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.