Genesis 2:7 “And the Lord God formed man (his body) of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the ‘breath (Heb. neshama, spirit) of life; and man became ‘a living soul (Heb. nephesh, soul person).”

The word “breath” in “breath of life” (Gen. 2:7) is the Hebrew “neshamah,” meaning the “spirit of the life of God,” This was not yet “the spirit” of the life of the resurrected life of “Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:2) … as He is after His Resurrection. For Jesus had not yet incarnated, died, and risen as “the life-giving Spirit.” (1Cor. 15:45)

The word “life” in “breath of life,” is the Hebrew “chay” (pronounced “ky”). It is better translated “breath of lives (plural)” This is seen in that God’s one puff breathed into Adam’s clay form generated (3) three kinds of life in man; 1) spirit life (Grk., Zoë, God’s enlivening Spirit), 2) soul life (Grk., psuche), and 3) Adam’s physical life (Grk., bios). Paul wrote of these three in this one verse.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 “the very God of peace sanctify you wholly (as a whole); and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

So, Adam became fully alive and animated in his three parts by the one breath of God, making him alive to three realms; the spirit realm, the psychological realm and the physical world.

1. Every human has their “spirit of man” by which they may relate to God, who is a spirit being.
2. Man has a soul with its faculties of mind, emotion, and will. This is his psychological self. These make man a rational, self-conscious, sensing, self-willing being who may make choices.
3. Man has a body by which he may relate to the physical realm of the created world.

The “breath” of God was dispensed into Adam’s clay form to become his life-source. All humanity is born of Adam with God’s breath, thus made alive by spirit-life that is temporary, as life on-loan from God.”

Zech. 12:1 “The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which …  formeth the Spirit of Man Within Him.

Job 32:8 “there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding (perception).”

Eccl. 12:7 “Then… the dust (body) return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”

Only the life of God is the genuine “life” in that His life is the only uncreated eternal life. All other life forms cannot be counted as genuine life since they are temporal and will cease. Again, the “life” we speak of is the Greek “Zoë,” which is the “spirit-life of God.” Man has his “breath of life” from God… but this initial life in man is only ‘on loan.’ Upon death “the spirit” in man “shall return to God who gave it” (Eccl. 12:7 above).

Why Temporary? The temporary human life that was generated by the “breath/Spirit of God” is to give every man the potential of becoming ‘eternally alive’ at some point during their life-time. At some point we must hear “the gospel” and choose to receive Christ as Savior from our sins. With that, the believer immediately receives the resurrected “Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” … “regenerating” his “spirit of man.” Titus 3:5 … according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Christ’s Spirit today, after His resurrection, is different from before His cross-death and resurrection. Christ’s regenerating “Spirit of life” includes both the divinity of Jesus Christ of the Godhead and the victorious humanity that Jesus gained by His human experience and suffering. John here wrote of Jesus’ eternal life.

1 John 1:2 For the life was manifested (in Jesus), and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;

John 3:16 For God (the Father) so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish (Gk. apollymi, be fully destroyed), but have (His Son’s resurrected) everlasting life

Since His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ is now the resurrected, eternal, “spirit of life” (Rom. 8:2a) that indwells every believer’s spirit. Christ’s resurrected “Spirit of life” is added into be the believer’s “spirit of man,” whereby these two spirits become “one spirit” (1Cor. 6:17), thus giving the believer the Christ’s own resurrected “everlasting life.” This then is the real eternal life for believing mankind.

1 John 5:11-12 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life (Zoë), and this life is in his Son. ¹² He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Today, real “life” for man comes by receiving … “The One Life of the Triune Godhead … In the Person of the Son …now as “the Spirit of Life (1Cor. 15:45), dwelling within every genuine believer’s “spirit of man.” We will consider how earthly human ‘life’ first occurred, coming by God’s “breath (spirit) of life,” and how it relates to Jesus as “the way the truth and The Life” (Gk., Zoë, The eternal ‘spirit life,’ Jn. 14:6).