God Almighty created a man by a three step process.

Then the LORD God

1. formed man of dust from the ground, and
2. breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and
3. man became a living being [soul].  Genesis 2:7  NASB

A mate is necessary for the man Adam to produce offspring/seed/descendants and thereby fulfill God Almighty’s command that humanity be fruitful and multiply (Gen 1:28).

And the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”   Genesis 2:18  NASB

There were three steps in the creation of the woman just as there were three steps for the man.

1. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept;
2. then He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh at that place. 
3. And the LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.  Genesis 2:21-22  NASB

After God Almighty fashioned the woman from the rib of the man, the man Adam spoke.

And the man said,  /  “This is now bone of my bones,  /  And flesh of my flesh;  /  She shall be called Woman,  /  Because she was taken out of Man.”  Genesis 2:23  NASB

The man Adam named his helpmate “ ’ishsgah” (H802, Strong’s Concordance), which translates as woman, and that is the term used to denote her in the original text until she is renamed by the man Adam after God Almighty issued the curses (Gen 3:20).  In many translations of Genesis 2 and 3, the woman is often titled “wife”, and the man Adam is identified as “husband.”  Thus, it appears that translators abandoned accuracy for readability and assigned marital status to them in Genesis 2 and 3.  However, we will see evidence in the next chapter that a better description of their relationship while in the garden would be “espoused” or “betrothed.”

An important feature of the creation of the man was that he was made in the image of God.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;  …”    And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  Genesis 1:26-27  NASB

This scripture does not specify what attributes constitute being in the image of God Almighty, and many take advantage of this ambiguity by assigning a chosen divine attribute to all humanity.  However, there has been another who was in the image of God.

in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  2Corinthians 4:4  NASB

Thus, we have Jesus to exhibit what it means for humanity to be in the image of God Almighty, and we will consider that topic in the next section.

In the mean time, there are three plural references to deity in the creation story (Gen 1:26), so we have an indication of the ternary aspect of God Almighty (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).  Furthermore, there are three steps of divine creation for both the man and the woman.  Thus, we have the suggestion that the ternary aspect of deity was deposited in the first couple and resides with all humanity.

May the God who gives peace make you holy in every way.  May he keep your whole being – spirit, soul, and body — blameless when our Lord Jesus Christ comes.  1Thessalonians 5:23  GOD’S WORD

First, humanity has a soul (a living being, gen 2:7), which is something unique among God Almighty’s creatures and is reflective of God the Father.  Second, humanity has a physical body made of dust from the ground, which is reflective of Jesus, deity in bodily form.  The body is the vessel that is home for the soul during its time in the physical realm and provides the means, through the five senses, for the soul to interact with the physical world.  Third, humanity has a spiritual component from God Almighty described as the breath of life, which is reflective of the Holy Spirit.  The spirit within humanity is life itself; without the spirit, there is no life in our bodies.  Such is natural death.

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  Matthew 27:50  NASB

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.  James 2:26  NASB

The spirit within humanity produces sudden insights via intuition or through the spiritual senses.

The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.  1Corithnians 2:14  Revised Standard Version

The spirit of humanity connects the soul with the spiritual realms of light and darkness (Section 2.1).  One experiences the kingdom of God Almighty through the Holy Spirit and angels, and one experiences the kingdom of darkness through the spirit of Satan, evil spirits, and demons.

In addition to the body and spirit, the soul of humanity also has a heart and a mind which assist in connecting the soul with its surroundings.

And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’  ”  Matthew 22:37-39  NASB

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:7  NASB

The mind provides the ability to think, seek knowledge, reason, store memories, and make choices.  The heart is the emotional component of the soul with thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, feelings, and motives.

Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.  Proverbs 4:23  NASB

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  Hebrews 4:12  NASB

As a physical image reflective of the divine trinity, a human is a soul with a body to connect the soul with the physical realm and a spirit to connect the soul with the spiritual realm.  The following illustration indicates the relationship of the components of humanity with its environment.

One’s body, spirit, soul, heart, and mind give one a unique identity among humanity.

An important function of the mind is the will, “the mental facility by which one deliberately chooses or decides upon a course of action” (American Heritage Dictionary).  God Almighty demands that we exercise this ability to make choices.

