“Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7).

The verse of the day tells us the steps or the process for human beings to becoming fully alive.

There are three clauses to our verse:

1. Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground
2. And breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,
3. And the man became a living being.

Each of these three clauses begin with the Hebrew conjunction “and.” The Hebrew conjunction for “and” can mean “and,” “when,” and “then.”

So what James? What’s your point?

The point is that the conjunction “and” makes these conjunctions progressive. What I mean is that in order to get to being fully alive, the first two steps are necessary.

In God’s creation story, the man takes shape and form but is not fully alive until the breath of God is breathed into him. The breath of God is synonymous with the Spirit of God. It is only after the Spirit of God enters into the man that the man becomes fully alive.

There are too many people walking around having the form and the shape of human beings but who have no life. They are dead. They are the walking dead because the Spirit of God is not in them.

The only way we start living is when the Spirit of God enters us through the person of Jesus Christ. Only then can human beings understand their purpose and meaning in life.

Is the Spirit of God in you?

If so, do the people around you know the way to becoming fully alive? His name is Jesus. Tell them about him.

“God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground'” (Genesis 1:28).

Fill the earth – and subdue it.

Rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and over every living creature.

I like it.

What’s there not to like about it? This pretty much sounds like a green light to do with the created world whatever pleases me. That’s what the Bible says. Right?

Hmm…Not so fast.

The Hebrew word for subdue means to “rule,” “have dominion,” and “dominate.” The understanding is that human beings have been given the responsibility to rule over, have dominion, and dominate the world around us to purposefully use them.

For instance, in order to grow things and keep things beautiful in a garden, one has to tend to the garden. The gardener has to rule over, have dominion, and dominate the natural order of things so that weeds and overgrowth can remain under control so that plants and flowers may grow. If you do nothing, it leads to chaos.

The Hebrew word for rule means to “subdue,” “bring into bondage,” “subjugate.” Much like the word translated as subdue, this means that human beings have been given the responsibility to bring order by subduing and subjugating the created order.

Behind both these words is the understanding that the human being is placed on earth for a purpose. The purpose is to do God’s will. When we forget that and put ourselves as the ultimate authority, we abuse and misuse God’s created world.

God created the world with a purpose. And God placed us in his created world to bring about his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

We are most fully alive when we fill the earth and subdue it for God’s kingdom purposes.

“The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys” (Job 42:12).

For the past several months, both Pastor Brad and I have been writing about the dangers of the prosperity gospel. Prosperity gospel makes the Christian faith all about health and wealth. It is both dangerous and false. It is dangerous because it will only lead to disappointment when life’s storms come our way. It is false because it is not biblical.

Having said that, you need to know that God has no problems with Christians being wealthy. We have many examples of people in the Bible who are wealthy: David, Solomon, Job, Joseph, Abraham, and many in the New Testament. Rich Christians in the New Testament were key to help provide the funds and spaces for worship, evangelism, and supporting the apostles.

God is not against Christians having things. What God is against is things having Christians.

How can you tell the difference?

• When it comes to spending and managing funds and goods, if the mighty dollar determines what you give and what you keep, money’s got you.
• If what you give and what you keep is determined by God and his word – beginning with tithing (giving ten percent) – then you are genuinely managing and stewarding wealth and goods.

Money, goods, and resources are tools to be used to further God’s kingdom. When you give to God, riches and goods are used to impact eternal destinies. Nothing that we withhold and keep from God is transferred to eternity. We leave everything behind. The only things we can save for eternity is what we give.

John Piper says, “God gives his people money so that we can use money in a way to show that money is not our god.”