Do You Know Who You Are?

Over the past several years, I've been emphasizing the great questions of life—who is God, what is God, what is His purpose—and the reciprocal to that, who is man, what is man, what is His purpose. Of course, the overriding theme of all is, does God exist? We've heard quite a bit about who and what is God, and regarding the Godhead—that there are two beings now in the Godhead—God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son—they are, of course, the essence of them is the Holy Spirit, God is Spirit. One of the things that we discussed—I put this on the agenda, I don't know if you downloaded the agenda or not—it said, doctrinal matters and had my name, and so we discussed—had a discussion on the Holy Spirit. And yesterday, as we were wrapping up, several of the council members said, the thing that I profited most from and the thing I enjoyed most was our discussion on the Holy Spirit. There's another aspect, of course, a reciprocal is that of who is man, and a clear understanding of what is man, who is man. So, do you know who you are? Now, this is especially relevant to children as well. We're having the kick-off of our pre-teen and also teen year for study, Sabbath school and teen Bible studies and the various activities that they participate in. Do you know who you are? Do you know what you are, and why you are, and what you can be? It seems so simple, those questions, but that's what life revolves around, really, if you understand. Why were you born, in essence? And these questions also relate to the question, if you die, will you live again? Most of the Christian professing world would say, well, that's a moot question. Of course I will live again. In fact, only the body dies, and soul flaws off to heaven or hell, since the soul is immortal, and almost every religion on the face of the earth teaches this damnable, abominable doctrine of the immortality of the soul.

But is that belief of an immortal soul supported by the Bible? How did humans come to believe that they have an immortal soul? The notion of an immortal soul, of course, did not come from God, and the father of lives introduced the concept in the Garden of Eden. Let's go now to Genesis 1.26-27.

An understanding of this, if you were to be talking to a new person who knew nothing about really what the plan and purpose of God is, and who and what is man, what is his purpose, of course you would start with the existence of God. Do you believe that God exists?

Who he is, what he is? He's our Father, he's our Creator, he's Spirit, great overriding purpose to bring sons and daughters to glory in his family. In Genesis 1, verse 26, God said, Let us make men in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air. And then, verse 27, God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, both male and female, created he them. They had the form and shape, the likeness of God, when God is described in Scripture, and you see brief descriptions of God on his throne in Revelation 4. In Revelation chapter 1, you see Jesus Christ walking among the seven golden candlesticks, which are symbolic of the church.

But this word here that we're going to look at now introduces the subject of the soul and what is man in that regard, and whether or not the soul is immortal. So on the one hand, you see that we are created in the likeness of God. But then look at another verse that is often so misunderstood. In verse 24, God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature. Do you know what the Hebrew word is for a creature there? Well, the Hebrew word for creature there is nafesh, or soul. So soul is used for human life, soul is used for animal life, living soul after their kind cattle and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind, and it was so. Man created in the image of God. God is spirit. God is invisible.

Man is not invisible, and he is subject to sin and death. So look at chapter 2 there in verse 7. And this is so vital to understand what you are. Who you are, well, you are created in the image of God, that is, in form and shape, in lightness in that sense, but you're not of the same essence. As you see here in verse 7, The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground. So if we're dust of the ground, that is our substance, our essence, and breathed into his nasser's breath of life, and man became a living soul, a living nafesh.

So God said nothing about immortality when he created human beings, but some have taken soul to mean immortality. Now look at verses 16 and 17 here, where God instructs man in Genesis 2.16. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat a bit, for in the day that you eat thereof, you shall surely die. God did not say that your body will die, but your immortal soul will continue to exist. He didn't say that. He didn't say that your immortal soul will continue to exist. He said that you will die when you eat of that tree. So God is simply saying, If you disobey me by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, if you begin to decide for yourselves what is good and what is evil, you're going to die, because there's only one thing that can bridge that gap between what you are as a mortal, air-breathing, physical human being made from the dust to the ground, and that is the life essence of God in Christ, which is the Holy Spirit. The first humans are placed in a beautiful environment. They had the world's greatest teacher, a Creator God.

