what is a man?

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.

I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body

be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Genesis 2:7

Man - every person, is a 3 part being.
Your body is just 1 part of who and what you are.

Man was originally created in the image of God,
until sin destroyed that image.
Sin brought death to the spirit and then the body.
And now everyone dies because of sin.
And from Adam and Eve, every person is now created in the image of fallen man, spiritually dead, with a dying body, and our eternal soul in danger of eternal hell because of sin.

GOD - 3 letters/3 parts

Father - Son (the Word) - Holy Spirit

MAN - 3 letters/3 parts
Soul - Body - Spirit

GOD has 3 parts, called the Godhead, but is 1 God.
Man has 3 parts, called a Human, but is 1 person.

For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
(1 JOHN 5:7)

The 3 parts of GOD can separate and work independently, but always with the same purpose. They always work together, as 1, and in agreement with each other.

Man, cannot separate, without dying.
The 3 parts of man are separated at death.
And the punishment of sin has already begun it's work in all of us.
You are already spiritually dead, in a dying body, waiting for the last effect of sin to take it's toll on the third part of man, the soul.
Hell, a fiery prison, where man's sinful soul goes at death, unless he turns to Jesus Christ for Salvation.

At death, the "spirit" of man goes back to God.

The "body" goes back to the ground, whether by burial or cremation.

Returning to dust, just as the Holy Bible tells us.
(dust-dead skin, is a reminder,

your body is breaking down and will die and become dust)
"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground"

"For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

And the "soul", your eternal spirit body, the true you.
"and man became a living soul."
At death, the soul goes down into Hell because of SIN,
unless the dying man receives Jesus Christ as his Saviour before he dies.

The saved sinner is made clean from sin, by his faith in the Saviour,
Jesus Christ.
His soul is cut free from his condemned flesh (spiritual circumcision)
and then his eternal soul is made free, now able to enter holy Heaven.

This is why every person MUST be saved.
And the Lord Jesus Christ is the ONLY Saviour.

Example :
A football is 1 ball, but with 3 parts.
The outer part = the body

The inner part = the soul
The air inside = the spirit
All 3 parts are needed or it isn't a true ball, it won't work.
This is the same for a man.
If one of our parts is missing - our spirit,

then we aren't a true man (person) made in the image of God.

There's something wrong with us.

Every person is missing a lively spirit, we are all born spiritually dead.

The first man (Adam) was originally created in the image of God,
until he entered into SIN, and his spirit died.
And so every person being born from fallen sinful parents (Adam and Eve) are born spiritually dead, unable to see God or understand the things of God, because God is a Spirit, and sinful man is spiritually dead.

God is a Spirit:
and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

(JOHN 4:24)

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
(1 CORINTHIANS 2:14)

The natural man, that's us, that's everyone, we can't receive the things of God, we can't understand them, they seem foolish to us, because we are all born spiritually dead because of sin!

We think our body, the flesh, is the real us.
But God says man is a "living soul" (Genesis 2:7)

Man lives for the pleasures of the flesh, but he is dying.
God wants us to look to our eternal soul, which is in danger of Hell.
This was the works of Satan, who brought death to every man.

"that through death he (Jesus Christ) might destroy him that had
the power of death, that is, the devil;
Hebrews 2:14

That's why GOD gave us the Holy Bible, so we can KNOW the things of God. And by trusting the word of God, the Holy Bible,
our eyes are spiritually opened to see and understand Him.

When you realise you are a sinner and turn to Jesus Christ to save you from your sins, the Spirit of God lives inside of you.
You are no longer spiritually dead, your faith in Christ, brings new spiritual life by the Holy Spirit of God.
This is called being "born again" by the Spirit of God.
A new birth, to repair the damage that sin has done to every person.
Which only happens to the believer in Jesus Christ, the Saviour of our sins.

Your are put BACK into the image of God,
which was broken because of sin.

And your place in Heaven is booked, and sealed.
Now you are saved through faith in Jesus Christ.