The Corruptible (4)

The creation of man was God’s process of bringing a number of both physical and spiritual things together.  Death is the process of the separation of those things.  Because the composition of God became corrupt by the bonding of sin to God’s design, the sentence of death (and eventual execution of the sentence) was placed upon mankind.  The composition had to decompose, and the individual parts of it returned to their original sources and states, leaving no hope for a continued existence for the creature.

However, the soul’s original source was not physical (like the body’s) or spiritual (like the breath of life), but came into being at the joining of the body and spirit.  The soul came into existence at the creation (for Adam), or birth (for the rest of us).   When the dust returns to dust (Genesis 3:19) and the spirit returns to God (Ecclesiastes 12:7)… what happens to the soul?  It has no place to return to!

The soul is eternal and through death becomes lost and alone when all of the other components return to their original sources.  Simply, it has no place to go at death!  One of the great debates among theologians is the question of the soul’s placement at death… indeed it is somewhat of a dilemma.  The question of salvation then, simply becomes a matter of what to do with the soul… thus, it is the soul of man that needs saved!

God, however, has an answer for the dilemma.  It is called “the resurrection”!  Resurrection is the reversal of the death process… and it cannot happen without death preceding it!  When all the elements that were separated at death are brought back together a resurrection occurs… all the components, that is, except sin, which was the purpose of the whole death/resurrection process from the beginning.  Notice the vision of resurrection from the Book of Ezekiel:

“The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones.  And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.  And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live?  And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest… there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones come together, bone to his bone.  And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them… So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived…”   (Ezekiel 37: 1-12)

Death, the removal (remission) of sin, and resurrection, then becomes the good news of God for mankind!  It looks very similar to the gospel Paul declared in I Corinthians 12: 1-4.  He said that the gospel was the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We will look later at Paul’s declaration.

We see that when sin became attached to, and a part of, the composition of man it changed his nature; from spiritual to carnal.  “To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”  (Romans 8:6)  The nature of man is connected to his body, which is sentenced to die.  It is often referred to as “the flesh”.  The death and decomposition of the body of flesh is corruption… thus, we carry within our being the nature of corruption, waiting for the final disposition of the judgment given to us when death takes its final claim. 

Corruption is the process of deterioration… Paul declares:

“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.”  (I Corinthians 15:50)

His statement reveals further that flesh is corruptible.  Corruption cannot endure eternity as it is the breaking down process, which over a period of time would bring that which is corruptible to nothing.  Eternity is for eternal things.  Our bodies (flesh and blood) are not eternal because of the death sentence and the corruption associated with it.  In our present form we cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  Jesus said “Ye must be born again.”  This will be considered later as well.

At this point we see the problem is:

·         The eternal soul of a human has no dwelling after the death of the person.

·         The body of a human is in a state of corruption, and as such is not designed to live in eternity without the sin nature being dealt with (removed).

·         The spirit of a human has returned to God at the time of their death.

  The needs salvation must address are:

·         The removal of the sin nature from each person’s being.

·         The reconstruction of the soul’s dwelling after death purges sin from our being.

·         The reuniting of the breath of the spirit with the body so the soul can once more take up residence… now in an incorruptible body (spiritual body, according to Paul).

In conclusion, in order for a person to be saved the sin question has to be resolved.  Sin has become part of the nature of man and is passed down from Adam to all of us.  When it comes to the need for salvation, there are no good and bad people… just sinners. 

“Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” (Romans 5:12)

Sin is so ingrained in us that the only way to remove it is to separate all the parts of our being (death)… remove the sin (burial)… and put it back together again (resurrection).  This is the work of God, but He must have our cooperation in order to accomplish it.  The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is the pattern for all to follow if salvation is to be accomplished.  This is why we need to be saved… next we will look out how we are to be saved.

The Nature (3)

God’s creation of man resulted in a being with certain desires, attractions, and tendencies.  Adam (and the human race to follow) was given a “nature” during the process of his creation.  In the beginning that nature was spiritual... his desires, attractions, and tendencies were toward spiritual things.  That was the result of the composer/creator’s design and while a remnant of the spiritual nature still exists in man… something terrible happened to cause it to diminish in its role.  The composition that was man changed.

