"Behold I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).
Who are you? What's the essence of your person, is it your name, is it your face, is it your body or is it an incomprehensible immortal aspect of your being? Many people tend to think that they really are their visible selves and will spend numerous resources to improve themselves, their outwardly visible selves. Other people will tend to think that the true self lies in the unique special ways they perceive things, the way they think and act, that their true self is a treasure deep in their brains. Whereas the more emotional ones will tend to think that they really are the feelings they so strongly feel, they are loving, and kind and so on and so on, their true self is their heart. A majority of people believe they have a soul, but that's as far as they will get, ask them about this soul and there is really little they can tell you.
Does a dog have a soul?
Let's start by asking ourselves if the dog is self conscious? Does it know itself as distinct from other dogs? The dog surely is instinctive, driven by its need for self preservation, the instincts to live and reproduce. It does consciously make effort towards these ends. Think even of a lower life form, a tree for instance. Does a tree even have the instinctive ability that a dog has? Does it make any conscious effort? Dr. Danny Chamovitz, director of the Manna Center for Plant Biosciences at Tel Aviv University wrote a book titled "What a Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses."
"I wrote the book because I had come to realize that a lot of what I take for granted -that plants have senses, that plants see, that plants smell, that plants know when we're touching them - most people don't know," he said. "And so I wrote the book to show how complex a plant's life is and to show the science behind it."
Chamovitz says that by ripping one of the leaves of a tree, that act sends a message to other leaves on the same branch or tree.
"The leaves next to it know that this plant was ripped. They know it because they can smell it," he says. "What they think is that some bug has come along and eaten the leaf. And when a bug eats a leaf, the leaf then gives off a gas that goes to the other leaves around it, and then those leaves absorb the gas, in other words they smell it, and then they start making chemicals that will make them less tasty to the bugs in order to protect themselves."
Are the two mutually exclusive? Can one survive without the other? Is there consciousness beyond death? The most vivid bible description of what happens after death is found in Luke 16: 19-31 in the parable by Jesus about Lazarus and the rich man. This does proof that there is a consciousness beyond death. The bible also does mention that after his death on the cross, Jesus did visit the souls held captive in Hades to set them free. In Philippians 1:23-24 Paul writes of his desire to shed off his earthly body for a better existence:
"For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you."
2 Corinthians 5: 1-5:For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Paul calls it a tent, in which I dwell in this world, but I have a mansion built not of hands up in heaven. The implication is that we are soulish identities that have acquired earth environment adaptable bodies. So what dies of? Our physical bodies inevitably degrade and lose the ability to house our immortal souls, and when the bodies can no longer serve as 'tents' for the soul, either due to disease, old age, injury etc, then the conscious soul departs and a lifeless body remains behind.
What really is the body?
Many think that man is a physical being only. These really are the most ignorant of our species; there really is no difference between someone who thinks this way and a lowly earth creeping worm. There is a real and great danger of any man thinking thus of himself. In his desire to satisfy the needs of the body there is the tendency on man's part to lose sight of the fact that he is immortal. Many persons have lived all of their lives either in ignorance or willful neglect of a life after death, and that all there's is to life is really the body.
Like with all physical nature, atoms are the building blocks of our bodies. But did you know that matter is incredibly, mind-bogglingly empty. An atom is like a miniature Solar System, with a tight nucleus playing the role of a Sun orbited by electrons like planets. But the nucleus is incredibly tiny compared with the orbits of the electrons. If the nucleus is like the altar of St Paul's cathedral, an electron is like a moth in the cathedral, one moment by the altar, the next by the dome. Imagine squeezing all the space out of an atom. Well, if you did that to all the atoms in all the people in the world, you could indeed fit the entire human race in the volume of a sugar cube.
