The Composition of Man (4); The Origin of the Soul

When we hear the statement from Psalm 139 that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, we often think just of the body. You know, fearfully and wonderfully made. Wow, the eye, the brain, the heart, the lungs, the circulatory system, all of that is just amazing how God has made us. But when the Psalmist wrote that, he had more in mind than just the human body. Listen to what he says, there is Psalm 139, if I can find it here. Says, for you created my innmost being. So God made not only the body, but the innmost being, there is more to us than just the outer shell, the body. There is more to us than that. We also have an innmost being. He says, you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. I know that full well. So what we're looking at as we find out what the scriptures teach about how we are made, how we're composed, we're finding that there is more to us than just a body. We have a lot of different parts. And those parts we've been looking at, we've talked about the soul and the spirit. As we've talked about some of the biblical words for man's composition. And we're really looking at some of the major words that describe us. This is not a complete list, but some of the major words that describe how we're made, the soul, the spirit. We looked at the mind last week and also the conscience, which is one of the most fascinating facets of how God's made us. And when you think of all of that, all that God has put in us, apart from the human body, our soul, our spirit, our mind, our conscience, our heart, our will, our emotions, all of those things, that is also a part of how we are fearfully and wonderfully made. That God has made all of those functions of our being inside to accomplish what He wants us to do. So having looked at those four last week, we're going to pick up with the fifth one tonight. And that is the heart. We don't have it on the screen, okay? So everybody's going to have to turn around and look at it back there. I get to see it tonight and you don't. And you thought I'd memorized all those verses, didn't you? Aha. Okay. The heart is, the Hebrew word is, believe is that on your outline spelled out on your outline. Okay, since it's not on the screen, we're gonna put leb, leb, it's pronounced leb, leave. But leb is Hebrew word and it's the broadest word for the in most part of us that's found in the Bible. It really is a broad word. the same word for conscience and mind and the word the Hebrew word lave can mean heart it can mean feelings wishes the reasoning capacity the decisions of the will almost every function of us on the inside is found in that Hebrew word lave it's a very general broad word for the totality of the inner man in in the Bible it's most often translated heart but it can mean all of those other things as well almost every function of the immaterial part of us in the Old Testament can be found in that word lave the Greek word is the word get this cardia in English it would be K-A-R-D-I-A cardia remember last time I told you we get a lot of our English words from Greek words and you can certainly see that can't you cardia the word for heart you go to a cardiologist have an echo cardiogram go into cardiac arrest let's hope you don't do that but but all of those words come from the Greek word for heart cardia and it's a very close word to the Hebrew word lave it has to do with the inner inner life the center of the personality really the word heart may be both an Old Testament and New Testament the most general word for the inner part of us and all that that involves and so lots of verses of course mention the word heart I want to move to the the sixth one on your list which is the word flesh that's a very interesting concept in the Bible so I want to spend a little bit of time here the Hebrew word is bassar B-A-S-A-R bassar and it simply means the physical body that's the flesh in the sense of the physical body the flesh and bones that we have but the Greek word the New Testament words a little different it's the word sarks S-A-R-X sarks and it's an interesting word because it can mean body but it can also be used symbolically in several different ways and I want to show those to you Paul uses the word sarks in three different ways in the New Testament and we'll just we'll look those up I had them on the screen for you but we'll I can still see them I'll have you look them up okay Galatians 4 13 if you'd look at Galatians 4 13 one of the ways that Paul uses the word sarks or flesh is of our frailty as creatures so our flesh our frailty as a human being as a creature Galatians 4 13 says you know how through infirmity of the flesh now I'm reading the King James how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel into you at the first now what Paul's talking about there as he's preaching the gospel he preached through infirmity of the flesh the N-I-V actually translate that through an illness and that is the idea an infirmity of the flesh is a bodily weakness some kind of bodily infirmity and infer or an illness and so sometimes Paul uses the word flesh in that way of our frailty as a human being our frailty as a creature but the second way he uses it is he uses it in a general way of just that which is human or external or natural look at this verse 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 26 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 26 Paul uses the word flesh of that which is just human human humanly speaking or that which is external or that which is natural the verse says and I'm again reading the King James this time because it uses the actual word flesh for you see your calling brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called not many wise men after the flesh the N-I-V translates that by human standards not many wise men by human standards and so the the idea of flesh here is that which is human that which is external that which is natural would be measured simply by human standards so those are two ways that Paul uses the word flesh but the third way is maybe the way of these three that we're the most familiar with sometimes Paul uses the word flesh of that which leads to a sinful self seeking independence of God we often think of it as our sinful nature a nature corrupted by sin that seeks independence from God that seeks to go its own way and turns away from God that's our flesh or sinful nature probably the most clear use of that term in that way is Galatians chapter 5 so look at Galatians 5 we're gonna read several verses here verses 16 through 22 and you'll see how Paul uses the word flesh in that way of our sinful nature or that self seeking sinful independence from God Galatians 5 verse 16 he says so so I say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh that is he talking the flesh there just in the sense of the human body well not really