Blissful Eternal Life

 I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live

John 11:25

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ triumphed over death upon the cross thereby opening the path to eternal bliss. By His sacrifice, the gates of heaven are opened and in Him, we find everlasting joy and peace. The sorrow of parting with loved ones weighs heavily upon our hearts. Yet, we must grasp the truth that those who have departed in Christ possess life beyond death.

Surely, our faith teaches us that death is not the end, but the beginning of eternal life. As Scripture says, "For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Corinthians 5:1). Accordingly, death is a transformation from the temporary physical existence to the spiritual fullness of life in eternal. 

As it is written in 1 Corinthians 15:50, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable." The body, being mortal and subject to decay, returns to the dust of the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12: 7). In paradise, the soul rests in peace, awaiting the glorious Day of Judgment, when the dead shall be raised, and the body, spirit, and soul shall be reunited in a glorified state (Revelation 6:9-11). 

In God's perfect timing, our own lives shall also be transformed, and we shall be reunited with the loved one that we have lost. Until that glorious day, let us faithfully fulfill the work God has assigned us during our temporary journey on earth. Let us consider the unwavering faith of Job. Though he tested and lost everything he valued, he remained firm in his trust in the Lord. Job did not waver in his trust in God, nor did he act contrary to God's will, despite not knowing that Satan had sought and been granted permission by God to test him. 

Job’s example, along with the scriptures, encourage us to stand firm in our faith, understanding that without a solid foundation in Christ, the enemy may try to mislead us. Therefore, let us stand strong in our faith, holding on to Christ with unwavering trust. By doing so, we are assured a place in the blissful eternal life that God has prepared for us, where we will be reunited with our souls and meet our loved ones in His everlasting kingdom.

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

Stumbling Blocks of Spiritual Growth

 

God's Divine Plans

God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did (Romans 4:17)

1.  1. He who calls things that do not exist as though they did

II Kings 7:    

      1.     Then Elisha said, “Listen to the word of the Lord. The Lord says, ‘Tomorrow about this time, a basket of fine flour will be sold for one piece of silver in the gate of Samaria. And two baskets of barley will be sold for a piece of silver.’”

 2.   The captain on whose arm the king rested said to the man of God, “See, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” Elisha said, “You will see it with your own eyes. But you will not eat of it.”

The four lepers and their arrival at the enemy camp:

3 Now there were four men at the city gate with a bad skin disease. They said to one another, “Why do we sit here until we die? 

4 If we go into the city, there is no food there and we will die. And if we sit here, we will die also. So now come, let us go over to the tents of the Syrians. If they do not kill us, we will live. And if they kill us, we will die there.” 

5 So they got up in the evening to go to the Syrians. When they came to the tents of the Syrians, there was no one there.

Fleeing Syrians:

6 For the Lord had made the Syrian army hear a sound of war-wagons and horses and an army of many soldiers. So they said to one another, “The king of Israel has paid the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to fight against us.”

7 And they ran away in the evening. They left their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left everything just as it was, and ran for their lives.

8 Then the men with a bad skin disease came to the tents. They went into one tent and ate and drank. They carried away silver and gold and clothing, and hid them. Then they returned and went into another tent and carried things away from it, and hid them.

9 They said to one another, “We are not doing right. This is a day of good news, but we are keeping quiet. We will be punished if we wait until morning. So now let us go and tell those of the king’s house.”

10 And they came and called the men who watched the city gate. They said to them, “We went to the tents of the Syrians. But there was no one to be seen or heard there. Only the horses and donkeys were tied there. The tents were left just as they were.”

11 So the men at the gate called out, and the news was heard in the king’s house.

Without the sword and without blood, Israel plunders the enemy camp:

12 The king got up in the night and said to his servants, “I will tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry. So they have left the tents to hide themselves in the field. They are saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we will take them alive and get into the city.’”

13 One of his servants said, “Let some men take five of the horses that are left. Those who are left in the city are not doing better than all those who have died. So let us send men out to see.”

