Mensa Otabil - Made By God (09/29/2025)
This week we are starting a new study from the book of Genesis. We begin from chapter two, verse seven. And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. This simple verse tells us so much about who we are as human beings; it tells us who made us, what He made us out of, and how He made us. So we see clearly from the passage that God made us; we didn’t make ourselves, nor did we just emerge from the earth. God formed us; we are products of God.
The verse also shows us three different parts of man. It shows us that there is a part of man that was made or formed from the earth, and then there is another part of man that was breathed into him by God. Then there is a part of man that emerged as a result of the two—the earth and the breathing of God created something that the Bible calls a living being.
I want us to pay attention to three phrases. The first phrase is «the dust of the ground.» The word «ground» in Hebrew is «adama,» and as you know, the first man was called Adam; he was made from the adama. The ground that the passage talks about was already in existence; it is the earth that God had already created. So He didn’t create a special earth out of which He made man; He took man from what He had already made.
When you look at the composition of human beings, there is a part of us that corresponds to the earth. Man’s substance—the muscles, the flesh, and the bones—consists of the same elements as the soil and the limestone that the earth is composed of. Interestingly, animals were also made from the same earth, which means we share a certain commonality with animals. There is an animalistic part of our lives that is the same as all the animals, and if you don’t manage it well, it will make you behave in rather peculiar and unacceptable ways. So the physical being came from the earth. That nature by itself doesn’t make us unique; it just means that we are biological beings.
The second phrase I want you to pay attention to is «the breath of life,» which is the source that God put within us. The Bible says that God breathed into us; it is an active work of God to invest something from Himself into us. That word «breath» also means «inspiration,» so there is an inspiration that comes from God that fills us. The third phrase I want you to pay attention to is that man became a living being.
Now, if you look at it, our lives depend on God; what we become is based on what God has invested in us. For us to exist on this earth, we need to have a physical being; we must have something in us that is breathed into us by God, and whatever we do depends on God. Now God invested Himself into us; He gave us the ability to have His image. That means we can do some of the things He can do. We can also take already existing materials and make something new out of them; that is where the inventiveness of man comes from.
What the passage simply tells us is that our whole being comes from God, and if we want wholeness in life, we have to go back to Him. Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, You are my Creator. Thank You for Your breath in me. I am who I am because of who You are; in Jesus' name, amen.»
Well, thank you for joining me in this first lesson. I will be with you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.