Spirit, Soul and Body – Communicating with God

Part 1 of the Spirit, Soul and the Body series examined the spiritual ‘organs’ God has provided to us within our “Inner Man“. This article looks at how God communicates with mankind through our personal Spirit, to our Soul and the various ‘spiritual organs’ within our Soul and Body. It also looks at how God attempts to influence the decisions we make in life.

How does God communicate with mankind?

The highlighted section of the image below represents our Creator’s role in every individual’s life.   

Before we can look into our Creator’s means of communicating with humanity, it is necessary to look at a few basic principles about God, creation and how He involves Himself in our lives.

Humans are created in the image of God

The Bible says humanity is created in the “image of God” as stated below:

“And God said, LET US MAKE MAN IN OUR IMAGE, AFTER OUR LIKENESS: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”  (Genesis 1:26)

In the above statement, we can safely assume that God has eyes, hands, feet, a heart and all the physical organs that we have – only they are spiritual organs and not those made of flesh blood and bones as we are.

In this, Jesus said:

“Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for A SPIRIT HATH NOT FLESH AND BONES, as ye see me have.”  (Luke 24:39) — Jesus speaking 

Comparisons: Humans and God’s image

Below are scripture verses that prove we have all the physical and spiritual ‘members’ of our body that indicate we are made in God’s image.

1.      He is a PERSON	Job 13:8, Heb 1:3
2.      He has a SPIRIT BODY	John 4:24 Dan 10:5-6
3.      He has a SHAPE	John 5:37
4.      He has an IMAGE and LIKENESS	Gen 1:26; 9:6; 1Cor  11:7; James 3:9
5.      He has BACK PARTS	Ex 33:23
6.      He has a FORM	Phil 2:5-7
7.      He has COUNTENANCE	Psa 11:7
8.      He has a HEAD	Dan 7:9
9.      He has a MOUTH	Num 12:8; Isa 1:20
10.  He has LIPS	Isa 11:4; 30:27
11.  He has a TONGUE	Isa 30:27
12.  He has NOSTRILS	2 Sam 22:9; Psa 18:8,15
13.  He has EYES	Psa 11:4; 18:24; 33:18
14.  He has EARS	Psa 18:6; 34:15
15.  He has HAIR	Dan 7:9
16.  He has a VOICE	Psalm 29
17.  He has BREATH	Gen 2:7
18.  He has ARMS	Psa 44:3; John 12:38
19.  He has HANDS	Psa 102:25-26;  Heb 1:10
20.  He has FINGERS	Psa 8:3; Ex 31:18
21.  He has a RIGHT HAND	Rev 5:1, Psa 110:1
22.  He has LOINS	Ezek 1:26-27
23.  He has FEET	Ex 24:10; Psa 18:9
24.  He has a HEART	Gen 6:6; 8:21
25.  He WEARS CLOTHES	Dan 7:9
26.  He  EATS FOOD	Gen 18:1-8
27.  He needs REST	Gen 2:1-2; Heb 4:4
28.  He is  SITTING ON A THRONE	Isa 6; Dan 7:9-11
29.  He WALKS	Gen 3:8; 18:1-8,22,33
30.  He RIDES	Psa 18:10; 68:17; Ezek 1
31.  He has a SOUL	Matt 12:18; Heb 10:38
32.  He experiences GRIEF	Gen 6:6
33.  He experiences ANGER	Psa 7:11, 1 Kings 11:9
34.  He experiences REPENTANCE	Gen 6:6
35.  He experiences JEALOUSY	Ex 20:5; 34:14
36.  He experiences HATE	Zech 14:3, Prov 6:16
37.  He experiences PITY	Ezek 36:21
38.  He experiences LOVE	John 3:16
39.  He experiences FELLOWSHIP	1 Cor 1:9, Eph 3:9
40.  He experiences JOY	Neh 8:10; Zeph 3:17
41.  He experiences PEACE	Rom 16:20, Heb 13:20
42.  He experiences GENTLENESS	2 Cor 10:1
43.  He experiences GOODNESS	Ex 34:6, Rom 2:3-4
44.  He experiences MEEKNESS	Psa 45:3-4
45.  He has a PERSONAL SPIRIT	Psa 143:10; Isa 30:1
46.  He experiences a MIND	Rom 11:34
47.  He experiences INTELLIGENCE	Gen 1:26; Rom 11:33
48.  He experiences WILL	Rom 8:27; 9:19
49.  He experiences POWER	Eph 1:19; 3:7,20; Heb 1:3
50.  He experiences TRUTH	Psa 91:4, 138:2
51.  He experiences HOPE	Rom 15:13
52.  He experiences RIGHTEOUSNESS	Psa 7:9, 45:4
53.  He experiences FAITHFULNESS	1 Cor 10:13
54.  He experiences KNOWLEDGE	Isa 11:2
55.  He experiences WISDOM	1 Tim 1:17
56.  He experiences DISCERNMENT	2 Sam 14:17, Heb 4:12
57.  He experiences PLEASURE & DELIGHT	Psa 147:11, Prov 11:20
58.  He endures LONGSUFFERING	Rom 2:3-4
59.  He exercises SELF-CONTROL	Isa 48:9
60.  He demonstrates His  IMMUTABILITY	Heb 6:17

God wants MANY “sons of God” to come into His kingdom

We can see from the scriptures that God has already produced TWO “sons of God”.  The “first Adam” was created in the Garden of Eden and the “last Adam” came to the Earth some 4,000-years later in the form of Jesus Christ:

“And so it is written, The FIRST MAN Adam was made a living soul; the LAST ADAM was made a quickening spirit.”  (1 Cor 15:45)

Scripture says that both of these “Adams” were “sons of God”:

“…Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was THE SON OF GOD.”   (Luke 3:38)

“But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, THE SON OF GOD; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”  (John 20:31)

It is therefore God’s purpose of putting mankind on the Earth that He acquires MANY “sons of God” to come into His kingdom through BOTH of the Adams’ mentioned above:

• THE FIRST ADAM (and Eve) and their descendants produced our ancestors using Adam’s genetic makeup, because the Bible says Eve is “the mother of all living souls”:

“And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was THE MOTHER OF ALL LIVING.”  (Gen 3:20)

• THE SECOND ADAM (Jesus Christ) is the “Lord from Heaven” who came to reverse what Adam and Eve lost at “the fall”.  This was their ability to communicate with God – their Creator, spirit-to-spirit.

“And so it is written, The FIRST MAN ADAM was made a living soul; THE LAST ADAM was made a QUICKENING [or life-giving] spirit.”  (1 Cor 15:45)

In this, it was always God’s plan that mankind lived eternally on the Earth in their bodies of flesh, blood and bones. Communication with God was between Him and the Adamic race in the form of spirit-to-spirit.

When Adam sinned, this not only prevented his ability to communicate with God, but also reduced humanity’s eternal lifespan to 1,000-years. 

“And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.”  (Gen 5:27)

After Noah’s Flood, God then reduced humanity’s lifespan to seventy years.  Therefore, every Christian should expect to live at least until the age of 70-years.

“The days of our years are THREESCORE YEARS AND TEN [70]; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years [80], yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”   (Psalm 90:10)

God allows Satan to ‘test’ the sons of God

God allows Satan to test every “Adam” born upon the Earth who has the potential to become a “son of God”.  It is God’s purpose to determine if every new Christian has the potential to communicate with God spirit-to-spirit through the New Birth. In this, he or she must then “overcome Satan’s temptations” in the same manner as Jesus “overcame Satan’s temptations” while He was here on Earth. 

In this testing, God allows and encourages Satan to determine if the Christian is made in the spiritual image of Jesus Christ (or even Job) and whether he or she will serve Him as faithfully as Christ did when he was on Earth:

“And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered MY SERVANT JOB, that there is none like him in the earth, a PERFECT and an UPRIGHT MAN, ONE THAT FEARETH GOD, and ESCHEWETH [e.g morally or aesthetically wrong] EVIL?”   (Job 1:8)

The example of Job

In the case with Job, God knew that he was a “good and faithful servant”, however Satan knew that at that time, God had placed a barrier of protection around him that Satan wanted removed, as stated below:

“Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?  10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side…But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.”  (Job 1:9-11)

“And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, ALL THAT HE HATH IS IN THY POWER; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord"  (Job 1:12)

So God allowed Satan to take away ALL of Job’s wealth and his children — but still Job remained faithful to God.