In the beginning it seemed the most anticipated part of the day for mankind was when they walked with the voice of the Lord in the cool of the evening… this was mankind’s spiritual yearning… their nature.  This may have been a daily occurrence, but one day that changed… one day Adam and Eve changed.  It was the day one of them heard another voice speak to her in the Garden.

“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.  And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1)

The serpent beguiled Eve into eating of the forbidden fruit that day and she gave “also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”  They ignored the warning of the Lord to “not eat of it:  for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”  By disobedience both sin and its consequence, the sentence of death, entered into humanity that fateful day.

Disobedience was the open door that gave sin access to the spiritual nature of Adam and Eve.  Not only did sin have the right of entry into their nature, it had the ability to attach itself to the composition of God’s highest creation… Man.  Man, who was created in the image of God, was no longer under the leadership of pure spiritual yearnings… he began to be led in his choices by his own faulty thinking.  Foremost in his thoughts, no doubt, was the recently acquired death sentence that they expected to shortly be executed… their minds were now focused on their guilt and how to survive the promised consequence of it… death. 

Another nature now was an integral part of their being… the sin nature, which activated a new perspective of thinking… how to survive.  Survival concerns prompted them to hide themselves from God by covering their bodies and finally hiding among the trees… thus the carnal mind (consumed with how to survive) became the highest order of man’s being.  God’s composition is now corrupt. 

The original make up of mankind was that of a being who had a spiritual component that always desired God’s presence and God’s ways.  When sin and guilt entered man’s nature, the spiritual guidance was replace by man’s own thinking… in a sense the spirit of man died… or at least was greatly diminished.  Sin entered and survival became his highest priority… this process of thought is the essence of the carnal mind.

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

“… the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”  (Romans 8:7)

The beautiful composition of God was corrupted.  God knew there was only one way to remedy the problem… he had to take the parts and separate them, set aside the sin, and put it all back together without the sin.  That separation process is called death.  Death is really a process of separating the components of the human creature.  The process has been described in the testimonies of those who experienced near death events.

The soul and spirit separate from the body (out of body experience) then the soul and spirit separate as the spirit returns to God.  Finally, the body itself decomposes into its original elements.  The last of the decomposition process is typically the bones separating from each other and the marrow inside the bone deteriorating.  Notice the words from Hebrews chapter four:

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

A sword is an instrument of death and is used to divide… the division brings about death.  The word of God is a sword.  Sinful man is under the judgment of that sword and will need salvation if there is any hope for a continued existence.  Thank God there is and that is what this series is all about!

The Creature (2)

Often the topic of salvation is discussed in terms of how it is accomplished, and that is definitely an important consideration.  However, before moving into that subject it would be good to consider why we need to be saved first.  

The biblical account of the creation of man will lend helpful insight in order to grasp the why of salvation.  Without going into great detail it is clear to see that the creation of Adam was a two part event resulting in a three part creature who had the image of God upon him. 

“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.”  (Genesis 2:7)       

God first formed man from the elements, making for him a physical “house” for the Spirit to enter.  Then God breathed the breath (spirit) of life into that house (body) He had just made, which was the second of the two part act of the creation of man.  The two actions (forming and breathing) of God in the creation Adam resulted in a third entity; the bible called it a living soul.  The end result was a creature made in the image of God who was a composition of three parts: body, soul, and spirit.

The body being the earthly house, or physical body of Adam.  The spirit of Adam was the breath of life, which came directly from God.  The soul was essence of the creature God had made.  The essence of a living soul is three part as well:  the conscious, the subconscious, and the will.  The will is the center of the soul and out of it the choices of life come forth.  The conscious mind is the seat of man’s thinking and logic; it exerts influence on the will.  The subconscious mind is the seat of man’s emotions (feelings) and it exerts influence on the will.

Adam then could be described as a creature made in God’s image.  He had a body made of the physical elements present on earth.  His life was sustained by breathing.  And he had the ability to choose by exercising his own will, upon which his thinking and feelings were influencers.  In short, Adam was a composition of parts that meshed together according to the creation and design of God.  But… he was alone.

