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Introduction
“And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He MUST NOT be ALLOWED to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” Genesis 3:22.
In this study we are going to address a concept that is fundamental to our understanding of the nature of Mankind. The question of, “Was Mankind created to be a spirit?,” might appear to be a side issue, yet it is found at the centre of many theological conflicts in the faith. That is, our misunderstanding of this truth, which is found at the very beginning of all things, has obscured our theology in many other important points. So in this study we hope to address this subject from two perspectives: the first, in relation to the judgment of God, the second, in relation to our association to Creation itself.
Now, in the main text of our study, Mankind who was JUST condemned to death, had to be banished from the Garden of Eden, just in case he put out his hand to eat from the Tree of Life and live forever. The obvious question here is, how could mankind that was just condemned to death by the word of God be brought back to life, and why would God object to this? This is the conflict that we hope to address, the answer of which will help us to understand what Adam was essentially created to be, and the nature of death to which he was condemned.
Spiritual Death?
We, generally and widely, have accepted that when Adam ate from the Tree of Good and Evil, that he died spiritually, SOLELY on the premise that Adam did not fall to the ground and breathed his last at that very moment. Therefore we have ASSUMED, it must be because it is his spirit that died and not his body. However, Adam’s present condition can simply be explained using the principles of Seedtime and Harvest, as James says, “Desire conceived, brings birth to sin, and sin fully grown brings forth death.” James 1:15. Meaning, Adam ate the seed of sin, which was now working in his BODY to bring forth death. His body was now subject to the consequence of it, which took a long time to work to its eventual conclusion in his case. Aging, diseases, sickness, tiredness, toil are all the consequences of Sin.
And the point Adam did NOT die spiritually is proved by the fact that God cast him out of the Garden of Eden, lest he ate from the Tree of Life and lived forever. And this is where the argument of spiritual death falls apart, that asserts it is Adam’s spirit that died which eventually resulted in the death of his body. Then the question now becomes, if Adam now ate from the Tree of Life as he did when he ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, then does this mean his spirit would have come back to life? Then how is the consciousness of Evil accounted for, which we have attributed to the state of being spiritually dead? Most of all, why did God even kick him out, if his spirit could be brought to life by eating from the Tree of Life, as it died when he ate from the tree of good and evil? So, it does not make sense for God to kick him out of the garden, if it was true that Adam was spirit and it was his spirit that died that very moment.
However, there is a simple and straightforward explanation, when we consider Mankind according to Body and Soul. That is, it is his body that died, as Paul says, “The BODY is dead because of Sin,” Romans 8:10. It is the body of Adam that was now made subject to the spirit of the power of the air, which now had dominion over the whole world. [Ephesians 2:1-3.] As a result the Soul of mankind was now sold under sin being awakened to the consciousness of Evil. [Romans 7:14.] Now, in such as situation, God has a reason to be CONCERNED, because if Adam now eats from the Tree of Life, he will make his BODY to live forever, the result of which is that mankind would have been eternally damned, having a CONSCIOUS that is EVIL and a BODY that NEVER DIES. The consequence of which is that this world would have been an unimaginable place of evil. And this point is illustrated in the story of Noah, where God seeing the evil desires of Mankind said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” Genesis 6:3. If mankind, while in the state of condemnation to death, having a longevity of life which was measured in a millennium, was a source of such aggravation to God, what would we be like, if our body never died? Furthermore, the fact that God shortened the longevity of the body of Mankind, should give us the idea where AGING is in operation, as an aspect of the consequence of sin. As Paul said, “Indeed if our outward man, [that is the Body] is being brought to decay.” 2 Corinthians 4:16. Please note, if death is an aspect of the spirit which is directly linked to the state of the body, then it also means our spirit grows old and weak the same as the body does, and is not eternal. And we KNOW this is NOT true!
Death comes on the heels of Sin, that is to say, where Sin is in operation, there it will bring forth the fruit of death. So Paul said, “Because of this, just as Sin entered into the world through one man, and Death through sin, so also death passed to all men, because all sinned.” Romans 5:12. So, if we determine where sin is in operation then we will know where death is manifested. Meaning, if sin is in our spirit, then death would kill our spirit, but if sin is in our body then death will kill our body. It is in this regard that Paul gives us creation itself as a point of reference saying, when sin entered the world, then creation itself was made subject to corruption. [Romans 8:20.] Creation is a counterpart to our physical body, that is everything living that came forth from the ground, from the plants, to the beasts of the fields and the birds of the air, all of which are just as we ourselves are. Then since creation itself was made subject to corruption, this means, Death was NOT PART OF Adam’s SPIRIT but of his BODY. So the fact that God stopped Adam from eating from the Tree of Life and subjected his BODY to DEATH, was an act of mercy from God, since without it there would have been no means for our salvation.
