Complete English translation
"That's when God formed the man from the dust of the ground and blew the breath of life into his nose; so man became a living creature."
I believe completely that God's Word is the truth. But to be honest, if we imagining the first human suddenly like a magic from the ground, the story of the Bible feels like a fairy tale that is difficult to accept by common sense or science.
It's amazing that since the mid-20th century, many religious figures started 'Rediscovering' an understanding that has actually existed since the rabbi- ancient rabbi. That is the understanding of Covenantal Adam (Adam as a covenant man).
So, what does Adam mean as a covenant man / Covernatal Adam?
Keyword: Covenantal Adam
God's Regularity and Human Consciousness
God created the world with order; everything goes according to the rules— like the law of gravity. Because of this extraordinarily organized law, humans can now trace back to the past, the position of each planet, when the eclipse occurred, and other natural phenomena very accurately even in the future. Space Agency the famous America, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), has data called ephemerides (table of celestial body positions) which is the standard for astronomers throughout world, declared accurate up to a span of 30,000 years (13,200 BC to 17,191 AD).
Of course, God has full sovereignty over His creation and He is able to create something from nothingness, there is no need to doubt. However, it seems that God prefers the world who walk with law and order.
Science tells us that ancient humans have been on earth for hundreds of thousands of years. So, is it possible for us to understand Genesis 2—where God formed man from the dust of the earth—as God's way of waiting patiently for thousands of years until the 'human' has the mental capacity to be able to 'walk together god'? To have a covenant relationship with the Creator?
At that point, God breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man be a living creature in God's eyes.
There is an interesting scientific finding about the human brain: Ancient humans turned out to have brains which is bigger and oval in shape. As time goes by, the human brain shrinks size, but instead develop a special part for complicated planning, language, and most importantly: the ability to Time Travel, 'travel through time' mental-or what modern science calls Autonoetic Consciousness self against time).
Keywords: Autonoetic Consciousness
Big Difference: Reaction vs Reflection
Well, after we start to be interested in this topic, what exactly is the ability to 'explore time, or this autonomous consciousness? This is one of the fundamental things that distinguishes humans from animals.
Imagine if a dog runs around inside the house and breaks a ceramic vase. If the old one goes home with a smiling face, he won't feel afraid; he will even wag his tail cheerfully. He will just curl up in fear when he saw his master screaming with a face angry. This is what we call a reaction—an automatic response to what he sees now. The dog doesn't feel guilty because the vase broke; he only saw his master angry.
But, when my daughter ran and broke the vase, the experience is very different. She can recall clearly when she was busy playing, the moment when she accidentally poked the vase, then she "traveled through time" to the future—imagining how disappointing her parents would be when she saw the broken vase later, even before her parents arrived at the house. This is what we call reflection. My daughter is not locked in the "now" moment but has the capacity to look back to the past and look to the future. Can you see the difference? Animals only live in reaction to the situation. But humans live in reflection on a story. We have the capacity to relive the past and imagine the future.
So, why is this ability to "travel time" (autonomously conscious) so crucial for Adam as a Covenant Man? The answer is simple: you can't possibly have a contractual relationship if you can't remember the past or imagine the future. A covenant is a commitment. And commitment needs two things: remembering what has been promised in the past and imagining or expecting the fulfillment of that promise in the future. Without brain capacity to "travel time," humans will only live like animals that react to feelings of hunger or fear right now. We will not be able to know the meaning of "loyal" or "hopefully."
Keyword: Memory & Vision he was, He is, He will be
God's Name and Our Brain Capacity
Do you remember how God introduced Himself? YHWH, the name of God, YHWH is the Tetragrammaton, in Greek it means Four Letters. In Hebrew, the name MIn' YHWH comes from the verb root H-Y-H, which means "Exists" or "To be" (to be/to exist). HA-YAH N'A: Meaning "He already exists" (Past/Past). HO-WEH nIn means "He now exists" (Masa Sekarang/Present). YIH-YEH D'h': Means "He who will come" (Future/Future). 'I already exist, I now exist, and what will come.' That is the name of God. (Revelation 1:8) so you see, we do live in the present, but we can revive the past then and imagine the future. This is the brain capacity that must be possessed to have a covenant relationship (covenant).
Why? Because when you are in the agreement:
You need to know what has happened in the past.
You should be able to look forward to the fulfillment of that promise in the future.
Even though you are still living in the Present.
That is the first Adam. A human who has the mental capacity to be able to have a covenant relationship (Covenant Relationship) with the Creator.
Keyword: Covenant Relationship