Science education specialist Steven Gagnon says that hydrogen atom which has a single proton that's circled by a single electron is only 0.0000000000004% full then the rest of it is empty: A hydrogen atom is about 99.9999999999996% empty space. Put another way, if a hydrogen atom were the size of the earth, the proton at its center would be about 200 meters (600 feet) across. You don't really get that impression from the earth model do you? A typical football stadium has a radius of maybe 120 m. One ten-thousandth of this is 1.2 cm, about the size of a pea. To get a sense of what an atom really looks like, place a pea at the center of a field in the middle of a football stadium. Then imagine, at the outskirts of the stadium, there are a few electrons. The rest of the atom is empty space. That is, you are mostly nothing, so is a dog and so is Donald Trump.
Yes, your body does define you to some extent, but a very finite extent, Put it this way, your body, and that of a tree are 99.9999999999996% identical, and when you start thinking of it that way you start to realize that you really cannot just be your body.
"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)
So what then is the soul?
Hamor said to Jacob, "The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter" (Genesis 34:8). Of David and Jonathan it is written: "The soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul" (1Samuel 18:1). These passages, amongst many others in the Bible show the soul to be the seat of the affections. But as the soul loves, so it also hates. We read of those "that are hated of David's soul" (2 Samuel 5:8)
The soul is consciousness – call it the Mind, your thoughts; the seat of the passions, the feelings, the desires of man, his affections, of love, hate, lusts, and even the appetites of the body. It's where fleshly lusts, desires, and appetites arise, his spirituality and Satan is satisfied if he can master these.
Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul (Peter 2:11)
Souls – the consciousness of man - is the sphere of activity where Satan operates making his appeal to the affections and emotions of man. He knows that his victim is a creature of emotions, and it matters not if the emotions are stirred to sentimentalism or even to tears, just so long as man's soul does not come in contact with God's Holy Spirit. You see the battle between good and evil is fought in the soul. The consciousness of man is responsive to whatever controls the man. So if a man is controlled by his body appetites, if a man is living predominately after the flesh, then he has what is termed as the mind of the flesh or is mindful of fleshly things, or body needs. And this is the state of the natural man apart from Jesus Christ. Man is by default body conscious: you talk to the average person and they are going to be talking to you about things that relate to the body. They are going to be talking to you about new recipes, exotic new desserts, or they are going to be talking to you about drinks, or they're going to be talking to you about sex, or things that relate to the body appetites. Because that is where the mind of natural man is, because the body is in control, what he is thinking about constantly are those body needs, the body drives.
That really is the first problem that man encounters; he is by default, like a tree or a dog, carnal. Therefore, we find ourselves in this dilemma, whenever we intend to do good, evil is present right there with us. Paul in Chapter 7 of Romans put it quite clearly; oftentimes, the good that he would do he didn't do. Many times the evil that he wouldn't do he was doing. He knew that he was in a constant fight against his own mind. For with his mind in his heart he wanted to serve the law of God, but as Jesus said concerning Peter,
"The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak" Matthew 26:41
I think that all of us have experienced that very same struggle. I have not always done for God the things that I would do for God. It isn't that I am not willing. It isn't that my spirit is not willing. It is my flesh is weak. But when a man is born again by the Spirit of God and the spirit then is in control in his life, that man, then, is concerned with spiritual things and he is going to be talking about God, his relationship, the work of God within his heart, how to please the Lord, how to serve the Lord. And his conversation is going to be addressed to spiritual things. Now the man who lives dominated by his body appetites is living like a dog or a tree, because they are body-controlled beings. They do have a consciousness that is constantly absorbed with their body needs. In Romans 8:6 Paul declares,
"They that are after the flesh are constantly mindful of the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit, then, are mindful of the things of the Spirit." But then he went on to declare, [The mind of the flesh, or] the carnal mind is death -That is, spiritual death, which biblically would be interpreted as separation of man's consciousness from God. Man classifies death as the separation of man's consciousness from his body - "whereas the mind of the spirit is life and peace"
And that introduces a third entity, the spirit:
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing SOUL and SPIRIT, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
The prevalent idea is that man consists of only two component parts: namely, body and Soul. This view is likely to create confusion in the minds of many Christians. While soul and spirit are so closely related that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish accurately between them the Bible does make a distinction.
