Spirits

Genesis 3:2, 3 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

The spirit of man lived for a short while.  Seldom do we consider the implications of simple regeneration.  It isn’t quite as simple as it seems at first impression.  For instance, has the original, created, spirit of man been regenerated, or is the regenerated spirit something new and entirely different? 

In the beginning…  Man was created with body, soul, and spirit.  This is the trinity of man.  This trinity is almost as difficult to fathom as the trinity of God.  Suffice it to say that in the beginning Adam and Eve succeeded in killing all three with one simple action.  Though the death blow had been delivered to all three at one time it was man’s spirit which suffered immediate and observable damage.  The death of these three in Adam and Eve followed a different course than our own.  Their spirit suffered immediately the ravages of death.  They, unlike us, had enjoyed the experience of a living spirit.  It’s no wonder they hid from God.  They hid from their shame in being naked of body, but also from the shame of spiritual disembowelment, which suddenly left them naked on the inside.  It is usually the inside of us which causes the greatest change in our outward appearance and demeanor.  Their body and soul would follow at a different pace, but without intervention their souls would suffer eternal death to match its temporal death.  If their bodies died without regeneration, or being born again, the death of their souls will find its resting place in the Lake of Fire.

For every person after Adam and Eve the day of conception instills within us a dead body, soul, and spirit.  The spirit of man is still-born at conception by the poison of sin.  We have never known the living and thriving spirit of man.  We are the walking spirit-dead.  As an infant our bodies are maturing but already dying the prescribed death of Adam’s fall.  When our body draws its last breath the soul must continue into its own death, separate, tormented, and isolated from God.  We are born eyes wide open and seeing sin and the world as Adam and Eve saw the forbidden fruit, but our life is an oxymoron of walking death imitating life.  We are more alike to zombies in popular horror movies than the frightened characters fighting to survive.  What was it like to have had the living spirit of man?

God’s creations suffer extinction from time to time.  I don’t believe it was God’s intent that any creation should die or become extinct.  Death and the extinction of entire species are a by product of sin’s encroachment into God’s creation.  Without Adam’s sin there would be no fall and no reason for extinction.  One of the first extinctions was not of a species but of a sub-species, the spirit of man.  The spirit of man is one of God’s creations which will never again manifest itself in this world or any other.  The spirit of man is like a dead branch fallen from a dead tree.  There is no hope for its revival.  But, there is a hope; that blessed Hope.

Did God intend the spirit of man to have such a short existence?  Was it His intent that it should die such an ignoble death?  How long did the spirit of man live?

Genesis 3:6, 7 And when the woman saw…  And the eyes of them both were opened…

The Bible does not record how long Adam and Eve lived in the garden without seeing the fruit which God had forbidden.  It was not until Satan drew their attention and influenced their thinking that they saw the fruit.  It had not been in their mind to even peek in the direction of the tree in the midst of the garden.  Why?  God had forbidden it!  Unlike Job they didn’t have to make a covenant with their eyes.  Their eyes did not naturally see what God had forbidden.  Their eyes saw from the perspective of obedience rather than rebellion and pride.  Is this innocence?  Innocent or not it was, for a time, sinless.  When exactly did Eve sin?  Was it when she ate the fruit or when she turned her eyes to the midst of the garden, walked in the direction she should not go, and took the fruit she was commanded not to eat?  Where is the root of sin in man?  Is it in thought and intent or in deed?  Jesus said to look upon a woman with lust is adultery.  Adultery breaks God’s law. 

Mathew 22:37-39 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.    

Adam had been issued only one commandment.  They naturally loved God and each other; the two great commandments of God.  They had been given only one commandment and either Eve or Adam added another.  Not to touch.  Adam should have gone one step further and said not to even think of looking at it.  In reality they were not to think about it, go near to it, or consider it.   

Satan perverts and twists the natural into the unnatural!  Again, when did they sin?  According to the Bible it was when they saw.  Eve saw the fruit before she touched or ate it.  It was when she saw the fruit in her mind’s eye and purposed to eat it that she sinned.  Adam sinned when he purposed in his heart to join fallen Eve.  They had not been sinners, but they turned the natural into the unnatural.  They killed God’s great creation; body, soul, and spirit of man. 

The spirit of man is now a dry, twisted, dead, and brittle branch waiting to be grafted into something living; something living which has the power of life everlasting.  That living spirit and power is the Holy Spirit of God.  Such power and compassion!  The dead branch is the dead spirit of man.  It died and became extinct with Adam and Eve.  God did not intend to resurrect the spirit of man, nor did he intend to replace it.  It is not supplanted or shoved aside.  Yet and nevertheless, the spirit of man is gone forever.  When we receive the atonement of Jesus Christ; are washed in the blood of the Lamb; we become a new creature.  This new creature is far removed from created man.  We become children of God, no longer created man.  Adam and Eve did not begin as children of God, but as simple creations and companions of God.  God has taken this fallen creation and indwelled the Holy Spirit to yield a new creature [creation].  God takes these dead branches every day and by His power grafts these dead spirits with the living Holy Spirit.  That is salvation.  This is God’s plan and intent.  That is Holy God and mighty to save!

Man is no more.  Man is relegated to the Lake of Fire.  Man will be completely separated from God, never to enter the gates of Heaven.  Hell is full of man’s folly.  The Lake of Fire is folly’s foolhardy finish. 

But, a new creature is a child of God.  Saved, saved, saved!  The family of God is eternal and living for every tomorrow.  The spirit suffered first, the spirit reaps the first fruits of God.  Our bodies are still dying, but our spirits are alive once more!  Soon our bodies and souls will inherit the same blessing. 

Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest!