HE CAME, HE DIED, HE ROSE

Jesus Christ came to the earth about 2000 years ago. The heavenly bodies announced his arrival with the extraordinary shining of the star which the wise men of the east used in locating the baby – Jesus. Multitudes of angels announced to men the arrival of man’s Saviour. The afore-mentioned is the general way the story of the birth of Jesus Christ is typically enumerated. However, there are certain questions that though subtle, lie on the inner recesses of our mind. The big one is, "how did God have a son to send to save man?" The general answer usually given is that God can do all things!!! My dear friends, you see God interestingly told us these words in Proverbs that: ‘While it is to God’s glory that a matter is concealed, it is to the glory of kings to search out the hidden issue’. So today, as kings, let us dig deep into Scriptures to understand the core of man’s salvation.

GOD CAME

The core of our salvation lies in recognizing that the person born of the Virgin Mary was not just a human, rather the baby in the manger was God in the flesh. 1 Tim. 3:16 describes this as a mystery. It was not public knowledge, it was hidden information. What was hidden was not the birth of the baby! What was hidden was the identity of the baby. The birth of Jesus was described here as God being revealed in the flesh i.e. in human form, with a body. By the very nature of who God is, it is almost unimaginable that God could become manifest in the flesh!!! God is known as the Invisible One! Who no man has ever seen! Who dwells in unapproachable Light! (1Tim. 1:17; 6:16). Here we must evaluate our knowledge with the simple question: ‘Who did God send to save man?’ God didn’t just send his ‘son’, as we are told in John 1:14, the Word of God was made flesh. Sonship came with the birth of the Word of God in human form. The person who came to save man was God himself. To put the entirety of John 1 simply, Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel is the Word of God, He became a human being; this human being is whom we know today as the Son of God and He is Jesus Christ.

GOD LIVED WITH MAN: We need to understand that God in human form is Jesus Christ!!! With this knowledge, comes the understanding of Scriptures that talk about Jesus. For example:

• Isaiah said: the child to be born will be The Mighty God and Everlasting Father (Is. 9:7). The only person who is called God and Father is God and no one else!!!

God in human form lived with humans; this is why He is called Emmanuel – God with us. God faced all the challenges we face today! He experienced hunger (Mark 11:12), tiredness (John4:6), storms (Luke 8:23) and agony (John 11:35), but that was not all, as everyday was a miracle as well. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, restored the disabled, showed man the true definition of man and did many other things that cannot be quantified in writing (John 21:25). However, we need to pay attention to the hints that were left for us by the very words Jesus said about Himself:

• I and the Father are One (John 10:30).

• The Messiah is Lord  (Matt. 22:42-44).

• He said he is: I Am (John 8:58).

It is vital to understand who the Saviour of the world is; to know that the man Jesus Christ (1Tim. 2:15; Titus 2:13) is God revealed in human form! The Son sent by God to save men is God in human form. In order words, it is to us – humans – that the idea of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Persons of Trinity exists; to God, the revelation as God-Jehovah/Father, God-The Word and God-The Spirit are all One and the same. So we must understand that the mystery of salvation lies in the fact that the Son of God, is God in human flesh, even as Jesus points out in John 3:13b (‘Jesus was on earth, yet he said the Son of Man-himself was in heaven at the same time as He was on earth). This is why Col. 1:15 enumerates that the entirety of God resides in Jesus Christ; every single aspect of God is revealed in Jesus Christ. Dear friends, though this is humanly incomprehensible, yet it is the basis of the beautiful mystery of our salvation.

