School of Tyrannus Online Course1: Christianity and its Message Class 2: The nature of Man

By R.S. Neaville All rights reserved 2012

School of Tyrannus Online Course 1: The message of the Gospel Class 2: The nature of man

A Living Soul A large part of understanding our salvation in Christ Jesus starts with the understanding of who we are and our place in God's creation. Before we discuss our place though we must understand our nature. In the book of Genesis we have a starting place in that first understanding. Genesis 2:7 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. Here we see the basic truth of our being. God created our bodies from the dust of the earth. This is the physical part. Next he breathed in to us the breath of life. This is the spiritual part. Thus man became a living soul. The soul therefore is the union of body and spirit together as one. In Adam was united both realms of the physical and spiritual. If you do not understand this from the beginning of your Christian foundations you will never properly understand salvation and God's plan for mankind. It is a sad fact that most who call themselves Christian do not understand this basic truth. Flesh and spirit This understanding of what a soul is central to every building block in scripture. This is applied in the spirit of line upon line and precept upon precept.

Isaiah 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: This demonstrates this rudiment's place in the foundation of Christianity. You build a house starting with the foundation. If the foundation is laid out of square the whole edifice will be out of square. The union of the soul shows us the pattern that God has followed in his creation. This pattern was meant to be discerned and used to understand the whole of God's communication with us. The things that are seen come first to teach us about the things that are not seen. The body comes first to demonstrate truths about the spirit. This is true of all things in physical creation. The physical things come first to teach of spiritual things. Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

1 Corinthians 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

This is the pattern of God in creation. First the Physical man and then the Spiritual man. The soul is a microcosm of this principle. First the body and the the spirit. The very order in which the first soul was created tells us a lot about the overall scheme of Adam and Jesus. Genesis 2:7 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. Notice in this pattern the spirit is primal. Everything that is seen is created from that which is unseen. This means the things of the spirit existed first. The body was created as a vessel to hold God's breath so to speak. The Body comes first in physical creation as a vessel or helper to the spirit but truly the spirit is counted as first. Everything that is seen was created from that which is not seen. Hebrews 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Adam and Eve In the first man and woman we see this pattern clarified in both these two points. 1.The body is a helper to the Spirit 2The Spirit has headship Adam pictures the Spirit. He was God's focus in creation. Eve was created afterward to be a helper. She is a picture of the flesh. The order from scripture is plain: Genesis 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 1 Corinthians 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. Just as man and woman come together to make a marriage in order to produce fruit (children) so the body must submit to spirit in proper union order to produce anything in creation. Just as the woman bears the children so all of the spirit's acts are done through the body. A soul is a living union of two like a marriage is a living union of two. This pattern is expressed all the way to and through the union of Heaven and Earth. Heaven is the spiritual and and Earth is the physical. Earth is submitted to heaven's will. The two must become one. Everything done in Heaven is manifested in the Earth. It is true now of the church, the Body of

Christ. All of Jesus' acts are done through his body. The weaker vessel serves the greater as a helper, just as your body parts serve your spirit.

Genesis 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 1 Peter 3:7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. Matthew 6:10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. The nature of a servant Just as Eve was meant to serve her husband, so body is meant to serve spirit just as we are meant to serve Christ. Our nature is therefore that of a servant. Our body was created to be in submission to the spirit. We see however the natural order corrupted when we walk by our bodies desires instead of the Spirit. As we will see Adam found out with Eve. That however comes later in another class. We will see however that when Jesus came into this world as a man he came as a servant. This is the true intended nature of men. It is demonstrated in the order of body and spirit in the soul. Romans 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? Philippians 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: Three in One The Soul then is the union of body and spirit together as one. It in itself is therefore a third thing. This union is a living covenant. The body and spirit walk together in this covenant. Whether it be in sin or in righteousness a soul is in an agreement, like a marriage. This fact will be detailed fully in the next class Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Review Questions 1. 2. 3. 4. Between physical creation and spiritual creation what is considered primal? What is the scriptural definition of a soul? What is a rudimentary understanding? Can you understand salvation without understanding how a soul is defined? Discuss with the class. 5. Do Adam and Eve picture the soul? 6. Can you see the soul and its order in Christ and the Church? 7. Can the union of the soul be a sinful union? 8. Can you see heaven and earth in the order of the soul? 9. Where do the physical things come from? 10. Can you understand more about Christ and Adam from the order of the soul?