In our study so far, we see that when Elohim (God) decided to make man,
He had a plan in mind to make him the crowning work of His creation; one who
would be special and would bring Him
honour and glory. Man was not to be like any other of His
created beings but was to be very much like Himself, Elohim.
This plan in creating man and woman was not Yahweh’s (God the Father’s)
decision alone but that of Yahushua (Jesus) and the Ruach Ha Kodesh (the Holy
Spirit) also. In Genesis 1: 26, 27, we have the account of what was said:
“And [Elohim] God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness
. . . So [Elohim] God created man in his own image, in the image of [Elohim]
God created he him; male and female created he them”.
Please note carefully what is stated in this verse. Elohim said: “Let us make man in our
image, after our likeness”. At the
time Elohim made that statement ALL Three Beings in the Godhead were totally
Spirit Beings. They did not have
physical bodies.
Hence man would first be a spirit being, like
unto His Elohim; the true person, for whom a body would be made to house his
spirit, his true inner person. Thus man would be a tri-partite being
consisting of spirit, soul and body, who would inhabit
Planet Earth and have dominion over it.
These three beings of man would be totally
independent of each other but working together as a unit. We are told more about the creation of man as we read in Genesis 2:7:
“And [Yahweh Elohim] 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”.
When our Elohim made man, with His own hands, He formed him from the
dust of the ground and then breathed into him the breath of life so that he
would become a living soul or person.
Man was now first a spirit being, consisting of spirit and soul, made in
the “image” and “likeness” of his
Creator. Yahweh made a body for him to be his earthly house or tabernacle or
tent, as Paul refers to the body in 2 Corinthians 5 :1-9.
These passages of Scriptures are
relevant to show the difference between the spirit being, the true person, and
the body which houses the spirit. However, we will pay special attention to 2
Corinthians 5: 1-3, 6-8 in the NLT:
“For we know that when
this earthly tent we live in is taken down—when we die and leave these
bodies—we will have a home in heaven, an eternal body made for us by [Elohim]
God himself and not by human hands”.2 “We grow weary in our
present bodies, and we long for the day when we will put on our heavenly bodies
like new clothing. For we will not be spirits without bodies, but we will
put on new heavenly bodies”.
6“So we are always
confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are
not at home with the Lord. 7That is why we live by believing and not
by seeing. 8Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away
from these bodies, for then we will be at home with [Yahushua] the Lord”.
THE FOETUS (BABY) IN THE UTERUS!!
When we were conceived, at that moment Elohim Yahweh sent our spirits
(spirit and soul) our true persons, from heaven to this world. Once conception takes place with the
fertilized ovum (egg of the mother) and the spermatozoa (the seed of the man),
the cells forming the new person begin to multiply, divide and subdivide as the
embryo begins to develop and form the body of the new baby with the various
organs, limbs, blood vessels, nerves,
sinews, bones and other parts of the body as well as the gene pool
including the various hereditary
tendencies.
Within the first three months in the womb, during the embryonic stage,
the body of the baby is fully formed. From that stage on it is referred
to as the foetus.
During the next six months the body with its limbs and the various internal and external organs,
including the heart, the brain and the
lungs; likewise the various systems, including the circulatory, reproductive and
nervous systems continue to develop and grow so that they are able to function
when the baby is born.
Due to the advancement of medical science, though the normal gestation
period is forty weeks, in some countries babies have a good chance of surviving
independently outside the womb from twenty weeks gestation and onward.
During pregnancy great changes occur in the body of the mother as she
bears the “fruit” of the womb. Likewise,
as the child is being made in secret in the womb, our Creator performs a
wonderful and mysterious work, a great miracle—a beautiful new life, a
baby!! Thus the Psalmist David says in Psalms 139:
“13For thou
hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. 14I
will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy
works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 15My substance was not
hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest
parts of the earth. 16Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being
unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance
were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them”.
While the foetus is alive and growing, it gets its nourishment and also
oxygen through the umbilical cord which is attached to the placenta, which in
turn is attached to her womb. Likewise,
the waste products including carbon dioxide are also removed from the baby
through umbilical cord to the placenta, which is equipped by our Creator to
carry out these functions.