HE DIED

So what made the death of Jesus on the cross special? After all, you may wonder: ‘He died ages ago in a country that has no business with me’. The first aspect of the death of Jesus on the cross is that it is towards God that this death was most important to God. When man does wrong, he does not just hurt himself, he also sins against God even as Joseph and David confirm (Gen. 39:9; Psalm 51:4). So to save man from sin, God also had to be appeased; man had to be saved in the way that pleased God! Is. 53:6 explains that God laid all sin on Jesus. You see this was God’s choice of salvation. To deal with sin, God chose to take all sin (both the sinful nature and the sinful deeds) and place it on Jesus. In death, God united Christ with all men, so that in God’s eyes when Jesus died all men died. Col. 2:20 and 2Cor.5:14b expatiate this; understand that what matters is that on God’s side/perspective, Jesus dying meant all men died! You see, on the cross what God did was to unite the whole of humanity with Christ, such that Christ carried all sin (Is.53:4). The blood of Jesus was shed on the cross so as to deal with sin. Col. 2:14b explains that Jesus nailed trespasses to the cross. By this blood Jesus opened up the Father’s realm and reality to man (Heb. 9:12).

God’s plan for sin was not to cover up sin using the blood shed on the cross. God’s plan is the most dramatic I have ever heard of!!! It is actually unfathomable. God’s plan was to wipe sin out of existence, as the angel first hinted to Joseph when he said that Jesus was born to save people from sin (Matt. 1:21). However we see the plan more clearly when John the Baptist met Jesus, he could not help but shout it loud: ‘See the Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world – John 1:29’. Good news is that on the cross, Jesus did actually take sin out of existence. Heb. 10:4, 11 and 12 also expatiate on Jesus taking sins away. Finally, 1John 3:5 confirms that Jesus came to take away sin. You see, God’s plan in the eternal covenant is to remember sins no more (Heb. 10:17 and Jer. 31:34). In the Old Testament sin was present but covered by the blood of animals, however, in Christ, sin is entirely taken off!!!

So when does God forgive you of your sins? After you confess to God and say you’re sorry? No!!! God forgave all sins as soon as Jesus dealt with sin on the cross; Eph. 4:32 and Col. 3:13 both enumerate that God forgave us already, He is not about to forgive, He has forgiven us! In fact God does not live in the consciousness of sin anymore. Now this is God’s reality! A believer is a person who has accepted this reality that God has forgiven him. So man does not confess sin so that God will forgive (Acts 3:44 and 1John1:8), rather man confesses sin so as to receive God’s forgiveness. Don’t think that God waits for you to confess your sin, and then afterwards forgive you, Nopes! Rather, God already forgave you; this is what the Gospel preaches. We inform the world and ask them to believe in the truth of God’s forgiveness via the death of Jesus Christ in the cross. What is left is for man to accept and receive the reality of God: ‘that in Christ, sin is totally dealt with’. This is why God says we His children cannot sin and do not sin (1John 3:9) since He has already taken it out of the realm (God’s realm) that we have translocated into! So when Jesus died, God reckoned it as that all men died. Don’t bother your mind with the possibility of this (i.e. saying in your mind: ‘how does this make sense?’); it was God’s plan! Rather look at the abundance of love, wisdom, careful thought and intricate simplicity God set in place to save you! Your worth is the price God paid to save you and this price is God himself in human form!!! Can you see the ‘price’ tag God has placed on you?

JESUS AROSE

This is the apex of the tower, the apogee of the pyramid, the crest of the wave and the zenith of the plans of God for salvation! After 3 days and nights, Jesus Christ woke up from death via the power of God!!! Now you may still wonder: ‘how does this relate to me?’ Again, this answer is awesome! Remember that when Christ died on the cross, God reckoned it (i.e. set it in His own mind) that all men were united and died with Christ. Now with this in motion, God set it such that everything that happened to Christ afterwards happened to all man as well (all this in God’s perspective/realm). So when Christ arose, all men were: given life together with Christ, raised up together with Christ, (and when Christ ascended) we all were seated together with Christ (Eph. 2:5-6; Col. 2:13 and 3:1).

You need to see how this forms the core of our salvation! Our union with divinity, even with God Himself!!! You see, God’s accomplishment via salvation is mind blowing. You may say: ‘how now?’ Well see:

• Your spirit is one with God in spirit, completely united, same essence and perfect union. The very type of union Jesus has with God, we now all have with the entirety of the God-head, even as 1 Cor.6:17 explain and Jesus clarifies this in prayer in John 17:21. You see, when you believed, God (who is a spirit) gave birth to you (John 3:6).

