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NATURE OF MAN

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Tuesday, March 17, 1885

FromThe Review and Herald, Vol. 62, No. 11

Read the full edition

NATURE OF MAN.

By R. F. Cottrell

BY ELD. R. F. COTTRELL.
1. Of what was man formed?
“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.” Gen. 2:7.
2. Having been formed, what was breathed into him?
3. Through what did the breath of life enter?
4. Have the lower animals also the breath of life?
“And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man; all in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.” Gen. 7:21, 22. See verses 14, 15.
5. On receiving the breath of life, what did man become? Gen. 2:7.
6. Was a living soul added to him, or did the man of dust become a living soul?
7. Are beasts also living souls?
“Every beast . . . wherein there is LIFE.” [Margin, “Hebrew, a living soul.”] Gen. 1:30. “And every living soul died in the sea.” Rev. 16:3.
8. Can living souls die?
“The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Eze. 18:4.
9. In case man should disobey God, what was to be the penalty?
“Thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Gen. 2:17.
10. What did God mean by dying? What kind of death was man to die?
“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Gen. 3:19.
11. Why was man, when he had sinned, excluded from the tree of life?
“Lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.” Gen. 3:22.
12. Will those who get the victory over sin, hereafter eat of the tree of life?
“To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life.” Rev. 2:7.
13. How long will they live who eat of that tree? Gen. 3:22.
14. Will those who do not overcome live just as long? Eze. 18:4.
15. How is the death of man described?
“Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” Eccl. 12:7.
16. The dust returns to earth as it was before man was formed. Is it right to infer that the spirit returns to be as it was before?
17. Was the spirit a conscious being before man was formed?
18. How is this spirit described?
“All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils.” Job 27:3.
19. How do the translators explain the spirit of God in the nostrils, in the margin?
“That is, the breath which God gave him.” Gen. 2:7.
20. Is the spirit, then, nothing but atmospheric air?
It is more; it is “the breath of the spirit of life.” Gen. 7:22 (margin).
21. Who alone has the power to give life?
22. Did God give life to man through the breath? Gen. 2:7.
23. When he takes away the breath of living creatures, what is the result?
“Thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.” Ps. 104:29.
24. In the creation of all living creatures, what does God do?
“Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created.” Verse 30.
25. What would become of man, should God gather to himself his spirit and his breath?
“If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.” Job 34:14, 15.
26. Have the lower animals “the breath of the life” in common with man? Gen. 7:22 (margin).