because notice I described it he says for the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh so they are in conflict with each other so that you are not so that you are not to do whatever you want but if you are led by the spirit you're not under the law now the acts of the flesh are obvious and this is a description of everything that in us not everything but representative samples of things in us that are evil that are wicked that declare our independence in from God and I rebellion against God the acts of the flesh are obvious sexual immorality impurity and debauchery idolatry and witchcraft hatred discord jealousy fits of rage selfish ambition dissentions factions and envy drunkenness orges and the like I warn you as I did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God those who constantly live present tense constantly live that expression of their nature but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace forbearance kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control so the the flesh and he goes on in verse 24 to say those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh the body the physical body no he's not talking about a physical crucifixion here crucified the flesh with its passions and desires so it's quite clear here and in other passages that Paul uses this word sarks or flesh of that which is in us that is in rebellion against God which wants to go our own way is sinful and so we often speak of that as our sinful nature here our human nature corrupted by sin and it is fighting against the Holy Spirit all of the time and what God wants us to do okay so that's that's the word flesh it's an interesting concept it the Hebrew Old Testament idea basically was restricted to the human body but the New Testament concept is much broader and so flesh is sometimes used just of our human frailty sometimes it's used of that which is external or natural kind of human fleshly standards and then sometimes it's used of our sinful nature okay questions or comments about the flesh and how that concept is found in the Bible all right the last one I want to mention and just briefly mention is the body because and I just want to throw this one in here because of the contrast with the flesh the body the Hebrew word is the same word as per flesh bassar b-a-s-a-r because that's those two concepts are the same in the Old Testament thought flesh and body whenever you talk about flesh you talk about this flesh this body but in the Greek in the New Testament there is a different word for body than the word we saw for flesh the word for flesh remember was the word sarks the word for body the human body the physical body is soma so ma so ma so it's a different word indicating a different concept now the word flesh can refer to the human body but the most common word for the body is the word soma so it's it's a different concept and the two different words are used because the flesh and the body are two different concepts quite often in the New Testament obviously those are not all of the parts of us I mentioned some others earlier that we haven't talked about here the will the emotions and other parts of us like that but these are some of the major biblical words that describe the different parts of us as human beings any comment or question about any of those before we move into a different area now okay to summarize then what are we composed of what are we made of what does it mean to be human we have a body a material part and then we have an immaterial part that part of us which is not bodily not material and that so that we're basically made of those two parts the immaterial part has many different functions and they're described with different words soul spirit mind conscience heart those kinds of words and even even in the New Testament concept flesh okay so that's how we're made up that's how we're composed what I want to start into tonight and we're just going to get started because this will take us two or three weeks probably to to cover and that is the origin of the soul of man or the let me just put it this way the immaterial part of man and I'm just going to use the word soul rather than having to use different words just use the word soul for the immaterial where did we get our soul from where did that come from you say well what difference does it make well why is that important I've got a soul I know that I've got a part of me that will live forever in eternity somewhere so why does it matter where it came from or how I got it well what we're going to find out is this is not just some vague area of theology that makes no difference in our lives the idea of where you got our where we get our soul from touches on several key things it it informs us about human depravity what it means to be sinful how we became sinful how we get a sinful nature it also touches on the idea of the virgin birth how we get our soul informs a lot about the virgin birth it also informs us on what to believe about abortion now we're getting into some very practical areas and we're going to see as we go through this material on the origin of the soul if if you don't get that right then you can also get a wrong view of abortion and where human life actually starts and what human life really is so this is very important stuff now this is a little bit more out in left field but the the idea of the origin of the soul also touches on cloning if if that does become possible and some would debate whether or not it can or is but if that were to become possible this subject informs us ethically as to what position we should take on human cloning okay so this is not just some weird idea of that only some theologian out there cares about you know where do we get our soul how do we get our soul this is this is some key stuff that informs us on some very important issues about what it means to be human and what human life really is all about where it originates and how valuable it is so it's pretty important stuff really now you're not going to think so as we get started because the first view we're going to look at is kind of weird kind of out there in left field but let me just summarize first there are three basic views as to how we get our soul the first one we're going to deal with tonight and that's the only one we're going to get to tonight and that is the pre-existence view and we'll talk about what that means in this little bit basically it's the idea that our soul existed long before we ever came into being okay and and the soul was sent to inhabit a human body okay the pre-existence view the the second view is the creation view and that is that God actually creates each soul at conception and then the third view is it's called the Traducian view we'll talk about that work when we get there but it means that the soul is actually passed down to us from our parents as a part of the procreation process