So when God described the death of Adam He said, “Cursed is the ground for YOUR SAKE; In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; For DUST you are, and to DUST you shall return.” Genesis 3:17,19. The ground being cursed, to produce thorns and thistles, is a reflection of our BODY being cursed, to bring forth the works of sin, which results in our eventual end to return to be dust. So, Paul says, “the BODY is dead because of Sin,” which is another way to say, “the body is made subject to Death because of Sin.” Death has no authority over our spirit, in fact when we say it is our spirit that died, WE MAKE the HUGE mistake in making Death out to be a non-person. In claiming, it is our spirit that died being separated from God, which eventually worked out to the demise of our body. But Death is a person, just as Sin is the character and nature of the devil being manifested in our body to bring forth the fruit of death. More so, the Sin of Adam is passed in BODY and not in spirit, this is the VERY reason why Christ did not come through the seed of man. For Mankind to be spiritually dead, it means sin must be passed through the spirit, and this is NOT true!
We have to understand it is the physical aspect, that is the body of Adam that died, and NOT his spirit, which is the Breath of Life we have from God. Therefore, it stands to reason, if it is his BODY that would have LIVED if he had eaten from the Tree of Life, then it is also equally true that it is his BODY that DIED when he ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Sin dwells in our Body, and it was our Soul that was opened to the consciousness of evil and not our spirit. [Romans 7:14-18.] That is why the Lord by His blood purifies our conscience, that is to say our Soul. As Paul says, “How much more will the BLOOD of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, PURIFY our CONSCIENCE from dead works, in order to serve the living God!” Hebrews 9:14. In relation to which God says, “For it is the BLOOD that maketh an atonement for the SOUL.” Leviticus 17:11. So we can see, conscience is an aspect of the Soul and NOT the spirit, since it is our Soul that is purified by the Blood. [Acts 15:8-9, Hebrews 10:22, 1 Peter 1:22.]
And Paul defines the death of Mankind to be of Body and Soul and NOT in spirit saying, “And you, being dead in your trespasses and sins— in which once you walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit now working in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all also once lived in the desires of our flesh, doing the things willed of the flesh [that is of the body] and of its thoughts [that is of the soul]; and we were by nature children of wrath even as the rest.” Ephesians 2:1-3. So when Paul says “you being dead,” he is NOT speaking about our spirit, but our mind, that is our Soul being darkened and the desires of our body being corrupted to bring forth death. [Romans 1:21-28, Ephesians 4:17-18.]
What is it to be Born Again?
This Faulty reasoning of Spiritual Death is the cause why we have a wrong perception of what it means to be Born Again. As a result it has also contributed to obscure what Mankind was created to be. That is, we currently think we need to be Born Again, PURELY for the reason we believe our spirit was dead. Hence, we see being Born Again as a means to remedy this condition. And this leads us to a self-serving deduction, that is if our spirit which was dead is brought to life by being Born Again, then we conclude we ourselves must have been created spirits. But that is NOT what being Born Again means, which we have so DIMINISHED by such reasonings.
One of the main sources for the assumption of spiritual death and of the nature of mankind is that, we think Adam had a fellowship with God being the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. However, this is contrary to the truth of Scripture, as John says, “For the Spirit was NOT yet given, because Jesus was NOT yet glorified.” John 7:39. The main point of this statement is that the Holy Spirit was NEVER given for the purpose of dwelling in any CREATED being prior to Christ’s glorification. Yet, at the same time the Holy Spirit is also described as dwelling with us, as the Lord said, “But you know Him, for He abides with you and He will be in you.” John 14:17. To abide with us, means He was outside of us. And Adam’s fellowship with God was not any different from that of angels of Heaven, who walked and talked with God without having His Holy Spirit dwelling in them. Bearing in mind, even Satan and his angels came and went in the presence of God for 4000 years after the fall of Adam, in order to accuse Mankind. [Revelation 12:9-10.] However, we CANNOT conceive of the thought that Adam had fellowship with God in his NATURAL BODY, as to walk and talk with Him because we CANNOT conceive the concept of a BODY that was utterly FREE from Sin.