• Today, God has given us His mind and He His daily melding our minds with His own. 1Cor. 2:16b shows God giving us His own mind. Philip. 2:5 explains that it is our choice to unite our mind with God’s, till God’s mind dominates us. Finally, Rom. 12:2 points out the need for persistence in letting God’s mind make the necessary change in our personality. So we no longer say God’s ways are higher than ours, rather we are the people of the way and we show the way to the world!

• Now our body is God’s dwelling place! This is in particular incredible. God is Invisible! God is Omnipresent! God is beyond human-word description! Then you go looking for God and find him living inside humans! Ain’t that seemingly implausible? Yet this is God’s lovely dwelling place, the body of men who have made the choice to believe in Him. Jesus explains this in John 14:23 and Paul expatiates in 1Cor. 3:16.

Dear friends, Jesus is alive! He is the first man to be born into this new life we live in! He is God with us! We need to see this reality, appreciate it, understand it and accept it even at the very level of our sub-conscious. Jesus is a living being! He talks, He speaks, He gives life and He is Lord of and over all!

With this, we round off our series on “Man” and we will be moving back to posting some of our inspirations and experiences on the Christian race. Kindly ask your questions freely and post comments as well! We hope that you learned one or two new things through this series and you’ve been able to come to a better understanding of who you are as a Christian, or if you’re not, of whom a Christian is.

WAIT OUT THE STORM

I penned these words a little over a week ago. It was Saturday morning and I had just awoken from a dream. In the dream, there was a terrible rain storm and I was in it. I was riding a bike and because of the rain storm which had resulted in a flood, it was impossible for me to get home on that bike despite all my efforts. As I struggled on, I met my dad who was also trying to get home. Just a moment after, we saw a pink & white colored building in a corner. It was a hotel; and the sky looked bright and weather, dry over on that side. Dad pointed and suggested that we go in there to wait out the storm. I almost objected, but considering our situation in that storm, I realized that we had no choice and so decided to go in. Then I woke up.

As I pondered on that dream, I heard God telling me some things. 

There is always a provision from God in stormy times. God always provides that place of solace and comfort where we, as His children, can wait out the storm. Although, we may not see it because we are too focused on the stormy situation; but it’s true, our Father always provides solace for us in troubled times. Sometimes this comfort zone may seem like a diversion from where you’re really going. You may think that you’re losing sight, you’re derailing and time is running out. But remember, there’s a storm out there, it’s better to wait somewhere than to die in it.

That’s what Jesus did in Mark 4:35-41. A storm arose while He & His disciples were in the middle of the sea. Jesus, in His wisdom, chose to wait out the storm at the bottom side of the boat. He slept even in the raging storm. He must’ve thought to Himself, “I had better get a nap now while this storm lasts; when the storm is over, work begins. I’ll have to start teaching again.” Jesus chose to wait out the storm. The disciples on the other hand chose to deal with it; and as we know, it didn’t profit them.

From the disciples’ experience that night, we can see many dangers to trying to deal with a storm without the support of the Master Storm Stiller.

1.    Feeling of Failure: Dealing with a storm that is bigger than you will only leave you with a feeling of failure. Every of your effort will come smashing back in your face. The disciples tried to scoop water out of the boat. The more they tried, the more water came into the boat. In that dream, I tried everything to maneuver my bicycle. I adjusted the arms, adjusted the seat, adjusted the pedals, and still couldn’t make it anywhere; everywhere was filled with water. I almost could not differentiate a gully from a pathway. It’s never rewarding when you try to deal with that terrible situation by yourself. 