14 So they took two war-wagons with horses. And the king sent them after the Syrian army, saying, “Go and see.”

15 They went after them to the Jordan. All the way was covered with clothes and objects which the Syrians had thrown away in their hurry. Then the men returned and told the king.

16 So the people went out and took what the Syrians had left. Then a basket of fine flour was sold for a piece of silver. And two baskets of barley sold for a piece of silver, just as the word of the Lord had said.

17 Now the king chose the captain on whose arm he rested to watch the gate. But the people stepped on him at the gate. He died just as the man of God had said when the king came down to him.

1.    

      2. Spiritual vision:

 

II Kings 3:

 

16 He said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Make this valley full of ditches.’

17 For the Lord says, ‘You will not see wind or rain. But that valley will be filled with water so that you and your cattle and your animals will drink.’

18 This is only a small thing in the eyes of the Lord. He will give you the Moabites also.

II Kings 6:

16 He answered, “Do not be afraid. For those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, I pray, open his eyes, that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw. He saw that the mountain was full of horses and war-wagons of fire all around Elisha.

I Kings 19:

18 But I will leave 7,000 in Israel whose knees have not bowed down in front of Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

1.       

     3.  He who gives life to the dead:

     Ephesians 2:

1. And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 

6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

 

4. The Kingdom of Christ

Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6: 10)

There must be oneness to build the kingdom of God,  not to build the Tower of Babel

Isaiah 11: 6-9

6 The wolf will live with the lamb. The leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the young lion and the young fat animal will lie down together. And a little boy will lead them.

7 The cow and the bear will eat side by side. And their young will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the ox.

8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra. And another child will put his hand in the hole of a snake whose bite is poison.

9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain. For the earth will be as full of much learning from the Lord as the seas are full of water.

Revelation 21:

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had passed away. There was no more sea.

2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem. It was coming down out of heaven from God. It was made ready like a bride is made ready for her husband.

3 I heard a loud voice coming from heaven. It said, “See! God’s home is with men. He will live with them. They will be His people. God Himself will be with them. He will be their God.

4 God will take away all their tears. There will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All the old things have passed away.”

Prayer: Dear Heavenly father, give us the knowledge to understand your Divine Plans. Let Christ's heavenly kingdom and His will on earth be done, but not to build the towers of Babel. Open the eyes of our hearts to see what is happening around us with a spiritual eye. Wash and cleanse us by Your holy Blood so that we who are resurrected in Christ Jesus do not die again to sins. Heavenly God, who calls things that are not to be, take us and use us to build your kingdom. Only your name be glorified. We give all praise, honor and glory to our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Hallelujah!

 

Becoming more and more like Jesus in character

A Woman Caught in Adultery (John 8: 3-11)

The Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.

⁴ “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

⁶ They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. ⁷ They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” ⁸ Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

⁹ When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. ¹⁰ Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

¹¹ “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

1.    Jesus did not claim his right but took the responsibility.

2.    Jesus did not judge the women caught in adultery.

3.    Jesus did not punish her.

4.    Jesus did not encourage her sin but disciplined her

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Luke 6:37

Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Luke 6:37

 

Jesus Saves a Sinner

Body... Soul... Spirit...

Body, Soul, Spirit…

 

 

 

Adult Bible Study

Edited by: Prince Jeyabal

Houston Tamil Church

Date: 10/23/2022

Body, Soul, and Spirit in the Bible

There are a few places in the Bible where the body, soul, and spirit are mentioned. One of these is in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, as written, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

If we delve into this verse, it clearly states that we are composed of three parts: The body, the soul, and the spirit. The verse also uses the word “and,” which in the original Greek language means to differ from each other. Thus, this clearly states that each part is different and plays a different role in us.

What does the Bible say about your body?

1 Corinthians 12: 12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So, it is with Christ.

It is easy to distinguish the body as physical, which means using the five senses; the sense of sight, the sense of hearing, the sense of taste, the sense of smell, and the sense of touch.  

