LIFE AND DEATH

Part One of Two: Temptation

Adam ate the fruit. Moses struck the rock. Jonah headed for Tarshish. Judas betrayed Jesus and Peter denied Christ, not once, but three times. These and many other characters of the Bible have at least one thing in common, they all had decisions to make, most of which were either bad or wrong.

Life is full of choices and as such we are all products of our own decisions. The Lord declares through His written Word,

. . .that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. . . [Deuteronomy 30:19 KJV]

At the root of life and death lies temptation. Christ even suffered the temptation of Satan for forty days while fasting the entire time [1]. Now I am aware that we, as Christians, involve Christ in our daily decision making to guide our life, but the decisions that I want to address is in this and these two blogs are those that lead to disobedience and separation from God.

Temptation

Remember that Christ set before us life and death and that we are to choose between the two. In fact, if we follow Christ, we will choose daily between them [2]. Some decisions we make in a split second without thinking, while others we defiantly think about with premeditation. Therefore, it behooves us to take Philippians 4:8 and Matthew 12:34 to heart [3].

We all make wrong decisions in our lives and every day we can either eat the fruit or not eat the fruit [4]. We can either strike the rock or speak to the rock [5]. We can either go to Nineveh or we can head for Tarshish [6]. Because of free will, the decision is all ours.

It’s hard to do the right thing every day all the time and for that, you can thank Adam and the sin-nature [7]. However, you can thank Christ because He is not only our advocate before the Father [8] but He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins [9]. He also totally understands our plight and the strength of temptation [10] because He was tempted in all ways just as we are, only without sin.

Man has many ways in which he separates himself from God: fear, guilt, shame, regret, contention, bitterness, resentment, anger, hate, lust, jealousy, doubt, unbelief, filthy language, gossip, back-biting, and ad infinitum.

However, having said that, Satan basically has four ways in which he tempts man, The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life [11], and “. . .Hath God said [12]?”

So, when we get into that predicament of having to choose to either eat the fruit or not to eat the fruit, what do we do? In fact, what can we do when confronted with temptation and the fiery darts of the enemy? Especially when it is something that seems to be benign or pleasurable to experience and we know to be against God’s will.

What is the solution?

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NOTE: There are many books written on the subject of decision and obedience but there are some things about their foundation that only requires a basic knowledge of some decision making processes and Scriptures that can deliver us from the enemy’s attacks. I pray that it will help you in renewing your mind [13] and help you to stave off the attack of the enemy that separates us from God.

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[1] Matthew 4:1
[2] Luke 9:23
[3] Ephesians 4:31; Colossians 3:8; Titus 3:2, 3; 1 Peter 2:1 and on and on.
[4] Genesis 2:16, 17
[5] Numbers 20:8; 20:10, 11
[6] Jonah 1:1-3
[7] Thank you indeed, Adam, because without your disobedience, there’d be no need for the redemption through Jesus Christ
[8] 1 John 2:1
[9] 1 John 1:9
[10] Matthew 26:41; Hebrews 4:15
[11] Genesis 3:6; 1 John 2:16
[12] Genesis 3:1
[13] Romans 12:1, 2

IN THE IMAGE OF GOD

Many authors have written books on the subject of the Trinity. Lay people as well as those with alphabet soup after their name have attempted to write and explain the Trinity. It is a subject that is as deep as you want to make it. Dr. Kennedy was a lot smarter than probably 20 of us combined and he gave up researching it because I have heard people say that it drove him crazy. Therefore, I guess I’ll throw my two-bits into the pot.

This will not be an all-inclusive teaching so get a cup of coffee and settle back. I only want to write enough to help us understand God a little better, to help our prayer life, and maybe to spark an excitement about digging further and deeper into God and His Word. Just remember that God does not reveal all things to His children. How can a finite man figure out and explain all aspects of an infinite God.

The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law [Deuteronomy 29:29 KJV].

Nonetheless, the first two discernible things we know about God is that one, He is an incorporeal being [1], and two, He is a creator being [2]. He created the heavens and the Earth [3], all the animals [4], and for His piece de resistance, He created man and woman [5]. Since God created man in His own image, man is a tripartite being as well. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit [6] while man is spirit, body, and soul [7]. Let me illustrate.

Right away in Genesis 1:26, 27, the Bible declares the trinity of God.

v26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. . .
v27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

In verse 26, the words “Let us. . .Our image. . .Our likeness” declare the three person trinity. In verse 27 the Bible also declares the oneness of God with the words “His Own. . .He him. . .and He them.” How do we know that verse 26 speaks to a three person trinity? We know because many Scriptures in the Bible state that God is three separate entities of the one God [8]. Pertaining to v27, Deuteronomy 6:4 says that God is one. What are the roles of each of the three persons?

It is the role of God the Father to create a plan. For example, God the Father designed how He would redeem man [9]. The Son (Jesus Christ), implemented the Father’s plan by doing His Father’s will and willingly went to the Cross [10]. The Holy Spirit administers the plan by teaching us ‘all things’ and seeing to it that all mankind feels the call to salvation and hears of the saving knowledge of the Son, Jesus Christ [11].

All truth is parallel and in keeping with the context; please allow me to share man’s tripartite nature with you. Since God created man in His image [12], I try to keep to the two-track teaching method [13].

Therefore, man is a triune being. Man’s spirit is his God-consciousness. His body (flesh) is his world-consciousness through the five senses. Finally, his soul is his self-consciousness, which consists of thought, cognition, emotions, intellect, reasoning, self-will, personality, and the choice processes of his being. These are all functions of the soul. Genesis 3 is about man’s decision making process, which affected the entire world and every man’s existence. . .forever, both spiritually and in the natural. (Who says that one man can’t make a difference?)

