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Just Imagine
by Jack Vorster LET US MAKE MAN Just how on earth are Christians supposed to "walk by faith and not by sight" in order to have all of their needs met as per the promises of God? Believe it or not, it takes just a little bit of imagination. The verse of Scripture that started the ball rolling as far as our existence is concerned is Genesis 1:26. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." Is your imagination fully primed for what is to follow? If so, then you are on the threshold of transferring your existence from the physical to the reality of the spiritual, that is, from sight to faith. Question: Where were you created? Answer: In the image of God. We see it in verse 27 of Genesis 1. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." This has a two-fold application. We were created to be God-like in appearance and this is important we were created right inside of God's image. Note that after our creation we existed right inside of God and there we remained until God formed a physical body in which to place the God-like creature he had brought into existence. In other words, God, being spirit, "carried" within Him other living creatures just like Him. Billions of us, including you, existed inside of God until each one was ready to be born into this world. ADULTS AND INFANTS Adam and Eve were "born" as adults and the rest of us were born as infants, but we existed within the Spirit of God until such time, as is clear from Zechariah 12:1. "The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him." By "formeth the spirit of man within him" means that at conception our spirit is "inserted" inside that tiny new little creature that takes on the appearance and likeness of His creator. Now let's look at the advent of Adam, the very first spiritual, God-like creature to set foot on earth. Remember, he was already created and existed as a grown-up spirit within the majestic being of his Maker, but God may have withheld Adam's consciousness as an individual until an "earthen vessel" was prepared for him, after which he became a "living soul". That he became a "living soul" simply denotes that he became conscious (within his spirit) of his existence as a living creature, now able to "accrue" a database of memories dealing with all the words and deeds ever to be executed by him. To be exact, he would be building up his book of life which would reveal whether or not he partook of the salvation provided on the Cross and God's Book of Life would concur either way. This applies to all of us. Furthermore, the fact that he was a spirit-being is made clear in 2 Cor 5:10. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." It is the spirit that is referred to in the above-quoted verse, thus the things done inside the body by the spirit in the way of wicked thoughts and according to what the spirit has done using the body to physically execute the wicked deeds. The body does nothing by itself, but the body becomes just as tainted and corrupt as the spirit, because of the spirit. That is why Jesus was put to death in the flesh to both renew the spirit and cleanse the body of its corruptness. (1 Peter 3:18) THE BREATH OF LIFE Now let's move to that actual moment where Adam became a living soul. "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." (Gen 2:7) God breathed or "released" the created life of Adam from within Him to within the formed physical body of Adam, which then contained the spirit-life of Adam. When Adam received that Breath of Life, his body sprang into action and started functioning, that is, it started breathing in air because it suddenly possessed or "housed" a living entity. In other words, without the Breath of Life the human body is lifeless. The Breath of Life that you possess represents your very life as a living human creature. This is the you of you. This is the part of you that empowers your physical body to start taking in air. This is the God part of you and what makes you a living being or soul. Your Breath of Life and a breath of air are two entirely different things. The latter merely supplies oxygen to the body, but it is your Breath of Life that enables your body to take in that vital air. This means that you (your spirit) do not need air in order to remain a living being/soul. It is merely your earthbound physical body that ceases to function (whatever the cause), but you (your spirit) will continue to exist as a living being as if you've never had a body. The moment Adam's body received him (his spirit), He started seeing the world around him, but only the physical world, not the spirit world. He came from the eternal spirit world and was placed, by God, in the world of time to which his body was adapted. Although he had sight of the natural world only, his spirit was in full fellowship with and in awareness of the Spirit of God. Man's domain was to be a place governed by time and on a planet called Earth. If he had eaten of the fruit of the Tree of Life before he fell, he would have lived forever and time would have been inconsequential. PHYSICAL TO SPIRITUAL Is your imagination still in sharp mode? You're about to move from a physical mindset to a spiritual mindset. Actually, your physical body (more specifically, the brain) does not have a mindset. Your mindset belongs to your spirit, but our problem has been that we mistakenly assume that our physical make-up carries our emotions and intellectual abilities. Without you (your spirit) your body is dead. "For as he (man) thinketh in his heart (where the mind is), so is he:" (Prov 23:7) And James 2:26 certainly makes this clear in no uncertain terms. "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." Okay, here we go with that imagination of yours. Imagine that God never planned for Adam to have a physical covering of any kind and that He simply placed Adam on earth as a spiritual being, but without the ability to move away from the earth or to see the rest of the spirit world somewhat like an angel with limitations. Imagine further that all of us were simultaneously placed on this planet as adults in that form. Let's say further that as spiritual beings of that kind we were able to communicate with one another by thought, which does away with the need for cell phones and social media platforms on the internet. We would need no sleep, which, of course, is only needed for the rejuvenation of a physical body and not the spirit. What else would have happened then? Well, for starters, there would have been no such thing as lying on the sand at the beach to tan the skin of the physical body covering your spirit so that others could admire your skin tone. Your imagination should also tell you that ladies would have had no need of make-up for their faces for others to see. No more beauty pageants or bodybuilding competitions to show off the outer covering of our spirits you've guessed it to others. No more driving around in fancy cars or flying in airplanes to transport our bodies. We could simply be where we would want to be on this beautiful earth by mere mental desire. There would have been no movie houses or television sets, which are in existence for the portrayal of physical bodies. No more pornographic material to generate lust for human shapes. The list goes on and on. Let your own imagination extend the list. So what's the point? The point is this. Whether with or without our physical bodies we are spiritual creatures designed as such to worship God, for "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24) It is impossible to worship God in any other way. When we open our mouths to address God with words of worship we are actually doing so from our spirit, which is where our words come from. Our words always come from our spirit, no matter to whom we are speaking. FAITH AND HEALTH GO TOGETHER And as for faith, it exists only in the spirit world and we come from the spirit world from the very "Father of spirits" (Heb 12:9) and we were created in the image of our Father God. And if we were created in His image, after His likeness, then we, ourselves, are creators, for we are just like Him. The words we speak always have a creative effect on those who hear it. Not only that, but our physical environment is also subject to our words of faith and that would include our own physical bodies. Believing what we say when we say it (because we have the faith of God Mark 11:22) should produce the desired result. "For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." (Mark 11:23,24) And how do we firmly establish the faith needed to turn nothing into something? We copy our Father God. We listen and hear His Words (found in the Bible, of course) and then do it the same way. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Rom 10:17) We are to forget about what we see and trust in what we know, "For we walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Cor 5:7) The fact is, we were designed to live (in good health and prosperity) dependent upon what we hear from our Father God and to apply it accordingly. "And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." (Luke 4:4 and Matt 4:4) The words of the world produce corruption and death. The Word of God produces health and life. "My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh." (Prov 4:20-22) So, the next time you speak, know that your words are spoken from your spirit. You have no other way of expressing yourself, for you are a spirit living from within a body made from the dust of the ground. Now retired, Jack Vorster has a background in marketing in the field of newspaper advertising. As a result of a life-changing experience he turned his attention to the study of the human make-up and the realities connected to human behaviour based on the Word of God. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |