Growth of the Soul

Ge. 2:7 (KJV) 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.

God created mankind just as He created other animals, on the sixth day of God’s creation (the universe). Apparently, one universe’s day is the time it takes for the universe to make one complete rotation about its axis, and is greater than earth’s day by a very large order of magnitude.

Towards the end of the universe’s sixth day of existence:

Ge. 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

God singled out mankind from among the animals and elevated mankind to the level of spirit beings, by breathing into mankind His Spirit. Mankind became a living soul. “Living soul” means that the soul of man can grow and can also decay or decrease, just like a living thing.

Ps. 8:3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
Ps. 8:4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
Ps. 8:5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
Ps. 8:6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet.

God raised the human soul to a level that is a little lower than angels. Unfortunately, the elevation of mankind to the image of God created a big problem in God’s kingdom. One third of God’s angels rebelled against God because of the elevation of mankind. God made mankind a little lower than angels and also gave mankind the capacity to grow or to decrease. This means that some human beings can actually surpass some angels.

Ge. 2:8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.
Ge. 2:9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground — trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Having made mankind to become a living soul, God made a garden for mankind. This garden contained all sorts of plants that produce fruits that nourish the human body. In the middle of the garden were two trees that produce fruits that the soul could feed on. Since the soul is a spiritual entity, the trees that produce fruits that it could eat are also spiritual entities. The tree of life is God and His fruit is His word. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is Satan and his fruit is his word. Therefore, the food that the soul feeds on are spiritual words.

Ge. 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;
Ge. 2:17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

The tree of life yielded His fruit to mankind, warning mankind to never eat the fruit of Satan, or else mankind would die.

Ge. 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Ge. 3:4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman.
Ge. 3:5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil also yielded his fruit to mankind, telling mankind that the way for the human soul to grow to the same level as God is by eating his fruit. From Satan’s word, it is clear that his interest is to prevent the human soul from growing. Unfortunately, mankind chose to eat the fruit of Satan. Immediately, the spiritual potential (measure of divinity) of the human soul crashed down. That is the fall of man.