of Adam has become mere animal life. The life-giving breath is God's gift of life and is to be distinguished from being an immortal part of God, so the verse does not teach a shared divine substance that makes every creature immortal. The Almighty who gave life by direct miracle gives confidence as Lifegiver in the midst of greatest affliction, with assurance that he will bring good out of suffering.
The breath of life also renews a person's strength to face the next step, while God apportions life's burdens hour by hour so they can be borne through his power. The breath of the Almighty as God's giving of life is the image of his kindling a heavenly flame in people's hearts and homes during prayer as blessing received from him. That reviving breath becomes articulate as aspiration for a free church in a free state after South America held her breath for three centuries at the bidding of the pope, her breast now heaving with the breath of the Almighty toward a state free from dominion of the church and a church free from the papacy.
The Spirit of God is the Maker of mankind, and the breath of the Almighty is what makes a person alive. Man was formed from the dust as the crowning work of creation, given bodily form by the immediate working of the Spirit and made alive by the vitalizing breath of the Creator in his own image. That breath is the spirit in man's nostrils, the principle of life put into the formed body to make it a living soul, not a separate conscious being dwelling inside and not an immortal entity in itself. Human life is therefore conditional and wholly dependent on God, continued while he imparts his life-giving power and ending when he gathers back his spirit and breath so that flesh perishes and returns to dust. It is the same one life and breath that beasts have, and at death God keeps it where there is no thought or knowledge apart from the living person until the resurrection. Immortality is not in the life passed on from Adam but comes through Jesus the second Adam, and by the same brooding Spirit fallen men are recreated to receive the very life of God dwelling within.
Spirit Creates and Gives Life
Elihu speaks the words within his instructive discourses in Job 32-36, and they belong to the poetry of the book. God's Spirit made human beings and the breath of the Almighty gives them life, affirming God as the source of human creation and life. Breath or spirit is the means by which a person is made alive, and life depends on God rather than coming from any independent source.
God accomplishes his work through his own Spirit proceeding from himself, active in creation as the source of life and showing divine power in making humanity and giving life. That Spirit is God's operating agency in creation, the same Spirit moving over the waters and creating living creatures. After God's word had brought forth light, vegetation, and the lower animals, man was made as the crowning work of creation. His material form was produced from dust by the immediate brooding of God's Spirit over it, and his life was imparted by the vitalizing breath of the Creator, making him by direct and designed miracle a child of God in God's own image and a son of God.
That direct creation proves man did not come by evolution from lower animals. The same power of God's word in continued action gives life to all descendants of Adam, though because of sin that life has become mere animal life. In Job 33-41 the Creator is Christ, who laid the earth's foundations, set bounds for the seas, and made the creatures of earth and sea. The breath that caused man to exist and sustains him in his sphere is the word of Christ.
The Hebrew word neshama, translated breath, means breath or life, in its primary and almost exclusive sense simply air or breath, given by God to human beings and animals. It occurs twenty-four times, translated breath seventeen times, blast three times, spirit only twice, soul once, and inspiration once, and never means an immortal entity. The listing of all its uses shows it never means an immortal entity.
The breath of the Almighty that made man a living soul from the dust is the Spirit of God in man's nostrils, the principle of life bestowed on the formed person to make him alive. That breath did not itself become a living soul, and it is not a separate conscious heavenly being dwelling in the body. God gave this life to Adam, the common father of mankind, when he formed him, as he gave life to Elihu. Human life is conditional and dependent on God, created to fulfill the Maker's purpose and forfeiting the right to live if probation is failed.
The breath of life is God's life-giving power: its bestowal causes man to live, and its withdrawal causes him to die. When God gathers back his spirit and breath all flesh perishes and man returns to dust. It is the same one life and one breath that beasts have, so man has no preeminence over beasts in the mere possession of life. The life is organized in different ways, with growth without thought in plants, thought without higher developments in animals, and higher developments in man, and consciousness cannot exist without this life.
Death Resurrection and New Life
At death God takes back into his own keeping the life he bestowed, and that life has no thought or knowledge apart from the living person, so the dead have no thought or knowledge until the resurrection. The breath of the Almighty that gave life to Adam, the common father of mankind, when his formed body was made alive, was the principle of life itself and not a conscious being from heaven dwelling in the body. That same breath had no thought or knowledge before it was given, and when God gathers it back the person dies and the life remains in God's keeping until the resurrection.
The life passed on from Adam is not immortal life, for immortality comes only through the second Adam, Jesus, who has life in himself and gives life that never ends. The human spirit is the life-giving endowment received from God, and it is received again at the resurrection when the righteous receive eternal life and live with the Lord. The name Spirit means life because the breath of the Almighty gives life, so to receive the Spirit is to receive the very life of God himself dwelling with and living in a person and imparting his own spiritual life and power. That indwelling takes away the carnal mind and gives his own mind, setting a person free from the law of sin and death.
As God created humanity and gave it life in the beginning, through the same brooding influence of the Holy Spirit fallen men may be recreated and made again sons of God, in whom they live and move and have their being. In that new creation within people the Spirit brings order out of spiritual chaos and light out of darkness, giving new spiritual life even though because of sin the life continued to descendants of Adam has become mere animal life. The life-giving breath is God's gift of life and is to be distinguished from being an immortal part of God, so the verse does not teach a shared divine substance that makes every creature immortal. The Almighty who gave life by direct miracle gives confidence as Lifegiver in the midst of greatest affliction, with assurance that he will bring good out of suffering.
The breath of life also renews a person's strength to face the next step, while God apportions life's burdens hour by hour so they can be borne through his power. The breath of the Almighty as God's giving of life is the image of his kindling a heavenly flame in people's hearts and homes during prayer as blessing received from him. That reviving breath becomes articulate as aspiration for a free church in a free state after South America held her breath for three centuries at the bidding of the pope, her breast now heaving with the breath of the Almighty toward a state free from dominion of the church and a church free from the papacy.