We have to remember, Adam once stood before God stark naked and felt no shame, neither did God see any fault with it. Now, was that because Adam’s spirit was united with God, or was it because there was no Sin in Adam’s body? However, once sin entered into the BODY of Mankind, even God Himself had to make a tunic of animal skin to cover the shame of Mankind. [Genesis 3:21.] And in the Law God made provision saying, “And you shall make for them linen trousers to cover their nakedness; they shall reach from the waist to the thighs.” Exodus 28:42. Meaning, God now saw a fault in the naked BODY of Mankind, which He once did not with Adam. Even in the design of the Temple, God purposely used a thick veil to separate the Most Holy place where the Ark of Covenant was kept. This is meant to be a symbol of a barrier that now existed between God and Mankind, in a portrayal of a body that is dead in sin. In which respect Paul says, “Therefore brothers, having confidence for entering the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He dedicated for us through the VEIL that is His FLESH.” Hebrews 10:19-20. That is, the body of the Lord Jesus Christ being torn on the CROSS, was the means by which the VEIL of separation in the temple was also torn. [Matthew 27:51.] Likewise, even circumcision was introduced as an illustration of the cutting away of the BODY of sin. [Colossians 2:11.]
And all the elaborate rituals of the Law were purposely designed for the purpose of purifying the flesh, as Paul says, “For if the blood of goats and of bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those having been defiled sanctify them for the purification of the flesh.” Hebrews 9:13. The BODY was the focus, because it is the body that fell. Yet, in all this ritual Paul says, the conscience of the one offering these sacrifices was not cleansed, being reminded of sin year after year. [Hebrews 10:1-4.] So, it is the Body and NOT the state of our spirit that became a barrier between God and Mankind, on the account of sin. Hence, the desires of our body became CONTRARY to that of the spirit, so James says, “The Spirit that He has made to dwell in us yearns with envy.” James 4:5. And Paul also says, “For the flesh desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.” Galatians 5:17.
This brings us to the TRUE purpose of what it means to be Born Again, that is, we who once were created to be Natural beings and to live in a natural world, are NOW Born Again in Christ to be a NEW CREATION of Spiritual beings, that are Citizens of Heaven. This is what the Lord meant when He said, “That having been born of the flesh is flesh, and that having been born of the Spirit is spirit.” John 3:6. The essence of which is a transformation from a FLESH being to that of SPIRITUAL being. As Paul says, “As the one was made of DUST, so also are those of the earth [that is to say flesh]; and as is the HEAVENLY One, so also are those of heaven [that is to say spirit]. And as we have borne the image of the earthly [flesh], we shall also bear the image of the heavenly [spirit].” 1 Corinthians 15:48-49. [2 Corinthians 5:17, Philippians 3:20-21.] And the Lord elaborated on what He meant by being Born Again by comparing the one Born of the Spirit to the wind saying, “The WIND blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know from where it comes and where it goes. Thus is everyone having been BORN of the Spirit.” John 3:8. In this description the Lord was revealing the nature of the one born of the Spirit, as Paul says in Hebrews, “The One making His angels WINDS, and His ministers a flame of fire.” Hebrews 2:7. So, the Lord is saying, the one Born of the Spirit, is going to be made like the WIND in the similar manner of the angels of God. As the Lord Himself said, “Those having been considered worthy to obtain that which is to the age, and the resurrection which is from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage. For neither are they able to die any more, for they are LIKE the ANGELS and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.” Luke 12:35-36.
The Holy Spirit coming to dwell in us, on the account of Christ the Heavenly Man, being one Spirit with Him, is what raised Mankind far above all Powers and Principalities, to even sit on the Throne with Him. [Ephesians 1:20-21, Ephesians 2:4-6.] We need to KNOW the magnitude of this honour which ADAM himself NEVER had. This privilege was NEVER granted to any being in all of Creation. That is to say, ONLY in the LORD Jesus Christ, the Heavenly Man, that Mankind who was created to be flesh becomes spirit! We honestly do not understand we diminish the work of Christ, when we claim mankind was created spirit, because we take away from the gift that can ONLY come through HIM. What Christ has done is not some rehashing of what Mankind was originally created to be but a complete transformation, the elevation of Mankind that was bound to Earth, to a spiritual being that is now bound to Heaven, which is Truly a New Creation!
