06/22/2025
𝐎𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 - 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟓 - Dr. E. L. Whitworth
As illustrated in Part 4, devaluing human life is detrimental to humanity’s health, well-being, and dignity. The systematic downgrading and eradication of human value underscores the relevance of the Creator’s Testimony regarding humanity’s design, classification, and status within creation and in relationship to God. After extensive word and Scripture context research, I found the source from which animals and humanity came breaks down to two simple facts.
1) Elohim commanded the earth to bring forth the animals and the waters to bring forth water creatures—so God created, made, and formed animals by the power of His Word—i.e., God said…and it was so. God said, “Let the earth bring forth each kind of living creature−each kind of livestock, crawling animal and wild beast”; and that is how it was. God made each kind of wild beast, each kind of livestock and every kind of animal that crawls along the ground; and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:24–25 CJB). And from the ground הוהי ¹⁵³ Elohim formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called each living being, that was its name (Genesis 2:19 TS2009).
2) The creation of man was primarily by divine decree (review Genesis 1:26), and even though Adam was first formed from the very best and finest dust of the earth and Eve from the rib of Adam, both were created in the image and likeness of Elohim (review Genesis 1:26−27). Therefore, according to Genesis, humanity’s intrinsic value, uniqueness, and only claim to importance is the fact that God created and personally formed man and woman in His own image and likeness and breathed into them His breath of life.¹⁵⁴ Yahweh’s up close and personal touch of breathing into Adam the breath of life makes Him the source of humanity’s life, value, and uniqueness.
From the beginning, Yahweh’s personalized action positioned humanity in direct relationship with Himself. Let’s look behind the Hebrew veil and Selah: Yahweh personally breathed into Adam a part of His essence that is “the something more” in design and capabilities. God equipped us (humanity) with divine and human connections and meaningful relationships that distinguish us from animals in relation to complex speech/language, spiritual sensitivity, and mental abilities such as reasoning (not mere instinct).
In relation to humanity, two Hebrew words synonymous with soul (nephesh and nᵉshamah) are ruach (spirit) and lev or leb¹⁵⁸ (heart). In Hebrew, soul referrs to the whole person or living being. It would appear on the surface that these words point to separate entities within the body. In Hebrew, however, soul, mind, spirit, and heart are synonymous terms referring to different aspects of the same internal part of humanity, i.e., the soul, which the body houses. The point is that by design humanity’s whole inner being is equipped for communication and relationship with Yahweh. “The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts” (Proverbs 20:27 ESV).
Question: Reflect back on Article 3 and this current article, if God paid that much attention to the details of a single cell and designed humanity with the internal ability to receive and send communications from and to God the Father through prayer, worship and reading His Scriptures, how much more attention do you think He pays to us and the bigger questions and challenges of our lives?
This article is quoted and/or paraphrased from The Creator’s Testimony: Someone Real and Trustworthy to Believe In by Dr. E. L. Whitworth [copyright 2024] and used by Jasper, GA News by special permission.