The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man from heaven. 1 Corinthians 15:47
At creation, Man was not much different from the other beasts of the earth, yes he had dominion over them, probably by virtue of his higher intellect, but it was not until he ate of the tree of knowledge that the real difference arose, he realized that he was naked, he realized that he had a free will and did not have to live intuitively, that he could choose. This is where the real distinction between man and dog starts - in KNOWLEDGE! The knowledge of good and evil was the very first step in Man's ultimate tripartite nature and likeliness to God, but that likeness to God was not complete yet. Was it the intent of God that man falls to the whims of the evil one in the garden? Well, does anything ever happen that is not the will and intent of God? The fall of Man was a carefully laid out plan, a plan that man would not have realized then, and no man could not for another 4000 years and that many men do not realize to date. There still was knowledge that was inaccessible to Man, knowledge that is still inaccessible to many today. It was not until after the death and resurrection of Christ that man became tripartite, it was after Pentecost that there was the indwelling of the spirit of God in Man and man truly became like God. It was not until after Christ yelled 'it is finished' while hanging there on the cross that man's final accent to the likeness of God was finished.
Prior to Pentecost, man could only access God by a visitation, God had to come to Moses, and to Jacob and To Elijah, and even to all souls that we held captive in Hades that Christ had to visit in order that they may be set free. But we who are after the death of Christ have complete access to the spirit of God that dwells in us. 
That ring of fire that is sometimes portrayed around Christ's head, the presence of God's glory, rests on each one of us that know and accept the TRUTH in Christ's death and resurrection. There are some phenomenal implications here: am I saying that trees and dogs have eternal souls too, yes, that is exactly what I am saying, but they are void of true knowledge and thus cannot be held accountable for their deeds. While we stand before the lamb for judgment, a dog will not.
Seriously? The only difference between a tree and I is only in what one knows and other doesn't? Yes. That's the real truth, the basic difference between all living things, and between individuals is in what they know, what levels of knowledge they have access to and how much TRUTH is in them. Those at the pinnacle have access to the eternal TRUTH through the Spirit of God in them.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6
It has nothing to do with the body, that the trees body looks different from the human body? It is the knowledge of free will that makes a tree a tree and a human a human, and it is the Spirit of Christ that elevates human to his likeness to God.
The soul of man, that is his affections and desires, are never directed Godward until after the spirit has gained precedence. Man can never love God or the things of God until he is born from above. He may have a troubled conscience or be so stirred emotionally that he may weep bitterly, and still remain dead in trespasses and in sins. When the Spirit of God illuminates the soul of a man with divine light and life, that man begins to yield his affections and faculties to God. In that immortal classic of the Psalms, David says: "He restoreth my soul" (Psalm 23:3). The Hebrew word translated "restoreth" is said to mean quite literally "turneth back." At no time had David lost his salvation, but there were times when his affections and desires were turned from the Lord, as in the case of his sin with Bathsheba. But just like a Christian, whose soul may easily wander off, but whose Spirit is enjoying unbroken communion with his Lord, David was able to testify: "The Lord turneth back my soul." And thus inspite of the flawed affections of our souls, just like David we can cry out "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name" (Psalm 103:1).
References:
Other related essays:
What about you? Who are you? If we removed your arm and replaced it with a state-of-the art robotic hand, are you still you? What if both your legs get chopped off? How about when they give you an artificial heart? At what point do you cease to become yourself? Many people will begin having the most trouble when it comes to the head. Replacing the face, for instance, is difficult for some people. And the most difficult part? Usually the brain. If you get brain cancer, and the doctors replace your brain with this computerized one, even after they download your brain contents. . . well, we don't feel so sure that we'd actually be there. But What if only a tiny portion of your brain – say 2% — was diseased, and they were going to replace only that portion with a computerized replacement? Most of us have no trouble saying we'd still be ourselves. Now replace another 2% each year – for the next 50 years. Most of us find it curiously easier to think that we'd retain our 'self' if we do the replacement slowly, rather than quickly. It has been determined that we replace nearly every atom in our bodies within a seven to twelve year cycle. Every part replaced. But we don't think we're our bodies, do we? We think we're something more – that we have a soul, or an inner beingness........ Read more
No comments:
Post a Comment