The Mirror of Creation
Now, what Adam was created to be can be illustrated from Creation itself, that is Creation is composed of essentially THREE main elements, Earth, Water and Air, as such it is meant to be a mirror image of ourselves, as we are also composed of Flesh, Blood and Breath. In the story of Genesis, God specifically states the moment the Earth and water came to be saying, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas.” Genesis 1:9-10. However, the source of the Air that encompasses the whole earth is not mentioned. As important as Air is to the world, and its significant effect being portrayed as wind throughout Scripture, it is a curious thing that there is no mention of it at the moment of creation. That is because, Air is meant to represent something that has existed from everlasting, which is Spirit as God Himself is. So God’s effect in the world is portrayed as the Breath He gives to everything living thing, as Elihu says, “If He should set His heart on it, if He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.” Job 34:14-15.
So in this illustration, the Earth corresponds to our Body, the Waters correspond to our Soul, and the Air corresponds to our spirit, that is the breath of life we have from God. So, we can see that the Earth and Water are from below, while the Air is not an aspect of creation but something that comes from above. Then we can UNDERSTAND, when God formed Adam from the dust, that was watered by the mist that came up from beneath, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, that Adam essentially became a Living SOUL. [Genesis 2:7.] So we may say, Adam became “a Living Water.” Please Note, we use this term purely for the sake of expression, as to illustrate the eternal essence of the Soul of Mankind, and NOT in relation to the term the Lord used, in John 4. Now, the day the Water and Earth were separated is also the day Adam was brought forth from the ground, that is the Third day. So we can relate, our BODY and SOUL were brought forth from the Earth, while the breath of life we have in our lungs is from God. And THIS IS what defines what we were essentially created to be. So at death, both our Body and Soul, that is to say Flesh and Blood are described as returning to the depth of the Earth, while the Breath in our lungs, that is to say our spirit is released back to the Air, that is to say back to God. So Solomon describing the death of Mankind says, “Then the DUST will return to the EARTH as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.” Ecclesiastes 12:7.
The term DUST encompasses both aspects of Mankind, that is Body and Soul. As such there is a clear distinction between the Souls that are Earthbound and the Souls that are of Heaven. In which regard, God on the second day, “Divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.” Genesis 1:7. So when the Lord said, “You are from BELOW; I am from ABOVE. You are of this world; I am not of this world.” John 8:23. He is speaking of His Soul which is from Heaven, while ours was from the earth. Since the spirit in all of mankind is from above, that is the breath of life we have from God. Meaning, the Lord Himself had to have the Breath of Life in His nostrils just the SAME as we do. And we know, the body of the Lord was formed on the Earth, being conceived in the womb of Mary by the Word she received. This body had to grow from what she ate and drank, as He himself grew in body from what He ate and drank. So when John says, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” John 1:14. He is saying, the Word God partook of Flesh and Blood, to be made Body and Soul like us. [Hebrews 2:14.]
So, only His Soul can we attribute as coming down from Heaven which is distinct from our own. God has a Soul, which Scripture refers to in relation to the expression of His emotions, such as Isaiah 1:14, Isaiah 42:1, Jeremiah 32:41, Jeremiah 12:7. But most of all, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is described in Psalms of David as, “You will not abandon my SOUL into Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see decay.” Psalms 16:10. As well as in the Gospels, where the Lord Himself said, “My SOUL is very sorrowful, even to death;” Mark 14:34. The Soul is the expression of the DEPTH and BEING of a person, which is described in Scripture as the INNER man. And the Spirit searches to determine its thought and intentions. As Paul says, “For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the things of the man, except the spirit of the man within him?” 1 Corinthians 2:10-11.
In which regard, John the Baptist said, “The One coming from above is above all. The one being from the earth is from the earth, and speaks from the earth. The One coming from heaven is above all. What He has seen and heard, this He testifies.” John 3:31-32. So when the Lord said to His disciples, “I have given them Your word, and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” John 17:14. So in this instance, which part of the disciples was changed to be not of this world? It was NOT their spirit, since the spirit ALWAYS returned back to God who gave it, and it is NOT their body, since they all died and saw corruption. But their SOUL, which once was of the earth and was destined to enter the depth of Sheol, but now is made clean by the Words He had spoken to them and is now lifted to enter Heaven.