So a lot of people say it's because of the environment that I go astray. And, of course, the environment has a lot to do with it. It's because the way I was reared and the way you're reared has a lot to do with it. It is because I was never taught, and teaching has a lot to do with it.

You look at Chicago at the present time, where virtually every weekend there's a round of murders, and throughout the week there are some. It is a murder capital of the world, as it were. It seems that more people are dying in Chicago, people killing people than in some of the wars. And nothing seems to be done about it. Of course, their environment, their teaching, and all that's wretched. But there are those who raise and rise above their environment. So we look here in chapter 3, after man was placed in this beautiful environment, we see that there is another personality being that is introduced.

Chapter 3, verse 1, now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field, which the Lord had made. In Genesis 12, verse 9 tells who identifies as the serpent as Satan the devil, that old serpent, Satan the devil, who is deceiving the whole world, which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yes, as God said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden.

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God said, You shall not eat a bit, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. So here is one of the first and greatest lies of all time. You remember John 844 that says that Satan was a liar and a murderer from the beginning. So he says, You shall not surely die. In essence, he's saying you have eternal life abiding within you already.

God has lied to you. And really, those who are teaching that man has an immortal soul, whether it be the Eastern mystics and Buddhism or Shintoism or any other ism, are lying. Those in the nominal professing Christian world who say you have an immortal soul that you shall not surely die, they are lying. They're repeating the lie of Satan the devil. God, you shall not surely die. Whereas God had said, in the day that you eat thereof, in 217, you shall surely die.

Verse 5, For God does know, oh, he's really fooling you, that in the day you eat thereof your eyes shall be open, and you shall be as God's, knowing good and evil. In other words, you will usurp, you will take on the role of God, and you can do your own thing.

So this is also the beginning point of existentialism, that is the philosophy that you decide for yourself what is good and what is evil. So this great adversary, Satan the devil, of course he is the adversary of God, he is the adversary of humankind, and after he rebelled and during his rebellion he tried to take over the throne of God.

And Satan's original name, which was Lucifer, meaning light-bringer, was changed to Satan or the devil. But Lucifer was one of the three archangels mentioned initially in the Bible. Let's look at Ezekiel 14 verse 14. Ezekiel 14 verse 14. I want Ezekiel 28, I'm sorry. Ezekiel 28 verse 14. Ezekiel 28 verse 14. You are at the anointed carob that covers. So you're going all the way back to the tabernacle that was pitched in the wilderness, the Ark of the Covenant, and the mercy seat above the Ark, and the two carob pointing in, and then God placed his presence above the carob beam when that tabernacle was dedicated.

You read about that the last couple of verses of Exodus chapter 40. You are the anointed carob that covers, and I've set you so. You were upon the holy mountain of God. You walked heaven down in the midst of the stones of fire. You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created. Of course, that introduces the fact that Satan and the angels are created beings. We are created beings in the initial sense of Adam and Eve, and of course the laws of reproduction were set in motion whereby our initial parents could have offspring, could have children.

But the great difference between angels and human beings is the fact that as a human being, you can receive the very eternal spirit of God and Christ, God of the Father, is the one who begets us with his spirit. Now let's go to Jude, verse 6. So he was there at the throne of God as one of the anointed carobs, and at some point in time, Satan and some of the angels, of course he was a great archangel when this initially took place, this being what we're about to read here, that apparently Satan and a third of the angels, you know, of the angels that were with Satan, did any of them remain faithful?

Or did this one-third of the angels that he drew was at everyone that was with him when he was assigned to apparently prepare the earth for the habitation of humankind.

In verse 6, this is Jude, And the angels which kept not their first estate, and left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting change under darkness and in the judgment of the great day.

So apparently there were angels who were assigned to prepare the earth for humankind, and God probably, well, a problem, not just probably, shared with them the reason they were created. Remember what Paul writes in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 13, that the angels are ministering servants sent to the heirs of salvation? So obviously they must have known why they were created and what their purpose was, and it was to help God bring born sons and daughters into his family.

