Joseph’s Alabaster Box

First John 1:1-4: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.”

I just heard Warren Wiersby expound upon these verses, and he filled my soul with joy. Though I will have nothing to say that Dr. Wiersby said, I am going to add my two cent’s worth to the thoughts he put in my mind. He motivated me to think again of wonderful truths I have dwelt upon many times before.

When God breathed into the lifeless, clay statue of man He had made, He breathed into the statue the breath of life, or soul (Genesis 2:7), and the statue came to life. When the breath of life (soul) goes out of that statue, it goes back to a lifeless, clay statue of a man. The body was just a lifeless clay statue of a man before God breathed life into it, so the dead body is put back into the earth where it blends back into the dirt. The breath of God created a soul in man that could never die. The soul was intended to live forever. That is why God will not annihilate the soul of a human when he dies. Since the soul was created an eternal thing, the soul cannot die, and it must be put somewhere when it leaves the body. There is only one place where the soul can be warehoused – in Hell. God made no provision for a storage place for a lost soul because He never intended that any man should die in unbelief. Therefore, he puts the lost soul of man in Hell which He made for the devil and his angels. Since the sinner dies in unbelief, and insisted all through his life in his body that he is his own god; or he would work to atone for his own sins; or he had no sins, God allows him to suffer for his unbelief. He did not acknowledge that God in Christ suffered for his sins, so he must suffer for them himself.

A human, like God, his Creator, is composed of three elements: body (Jesus Christ), soul (Father), spirit (Holy Spirit). The flesh and blood body is just a camper we ride around in in this world. The body is a machine. The body is conscious of nothing (maybe self). The soul is conscious only of things about it (horizontal consciousness). The spirit is conscious of vertical things (God in heaven).

The word “soul” is used about 459 times in the Bible. Below is the definition of “soul” as found on the Blue Letter website at <http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H5315&t=KJV>

inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding
a) inner part, midst
1) midst (of things)
2) heart (of man)
3) soul, heart (of man)
4) mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory
5) inclination, resolution, determination (of will)
6) conscience
7) heart (of moral character)

8) as seat of appetites
9) as seat of emotions and passions
10) as seat of courage

It seems that the soul and the heart are the same. Romans 10:9, 10 tell us “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” It is the soul that has the responsibility of turning to Jesus Christ, believing that He gave His life for the redemption of the individual. The soul must rescue itself by casting itself upon Jesus Christ.

People in general do not realize the importance of their soul. Most do not even realize they have a soul. But everybody, except a few fools, know they have heart. The anti-Christ may be in power right now, and if so, the Lord Christ will soon appear. When He comes again, everybody who has heard the Gospel (what you have just read) are doomed. The writer of Left Behind would be among the first to tell you that is the truth.

The reason God instituted capital punishment is because one who snuffs out a human life, snuffs out what God gave that person. If people understood the value of a human soul, he would not hesitate to execute a murderer, whether the murderer is six years old or sixty, and they would do it by hanging him or stoning him to death on the main street of town. This is the basis of human government. Government was not established to rob the responsible people in the state to give money to the irresponsible. Government is for the purpose of protecting the innocent, not exploiting them.

I am off my subject, as usual. Please, if you have never committed your soul to the care and keeping of Christ Jesus, the Redeemer do it now. Simply acknowledge that He is God, and that He died for you because you are a sinner. He loves you. He’ll forgive you and embrace you.