Gtoctr/ws082008
Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
The first chapter of the book of Genesis begins with God creating the heavens and the earth and filling them with everything man needed. It was God’s evident intent to start a family in the earth and to be the Father of many children. The earth and more specifically the Garden of Eden was the home God built and the provision He made for His new family. God did not only want children but He also wanted Grandchildren.
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.
For this reason God created man from the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.
By the time we get to the third chapter of Genesis, Adam and Eve were living in their daily routine of life, taking care of the garden, harvesting its fruit to eat, living in peace amongst the animals, ruling over all of God’s creation and walking with God in the cool of the evening. Life was great.
Many scholars, with whom I agree, believe that Adam and Eve had been warned that there was an enemy on the loose who wanted to take what they had been given away from them. The reason I lean toward this belief is due in part to the scripture:
Genesis 2:15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.
The Hebrew word translated ‘keep’ here in this verse has a certain implication in many cases. It is the Hebrew word Shamar and can mean: To watch over; to guard; to keep from being taken away or to basically protect. In fact we see this same Hebrew word used in:
Psalms 127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman, (Shamar), stays awake in vain.
At any rate, by the time we get to chapter three where Adam and Eve are in their daily routine of life, the devil shows up and begins to plot their downfall. Eve is tempted to disobey God and because she listens to the wrong voice, she makes the wrong choice and pressures her husband to do the same. Adam, as well, listens to the wrong voice and he also makes the wrong choice and all hell breaks loose upon them.
Mankind falls from the grace of God and looses rights to eternal life. Sin enters mankind’s realm and lays claim to everything they have. The original sin brought birth to life without God. What force has the power to produce life without God? Man!
What is the force in man that gives life but gives life without God? It's the carnal capabilities of man...
Let me lay a quick but solid foundation so we can see what we are up against and how we can defeat the takeover.
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.
Now my terminology may differ a bit from the terminology you are used to but the truth will remain the same. Since I cannot know what terminology you grew up hearing allow me to suppose that you all know absolutely nothing about this subject and approach it from the ground up so as to build a foundation around the terminology we will be using today.
Just determine to not let the devil get you crossways with truth because of terminology. Look beyond the mere words I use to share truth to the truth itself. In other words, try to understand and don’t try to misunderstand. Ok … ready? Let’s go!
Man was formed by the hand of God from the dust of the ground.
1. The Body
God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life.
2. The Spirit
Man became a living soul.
3. The Soul
This was God’s intent in the beginning. God made the first man a living soul by breathing His own Spirit into Him. When man fell he lost the Spirit of the Life of God.
Romans 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
Adam was in effect, ‘born again’, from life unto death. Man lost the Spirit of Life and was born again by the Spirit of Death and Death reigned upon all men, even upon those who had sinned after the similitude of Adam.
God made the first man, Adam, a living soul but He had to remake man in Christ to replace what was lost in the fall. This is why the scripture says:
1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening, (life giving), spirit.
We now have a chance to be born again, from death unto life, by the life giving Spirit of God in Christ Jesus.
So, man without the life giving Spirit of God lives by the power of the spirit of death, which we know as the carnal nature of man.
Only the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus can make you free from the law of sin and death.
The carnality of man cannot be saved. We are told that the carnal man is at enmity with God, is not subject to God and cannot be subjected to God … rather the carnal nature must be crucified with Christ, placed in a watery grave and given no further provisions so as to continually starve its appetites.
Now we were created Spirit, Soul and Body by God, in His likeness, a triune being, through Adam. The Apostle Paul says that it is God’s will that we end this life and enter the next as a representation of the triune being, like God, Spirit, Soul and Body.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is God’s intent to get us back to where He created us to be. This moment we see on earth is a parenthetical moment, from Genesis 3 through Revelation 22, in which God is dealing with carnality of man. Once we get beyond Revelation 22, we will be in a new day with a new heaven and new earth and pick back up on God’s original plan, taking care of His creation, tending the earth and walking with Him in the cool of the day.
But for now … we must deal with the carnal man we are all born with and those carnal appetites which attempt to lead us and drive us in the wrong direction. The carnal nature wants to control your life. You have the capability to have life on planet earth without the Spirit of the Life of God in you. You can be led by the wrong spirit, the carnal spirit of man.
Now we were created Spirit, Soul and Body and it is God’s hope that we live eternally Spirit, Soul and Body. So, what’s the problem?
The problem is that we were created a triune being and then Adam and Eve brought birth to a new element, the fourth man … Carnal Man!
1 Corinthians 3:3 For you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?
The Greek word translated ‘carnal’ in 1 Corinthians 3:3 is ‘Sarx’.
Where else can we find this same word in the New Testament to help us gain a better understanding of its true meaning?
Galatians 5
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
The Greek word ‘sarx’ is translated in this scripture as ‘flesh’.
The Apostle Paul is not talking about the body here but rather to the carnal nature of man … the fallen nature of man … man’s life force apart from God … the spirit of death in man, if you will.
Don’t mistake this as applying to the body. The body has no nature but is rather an earth suit motivated by common elements of comfort.
Allow me to further explain, realizing that I can in no way exhaust this subject in the time we have here. You would do well to study more on this subject yourself & don’t forget Part 2 of this message: The Recovery! But allow me to lay a quick but solid foundation.
Let’s look back at:
1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Greek word translated spirit here is pneuma
The Greek word translated soul here is psuche
The Greek word translated body here is soma
So where is the flesh? Where is the sarx of man? Well it is definitely not in the eternal plan of God for you and for me! Why?
Well let’s look further into:
Galatians 5
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
How do we begin being led by the Spirit? Well, if you won’t allow yourself to be motivated and follow the dictates of the Soul, or the Body, or the Flesh, there is only one other voice that is in man … it’s the voice of the Spirit of God.