The fact that the Lord gave His flesh for the life of the world ought be all the evidence required to prove Adam died in Body and NOT in spirit. [John 6:51.] That is the Lord in BODY, was made subject to the suffering of death, in dying the death we ought to have died. As Paul says, “we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, because of the suffering of death, having been crowned with glory and with honor, so that by the grace of God He might TASTE DEATH for EVERYONE.” Hebrews 2:9. So, if in fact it was our spirit that was dead, then Christ’s Spirit must also have been made subject to the same death, if He is truly to be our substitute! But Christ died in the flesh, His BODY given to the GRAVE and His SOUL to the depth of SHEOL, and He breathed His SPIRIT and commended it into the hands of His Father. Just as Solomon described our death! Meaning, the DEATH of CHRIST is an EXACT and FULL expression of the death we ourselves ought to have died for our sins, as Paul says, “He tasted death for everyone!”
We need to have a clear understanding of what we are created to be, in order for us to know where we came from and where we are going. That is to say, what we were in Adam to what we become in Christ. This is a FUNDAMENTAL aspect, because it addresses the issue of Sin and how it relates to the body of the flesh being influenced by the spirit of the power of the air, and of Righteousness in relation to the spirit, being influenced by the Spirit of God. As Paul says, “For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit, life and peace, because the mind of the flesh is hostility toward God; for it is not subject to the Law of God, for not even can it be. And those being in the flesh are not able to please God.” Romans 8:6-8. It is in the midst of this conflict that the Soul of Mankind is either won or lost. The implication is that, in Mankind the issue of Life and Death are illustrated in the very composition of our BEING. That is we as Living Soul, have the option to submit ourselves to the dictates of the flesh ruled by the spirit of the Air and reap the rewards of Death, or we submit ourselves to the leading of the Spirit of God, whom we have through Christ Jesus and reap the reward of Eternal Life in Righteousness. As Paul says, “For the one sowing to his own flesh, from the flesh will reap decay. But the one sowing to the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” Galatians 6:8.
So, the overall conclusion is that Mankind was essentially created to be a Living Soul, to live in a Body of flesh given life by the breath of God. So, at the fall, the Soul of Mankind was bound to the flesh through the Sin Adam, the spirit of the air having dominion over the body. However, in Christ Jesus, the Soul of Mankind is redeemed from the flesh, and is now bound to the spirit in righteousness, being sealed by the Holy Spirit who has come to make His dwelling in us. So to what we have submitted our soul to be bound to will determine our end, be it to the flesh resulting in death or to the Spirit resulting in Life. [Romans 6:17-18, Romans 8:9-10,]
Now, the issue of Spiritual Death does have a significant part to play, but it is NOT in relation to the fall Adam who is flesh, but in relation to Christ who is Spirit. Meaning, Spiritual Death can ONLY be attributed to one who first had to be made spirit. As, Paul says, “For it is impossible for those once having been enlightened, and having tasted of the heavenly gift, and having become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and having tasted the goodness of God’s word and the power of the coming age— and then having fallen away—to restore them again to repentance, crucifying in themselves the Son of God and subjecting Him to open shame.” Hebrews 6:4-6. That is, one who has come out of the pollution of the world through the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and has partaken of the Holy Spirit as to have been made spirit, yet have chosen to live to the dictates of the lusts of the flesh to the condemnation of the Soul. [2 Peter 2:20-21.] Such a one can be termed as spiritually dead, as one who is disqualified from the faith, for whom there is NO means for repentance, since they have fallen as spirit.
Resolving the issue of Spiritual Death and understanding the essence of Mankind to be a Living Soul, helps to address why it is the Soul of Mankind that is either Saved or Lost. [Matthew 10:28.] It explains how mankind that was born to Flesh can be made spirit in Christ. It answers the question of free will, as it relates to those that are saved from the pollution of the world, in respect to escaping from the WRATH to come in obedience to the Lord or not. [Romans 5:9-10.] All the parables of the Lord as it relates to a Christian walk find their valid meaning, and the distinction that exists between Mankind of the present Age to that of the coming, is easily demonstrated. Finally, the merit of being Born Again in Christ is EXEMPLIFIED, and the responsibility to take our salvation seriously is given its due regard.
In simple terms it is the unifying theological Perspective.
Bread Bait. 
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