Is the Soul Immortal?
Again, let us start with prayer. Heavenly Father, please guide our hearts and minds as we seek truth from the study of Your Word. We want to know the truth about You, to know You better so we may love You more and serve You better in Spirit and in truth. Please guide us as we study. We thank You, in Jesus' name, Amen.
Okay, let's start with the creation of mankind. For that we go, of course, to Genesis. In Genesis chapter 1 we read that God created the heavens, earth and seas and everything in them in six literal 24-hour days. How do we know this? Because in each case the record states, "and the evening and the morning were the (first, second, third, fourth, etc.) day." Each day had an evening, which came first, followed by a morning. Each day begins at sunset. (More on this at a later date.)
Why not at midnight as we keep time now? Because we're asleep then. You can't greet the new day when you're snoring. Same with dawn. Most of us are not awake to greet the new day at dawn. So God celebrates the change of day at sunset.
God was not doing all this creating just for fun, although I'm sure it was fun for Him. Have you ever gotten a new puppy or other pet? Or ever had a baby? Didn't you do lots of preparing for the new arrival? Building, painting, buying new clothes, a crib, a car seat, diapers? Or a leash, food bowls, a blanket? Whether it's for chickens, a fish or a hamster, there are all sorts of preparations to be made. Well, God made a whole world just for us! The atmosphere had to be just right so we could breathe. Gravity is kind of a big deal, to hold us and that atmosphere in place. He set up that whole water cycle system. You know, so the oceans evaporate and we have rain and never really run out of water and all that. Then there's plant life, which sustains the animal life. You know, how it all works together in one perfect, harmonious whole. That's pretty amazing. And all by the power of His word.
But then came the sixth day. All was complete. God is ready to place His crowning work of creation in the Garden. Does He speak this life into existence, as He has everything else? Let's go to Genesis 2:7.
Genesis 2:7 KJV
And 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.
No, God does something different here. We imagine God on His knees here, like a Potter, gathering clay. We see Him forming something from the very elements of the earth itself. It takes shape, but it is not alive. He bends down and breathes His own life-force into its nostrils. A change takes place. It breathes. It looks into the face of its Maker. It smiles with intelligence, recognition and love. It is alive. It is Human. God calls it Adam. That which was not alive, now is. Scripture tells us, "and man became a living soul."
This is significant. When God put body (dust) and breath (ruach, spirit) together, a living soul was formed. God did not put a soul into the body. When the body stops breathing, the soul no longer exists. (Don't panic, God puts them back together again in the resurrection; that's another study!)
Could man live forever? Yes! It was God's intention and plan for this to be so. Provision was made for mankind to live forever, but it was conditional. It was based upon obedience. Man had to choose. God provided the Tree of Life, from which Man could eat and live forever, but there was another tree as well. This was the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. We all know how the story went. Satan deceived Eve, she ate, and then persuaded her husband to join her in disobedience. They gave their loyalty to the Liar - the one who said, in essence, "You can't trust the One Who provided you with everything you have and could ever possibly need or want. He's holding out on you. You won't really die. Obey me instead and your life will be so much better. You will be like gods!"
Sadly, man has believed this ever since. But Satan is "the father of lies." John 8:44. (Obviously their lives did not get better. Death, pain and suffering were the result.)
Does this mean man could also die? Again, yes. God said so. Death is the consequence of disobedience, because sin separates us from God, Who is the giver of life. Notice it was not God who first separated Himself from sinful Man, but the sinful couple who hid from God. Gen. 3:8. God came looking for them! God will always seek us, no matter how sinful we are! He never stops loving us. ❤
But God, in His mercy, could not allow Man to live forever. So He sent Man out of Eden and blocked access to the Tree of Life. How grateful we should be that this is so! Imagine if we could not die. What if we could suffer from cancer or heart disease, or any illness, without the possibility of the release that death brings? Death, in our fallen state, is a blessing.
But can the soul die? Scripture says yes.
Ezekiel 18:4 KJV
Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
See also v. 20. I know this is getting long but let me give this illustration. Take a pile of little boards and a pile of nails. Put them together to make a box. Now separate them into two piles, boards and nails and ask yourself, Where did the box go? People ask, where does the soul go when a person dies? Well, where did the box go? It didn't GO anywhere, it just no longer exists. You can put it back together again, or make a new box if you like. When the breath leaves the body at death, the "soul," or person, ceases to exist.
Do we have any consciousness in death? The Bible says no:
Ecclesiastes 9:5 KJV
For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
The good news is, when Jesus returns, He will wake us up and give us new bodies, immortal and incorruptible. 1 Cor. 15: 51-55. This is a gift He will give to the saved, those who accept His salvation in Christ Jesus (John 3:16, 17, etc.) Until then, only God has immortality. 1 Tim. 6:16.
As always, thanks for reading. Comments and/or questions welcomed.