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse.  So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,”  Deuteronomy 30:19  NASB

Over the centuries, much has been written about the human will from both the theological and philosophical perspectives.  A major debate about the will has been whether humanity has a free will, “the capacity to act without the constraint of necessity or fate” (Oxford Languages).  One’s experiences suggest that choices of import, which affect one’s future and that of others, are seemingly made freely, that is, with complete freedom from constraint of outside influences.  Furthermore, routine choices dealing with the minutia of life are so inconsequential that they reasonably defy any attention of deity.

Here, taken from an internet site, is a concise argument for an unrestrained human will.

The Bible assumes that people made in the image of the free Creator are capable of freely creating on their own. This is at least part of what Scripture means when it says that humans are made in God’s image (Gen. 1:26–27). We reflect God’s self-determination. We think, act and determine our destinies out of our “heart.” The Lord sets before us the possibilities of our lives, including the possibility of life or death. But we freely actualize whatever possibilities our “heart” desires.

That Scripture is not depicting a “soft determinist,” “compatibilistic,” understanding of freedom is clear from the fact that humans often use their freedom in ways that directly contradict the Lord’s will. People are not puppets that God secretly controls, but free agents who possess significant control of their own lives, and can either cooperate with, or resist, the will of their sovereign Creator. 

…

Hence, it is clear that God’s will is not always accomplished, and God’s heart is frequently grieved. 

…

In any event, it is clear that the worldview of Scripture, unlike the Hellenistic philosophical blueprint worldview, does not permit the assumption that the present contingent reality (including sin and evil) can ultimately be explained by referring to a single divine will or mind. While the world as a whole has been created by God, the world as it is at any given moment is the result not only of God’s will, but also the willing of many other creatures who possess the God-given ability to freely determine themselves, and thus to some extent determine the flow of world history. The final explanation for “the way things are” does not rest in one omni-controlling dictatorial will, but in the myriad of wills of this society of free creatures.  (What is the biblical basis for “free will”?, ReKnew internet site, 2019)

The author of this excerpt takes advantage of the ambiguity in Genesis 1:26-27 regarding what it means to be in the image of God Almighty and assigns a free will to humanity based on “God’s self-determination.”  The writer’s assumption that “we freely actualize whatever possibilities our “heart” desires” implies that God Almighty, Who created the universe, has relinquished the right to determine human history.  The worldview based on “the myriad of wills of this society of free creatures” means that God Almighty’s will is not a dominate will.  However, scripture presents a different picture.

The leaders of the spiritual realms of light and darkness each have a will.  We have already mentioned God Almighty’s will.  In His curses in the garden, God Almighty granted Satan dominion over the physical realm, including humanity.  Satan confessed exactly that.

And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.”  Luke 4:5-6  NASB

Scripture says that humanity is subject to Satan’s will.

and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.  2Timothy 2:26  NASB

Satan’s dominion over humanity to do his will is stated in terms of humanity being slaves to sin.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.  Romans 6:20  NASB

We have the apostle Paul’s testimony that he did not have a free will but was a slave to sin.

For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.  …  For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish.  Romans 7:15,19  NASB

Paul, an apostle of Christ filled with the Holy Spirit, did the very evil that he did not wish, an indication that he was constrained by necessity, fate and Satan’s will.  Here is a philosophical expression of Paul’s confession.

David Hume discussed the possibility that the entire debate about free will is nothing more than a merely “verbal” issue. He suggested that it might be accounted for by “a false sensation or seeming experience” (a velleity), which is associated with many of our actions when we perform them. On reflection, we realize that they were necessary and determined all along. 

Arthur Schopenhauer, a nineteenth-century German philosopher, put the puzzle of free will and moral responsibility in these terms:

Everyone believes himself a priori to be perfectly free, even in his individual actions, and thinks that at every moment he can commence another manner of life. … But a posteriori, through experience, he finds to his astonishment that he is not free, but subjected to necessity, that in spite of all his resolutions and reflections he does not change his conduct, and that from the beginning of his life to the end of it, he must carry out the very character which he himself condemns.  (Wikipedia, Free Will, 2016)

The apostle Peter painfully experienced what the apostle Paul would later write.  When Jesus discussed His betrayal and subsequent death, He told His disciples of their part in that which would take place.

And after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.  Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK SHALL BE SCATTERED.’  But after I have been raised, I will go before you in Galilee.”  Matthew 26:30-32  NASB

With foolish arrogance, Peter famously told Jesus that he (Peter) was independent of God Almighty’s plan, that he could and would do as he pleased, that he was “perfectly free.”

But Peter answered and said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.”  Matthew 26:33  NASB

In other words, Peter announced that he was unaffected by divine prophecy because he had a free will.  Jesus immediately set Peter straight about constrains upon him.

Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before the cock crows, you shall deny Me three times.”  Matthew 26:34  NASB

And Peter learned with bitter disappointment that he indeed was subject to necessity, fate, and divine prophecy.

And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a cock crows, you will deny Me three times.”  And he went out and wept bitterly.  Matthew 26:75  NASB

Peter found “to his astonishment that he [was] not free, but subjected to necessity, that in spite of all his resolutions and reflections he [did] not change his conduct.”  Peter demonstrated that which Paul was to state:  Peter was not practicing what [he] would like to do, but [was] doing the very thing [he] hate[d].  This incident with Peter demonstrates the incompatibility of divine prophecy and free will for humanity.  Specifically, divine prophecy imposes necessity and fate upon humanity, thereby negating free will for humanity.

 To say that “God’s will is not always accomplished” is to contradict scriptures which describe God Almighty as omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient (Section 2.5).

“Remember the former things long past, / For I am God, and there is no other; / I am God, and there is no one like Me, / Declaring the end from the beginning / And from ancient times things which have not been done, / Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, / And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; / Calling a bird of prey from the east, / The man of My purpose from a far country, / Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. / I have planned it, surely I will do it.”  Isaiah 46:9-11  NASB

God Almighty has declared that He is in control of all things and that no one or anything has, can, or will prevent that which He has proposed from coming to pass.  Therefore, though it may be distasteful for some and even rejected by others, a God of love ordained the chaos in the world

And the LORD said to him [Moses], “Who has made man’s mouth?  Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind?  Is it not I, the LORD?”  Exodus 4:11

We must conclude that the past has been, the present is, and the future will be fully and completely within the control and plan of God Almighty, i.e., “the classical notion that everything in history reflects God’s sovereign will.”  Despite any perception of independence, humanity collectively is fulfilling the plan for the world which God Almighty laid out in the beginning, and an outline of that plan is what this study intends to document and display.

The LORD of hosts has sworn saying, “Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand,  Isaiah 14:24  NASB

A free will for humanity evaporates under the scrutiny of scripture. 

 Still, many believe that they can freely determine for themselves, that they can make choices independently, that they are free from subjection to God Almighty, that they have a “free will.”  It is common for people to offer as fact that they are making choices independent from God Almighty.

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.”  James 4:13  NASB

Scripture rejects the arrogant claim of human independence from God Almighty’s sovereignty.

Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.  You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.  Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that.”  But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.  James 4:14-16  NASB

We see the unbelieving arrogantly declaring that they are responsible for their lives, world events, the earth’s climate, and on and on, even though they are constantly tossed to and fro by events.  Scripture speaks of those of that mind set.

in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  2Corinthinas 4:4  NASB

The unbelieving, claiming to be free from God Almighty’s will, are blind to the fact that they are not free, that they are a servant of their spiritual father, and that they are doing Satan’s will.

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.  …  John 8:44  English Standard Version (ESV)

God Almighty has spoken about those judged wise and intelligent by the world and who boast about their accomplishments, their influence, and their freedoms.

Thus says the LORD,  /  “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind  /  And makes flesh his strength,  /  And whose heart turns away from the LORD.

…

Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD  /  And whose trust is the LORD.”  Jeremiah 17:5,7  NASB

Scripture makes it clear that God Almighty imposes necessity, fate, and divine will upon humanity.

also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,  Ephesians 1:11  NASB

The idea of predestination for humanity is counter-intuitive and seems ludicrous when considered in the presence of one’s life experiences.  Similarly, in times past, humanity was deceived by the natural senses and believed that the earth was flat and that the sun and stars revolved around the earth.  However, critical thinking, confirmed by scientific advancements, brought understanding of a spherical earth and its movements in the heavens.  Divinely, spiritual maturation will bring understanding regarding the conflict between the “sense” of freedom of choice and what scriptures say about necessity, fate, and divine will.  Ultimately, it becomes a matter of faith to believe that God Almighty is executing His plan for the world, and such acceptance requires reliance upon input from the spiritual senses.