Now in Revelation chapter 12, There appeared a great wonder in heaven a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. So this is Israel in the flesh, and she, being with child, cried, travailing in birth and pain to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads, ten horns, seven crowns upon his head.

And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and stars are symbolic of angels, and did cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman, which was ready to be delivered for to devour her child as soon as it was born. So from the time that Jesus Christ was conceived and born, Satan the devil tried to kill him. Satan the devil inspired the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. And, of course, as soon as we come in contact with the truth, Satan the devil tries to subvert us and tries to overthrow us, tries to destroy us. Lucifer and the angels who followed him failed in their attempt, you read about in Isaiah 14, to take over the throne of God.

Satan and his demons are now enemies of God and humankind. Yes, there is an evil spirit world.

They represent the unseen world of evil spirits, and they are seeking to destroy you and I and your and our life potential. God did not prevent Satan from deceiving one-third of the angels into joining him in his great rebellion. Could he have prevented it? Of course he could have. God did not and does not prevent Satan. He did not prevent Satan from entering the Garden of Eden.

God has not prevented Satan from walking to and fro over the earth seeking whom he may devour. That includes you and I. God created Adam and Eve with the ability to think and reason, and they were given the opportunity to exercise free will. And so are you. You're given the opportunity to exercise free will. That is, they could choose whether they would obey God or whether they would listen to Satan follow his way. Eve was deceived and Adam partook of the fruit that he brought to him willingly. He was not deceived in the transgression. Satan asked her if God set any limitations on which tree they could eat of, as we've read. He knew perfectly well that God had set limitations. He already had a plan for deceiving Eve. Eve responded that they could eat of every tree except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And she went on to say that if we eat of that tree, we'll surely die. Satan immediately calls God a liar and says, you shall not surely die. Satan told Eve that sin, that is, disobeying God, would not result in death. You shall not surely die. Yet the Bible says in Romans 6.23, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Satan goes on to say that God knows that in the day you eat thereof that your eyes be open and you will be as God's knowing good and evil. So you take that prerogative to yourself. So Satan deceives Eve. She believes that God has lied to them, that she can take on the prerogative of choosing for herself what is good and what is evil. There was also another tree in the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Life. Let's look at that in Genesis 2 and verse 9.

Genesis 2 verse 9. This tree of life represents that which is necessary to bridge the great golf between human mortality, the way that we're created, physical beings subject to sin and death. It bridges that gap between mortality and immortality.

In Genesis 2 and verse 9.

And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of life represents the Holy Spirit, the very essence of the great Eternal God, our Creator, our Father. The tree of life represents the missing dimension in human beings.

That is, human beings are physical, made of the dust of the ground, as we have read, mortal subject to sin and death. If God had made man immortal at the creation of man, why would He set the tree of life in the Garden of Eden? There would be no need for the tree of life, because they would already be immortal.

After Adam and Eve disobeyed, they were cut off from the tree of life. So we look at chapter 3 in verse 22 and chapter 3 in verse 22.

And the eternal God said, Behold, the man has become as one of us to know good and evil. That is, He has taken to Himself the prerogative of choosing good and evil. Now, lest He put forth His hand, and take also the tree of life, and eat and live forever, this verse within itself shows that you do not have an immortal soul. If you hope to live again, there is only one way to do it, that is, to live again after death. Therefore, the Lord God sent forth, sent Him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from whence He was taken. So He drove out the man, and He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden carobim angels, and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life. There's only one way back, but in the midst of all of this, God had promised them a Redeemer, a Messiah, and the first Messianic prophecy is also given in Genesis 3.15. Now, I will put inventory between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. It shall bruise your head.

Jesus Christ is going to put Satan away. He'll be bound in the bottomless pit for a thousand years, released a little while after the millennium, where He goes out once again to deceive the nations, and then He will be put in the bottomless pit forever and rendered of non-effect. And you shall bruise His heel. Satan inspired the crucifixion of Christ. Satan tried to kill Jesus Christ after He was born.

So in the face of cutting humankind off from the tree of life, God promised a Redeemer, one who would buy them back from sin and death. And through Jesus Christ's sacrifice, your sins, my sins, any person on the earth can have their sins removed through repentance and faith in the sacrifice of Christ. Sins removed as far as the east is from the west to be remembered no more. And after you repent of sins and exercise faith in the sacrifice of Christ, for the mission of sins that are passed, the penalty for past sins is paid, you have been reconciled to God. You can now receive the Spirit of God, the very life essence of a father, will engender new life, spirit life in you. So yes, you're still in the flesh, but you have spirit life within you, and upon resurrection your earthly body will be made immortal. Apart from this process, there is no hope of immortality.

Let's look at 1 Corinthians, where the Apostle Paul in chapter 15, we call it the resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, and beginning in verse 13.

Strangely enough, there were people in Corinth who were saying there is no resurrection from the dead. Of course, there were two leading sects, S-E-C-T-S, of the Jews, the Pharisees, who did believe in an afterlife, but had many other man-made doctrines and traditions. The Pharisees believed in spirit life, angels and life after death. The Sadducees, Jesus, and the Jews did not believe there were angels or spirit life in any form. How the Sadducees could come to have as much power as they had, it's strange to me. Basically, after the Babylonian captivity, Phariseeism reigned supreme, though the Sadducees were still there. Judaism today is basically a branch of Phariseeism. So in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 13, "...but if there be no resurrection of Christ, but if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen." Now, let's read that verse 12. Now, if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? Why on earth would you be in the church if you said there's no resurrection of the dead? Well, you could get, I guess you would say, you can get sound moral teaching. It would be better to live that life of sound moral teaching and doctrine, which are really synonymous, that is the words teaching and doctrine, than to not live that life. But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen? And if Christ be not risen, then our preaching is vain and your faith is vain. Yes, and we're found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ when whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. So Christ is not risen, still in the grave dead, if the dead are not raised. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised? And if Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain, you are yet in your sins.

Then they also, which are fallen asleep in Christ, are perished. If in this life we have hope only in Christ, we're of all men most miserable. If that's all there is to it, if that's all there is to it, then why bother? But there is a lot more to it, and one of the most hopeless states that you can get humankind into is that of, I don't care. I don't care. And various forms of escapism have been invented, and mainly there are so many different avenues. When listening to the morning news, getting ready each morning in Cincinnati, one morning they said that the emergency crews and police had responded in Cincinnati over that 24-hour period, and actually there's less than 24 hours, to 42 cases of overdose of heroin.

In four states over the past, this was in the past week, in four states in a short period of time there were 222 cases of overdoses of heroin in four different states. In one small Virginia town, while Huntington, West Virginia, which is right there nearly on the border with Kentucky, that they had 30-something cases within a 24-hour population, about 80,000.

So this thing of escapism and coming to the point where you're numbed out and you don't care, you get in the situation where you don't care, then anything goes.

And when you get into the situation, as some are apparently in various branches of the Islamic world, that life is not sacred, life is not precious. So in recent days, a 12-year-old boy went into a wedding party in Turkey, and somewhere else someone detonated what he had with him, and 50 people were killed and scores were injured. When you come to that point, then what hope is it? But the good news is the grave could not hold Christ, as we've read here. The Father raised him from the dead, and he became the firstborn from the dead. God promises us that if we die in the faith that he will resurrect us to life on the same plane as that of our elder brother, Jesus Christ. Now look at Hebrews 2. Are you beginning to get an idea of who, what, and why, how about your own existence?

