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This actually also addresses the issue of:
- What is the Gospel?
- What does it mean to Preach Christ?
- When is a sermon Christian?
The Brain the Body and the Spirit
An intelligent man with a dead spirit is like a good body with a dead brain: It’s total failure.
The gap between the spirit and the brain in terms of complexity, richness, sensitivity in intelligence is just as big as the gap between the brain and the bicep.
Spirit is immensely more complex, more rich, more eternal, more nuanced, more deep than the brain, and that means the left brain and the right brain.
An intelligent man with a dead spirit is like a good body a dead brain. Literally to be brain-dead, just much worse. Spiritually dead humans aka “Sons of Adam”, or commonly just “mankind” are terribly and categorically removed from God, and dead to God.
God is eternally and spectacularly ‘alive” in Himself. God is SPIRIT and that SPIRIT of God is LIFE.
Death now continues throughout biological life as a gradual degradation of the body, and culminates in physical death, much like a human body with a dead brain decays and fades away. The body without the brain is just rotting meat, aka “the Flesh”.
How did this Happen?
God’s Command
God’s command to Adam and Eve was that they could not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It came with the warning that disobedience would result in death:
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
” (Genesis 2:16–17, NKJV)
The phrase “you shall surely die” could be literally translated “dying you shall die.”
This reveals a continuous state of death which began cataclysmically with “spiritual death”. Spiritual death means the human spirit is dead and that is like having a “brain dead” diagnosis form your doctor, just deeper and worse. When Zoe is removed Bios spirals meaninglessly and out of control.
The Sons of Adam are dead, just like Adam
The word, “Adam” means “man” in Hebrew and the sons of Adam are dead, spiritually, because “spiritually dead Adam” brings forth “spiritually dead” offspring.
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—” (Romans 5:12, NKJV)
Obviously it is not just the genetically inherited sin that causes spiritual death, but also the continuation of walking in cycles of sin and death.
Bios and Zoe
In the Greek language “Bios” is biological life and “Zoe” is Spiritual life. Spiritual life is the nature and essence of God Himself and is the life God offered Adam and the Garden of Eden and is now offering again in Christ. Christ is now the living “Tree of Life”.
3 And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” ” (Genesis 6:3, NKJV)
The Flesh Profits nothing
61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.
” (John 6:60–66, NKJV)
Cocoons
Your body is a cocoon for your soul, your soul is a cocoon for your human spirit and your human spirit is a cocoon for God’s spirit.
The Solution
Termination and Germination
2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
” (Romans 6:2–4, NKJV)
We were all dead before He regenerated us
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
” (Ephesians 2:1–3, NKJV)
13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, ” (Colossians 2:13, NKJV)
Begotten again through the resurrection
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ”
(1 Peter 1:3–5, NKJV)
Born of the Spirit
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
” (John 3:3–8, NKJV)
Filled by God
Just like spiritual death is to be separated from God. Spiritual life means to be penetrated, and impregnated by God. God’s Spirit becomes once spirit with your spirit just like a man and woman become one flesh and their union produces new life in their children. This is a mystery and a great spiritual parable.
16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a woman is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
” (1 Corinthians 6:16–17, NKJV)
30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
” (Ephesians 5:29–32, NKJV)
Redemption in Christ
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
” (Ephesians 1:3–12, NKJV)
AMEN AMEN AMEN
A good summary of the extent of the fall of man. If we do not see the fall for what is it, we will not see the need for the Cross. We were dead in our sins and contrary to God in nature. Only through the Cross of Christ and His redemptive work can we receive forgiveness, the Spirit and be made new in Him.
Also a good reminder that we were saved by His grace, for there is no boasting in ourselves when it comes to salvation.