“And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof.  And the rib, which the LORD god had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.”  (Genesis 2: 21 & 22)   

To bring a companion into Adam’s life God would do a unique creative work, which came forth from his creation, Adam.  God caused a deep sleep to come upon Adam (a typology of death), removed from him a rib, and then closed up the flesh of the man.  In might be wondered if there would remain a scar in the side of the Adam?  So we see a bride is brought forth from the side of Adam… from a rib that is removed.

It is interesting to note the similarity (typology) to Christ’s acquisition of His bride (the church).  He was put into a deep sleep (death) and his side was opened (by the soldier’s spear) and blood and water came forth.  John declared that those born of God came forth by blood and water… the bride of Christ.  Maybe Jesus and Adam will bear the scars of matrimony in their sides eternally.

It might be wondered why God used a rib from Adam.  It has been pointed out that God chose a bone from his side so she could walk beside him, not over him and not under him.  There seems to be more to be gleaned from the account as well.

As we have seen, the creation of Adam was a composition of parts.  The creation of Eve would logically seem to need to be in the same order.  Adam would have to give of himself (sacrifice) in order to have a bride… God chose a rib.  One reason a rib was used could be the fact that it is one of the most expendable bones… the loss of a rib would very minimally affect the quality of Adam’s life, if it affected it at all.  We now understand that within the rib a genetic code was present to form a new body… with some tweaking so that the Garden of Eden didn’t end up with two males inhabiting it, (thank God for tweaking!).  However, perhaps the most significant reason was not so much the rib itself, but what the rib contained… bone marrow. 

The new person, Eve, would need the basic processing center for the life giving blood (which carries oxygen to all the body… which is the breath of life!).  Bone marrow is where the blood cells are produced!  It is the center of the physical body that enables a continued distribution of the spirit of life throughout the body.

All of that may seem quite detailed, but it will come back later as important concepts to the question at hand, i.e. the need for salvation.  In summary, God created a man and a woman by a process of composition… putting parts together to make a whole being, which is greater than the sum of those parts.  The creation of mankind was after the image of the creator Himself.  In the original state of creation the composition “worked” perfectly… as it has been said, “God doesn’t make junk!” 

What would happen, however, if something was added to the composition?  Or, what would happen if something was taken from the composition?  Would it be God’s design any longer?  How would it function?  And how could it be brought back to its original condition?  Or… could it be brought back to an even better state?

Does man need salvation?  The answer is forth coming and its more than you might think!

The Gulf (1)

The difference between faith and presumption is both minuscule and enormous.  Regarding salvation of the eternal soul, I fear there are far too many who have not assessed the slight difference and are on the wrong side of a great gulf.  In such a serious matter, there should be no room for belief without basis, or for unfounded faith.

Presumption is rooted in the pride of life and was one of the three points of temptation of both Jesus in the wilderness of Judea and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Eve presumed that she would become wise.  Jesus was tempted to presume that angels would bear him up if he cast himself from the temple’s pinnacle.  Presumption is a wolf in the sheep’s clothing of feigned faith.  It has all the appearances of the genuine, but without the basis of reality… the truth.  Truth is the foundation of all real faith… anything else is a presumptuous counterfeit.

No sincere church member would want to admit that his belief of salvation is incorrect because there runs deep within the soul of humanity a root of spiritual pride.  We (as a race) are lost but cannot bear to admit that we are.  This pride is our undoing by causing our hearts and minds to become fertile ground for the planting of false teaching, which will erroneously comfort our souls.  The comfort of lies is short-lived; we should avoid it at all cost.  

Have you ever stepped out of your home believing you were carrying the house key with you?  With doors locked you went on your way in faith that you would be able to enter the house upon your return.  Was it really faith?  Could it have been presumption?  Both faith and presumption produce a strong belief, however one is based on reality and the other is based on erroneous thinking… an assumption.  The sincere belief that you had your house key does not mean that you actually did, and if you did not your mindset would be presumptuous.  Your belief would not have been founded in faith, but in presumption.   