In Hebrews 2.10, for it pleased him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, and bringing many sons unto glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings, that is, Christ, for both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he's not ashamed to call them brethren. So that's where we get the term to say that Jesus Christ is our elder brother. Then if you look at Romans 8 and verse 17, you'll see further and oftentimes we sort of read over this. Romans 8 and verse 17 are so encouraging with regard to what we are going to become in resurrection. In Romans 8 verse 17, and if children then heirs, heirs of God, if you're heir of God or heir of anybody, you inherit something of what they have and are, and joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together. Now note in verse 11 what the apostle Paul writes in verse 11. Romans 8 and verse 11, But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead, it is God the Father who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. It is God the Father who raises us from the dead.

Jesus Christ is coming the dead and Christ shall rise and meet him in the air, but who resurrects them? This says it's God the Father.

But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead shall dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you. So we have that earnest of the Spirit. We have that down payment on eternal life.

And if we have hope only in this life, we are of all men most miserable.

And the sad news is most of humankind has been deceived on who they are and what their potential is from the time of Adam and Eve to the present day, and Satan is hell's way. How sad it is. Yet, on the other hand, how simple it is.

Most human beings think they have an immortal soul, that they're going to live forever in heaven or hell, or they're going to be merged somehow into the great spiritual blob of nirvana or some sort of thing, or what many of these jihadists are being taught, that they will be gone to some kind of paradise where 72 virgins await. Yet now their women have to cover everything on their face and head, and if they catch another woman that is not dressed properly, some have been attacked, some have been killed in Europe, raped and whatever else, we have seen that Satan told Adam and Eve that they would not die if they chose to separate themselves from God and chose to decide for themselves what is good and what is evil. And we have seen from the Scriptures that the soul that sins will die. I don't think we've actually read the Scripture, so let's read the Scripture. Look at Ezekiel chapter 18.

Of course, when we read Romans 6, 23, which I've quoted, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. But we look specifically here at Ezekiel 18 and verse 4. Behold, all souls are mine. All souls are mine. We're going to talk more about the soul. All souls are mine. As the soul of the Father, so also the soul of the Son is mine. The soul that sins, it shall die. The soul that sins, it shall die.

Of course, eventually, we're all accountable and responsible for our sins. Look at verse 20. The soul that sins, it shall die. The Son shall not bear the iniquity of the Father. See, this is the ultimate penalty.

This is not talking about necessarily here and now, but when all is said and done, and the final accountability, the Son shall not bear the iniquity of the Father. Of course, in some cases, the sins of the fathers are passed on to the third and fourth generation, and you have people that are caught up into a hopeless web of poverty and despair.

And if Satan the devil and his minions can get a family hooked on drugs in that culture, in that culture, sometimes going on for generations, it's got them right where he wants them. It might be alcohol. It may be some other addiction. Neither shall the Father bear the iniquity of the Son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. So when all is said and done, it's going to be up to you. Mother and Daddy can't do it, and neither son and daughter do it for Mother and Daddy. It comes down to individual and specific accountabilities.

We need to understand that there are two great realities in the universe. There is an unseen world, an invisible world, and then there is a physical world, a seen world. When I speak of the unseen world, I'm speaking in terms of living beings that are not seen. God and Christ are the principal beings in the unseen world. Let's turn to John 4.24. Quote this scripture quite often, but to turn to a scripture, to read it, to see it with your own eyes, to say the words under your breath, help you remember John 4.24, God is spirit. There should be no A. There's no indefinite article. God is spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Now, you look at Colossians 1. Colossians 1. I've talked many times about through the years we have tried to educate our people with regard to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the essence of God. That's what He is. He is spirit, and through His Spirit, He does works of power. The Holy Spirit is not God's power. The Holy Spirit is the essence of God, and through His Spirit, He does works of power. It's one of the things we discuss in our meeting. In Colossians 1, verse 12, giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us fitting to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints and light. Well, we read that inheritance in Romans, verse 17, that we are heirs of God and joint heirs of Jesus Christ, who has delivered us from the power of darkness. We have been called into what Peter calls his marvelous light and have translated us in the kingdom of His dear Son. We are now the children of God. It does not yet appear, as John writes 1 John 3, what we shall be, but when He comes, we shall see Him as He is, in whom we have redemption that is through Christ, His through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn, prototikos, of every creation. He is the firstborn that has ever gone through the process of living in the flesh and then being resurrected to spirit life as a spirit being. Of course, He has, and I don't want to get too sidetracked on this, it's back to the nature of God and God and Christ and the Holy Spirit, but Jesus Christ is eternal and He humbled Himself and somehow, and this is one of the greatest mysteries in all of this, is how God the Father then took the spirit essence of the Word and it was implanted in the womb of Mary and she was impregnated. And then in verse 14 of John 1, it says, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. So when Jesus Christ was begotten and born by human beings, that did not introduce a new life being, a new life, He already existed. And we talk about the pre-existence of Jesus Christ. Hold your place right there for just a moment and go to Romans 1. Romans 1 is a very important scripture. See this, in eternity and times past, the Father and the Son, if these two representing Father and the Son, existed in eternity, they were co-essential of the same spirit, they were co-eternal, always existing, and they were on a plane of equality. And at one point, the Son said, the plan called for Him becoming subservient to the Father.