Therefore, Satan was allowed to destroy ALL that Job considered of value — his seven sons and three daughters were killed, together with all of his houses, his animals and his crops being destroyed.  After being informed about this:

“...Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, 21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.  22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.”  (Job 1:20-22)

So the point here is that God requires ALL of His ‘saints’ who can communicate with God spirit-to-spirit to be thoroughly tested by Satan. This is to determine if they are capable of serving Him faithfully throughout eternity. 

Christians to “Judge Angels”

As an example of eternal service to God, one role of the “sons of God” will be to “judge angels”:

“Know ye not that WE SHALL JUDGE ANGELS? how much more things that pertain to this life?”  (1 Cor 6:3)

Christians are to be “Overcomers”

“To HIM THAT OVERCOMETH [Satan’s temptations in this life] will I grant TO SIT WITH ME IN MY THRONE [in the next life], even as I [Jesus] ALSO OVERCAME [Satan’s temptations], and am set down with my Father in his throne.”  (Rev 3:21)

Therefore, as every individual Christian is born with the genetics of Adam and Eve in their physical body, so the “new birth” is required to produce in Christians the spiritual genetics of our Father in Heaven:

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be BORN AGAIN, HE CANNOT SEE the kingdom of God.”  (John 3:3)

“For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, IN BRINGING MANY SONS UNTO GLORY, to make [Jesus] the CAPTAIN of THEIR SALVATION PERFECT THROUGH SUFFERINGS.”   (Heb 2:10)

How to become a “son of God”

The ONLY way any unsaved person can become a “son of God” is by:

1. Confessing and repenting of all past sins (Matt 3:6; Luke 13:3; 1 John 3:6)
2. Accepting Christ as the Savior of their soul through “confession” with their mouth
   (Rom 10:9-10)
3. Being baptized fully immersed in water (Mark 16:16)
4. Commence “Striving to enter into God’s kingdom” through “study to show thyself approved unto God” (Luke 13:24; 2 Tim 2:15)
5. Experience the “New Birth” (John 3:3-8)
6. Suffer persecution, hatred and rejection when sharing the Gospel (John 15;20; Luke 6:22)

“I BESEECH YOU therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that YE PRESENT YOUR BODIES A LIVING SACRIFICE, HOLY, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”  (Rom 12:1)

“Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. IF THEY HAVE PERSECUTED ME, THEY WILL ALSO PERSECUTE YOU; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.”   (John 15:20)

Christ invites the ‘sons of God’ to be ‘seated’ next to Him

After an unsaved person accepts Jesus Christ as his or her ‘Savior’, I understand it is at this point that their name is then written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. 

Scripture indicates that this is a “little book”, which indicates not many names remain written in it because many Christians fail to “ENDURE to the END of their Christian life to be Saved”:

"Receiving THE END of your faith, even the [Final] SALVATION of your souls."  (1 Peter 1:9)

“And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but HE THAT ENDURETH TO THE END [meaning Final Salvation] SHALL BE SAVED.”  (Matt 10:22)

“…and the Lord shall BLOT OUT HIS NAME from under heaven.”  (Deut 29:20)

“And he had in his hand A LITTLE BOOK open…”  (Rev 10:2)

“And there shall in no wise enter into it [the New Jerusalem] any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's BOOK OF LIFE.”  (Rev 21:27)

“HE THAT OVERCOMETH [their individual fiery trials, temptations, hatred and rejection], the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I WILL NOT BLOT OUT HIS NAME OUT OF THE BOOK OF LIFE, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”  (Rev 3:5)

What happens at the New Birth?