2.    Fear/Lack of Faith in God’s ability: Storms are scary. They are so scary that they can sap out every ounce of faith in you if you let them.  You suddenly forget all of God’s promises to you, almost deeming Him a liar. Storms sap your faith. I know this because Jesus, after He had been prematurely awoken from His sleep said to the disciples, “How is it that you have no faith?” I just went through a major a storm in my life and it’s not over yet. It’s still raging out there. But I’m here in Christ, waiting it out. And I believe God gave me this dream to let me know that I should not be afraid & lose heart because of the delay. I’m just waiting out the storm. However, while I tried to deal with this storm by myself, my faith was terribly battered. Thank God for His restoration.

Sometimes, we need to look around us. If the Master Storm Stiller isn’t battling the storm with you, look around for where He is, and wait out the storm in Him. One thing is certain, the storm will subside, and the sun will shine again and there will be calm. 

3.    Lack of Clarity: You can’t see anything in a storm. All you can see in a storm is the storm itself. You can’t see where you’re going. You can’t strategize. You can’t think. You’re so overwhelmed with the storm that nothing else moves on in your life. You think it and breathe it; your prayer points are centered on it; your other responsibilities suffer. Of course, you can’t pray for anyone else while you try to deal with a storm. It’s only about you, you and you. You whine, “Can’t they see what’s going on with me? Why are people so selfish? Oh no! I can’t offer help to anyone – not right now.”

Friend, there’s a hotel right on the corner. Go wait out the storm in there. You’ll have time to think and re-strategize. You can listen to Him give you new ideas, what next steps you’ll need to take on your journey, while He handles your troublesome situation. 

4.    Fatigue: A storm wears you out completely – physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, maritally and financially – all around batter. To move against a storm, one needs to multiply his strength. It takes so much effort and it gets you tired really quickly; and not long after, “giving up” seems appealing to you.

Again, there’s a hotel just some meters from where you are right now. You can freshen up there; brush your teeth and have some dinner. Watch some TV and rest in the arms of the Almighty God. He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). He promised to be with you every step of the way (Isaiah 43:2). He is too faithful to lie (Hebrews 10:23). Things may not be going as you hoped right now. But trust Him, He has a better plan. You just have the few pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that you need right now. He has got the cover box and so He sees and knows the bigger picture that you do not see. It may make no sense to you right now, but it makes a whole lot of sense to Him because He is the Mastermind of that bigger picture. Just wait on Him. He’ll still that storm. Don’t be like the disciples who forgot Jesus’ words just a few minutes after He had said, “Let us go over to the other side” (Mark 4:35). One thing the disciples failed to understand that night was that as long as Jesus was in that boat and having made that statement to take them to the other side, there was no way they were going to sink in that sea. No matter what had happened, they’d definitely have gotten to the other side. God is too faithful – TOO FAITHFUL – to lie. TOO FAITHFUL --- remember that!

Friend, just wait out the storm. It’ll cease soon and you can move on to where He’s taking you to.

Okay... Let's Answer This One Question...

First, a little recap…

We started this series on man with defining who man is; his Creator; his adversary; his entity; and then his Fall. As we wind down this series, we will take a detailed look at man’s redemption following his Fall. I think it will be more profitable to split this teaching; so today, let’s answer one critical question that comes with this topic.

The greatest thing that ever happened to man is that Jesus came in human flesh to die for man in order to reconcile man to God – that He may redeem man from his fall. That is the greatest thing that ever happened in Heaven, on earth, or beneath. It was and is and will be. No historical occurrence can beat it; no scientific discovery can overtake it; and no futuristic imagination can subdue it. It was, it is, and always will be the greatest thing that ever happened to man.

Now, it is important to note at this point that several religious beliefs agree that man is/was helpless in the area of sin. Even secular laws penalize people for crimes. No one argues with the fact that man sins – everyone agrees, including atheists.

In addition, many religious beliefs also agree with the fact that there is a Supreme Being that we call God. Now, I’m not talking about the many little gods of the Greeks or the Hindus. I’m referring to that Supreme Being that Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Bahai, Deism, etc. believe in. Quite a number of religions know that there is God, and they agree that there needs to be a means to reach Him.