A true knowledge of the key’s possession could only be gained if the key’s presence was actually verified.  You would have to search for it and find it in order to truly know that you have the key.  At that point your belief would actually be faith and not presumption.  Verification is the key to faith… that requires a search… a thorough search. 

How long could one erroneously believe that he had the key and yet have staunch “faith” that he did.  Minutes?  Hours?  Days? Months? Even years!  One could believe for any length of time, but when it came time to enter the house the truth will be found out.

Jesus told the religious people of his time that they should “search the scriptures”, and that “in them ye think ye have eternal life.”  He was against presumptive beliefs.  A thousand years earlier Solomon stated, “There is a way that seemeth right to a man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death.”  What we think, or what seems right, are only pitfalls of unfounded belief.

In the judgment scenario described by Jesus in chapter 7 of Matthew, those who had believed presumptuously for their salvation were shocked to find the judge rendering a verdict totally out of line with their expectations.  Their stunned cry was, “Lord, Lord have we not done many wonderful works?”  They had strong belief… strong enough to do great works… but the basis of their faith was not on verified salvation.  While they performed great works, they presumed a salvation that they did not truly possess!

This is the house built on the sand… it looks good, but cannot stand in the Day of Judgment.  They left thinking they had the key, but did not verify with the scriptural search demanded by Jesus.  The challenge to us is to put aside spiritual pride and humbly seek the Lord and his word for the “rock” foundation upon which we must build our spiritual house.

The purpose of this writing is to help in the verification process.  I want to be on the right side of the great gulf separating the faithful from the presumptuous.  May your faith be in the verified Word of God, and may you enjoy this search to the end that you may be saved in the day you meet with the great God and Savior… JESUS CHRIST! 

Weak Negotiations

When an absence of understanding is in place, efforts to accomplish objectives that are affected by those things that are not understood produce results falling far short of the desired end, or in many cases no results at all.  The side effects of those efforts are frustration and anger.

In the case of an auto that runs on gasoline, an empty tank will result in a car with no power.  If the operator does not understand that the car needs gas to run, he will become frustrated as he turns the ignition key to the start position with none of the intended results.  If he persists at the attempt to start the vehicle without adding gas to the tank he may eventually not get to work on time… or at all.  When payday comes and the check is too small he may become angry at the car for not working. 

Too often, the philosophy of modern day leaders is that they do not need to understand God’s laws and principles… they will come to their own solutions.  Unfortunately, this lack of any attempt to gain spiritual understanding results in answers and solutions that simply do not work.  One would only need to read the first eleven chapters of the bible to find out that nations serve, and have served, a vital purpose throughout a lengthy period of man’s history.  This has been in effect since man has written down his activities in the books of history. 

The story of the tower of Babel reveals the intervention of God into the affairs of mankind as too much world unity was endangering the race as a whole.  While modern philosophy believes the solution is to have unity, the spiritual reality is that world-wide oneness is an invitation to disaster.   Lucifer knows this and is spoken of as desiring and attempting to both “weaken” and “deceiving” the nations.  Weak nations have no ability to hold the world in check, as they are susceptible to the power of centralized (read that as “global”) government.  The tower of Babel was a project born out of the desire for global dominance by one Nimrod, son of Cush.  At least, that is what appeared to be the genesis of it all.  But really, it goes back one more step to the spirit behind the madness… it came from Lucifer.  His desire is to have world-wide control… more importantly (to him), world-wide worship.  Nimrod was the devil’s first Anti-Christ.  God undid the unity by means of the nations formed from the chaos in Babel.

Fast forward to the present.  The nations of the world are weak… not in weaponry… but in resolve and understanding and because they are the world is “ripe for the picking”.  As the undisputed strongest nation in the world sits at the table of a third rate rouge state it negotiates from a position of weakness… endangering the entire nation… the entire region… the entire globe.  War is looming on the horizon and global government will be the outcome of it… all because men think they can negotiate peace with nations that have no such desire.  Ask Neville Chamberlain how that worked out.  Oh… you say his is dead.  Right… but we may have a conversation opportunity soon if something doesn’t change.   “Imagine”… nothing to kill or die for.   Thanks John.