So in Romans 1.3, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David, according to the flesh. So the lineage tracing back to Mary, from David, and the legal side from Joseph.

Of course, Joseph did not share in the DNA that was in Jesus Christ, because he did not beget Jesus Christ, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according the Spirit of Holiness. How? By the resurrection from the dead. And so now He is the firstborn among many brethren. So we read here, who is the image of the invisible God, we're back in Colossians now, verse 15. Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature creation.

Verse 1, to live in the flesh and then to be born of the Spirit. For by Him are all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible. So there is a visible world, the physical creation. There's an invisible world, the Spirit creation.

Now the exception of the Spirit creation.

God the Father and Jesus Christ are uncreated. And in that birth process, we go through a resurrection, we are uncreated in that process. We become born of the eternal Spirit.

So continuing here, invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him. And for Him, He is the agent of creation.

And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the first born from the dead. That in all things He might have the preeminence. For it please the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. So there is the visible, the invisible world.

Then there is the visible world that is discerned through the five senses.

There are invisible physical forces that are active. These are called physical laws. Perhaps the most notable of these being gravity. The heavenly bodies are hung out in space, but they're not hung out on a clothesline or a zip line that's visible, but they're hung out in space.

And there's intricate motion in the universe. There's no stream connected to the earth and the moon, yet the moon orbits around the earth and does not get off course. It wobbles a bit, but it doesn't get off course. The earth revolves around the sun 365 and 1 fourth days as we mark time, and it wobbles a little bit. It wobbles a little bit, but it's basically always on time.

There's no literal rod running through the center of the earth, but the earth is spinning and revolving on its axis, making a complete revolution every 24 hours. There is the world of abstraction. The world of abstraction is a product of the human mind, which is, in a sense, an abstraction itself. Have you ever seen your mind? Have you ever seen the mind of anybody else? Well, we can see the brains, and without the brains there is no mind. But mind, this ability to think, to reason, to make decisions, we don't really see it. And we might say, I have a good mind to give him a piece of my mind.

And sometimes that might be good. In reality, you're saying, I would like to really chew him out. Put him in his place. The words you might say to a person are a product of your thought.

But no one can see a thought. You're thinking something, probably, right now. I wish he would shut up, but it...

But I'm not.

Something is abstract if it does not exist in any particular place in time.

Something is abstract if it doesn't exist in a particular place in time.

Your mind is your thought.

I'm not saying your mind is your thought, but I'm saying your mind is an abstract term to describe the function of thought and reason and making decisions.

And your mind can exist in many different places and our times and think in abstract terms. We talk about the human mind a great deal. We say, he's got a good mind. Or we might say, I'm losing my mind.

But have you ever seen a mind? No, none of us have seen the mind. Philosophers, scientists, theologians will never answer the question of, what is man?