Sometime ago, when I lived in Texas, I had a lovely roommate. She had a boyfriend, who more or less lived in our apartment. One day, he was alone with me in the house, and I was led to discuss Jesus with him. As we talked he took a blue stationery and drew something similar to this.

 His question was, “How can you say Jesus is the only way to God? Can’t these other religions be pathways to God?”

John 14:6

He had a valid question. And I’m sure some of you have wondered about that too. In fact, I remember watching Oprah Winfrey a number of times on TV saying that there are several ways to God. Unfortunately, a lot of people believe in Oprahism and have been deceived that her statement is true.

There are several reasons why other religions won’t lead us to God. Jesus is the ONLY possible Savior. And here are a few reasons:

ONE: Jesus is GOD

Remember we told you that the disobedience of Adam led to the fall of man. It means that anybody born through the loins of Adam automatically had the sin nature (Psalm 51:5). “How could a sinner deliver a sinner? How could a prisoner set a prisoner free?” That is not possible. No human being, no religious leader, no other person could/can ever lead man to God. Only a sinless God can save a sinner and make Him sinless too (2 Corinthians 5:21). That sinless God is Jesus. (Romans 5:19).

The Bible tells us in John 1:14, “And the Word (Jesus) was made flesh, and dwelt among us…”

You see, when it was time for God to solve this sin problem once and for all (Hebrews 10:10), His Holy Spirit came over Mary and she conceived and gave birth to the only sinless man since Adam.

Wouldn’t it have been less complicated for God to just have found a virgin man and paired with Virgin Mary to give us a virgin Savior? That would not have solved our sin problem.

Jesus had to be conceived of the Holy Spirit (and not man – virgin or not) to be our sinless Savior. (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus is God in human flesh.

Now, don’t ask me how possible that was. I don’t know. Mary, the vessel, God used for this assignment asked that same question, and all she got was, “With God nothing shall be impossible.” (Luke 1:37). And honestly, I’m not trying to understand it. It’ll blow my mind. I can’t even understand how a man and a woman can come together to produce a baby – another human being, let alone this. That’s why God is God – indescribable, unexplainable! In the words of an author I once read, “It’ll require more faith to believe that there is no God than it is to believe that there is one.” I totally agree with Him.

TWO: Christianity Requires Only Faith in the Finished Work of Christ

This is another reason why no other religion can lead us to God. Every religion on the surface of this earth that believes in a Supreme Being requires some level of “work” from each of her followers. Every religion, except Christianity. Funnily enough, some religious beliefs asides Christianity agree that Jesus is the Savior, but that there is more to it.

My friends, know that there is absolutely nothing that you can humanly possibly do to earn your salvation – ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Max Lucado describes in his book, In the Grip of Grace, that trying to earn your way to God is like trying to build bricks in an ocean to make a pathway to the other side. The more you work, the more work you realize you have to do. The impossibility of working for your salvation has also been described as one being on earth and trying to jump to touch the moon. It is not possible to do “works” to measure up to God’s level of righteousness.

Our works do not make God love us more or less than He did when John 3:16 was penned, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Romans 5:6-8 tells us, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. ⁸ But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Christ died for us when we didn’t even realize that we needed salvation. Jesus extended His grace to us when we couldn’t help ourselves to do righteous deeds. (Titus 2:11). How then is it now that we need good works to save us?

Ephesians 2:8-9 tells, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]” (KJV/AMP).

There is no amount of good that we can possibly do to make our way to God… Our righteousness without Christ is less than nothing before God (Romans 3:10, 12b).

Christians are saved and have access to God because we believe in the finished work of Christ. A believer in Christ steps out of faith when he/she feels the need to do something to gain God’s approval. Any belief that adds works to faith is not Christianity. You may call in something else.

