Why Were You BORN?
Is there PURPOSE for human life? Does life, after all, have real meaning? Here is the awesome truth!
Part 9 of 23. ...But God is Spirit
God is composed of spirit---not of physical matter (John 4:24). But nowhere dos the Bible say man is a spirit. Nowhere in the Bible can you find the expression "immortal soul," or "immortality of the soul." In Genesis 1, animals are called souls---that is, Moses used the Hebrew word nephesh, which in Genesis 2:7 is translated into the English word "soul", while in Genesis 1:20, 21, 24 it is three times translated "creature."
Now continue with Genesis 2:8, "And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden: and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil" (verse 9).
"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thous shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (verses 16-17).
Notice, for disobedience, God said, "Thou shalt surely die"! Man is mortal, and shall die! God said so! Now what have we seen? God made man mortal---composed of physical matter. In Genesis 3:19 God said to Adam: "...for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." He was speaking to the conscious man--- to the human mind.
Notice what is symbolized and revealed here. The tree of life symbolized eternal life (Gen. 3:22). They did not, as yet, possess immortal life. This was freely offered to Adam and Eve as God's gift. But they were required to make a choice. Also in the garden was another tree with symbolic meaning---the tree of "the knowledge of good and evil." To make the wrong choice of taking that forbidden tree would impose the penalty of death. "Thou shalt surely die," said God---if they chose to disobey and take of that tree.
In other words, as we read in Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life..." This clearly shows that God revealed the gospel---the good news of eternal life in the kingdom of God---to our first parents. And what is the Bible definition of sin? "Sin is," it is written in 1John 3:4, "the transgression of the law."
Actually, there exist, overall, only two basic ways of life---two divergent philosophies. They travel in opposite directions. I state them very simply: One is the way of give---the other of get.
More specifically, the one is the way of humility, and of outgoing concern for others equal to self-concern. It is the way of cooperation, serving, helping, sharing; of consideration, patience and kindness. More important, it is also the way of obedience to, reliance on, and worship solely toward God. It is the God-centered way, of love toward God and love toward neighbor.
The opposite is the self-centered way of vanity, lust, and greed; of competition and strife; of envy, jealousy, and unconcern for the welfare of others. Few realize this vital fact: The "give" way is actually an invisible, yet inexorable, spiritual law in active motion. It is summarized by the Ten Commandments.