The Paramountcy Of The Soul

The soul is the only thing that differentiates man from every other organism in the universe.  According to Genesis, it was made at the same moment man's body was made.  That account relates two things God did to constitute man:

1. He formed man's body from the dust of the ground
2. He formed man's soul from the breath of His nostrils

As always, none of these was done arbitrarily; there was a very specific design for the mode in which man was created.
      Q: Why dust for the body?
      A: To make it temporary

     Q: Why God's breath for the soul?
     A: To make it permanent

A significant point about dust is that dirt has four general gradations, or echelons in size, here listed from largest to smallest:

1. Gravel
2. Sand
3. Silt
4. Clay

In the book of Job, Elihu said he was formed out of the clay, and there are numerous other references to man being clay.  So apparently, God formed man out of the smallest form of dirt (clay) to remind man of two things:

1. We are infinitesimal
2. He is the potter

• Since man ostensibly was made from clay, it is interesting to note that Jesus was once recorded to heal a man's blindness by making clay and applying it to his eyes, almost as if he was using the ingredients for man's body to form new eyes for him.

God is said to have created the body and soul of man in the same verse.  This was extremely important for Him to do, but to know why, we must thoroughly understand a definition:

Definition
Death:  The fork at which the body and soul separate paths.

• The body and soul must exist simultaneously for human life to exist.

Because they are made of different things, the body has to go to the grave, but it is impossible, in almost every sense of the word, for the soul to die.  So when a body takes the fork in the road that leads to the tomb, the soul must take the other fork, which leads to eternity.

• Man can go down both forks because he is made of two constituent parts.

• However, the soul is made of only one whole part, so it cannot be divided.

• Therefore, when the soul encounters a second fork (on the road to eternity), it can only go down one of the two: 1) Heaven or 2) Hell.

This is extremely important to evaluate, but to know why, we must thoroughly understand a definition:

Definition
Importance: Duration.

• What makes something important is how long it lasts
• This is why generally family is more important than friends, and friends are more important than acquaintances.  Each of the former lasts longer than the latter.

If that is the definition of importance, what is the most important conceivable or inconceivable thing?
Answer: Eternity.  And since that is the destination of the soul, that is the subject each human is obliged to learn more about than anything else.  How often is this the case?

Aside from this logic, consider the mathematical value ascribed to the soul.
There are two basic things which determine value:

1. Scarcity
2. What one is willing to give for it

Where one of these lacks, the other may make up for it.  For example, souls are not scarce (there being well over 7,000,000,000 on the globe) but what is one willing to give for it?
Here are a couple of mathematical values:

             self > money
             family > self

Can any contrive to think of a more valuable terrestrial thing than family?  Placing oneself at the top of a standard nuclear family, who is the most important in the family?
Answer: Children.

So, it appears that children are the most valuable thing in the entire world.
Would the value of a child then equal the value of a soul?  First consider this mathematical equation.

            God > family

God is certainly greater than all men.  What would He give in exchange for the price of a soul?
Money?  No, no quantity could amount to nearly enough.
Himself?  Could He go further than that?  By our standards, there is one more valuable thing than self which He could give.

                                                            A child


That is what a soul is worth.  Not even the value of one's child can amount to it.  But the value of
God's child = a soul.