2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) tells us, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed. Behold, the fresh and new has come. But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself (received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself) and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation (that be word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him).
God created man in His Image and according to John 4:24 (Amplified), "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (reality)." From the beginning, God made man a spirit being, just like He Himself is a Spirit. Genesis 2:7 (Amplified) says, "Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of Spirit of Life, and man became a living being." I believe this is when God joined the body and soul with the spirit being named Adam and this body (which was formed from the ground), became a living being. Your spirit is alive, even after your body has died, but your body is only alive, as long as the spirit is within it.
Adam was already "alive" as a spirit man (like God), but the man or being God formed from dust, was simply a dead lump (like a mannequin), until God breathed the soul and Life into it. We have a spirit man that was made in God's Image and we also have a physical, soulish man, to rule over this earthly realm with. Man was led by God's Holy Spirit and learned through his spirit. Man learned and led this earthly man by the soul or senses and all these were to be subject to the spirit realm. The Blessing that was upon Adam, was an outpouring of God to subdue and have control over the things of earth. In the natural realm, man is to take dominion over natural things, and subject to God's Word through his soul, which was the middle ground between the natural and the Spirit.
Jesus is the Perfect Example of how Adam was supposed to walk. He lived in a natural, flesh and blood Body and took dominion over all the natural elements of earth, by saying and doing "Only what the Father said to do." Jesus had a will of His Own, but He subjected it (His soul and emotions) to the Spirit realm, as He walked here on earth. This was how the Father intended man to be, from the beginning. We are not puppets, but sons and daughters. God didn't create us to be "on a string" like puppets, but made us without strings, so He could walk in Love with Him as family.
Our soul is the middle ground, between our natural body and our spiritual body and is the unrenewed place of rebellion in our new creation man. Man's soul or senses, didn't get born-again. It still spoke, thought, acted and sifted God's Wisdom, deciding what he wanted to believe or not believe. The carnal mind or unrenewed soul of man, simply rejected the Super-natural or Spiritual, in order to maintain control of the body. Your soul or senses had totally controlled the body in the manner it wished and the senses try to maintain that control over what they allow to be dispersed from the senses to the spirit.
This is one of the most important part of our Christian walk, here on earth. We will either allow the senses or soulish man to educate our spirit, or we will allow our new creation man to receive revelation, through the Word. A carnal mind will develop religions, while the renewed mind or restored soul will build relationship. One is soulish and one is spiritual. One is carnal and one is restored.
I was a heavy smoker and drinker, before being born-again. When I allowed Jesus to "restore my soul," He brought me to a "place of innocence" in m soul. I didn't care about drink or nicotine, but was completely free. It was like I had never drank or smoked before. I wasn't repulsed or attracted by drink of nicotine, but was totally innocent again. This is what Jesus wants to do for us, when He restores our soul (Psalm 23:3). He wants to bring us to a place, where sin is no longer thought of, where righteousness is a place we simply walk in, and where forgiveness is such a part of our new creation man, that the soul or sense do not bring us to the place of guilt and condemnation.
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