THREE: Through Jesus, We Have a Sinless Nature. Romans 8:2-4. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Before Jesus, we didn’t have the ability to do right. If you follow the story of the Israelites as they journeyed to the Promised Land and thereafter, you will realize that sometimes they actually tried to do right. In the Book of Judges, we see them falling and rising, falling and rising. I sincerely believe that the Israelites really wanted to do right sometimes. But the sinful nature in them wouldn’t let them.

Only Jesus can deliver a person from the grip of the sin nature (Please, read Romans 7:13-25). No other religion can. Jesus is indeed the only True Savior.

FOUR: Through Jesus We Have a Relationship with the Father.

Unlike other religious beliefs, Christianity isn’t a do-it-this-way-mechanically-or-you’re-out-kinda religion. In fact, we Christians do not like to call our belief a religion, we prefer the term, “relationship”; because that’s what it is. Through Jesus, we have access to the Father (Ephesians 2:18). We can talk to Him and He to us. We live in Him and He lives in us (Galatians 2:20; Acts 17:28; John 14:23). Our relationship with Him is not a bandwagon-everyone-follow kinda relationship. Our relationship with Him is personal. It is a loving one – such love that can’t be explained with words. It is a joyful one – joy unspeakable and full of glory (2 Peter 1:8).

Other religions tell you to do it this way or incur the wrath of God. There is no joy, no peace, no love; just mechanical followership. With theirs, one is always looking back, front, from side to side to see if he/she has done anything wrong. We Christians don’t serve an angry God. We worship a loving God, and “Hallelujah Anyhow that pleases God” is very much allowed (2 Corinthians 3:17). We can live sinless lives through Jesus. There is a power at work in us (Ephesians 3:21) that makes us live above sin, and so we don’t have to look out to see if we’re being judged by our shadows. Alleluia!

Having clarified why Jesus can be our only Savior, let’s answer why Jesus had to come in the flesh and die.

I mean, why didn’t God just lift a wand and wipe off all our sins? Why couldn’t God just make a pronouncement of salvation upon the earth? Why wouldn’t God just make a decree and say anyone who believes on me is saved; that is, without Jesus’ sacrifice? Why is it that Judaism won’t lead man to God?

Watch out for the next edition for answers to these questions.

But before I go, let me fix the above sketch...

Man’s Function after the Fall

We have previously expounded on the fall of the man. It is critical that we understand what happened as a result of man’s fall; with this, we can in turn understand the details of man’s redemption. If man didn’t fall, then we would never have needed to be redeemed and ransomed. The disobedience and fall of man was accompanied by fundamental changes in the first man’s nature.

We must point out here that after man’s disobedience, man started to function in a different way! Man became self-conscious as Gen3:7 shows. This type of consciousness didn’t originate from God rather it originated from man’s choice to scorn God’s will. Afterwards, man needed to hear God speak in the physical realm (vs.8&9). Man hid from God’s presence (vs.8); prior to this man had lived in the consciousness of his location in God. Fear came into existence (vs.10) and God is not the origin of fear (2Tim.1:7). Also we see Adam get self-inspired decisions as he changed his bone of bone’s name from woman to Eve (vs.20); while these may to us seem so casual, it actually is not. Previously, the man had functioned based on his relationship with God, after the fall, man functioned based on self-will and self-knowledge. Now why was man’s function altered as a result of the fall?

Things That Happened As A Result of Man’s fall

As a result of the man’s disobedience, sin came into the world (Rom.5:12). Yes, the devil was a sinner from the beginning, but sin didn’t enter into the world via the devil. The custodian of the world was Adam; by choosing to become a subject of the devil, Adam became the channel and means for sin to enter into the world. Here we must understand that with sin came a separation from God’s life – death. So death does not mean vanishing out of existence, rather it means being cut off and separated from life. Death is defined by the absence of life. Via man’s fall, death came (1Cor.15:21) and death spread to all creation that had been made subject to Adam (Rom.8:20). Creation which God made as good and placed under the authority of Adam became subject to destruction & corruption as a result of man’s subjection to sin. So when you see the ‘natural’ disasters today, don’t casually say: ‘it is an act of God!’ rather understand that as a result of man’s choice, nature and created things are no more as they were created by God.