This is very simplistic and basic but unless someone wants to go to seminary or is a glutton for the knowledge of God, it is pretty much all we need to know. Myself, I don’t want ever to stop learning about God. I gladly, and with pleasure, write my blogs to pass on what I have learned to my spiritual brothers and sisters. I pray that they bless you.
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[1]. John 4:24
[2]. Genesis 1, 2
[3]. Genesis 1:1
[4]. Genesis 2:19, 20
[5]. In Genesis 1:27 God created man’s Spirit; In Genesis 2:7a He created man’s body; In Genesis 2:7b God created man’s soul, and in Genesis 2:21, 22 He created the woman from man.
[6]. Deuteronomy 6:4
[7]. 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 4:12
[8]. Matthew 28:19; John 14:16; John 14:26; John 15:26; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 2:18; 1 Peter 1:2
[9]. Galatians 4:4, 5
[10]. John 6:37, 38
[11]. John 14:26; John 16:8; Romans 1:19, 20
[12]. Genesis 1:26, 27
[13]. For every natural truth, the is an equal and corresponding spiritual truth. In other words, when I give an example in one, I like to give an example in the other. This helps in relating to the illustration and context of the narrative.

TEMPORARY HOME

What is man’s reality? Do we have to explain reality in terms of matter and energy, or is the universe all inside of our head? Does that then make reality and consciousness one in the same? If we take this as axiomatic, can we therefore say that reality is in the eye of the beholder because what is reality for one person may not be reality for another? However, let’s not get bogged down in axioms or heavy philosophy, but instead, let’s go to God’s Word.

Believe it or not, the Bible does speak to the issue of reality. Are you surprised? The Bible is not only a spiritual book, but a history book, a geography book, a teaching book, a relationship book, a science book, and much much more. Pick a topic and search God’s Word because there’s a 99.99% chance there will be an answer to your problem, if not as plain as the nose on your face, then by inference.

Now we all know that God does not reveal everything in His Word [1] but what God reveals though is ours. What He does not reveal belongs to Him, and if He does not reveal it, it is either because it is beyond our grasp, or it is something that He wants to reveal at a later date in its time. We’ll just let God be God and consider the main duty of man, which is to fear God, His revelation, and to keep His commandments [2].

So. . .what is man’s reality according to God and His Word? Right off of the bat, God sets the stage for the entire Bible and then justifies our reality and existence early on in the book of the Genesis.

So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them [Genesis 1:27 KJV].

God first created man as a spirit in His image, placed him in the Garden, gave him dominion over everything, and then told him to replenish the Earth [3].

Since God is incorporeal [4] and created man in His own image, this makes man’s reality spirit as well. Therefore, we can say that God embedded in the spirit of man to have dominion over everything and to fill the Earth with spiritual children for God the Father. We, as believers, are God’s children [5]. God didn’t finish creating man until Genesis 2:6, 7, when He gave him a body, a soul, and the capacity to make decisions.

Earth and our physical existence is only a temporary home if you will [6], which is a parallel universe running right alongside of God in the spirit world, which is His Kingdom. This is how God can be omnipresent or everywhere at once [7]. His Spirit fills the Earth and mankind inhabits the Earth in their parallel existence just centimeters from Him. Both realities share the same space.

Part of our reality is also to become the spiritual Bride of Christ and is why He created us in the first place [8]. The Bride of Christ is the overarching storyline of the Scriptures.

To recap, God created man in His image, gave our spirit dominion, and commanded it to fill the Earth. As spirit beings, this is man's reality. When we die, our bodies will return to dust and Christ will come for our spirit [9] and if people will choose Jesus Christ’s salvation and when their time comes, they will go home to man’s Spirit reality and leave his temporary home, forever to be with the Lord [10].

However, if people do not choose Jesus Christ and His salvation and when their time comes, they will return to man’s alternate spiritual reality [11], and because the wages of sin is death [12], need I say where their spirit will reside. . .forever. So. . .choose ye this day whom ye will serve [13].

Why is the study of reality, parallel universe, and a temporary home so important? What is the takeaway? The reason is because we worry too much about our temporary home, our physical existence, and the things of the world [14]. Instead, think about going home to where we came from, our husband Jesus Christ and our hope of glory with Him. Think about the marriage supper of the Lamb [15] when we stand in the Huppah [16] and join to Christ in holy matrimony.

Hallelujah!

Therefore, go ye into all the world and replenish the Earth with like-minded Spirits, preaching the Gospel to every living creature [17]. This is the first and last commandment given to man in the Bible because Christ is not willing that any should perish [18].

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[1] Deuteronomy 29:29
[2] Ecclesiastes 12:12-14
[3] The word replenish does not mean that this is man’s second go around at propagation. The word replenish herein means to fill the Earth.
[4] John 4:24
[5] John 1:12, 11:52; Romans 8:16, 21; Ephesians 5:1; Philippians 2:15; Galatians 3:26; and many more
[6] 2 Corinthians 4:18, 5:1-8
[7] Psalms 139:7-12
[8] Ephesians 1:9-11
[9] Ecclesiastes 12:7
[10] 1 Thessalonians 4:17
[11] John 8:24 God first made man in His image. Image is a copy or duplicate. When we accept Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit inhabits us, which is the real thing and not a duplicate. This is why when people do not accept the Lord, they die in their sins and revert to the duplicate and corrupted spiritual reality.
[12] Romans 6:23 and spiritual death, which is separation from God
[13] Joshua 24:15
[14] Colossians 3:1, 2
[15] Revelation 19:6-10
[16]  Huppah is a Jewish marriage ceremonial tent or covering
[17] Mark 16:15
[18] 2 Peter 3:9

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