Look at Psalm 8, a young shepherd boy out tending his father's sheep, looked up into the heavens on a starry night, and he began to think. He began to think in the abstract with regard to, what is man? Now, we've already covered a lot about what is man and how he can transcend the great gulf. But we're going to go into some more detail in Romans 8-1.

Romans, I don't know where I got that. In Psalm 8 and verse 1. In Psalm 8 and verse 1, I have to say that, O Lord, our Lord, it's O Adonai, our halloween, how excellent is your name in all the earth, who have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, have you ordained strength because of your enemies, that you might steal the enemy and the avenger. When I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained. So David, as a shepherd boy, out on a clear night somewhere in the Middle East, looking up into the skies, a clear view of the moon and the stars. And he said, when I consider all of that, what is man, that you are mindful of him and the Son of Man, that you visit him? Exactly what we've been talking about here today. You made him a little lower than the angels, have crowned him with glory and honor. You made him to have dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet. Now, we go to Hebrews chapter 2, and the apostle Paul takes up on this Psalm 8, and he rehearses what David had asked, who is man, what is man, that you're mindful of him. And he brings it up to what we have read already, verses 10 and 11, that we are the same essence as our elder brother. In Hebrews chapter 2, in verse 4, for he spoke in a certain place of a seventh day in this wise, and God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place, if they shall enter into my rest, seeing therefore it remains, that some must enter therein. And they to whom it was first preached did not enter in because of unbelief.

And let's back up and read from the very beginning of this, chapter 2, verse 1.

I was reading from the very wrong place anyhow. In Hebrews chapter 2, verse 1, in view of what has gone before angels were sent as ministering heirs of salvation, Hebrews 2.1, therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward. And that was under the Old Covenant. There were at least 10 things that you could do that you would bring on the death penalty. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard it? God also, bearing them, witnessed both with signs and wonders different miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will. So there were gifts that were imparted to men and women under the Old Covenant.

For under the angels hath he not put subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. So the Bible to a large degree is about the world to come.

And we had for years running the worldwide Church of God. The world tomorrow, the wonderful world of tomorrow. Of course, we are in the flesh, and what we do in the flesh determines to a large degree if we will be in the world tomorrow. For under the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified saying, so now it's quoting what we read from Psalm 8, What is man that you are mindful of him, or the Son of man that you visit him? You made him a little lower than the angels, you crowned him with glory and honor, and did set him over the works of your hand. You have put all things in subjection under his feet, for in that he put all things in subjection and under him. He left nothing that is not put under him. We read that from Colossians 1. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, he took on the form of man, became flesh, but he had the Holy Spirit without measure. For the sufferings of death, crowned with glory and honor, he by the grace, divine favor of God, should taste death for every man. And we read verses 10 and 11.

So how does the Bible answer the question of who is man? Well, we have seen that God made man from the dust to the ground, but he has given man the potential to be a glorious, radiant spirit being in the family of God.

So we were talking about abstraction. The word sold is abstract word that describes life, existence, and being. Being is a reality, but the word used to describe being is not an immortal essence. In other words, soul is a word that the religious world uses to describe immortality. But really, soul means being. It means existence. You are a living soul. You are a living being. You have life potential.

But you do not possess something that is abstract, that cannot be seen.

The word soul is used to describe being or life potential. So we talk about trying to illustrate this. It is pretty difficult to do, but we will give it a shot. We talk about motion.

The person or thing is in motion. For example, I move my hand from the table to my head. But the word move is an abstract term used to describe the action of my muscles in transferring body parts to another location. So his hand was in motion. It went from one place to another. We talk about motion pictures. The camera does not really record motion. It records a series of still shots in rapid succession, and the illusion of motion is created. The camera person can slow the projector down, and we call that slow motion, or he can speed it up, and it seems like a human being is running as fast as a train.

So motion is a word used to describe the transfer of energy from one place to another. But the word motion is not the reality. In like manner, soul is a word used to describe life or being, but the word soul is just an abstraction to describe the life. The word soul represents life. In other words, it's not something you have, it's what you are.