 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20: Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. So, glorify God in your body.  Let us imagine a circle on three levels. The outer level is the body, followed by the soul and the core is the spirit. Now, let us discuss the function of the soul to understand its importance of it and then discuss the spirit in detail.

What Is a Soul as Defined by the Bible?

Let's see what the Bible has to say about the soul as we analyze the verses of Scripture.

Matthew 10:28: "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

No man can kill our soul. Although they can kill our bodies, they cannot do anything personally to affect our souls.

Ezekiel 18:4: "Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die." Souls belong to the Lord. He created them when he created us. We also notice this verse mentions that any soul that sins will experience death. Considering every human, except Jesus, had sinned, this means everyone has earned eternal death. Thankfully, God has offered a way of salvation for those whose souls are doomed to die.

Matthew 16:26: "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?"

We cannot allow ourselves to get distracted by the things of this earth. Our soul, after all, cannot take its possessions on earth with it to the afterlife. It would be folly to strive to gain the whole world on account of losing one's soul. One soul's destination is of utmost importance and should be the number one priority in a person's life.

Soul: Role and Functions

The soul is basically our mind, our emotions, and our will. It is who we are as human beings. But it is also used to express God. As written in Luke 1:46-47, Mary’s Song, “And Mary said: My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”

In this verse, we can see that Mary uses her soul to glorify God and then uses the spirit to rejoice in what God has done to save her. Glorifying God is human behavior and human responsibility. We express our humanity to God through our soul, and we magnify His power and presence through our soul.

Although we express God’s magnanimity in our soul, we can never express God’s power through our soul because it is our humanity. We can do good works and be godly and still fall short. We can never express God’s love for us through our soul alone. We then need the spirit to express God’s love.

What Is a Spirit According to the Bible?

Let us go back to Luke 1:46-47. Mary rejoices about God’s love shown through His only begotten son through her spirit. This means that she enjoyed and experienced God through her spirit. The expression of God’s love is through our spirit.

While the soul is the source of our expression through our humanity, it has its limitations and the only way we can experience God is through our spirit. The soul is merely a channel.

Let us go back to our imagery of the parts. The body is the outer level, followed by the soul and the spirit is the core. The expression of love to God paved the way through the soul. We first magnify God’s power and grace, and then we express and experience it fully through our spirit.

The function of the spirit is spiritual. The spirit is the only way to connect with God, and we can only use the spirit if we believe in God and receive Him through our Lord Jesus Christ’s salvation.

In Romans 8:4, we are reminded by this as stated, “In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

This verse demands us to walk with our spirit and that means living a life according to the spirit and not our soul. The way of the spirit is the way of God. The spirit came to us through Jesus Christ. He lived amongst us and became human and for this reason, he has given us the gift of connecting with God through our spirit.

What Is the Difference between Soul and Spirit?

It is a blessing that we have three parts, the body, the soul, and the spirit. All of these parts have specific functions. The body is our physical functions and here we feel our physical senses such as the sense of sight, taste, smell, hear, and touch. The soul on the other hand is our humanity that makes us feel emotions. It is our way to magnify God through our human limitations.

What Is the Difference between Body and Spirit?

Galatians 5:16-17: I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 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.

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 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.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

When harmonization failed between Body, Soul, and Spirit….

1.    What happened to Adam & Eve

2.    What happened to Samson

3.    What happened to David

4.    What happened to Judas

The story of the prophet Elijah, Jezebel and King Ahab: 1 Kings 18-19

Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak

Matthew 26:41: Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Submission of aligned Body, Soul and Spirit to God?

Daniel 3:26-27: Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego,
servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire. And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego surrendered themselves completely to God: body, soul, and spirit. It was the kind of submission Paul wrote of in Romans 12:1: present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Bibliography:

1.    https://www.christianity.com/wiki/salvation/difference-between-a-soul-and-a-spirit.html

2.    https://spiritmusicmeetups.org/identity/

3.    https://www.mypcf.org/single-post/daniel-chapter-3-saved-in-the-fiery-furnace