So you may say: ‘and how does this all relate to me?’ Well consider the example of the tree which we earlier used, the root-stem and branch analogy. If the root-stem is good, a bad branch can be cured, but if the root-stem is compromised, a good branch on the tree is actually just a living-dead. The same way with Adam, when Adam fell he was separated from the life of God. He died the very day he disobeyed (Gen.2:17), yet we know that in the body Adam lived another 930 years before death of his body. Now this is what happened: when Adam disobeyed, his spirit was cut off from associating with God. In his spirit he no more enjoyed the fellowship with God. This was death; Adam was separated from the life and light of God. It was a spiritual separation. So he needed his senses to hear God! God had to do something physical to communicate with man after the fall. Via the knowledge of good and evil, man became sense (in a way you may say brain) – ruled. 

Man needed to see to believe, there was the need for empirical evidence and proper computation to express ideas and thoughts to man. God became mysterious to man, because God does not act based on the senses. I like putting it this way: ‘God does not obey Newton’s third law of motion’ i.e. God does not react based on an action. With man’s fall, the ways of God became both a mystery and senseless to man. You see God does not live inside the time realm as man does. God functions from the eternal realm (Isaiah57:15a). In our spirit – born of God – we are able to relate with God and His realm as 1Cor14:2 explains. On the day Adam disobeyed, he died to God spiritually. It however took 930 years for the death of his body. James explains what the death of the body means (James2:26). It involves the spirit leaving the body. This is where we now understand what we mentioned earlier in Gen.2:17, where God said if Adam were to disobey: ‘…dying thou shall die’. So we may see what God said to Adam this way: ‘…in dying spiritually, you will physically die’. 

It is of utmost importance to understand that Adam died the day he disobeyed; his spirit only left his body 930 years afterwards. Adam was for all humanity the stem from whom we were all to proceed. As soon as he disobeyed, the changes that happened to him became applicable to all men that were to come through him. So for Adam and God, it was not an issue of a sinful deed, rather it was the result of the sinful deed. It became impossible for Adam who could no longer in fellowship in his inner-most being with God to give rise to progeny that would fellowship with God in the spirit. So as Eve became the mother of all humanity (Gen.3:20), all who came through her line had to look like fallen Adam as we see in Seth’s account (Gen.5:3). Adam after the fall became the reference point for all man. After the fall, Adam was still a spirit who had a soul and who lived in a body, however, his spirit no more had God’s life, he had become a sense ruled person and his body had become subject to death (i.e. his body could no longer act as an eternal vessel for his spirit).

Our whole story was told to start to enlighten us all on why when Jesus saves, He saves man completely: saves man as a spirit, saves his soul and saves man’s body (1Thess.5:23). You see when our parents give birth to us, in God’s sight (since our parents trace back to Adam), we are born as humans without God’s true life! John explains in John1:13 that such pro-creation is based on blood and man’s will. Paul calls such birth, giving birth to the living dead in Romans5. On the other hand, when God gives birth to us, our spirits comes alive to God as Jesus explains in John3:6. After our birth by God, our soul/mind starts the journey of salvation of the soul (1Peter1:9; Col.3:10) and this is executed by the Word of God transforming our minds as Rom.12:2 says! The ransoming of our body only comes about at rapture (Rom.8:23; 1Cor.15:51-53), when Jesus will transform our lowly bodies to become like His own glorious body (Philip.3:21)!

So my dear friends, if you are willing to listen: God didn’t give you a brain to use as the primary means of living your life, rather God’s will is that you will reign over your soul and body from your spirit. God’s intent is that by the union and communion of your spirit with Him, you will rule over the transformation of your mind and the careful treatment of your body as God’s own house.

Watch out for our concluding aspect on the series: ‘Man’ in the next couple of weeks as we delve into The Redemption of Man!!!