Three Lives? Revisited Again

Psalm 24:1

The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof;

the world, and they that dwell therein.

For a number of days now, I've felt impressed to share a series of three  blogs which I originally posted in 2013.  So here's Three Lives? the first of the three I hope to post here.  I trust you'll receive something beneficial if you choose to read it.   Nevertheless,  The Blessing of  the LORD overtake all who stop by.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Three Lives?

I Led 3 Lives  was a television series in the 1950's  loosely based on an American guy who joined the communist party for the FBI and assumed the role of a counter spy- thus the three lives, U.S. citizen, communist and counter spy.  Though I was a child I remember the series and watched it a few times, but  recall very little about it.   It was very much a show for grown-ups, and I was much more interested in  watching  Hopalong Cassidy-loved his white horse and, of course, his good-guy white hat. Oh, I digress, but the thought of it made me happy...so back to the subject.

Nonetheless, even as a child I found the title and the thought of leading 3 lives very intriguing and mysterious. Considering this I find it no surprise that several years ago while reading Derek Prince's book War in Heaven, I came across a  statement which very much appealed to me, and have thought much about it since. In order to arrive at the destination I desire a little background information is in order, so I'll share some interesting facts from his book which will help clarify my basic premise.

In referring to Genesis 2:7 Mr. Prince shared that the word "life" is plural! This discovery truly captivated me!  I wondered how this new understanding might broaden the meaning of the intent of its use in this particular verse. And further, how it might bring greater enlightenment regarding how we were created by God and how He intended for us to function. After all, He didn't change His plan.  His original plan is still His plan. Check out the verse I'm referring to and see for yourself. The following is from the King James Version, Genesis  2:7: (emphasis mine)

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. 

 

Now look at the difference when you add the word 'life" in its plural form:

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives; and man became a living soul. 

It's truly fascinating!  Not only does this suggest the character and functionality of God in three persons,  but also man whom He created in His Image--all of this in the opening account of his creation.  What a foundation He laid, but before I can go on, it's also necessary to take a look at another plural word in Genesis 1:1 (emphasis mine)

In the beginning God created the heavens

and the earth.

The word "God"  in the original language is the word Elohim. Mr. Prince explained that though we in the U.S. add the letter "s" to  change the form of a word to make it plural, in Hebrew it is normal to add "im" to change a word to the plural form.  It's pronounced "eem"as in "seem", thus the first mention of God  referring to Himself in the plural form. Another interesting fact is that verbs in Hebrew can either be singular or plural and must match the form of the words to which they are connected. A plural word such as Elohim normally would be matched with a plural form of the verb, but such is not the case in this instance.  Mr. Prince writes that the word "created" is singular in form indicating that in God there is both plurality and singularity or unity. As Christians we've known God to be a triune Being (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit), but to find it so clearly stated in the first words of the Bible in the creation account was quite an amazing discovery to me further verifying our own three part being!  Very interesting indeed and there is so much more information, knowledge and revelation available to us than we can begin to imagine, but He is willing to teach us all things! Wow!

Now that the foundation is laid, I'll return to my point: God created us in His Image and Likeness.  We all, to some extent, have understood this, but I'd like to expand on it.  Since God is 3 in 1 and has both plurality and unity within Himself, when He breathed the breath of lives into man, man became a living soul with both plurality and unity within himself just like God our Father.  Now isn't that a wonderful fact, especially since God's purpose for man has never changed. As I said before, His original plan is still His plan though it was delayed for a time. While  Man enjoyed unbroken fellowship with his Creator before the Fall, his unity within himself (his spirit, soul and body) as well as his continuous life source remained unbroken. Though they, man and woman, were made to be fully functional  living spirits, they were also fully functional living souls who lived in a fully functional living body without schism fully operating as one whole being while they remained in oneness with each other and most importantly, with God.

We know Satan entered in to cause separation and we also know he was successful.  His plan was to separate man from God and steal the ruling authority God had given man when He blessed them. The way he so subtly chose to do this was to present them with something which would first divide them within themselves which, if received, would lead to their downfall.  He needed to confuse and change the natural order in which they were created by God to function-as one, spirit, soul and body in cooperation with God Himself-to accomplish his plan. This is clearly demonstrated in Genesis 3:6 when after the woman listened to the strangers voice and seeing that the forbidden fruit was good for food, pleasant to the eye and desirable to make one wise she, being deceived, gave in to temptation. She gave some to the man who was with her  and he chose to eat.   By this act of disobedience they put their spirits in subjection to the sensual desires of their souls departing from God and the laws He had established to govern spiritual beings such as themselves-those created in the God class in need of a spiritual overlord. And the rest is history.

But now through God's great graciousness to us, Jesus restored the privilege of choosing Him as our spiritual overlord!

Though the fall of man was great,  we as men have had little understanding of how greatly we all have been affected by the lower nature we inherited because of it.   The segregation of our spirit, soul and body  because of our separation from God  and His original design has been devastating.  However, The Very Good and Great News is this truth found in Romans 5:17:

For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. 

The purpose of all I've written is to share a little about the separation of our "3 lives" which were designed to function as one integrated whole person, but now we are often at odds within.  At times we might follow our spirit, sometimes we might follow our emotions, and other times we might just follow our appetites depending on our circumstances or how we might feel at the moment. I know I mentioned several times that God's original plan for man is still His plan, however,  the deceiver's original plan is still his plan, which is to divide and conquer, to separate man from his Creator and to keep man from the reunification of his "three lives".

I'll end this first installment with the following scripture which Jesus Himself  said so very plainly:

John 10:10 KJV

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

2 Corinthians 4:7

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.