"Stayin' Alive"

I just couldn't help myself with this title and image of the Bee Gees, from 1977. Oh what memories, and what a song. Can't we just see John Travolta strutting down the street? But you may ask, what does this have to do with our new book study?

Well, we are finding out what it means to "be alive"!

Knowing our identity

In order to understand who we really are we need to understand our "identity" that we received from "Adam" at creation. The following is a diagram that Dr. Anderson created that will help us visualize our identity as human beings. Incorporating our "three parts": Our body, soul, and spirit.

 

Genesis 2:7 says. "Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being."

We got our start from Adam, the first human being, and since then we have all been born in his likeness. We are born in a physical body, an "outer self" which allows us to relate to the world around us. To do this we have our five senses: touch, taste, seeing, hearing, and smell.

Our "inner man" or the soul, gives us our mind, which allows us to think, our emotions which allow us to relate to others, and our will, which allows us to choose. Then separate from the inner man is our "spirit", or how we relate to God.

Physically Alive

To be physically alive is for our earthly body to be in union with our soul or immaterial body; our mind, will, and emotions. This is referred to as "Bios". No matter how smart we may have been, how talented and creative; if our physical body ceases to function we will no longer be here in this earthly realm. Our physical body "contains" our "inner man" and allows us access to inhabit and navigate the earthly realm.

2 Corinthians 5:8
"we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord."

Looking at this scripture we see that our identity must be more than just "physical", since at some point our physical body will die and our inner man will go to be with the Lord. Our body will die and it will return to the "dust", while our inner man will remain alive and be united with God.

2 Corinthians 5:1-4
1. For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2. For indeed in this [house] we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven; 3. inasmuch as we, having put it on, shall not be found naked. 4. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, in order that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

Our physical body is like a tent, or an "earth suit"; a temporary dwelling place.


Spiritually Alive

We also inherited our capacity to communicate with God from Adam. To be spiritually alive, the Greek word "zoe", means that our soul and spirit is in union with God.

2 Corinthians 4:16
"Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day."

We see here that even though we are growing older, and that our body may be changing and aging, we are still "spiritually alive with Christ" if we allow Him to "renew" and strengthen our minds and spirit daily. To be in union with Christ is what the word "zoe" means, truly and totally alive! God created the first man, "Adam" to be in union with Himself.

So we see we really are a three-parted being; body, soul, and spirit. We seek the Lord to be "alive" in every area. This is good for me to remember, as I have a birthday coming up in about 5 weeks. The mirror and the calendar sometimes don't appear to be my friends, but I need to remember, that I'm still the person God created me all those years ago. I may be growing older, even dealing with some physical things, but my inner man is still being renewed by the Holy Spirit.

Romans 12:1-2
1. I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, [which is] your spiritual service of worship. 2. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

These verses in Romans have been one of my "life verses". And I need to remember to be daily allowing God to "transform me" into the image of Himself. Big job.

much love,

Debra

(concepts and diagram taken from Chapter 1 "Victory Over the Darkness")

Love your comments.
 Let us hear about how you relate
to these scriptures and ideas,
and what they mean to you.