It appears from scripture that when a Christian experiences the ‘New Birth’, his or her name is placed upon a “seat” located near Christ’s throne in Heaven.  To the “sons of God” who overcome Satan’s deceptions, his trials and his lies, Jesus Christ says that he or she is “seated with Christ in Heavenly places”:

“And hath raised us up together, and made us SIT TOGETHER in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”  (Eph 2:6)

Therefore, to ensure that this happens, we have to communicate with God through the spirit realm to help us obtain the promises contained in His word.

Satan’s aim is to prevent MANY “sons of God” coming into God’s kingdom

There have always been two types of Christians in the churches.  The “religious Christian” —who has always opposed God and His servants throughout millennia (Acts 3:21) who have always opposed the “born-again Christian”.

Examples of the ‘Religious Christian

The ‘religious Christian” walks after the flesh rather than “walking in the Spirit” (Rom 8:1).  This means they follow the “traditions of men” rather than the “traditions of God”.

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, AFTER THE TRADITION OF MEN, after the rudiments of the world, and NOT AFTER CHRIST”   (Col 2:8)

The types of “religious Christian” found in the Bible are various sub-groups as shown below.

 “Grievous wolves“.  These are very dogmatic (or unreasonable) Christians who cannot be engaged.  They are quick to expel anyone from their church if Christians refuse to be compliant to their false beliefs (Acts 20:29).  They can become quite dangerous individuals;

• “Evil Workers” (are often men who plot the overthrow of innocent people — Matt 26:4);

• “Dogs” (are a despised, unworthy class of Christians NOT deserving of any respect — Mark 7:28);

• “The Circumcision” (these are the legalizers in the churches—Luke 13:14).

Examples of Satan’s people

• “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be FALSE TEACHERS among you, who privily shall bring in DAMNABLE HERESIES, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”  (2 Peter 2:1)

• “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these…HERESIES…that they which do such things shall NOT INHERIT the kingdom of God.”  (Gal 5:19-22)

Therefore, every truly “born-again” Christian must be able to detect and oppose those within Satan’s kingdom who preach “damnable heresies” in the churches — and oppose them in a gentle and loving way. 

“For there must be also HERESIES AMONG YOU, that they which are approved [by God] may be made manifest among you”   (1 Cor 11:19)

How ‘God’ speaks to and monitors our “Inner Man”

The scriptures reveal that God both speaks to us in different ways and that He also monitors the spiritual condition of the various spiritual ‘organs’ within our ‘Inner Man’:

“The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord TRIETH THE HEARTS.”  
(Prov 17:3)

“The SPIRIT OF MAN is the candle of the Lord, SEARCHING all the inward parts of the belly.”  (Prov 20:27)

“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, MY SOUL…HE HATH CLOTHED ME with the garments of salvation, he hath COVERED ME with the robe of righteousness…”  (Isaiah 61:10)

“And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said unto me…FOR I KNOW THE THINGS THAT COME INTO YOUR MIND, every one of them.”   (Ezek 11:5)

This study has endeavored to demonstrate God’s role in trying to bring “many sons to glory” through “perfecting them through sufferings”. In this, God allows Satan to arrange trials and tribulations for each of us, so that we can be perfected for our heavenly life.

“For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing MANY SONS [of God] UNTO GLORY, to make [Jesus] the captain of their salvation PERFECT through SUFFERINGS.”   (Heb 2:10)

“BE YE THEREFORE PERFECT, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”  (Matt 5:48)

A final message from Jesus to the “sons of God” today

“It is written in the prophets, And THEY [meaning today’s Christians] shall be ALL TAUGHT [personally] OF GOD [the Father]. Every man therefore that hath HEARD [God the Father’s spiritual voice], and hath LEARNED of the Father, cometh unto me [Jesus].”  (John 6:45)

“If…ye have HEARD him, and have been TAUGHT by him, as the truth is in Jesus:  22 That ye PUT OFF concerning the former conversation THE OLD MAN, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;  23 And [have] be RENEWED in THE SPIRIT OF YOUR MIND;  24 And that ye PUT ON THE NEW MAN, which after God is created in RIGHTEOUSNESS and TRUE HOLINESS [then consider yourself to be a son of God].”  (Eph 4:21-24)

END

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