So let's note Matthew 1028. Matthew 1028. As we're turning to Matthew 1028, human beings can take your life, many different forms, but human beings cannot take away your life essence, your life potential. So you'll see this clearly here, I hope, from Hebrews, I mean Matthew 1028.

Fear not them which kill the body, the soma, but are not able to kill the soul. Soul is used to represent life potential or life essence.

Motion is used to describe a movement, but the word is not what the reality. So soul represents existence, but rather fear him who is able to destroy, to completely take away both soul, life essence, and body in Gehenna Fire. See, God is the only one who has the prerogative of taking your life essence away from you. Now you look at Revelation chapter 20, and this taking away of the life essence, or what is called soul, and man became a living soul. Human beings can kill you, God can resurrect you, God is the only one who takes away your soul or life essence. It's not an immortal thing that you possess. In Revelation 20, the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell, the grave Hades, delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell, death and hell, death and the grave Hades were cast in the lake of fire. This is the second death. It's the only God who can do that. Only God, fear not him who is able to kill the body, but not able to kill the soul, the life essence or the life potential, but fear God who is able to destroy both body and life potential, life essence in Gehenna Fire. So do unrepentant sinners live forever, or do they experience the second death and become ashes under the feet of the wicked? Notice in Malachi chapter 4. Malachi chapter 4. In Malachi chapter 4, beginning in verse 1, we'll see that those who experience the second death become ashes under the feet of the wicked.

Under the feet of the righteous, I should say. Malachi 4.1, From behold the day comes that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yes, and all that do wickedly shall be steviled. And the day that comes shall burn them up, says the eternal host, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. That's it. That's the second death that we read. But unto you that bear my name shall the Son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings, and you shall go forth and grow up as calves of the sawed. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, says the eternal host.

In Mark chapter 9 and verse 43, in Mark chapter 9 verse 43, I'm going to come back to this probably in the next sermon with regard to some difficult scriptures that many use, even in funerals and so on, with regard to trying to prove that as soon as you die, your life essence, your soul, flies off to heaven or hell.

In Mark 9 verse 43, And if your hand offend you, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into hell, the henna, into the fire that never should be quenched, where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched. Well, it's talking about worms, their worm. So I guess some would say if he's really wormy, when he dies, those worms never die.

Where their worm does not die, where the worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched. It is not saying that the person is living forever. It says in this fire, the worm dies not, and the fire continues to burn. We're going to show that it continues to burn during the millennium.

And if your foot offend you, cut it off. Better for you to enter halt into life than having two feet and be cast into the henna, into the fire that never shall be quenched. Where their worm dies not, the fire is not quenched. If your eye offend you, same thing, where their worm dies not, verse 48, the fire is not quenched. The fire will burn after the creation of the new heavens and the new earth. It will burn during the millennium.

Look at Isaiah 66. See, what has happened in the religious world, and especially among some, of course, there are ministers who will go to the deathbed, and all they want is a confession. Do you believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins? Do you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? And all of that? And the person says, yes, and you have this deathbed repentance?

I've gone to funerals in which that was the case because I knew the people.

In Isaiah 66, last chapter, verse 21, the new heavens and the new earth shall all flesh come to worship before me on the Sabbath.

And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me. For their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be abhorring to all flesh. So in the valley of Hinnom, there was this fire where they dumped their garbage, and those decaying parts of the garbage had maggots and worms in it, and the fire continued to smolder and burn continually. And so the worms didn't die, and the fire was not quenched. So Gehenna continues in the millennium, the center that is being 100 years old shall die accursed. We have 100 years, at least, to prove that he is righteous. So I hope we go back now to our first questions when we began and look at those. Do you know who you are, what you are, why you are, what you can be?

Well, you are created in the image of God with faculties akin to God. What are you? Your flesh and blood made from the dust to the ground. Why you are? Why do you exist? For a great transcendental purpose, you can become a born Son of God. This is what you can be.