As I have said before, during the time the baby is being formed in the
uterus, it does not breathe. Once the
lungs are formed, they are solid. The
baby is surrounded by water called liquor, which acts a buffer from shocks and injuries to the baby
and also allows free movements and room for it to grow.
During the time of pregnancy as the body of the child develops and grows,
that foetus or baby can hear and feel and move and is very much alive.
Please note that the body at that stage is developing and growing but
the spirit (spirit and soul), the true person, is not young or growing. It is that part, the spirit, of the un-born child
that is sensitive to all that is taking place inside and outside of the
mother’s body.
That is the reason it is very important what a mother thinks about,
listens to, do or say; as well as her emotional state during pregnancy. This is
due to the fact that the spirit of the child is being influenced in the womb
for good or for ill from that early stage.
Therefore, the influence of the expectant mother upon her unborn child
is imperative because the spirit of the child, the true person, is fully active
while it waits on the body to be
developed so that it can live independently outside of the womb of the mother.
THE CHANGES AT BIRTH AND THE IMPORTANCE OF BREATHING!!
At birth when the baby is born and the umbilical cord is cut, the
function of the placenta and the umbilical cord are over. Once the cord is cut, the baby MUST begin to
breathe because while the baby is in the womb, the lungs are solid but once the
baby is born the lungs must open and take over its function to breathe and take
in oxygen to purify the blood and remove the carbon dioxide, the impure air
from the blood.
At that critical stage at birth, the baby MUST CRY and at the first
cry, the lungs open up and respiration
(i.e. one inspiration and one expiration) begins so that the baby breathes in
its own oxygen and breathes out its own carbon dioxide.
If the baby does not cry, there is serious trouble. For that reason the
midwife or doctor must stimulate the baby to cry. If the baby does not cry after everything has
been done to enable it to cry so that the lungs can open up and take in the air
with the oxygen, then a verdict of “Still Birth” will result.
NB. Breathing which begins at
birth is NOT the spirit (spirit and soul), the true person. It has nothing to do with the true spirit and
soul which was sent from heaven by our Elohim at conception. The breath is only the physiological function
by which we are kept alive.
THE SPIRIT LEAVES THE BODY WHEN THE BREATH CEASES!!
The breath begins at birth and gives us the gift of life in this world
and continues until we die. At the death of the body, the breath leaves the
body and returns to our Elohim as we are told in Eccl. 12:7:
“Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall
return unto [Yahweh] God who gave it”.
And in Psalms 146:4:
“His breath goeth forth,
he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish”.
The true spirit (spirit and soul) of the person which came in at
conception, also leaves the body at the time of death. However, whereas the body dies, the spirit
(spirit and soul), the true person,
does not die. At that time it leaves because without the body, its home in this world, it has no more legal right here and MUST
leave Planet Earth.
TESTIMONIES OF SOME OF THOSE RESURRECTED FROM THE DEAD
The spirit is immortal and does not die. It continues to live on but the
question is: Where? Many of those who
have been resurrected from the dead in recent years have told about their
experiences after they left their bodies at death.
Those who went to heaven, including little children, have told about its
glory and beauty and wonders. Some of
them have spoken about the joys of seeing Yahushua, His lovely, sweet smile and
His love and gentleness.
They have also spoken about seeing the angels and meeting their departed
loved ones and neighbours, etc. who welcomed them and spoke to them. Many of those who went to heaven did not want
to come back to this world because heaven is such a wonderful place.
On the other hand those who went to hell and torment after they died,
were very happy to be back in this world and to be given another opportunity to
turn their lives over to Yahushua and receive Him as their Adonai and Saviour. Many
have become His ministers and are warning their fellowmen that hell is real and
of the sufferings, torment and terrors there. They are encouraging them to accept Yahushua
as their Saviour while they are still in this life so that they will not have
to go to that terrible place of suffering and great torment.
NB: The Scriptures used in this Post are taken from the King James
Version of the Bible unless otherwise stated.