Next topic: The Lake of Fire
Again, let us start with prayer. Heavenly Father, please guide our hearts and minds as we seek truth from the study of Your Word. We want to know the truth about You, to know You better so we may love You more and serve You better in Spirit and in truth. Please guide us as we study. We thank You, in Jesus' name, Amen.
Okay, let's start with the creation of mankind. For that we go, of course, to Genesis. In Genesis chapter 1 we read that God created the heavens, earth and seas and everything in them in six literal 24-hour days. How do we know this? Because in each case the record states, "and the evening and the morning were the (first, second, third, fourth, etc.) day." Each day had an evening, which came first, followed by a morning. Each day begins at sunset. (More on this at a later date.)
Why not at midnight as we keep time now? Because we're asleep then. You can't greet the new day when you're snoring. Same with dawn. Most of us are not awake to greet the new day at dawn. So God celebrates the change of day at sunset.
God was not doing all this creating just for fun, although I'm sure it was fun for Him. Have you ever gotten a new puppy or other pet? Or ever had a baby? Didn't you do lots of preparing for the new arrival? Building, painting, buying new clothes, a crib, a car seat, diapers? Or a leash, food bowls, a blanket? Whether it's for chickens, a fish or a hamster, there are all sorts of preparations to be made. Well, God made a whole world just for us! The atmosphere had to be just right so we could breathe. Gravity is kind of a big deal, to hold us and that atmosphere in place. He set up that whole water cycle system. You know, so the oceans evaporate and we have rain and never really run out of water and all that. Then there's plant life, which sustains the animal life. You know, how it all works together in one perfect, harmonious whole. That's pretty amazing. And all by the power of His word.
But then came the sixth day. All was complete. God is ready to place His crowning work of creation in the Garden. Does He speak this life into existence, as He has everything else? Let's go to Genesis 2:7.
Genesis 2:7 KJV
And 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.
No, God does something different here. We imagine God on His knees here, like a Potter, gathering clay. We see Him forming something from the very elements of the earth itself. It takes shape, but it is not alive. He bends down and breathes His own life-force into its nostrils. A change takes place. It breathes. It looks into the face of its Maker. It smiles with intelligence, recognition and love. It is alive. It is Human. God calls it Adam. That which was not alive, now is. Scripture tells us, "and man became a living soul."
This is significant. When God put body (dust) and breath (ruach, spirit) together, a living soul was formed. God did not put a soul into the body. When the body stops breathing, the soul no longer exists. (Don't panic, God puts them back together again in the resurrection; that's another study!)
Could man live forever? Yes! It was God's intention and plan for this to be so. Provision was made for mankind to live forever, but it was conditional. It was based upon obedience. Man had to choose. God provided the Tree of Life, from which Man could eat and live forever, but there was another tree as well. This was the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. We all know how the story went. Satan deceived Eve, she ate, and then persuaded her husband to join her in disobedience. They gave their loyalty to the Liar - the one who said, in essence, "You can't trust the One Who provided you with everything you have and could ever possibly need or want. He's holding out on you. You won't really die. Obey me instead and your life will be so much better. You will be like gods!"
Sadly, man has believed this ever since. But Satan is "the father of lies." John 8:44. (Obviously their lives did not get better. Death, pain and suffering were the result.)
Does this mean man could also die? Again, yes. God said so. Death is the consequence of disobedience, because sin separates us from God, Who is the giver of life. Notice it was not God who first separated Himself from sinful Man, but the sinful couple who hid from God. Gen. 3:8. God came looking for them! God will always seek us, no matter how sinful we are! He never stops loving us. ❤
But God, in His mercy, could not allow Man to live forever. So He sent Man out of Eden and blocked access to the Tree of Life. How grateful we should be that this is so! Imagine if we could not die. What if we could suffer from cancer or heart disease, or any illness, without the possibility of the release that death brings? Death, in our fallen state, is a blessing.
But can the soul die? Scripture says yes.
Ezekiel 18:4 KJV
Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
See also v. 20. I know this is getting long but let me give this illustration. Take a pile of little boards and a pile of nails. Put them together to make a box. Now separate them into two piles, boards and nails and ask yourself, Where did the box go? People ask, where does the soul go when a person dies? Well, where did the box go? It didn't GO anywhere, it just no longer exists. You can put it back together again, or make a new box if you like. When the breath leaves the body at death, the "soul," or person, ceases to exist.
Do we have any consciousness in death? The Bible says no:
Ecclesiastes 9:5 KJV
For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
The good news is, when Jesus returns, He will wake us up and give us new bodies, immortal and incorruptible. 1 Cor. 15: 51-55. This is a gift He will give to the saved, those who accept His salvation in Christ Jesus (John 3:16, 17, etc.) Until then, only God has immortality. 1 Tim. 6:16.
As always, thanks for reading. Comments and/or questions welcomed.
Next topic: The Lake of Fire
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of course they’re not human I don’t think, at least Satan isn’t.
