Genesis 2:7 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.

A living soul is that animation force in which the body moves and is directed to act in response to observation, understanding, reasoning, and desire. All living animals have a soul if they have a developed central nervous system. We can observe that in the actions of animals, and prolonged observation which bring about understanding to their particular nature, design and capability.

Animals can be singular in action, loners who have the highest level of selfish interests. Others can and do take on a communal personality, finding survival is served best in cooperative efforts. These animals have a form of communication which is not always understood by speech, but by posture, and actions. Some species develop complex communication skills which we can observe but only have an observers understanding.

Still other pack animals seem to be able to find a roll within the unit to serve the pack and seem to silently move in unison with the whole without any communication, as if they have a knowing which we have a hard time understanding.

Man however has developed the most complex soul functions. The mind of man, a function of the physical body, has developed the highest degree of complexity in observation and reasoning skills. The soul of man makes one distinction above that of animal and that is awareness of things greater than self-awareness. We seek our creator.

Now the soul is physically tied to the body in design. Without the living brain, the soul has no connection to the body. The soul is subject to the workings of the body, is aware of the bodies needs and desires, which are natural and without flaw. How the soul chooses to satisfy those needs and desires is however not determined by design intent but rather by selfish interests of the soul in reason and interests.

The body needs fuel but a steady diet of ice cream is not by design but rather selfish desire.

Genesis 1:27-28 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Our bodily design is creation in His image. If God created us to be in His own image, then by the law of begetting, we create children in our image which is His image. This is God’s design of creation.

What exactly does this mean to us in creation? If we are to understand fully creation’s design then we should examine each part of our creation, in context of what each part is, does and how it can achieve this issue of duplication by generation and regeneration.

Let us begin with the body. It is perfect in design, form and function. The body can only do what it is designed to do. Unfortunately this body is subject to disease, decay and death. That is not a fault of the body. The body has no control over its form and function, it cannot improve on its design.

Every bodily function serves a purpose in this perfect design. It is meant to serve the specific function to which it is assigned. It has two main goals in creation, procreation and survival. Procreation has no purpose without an instinct for survival. Both instincts are natural and in line with the creator’s design. There is perfect purpose in His design. All animals possess these traits in various forms, in this we are part of the animal kingdom. In this we do not differ.

Genesis 2:7 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.

Next we shall examine part two of our make-up, the living soul.