in conception so those three basic views and believe it or not where you land on that will determine what you believe about some of those key issues we were talking about earlier like the Virgin birth and abortion and cloning and those kinds of things so it's it's it's kind of important that we get these kind of things right and this is the the beauty of theology the beauty of understanding Bible doctrine if you understand Bible doctrine it informs everything else you believe that is why many many years ago theology used to be called the queen of the sciences because it was the study of all of the the major parts of God's revelation about who we are and his plan for us that informs every other part of human study so that's why theology is often called the study of Bible doctrine is often called the queen of the sciences and that's why it has been a lifelong fascination of mine since my early days at at Piedmont and dear Dr. Bowman who just passed away about a month or so ago well into his 80s and still teaching theology at Piedmont he lit a fire in many of our hearts for the study of the word okay let's let's begin with the pre-existent pre-existence view and we'll give you first of all definition of that here's what we mean by pre-existence the pre-existence of the soul and that is the teaching that also have a history prior to their embodiment at birth or at conception better yet it's the idea that before you existed before you were born or even before you were conceived your soul already existed in other words your your soul existed before you did before your body came into existence that's the pre-existence view now I know that sounds kind of kind of strange but that view underlies a lot of false teaching there are a lot of eastern religions Hinduism Buddhism and so forth that believe in the pre-existence of the soul Mormonism believes in the pre-existence of the soul do you know that Mormons believe that our spirits existed before we came into being as a body and in fact very strict Orthodox Mormon groups it's the reason they believe in polygamy because they believe that you can bring more spirits down to this earth through more bodies that can then become subject to God and serve him if you have more wives and more children and the whole rationale behind that is is the idea of the pre-existence of the soul and so we want to get more of those spirits and souls down into human bodies now crazy it sounds but that's their theology okay so the pre-existence of the soul is not some just wild idea that that may have existed in Greek philosophy it's still around the day here are some variations of it there are four different variations of this concept of the pre-existence the soul the first is called eternal existence and that is that many philosophers have taught this that the soul has existed forever in the past there was never a time when it came into being it's always existed the soul has but there's a Bible verse one verse in particular that speaks quite clearly against that and it is John chapter 8 and verse 58 and since we're not going to show it to you on the screen let me just read it John 8 58 this is that great passage where Jesus is is verbally sparring with the Pharisees as a long passage and they're really getting heated Pharisees are with him in this and at the very end he says in verse 58 very truly I tell you Jesus answered before Abraham was I am and I'm I'm I think I'm remembering how I had it on the screen yet it's out of the ESV before Abraham was I am the NIV translates it before Abraham was born but the and that's the kind of the the meaning that's what you would expect but the Greek literally says before Abraham was and the ESV translates it very well before Abraham was I am but you see what he's saying there's you what Jesus is saying before Abraham was so there was a time when Abraham was not right so that means his soul could not have existed in eternity past his soul could not have existed forever because the soul is the really essence the real essence of who we are I mean my soul is John King it just inhabits a human body but the essence of who I am is my soul my inward person my being so for Christ to say before Abraham was means that he did not have a pre-existent soul back in eternity past so that concept of eternal existence is negated by what Jesus says there any comment or question about that before we move to the next variation of this pre-existence view right the second variation of this view that all souls have pre-existed is that they were all created at once now this is a little different than what we just talked about the first variation is that all souls have created or also excuse me have existed forever in the past this one says no no they came into being at a certain point they were all created at once and most people who take this view believe they were all created when Adam was created so Adam was created and all souls were created at the same time and then as we're born souls that have been out there floating around get connected to a body okay so that's that's the second variation the third variation is progressive reincarnation reincarnation and you know what that teaches and this is the view that is found in a lot of eastern religions that is the soul existed not somewhere floating out there in space before it came into your body but the soul existed in another body before that person or animal or whatever died and the soul now came to be in you that's progressive reincarnation in Hinduism for instance in India the idea of reincarnation is very very ingrained in Indian culture the whole idea of karma okay that's a common term even in our our language today hold the idea of karma is that what you have done in your past life whether you've been good or bad determines what form you'll be reincarnated in your next life whether you'll go down a grade or up a grade and that that really takes some weird forms by way reincarnation now there are those who believe in reincarnation that your soul may have been in a horse before or maybe maybe in a king before and he wasn't too good so he came back as you the idea that your soul has been in some other some other body or some other form some people believe that because sometimes you seem to remember events vividly from the past that you never experienced and and when people do that and you've seen this maybe in movies there are new whole movies built on this concept of reincarnation of souls that have existed in previous lives and now are existing today and may even somehow still have connection to those previous lives there was a very well-known movie made a few years ago I think it was named cloud atlas that was built on that concept of the soul having contact with previous lives and existences it's a very common Hollywood concept which by the way a lot of Hollywood philosophy is driven by new age or eastern mysticism eastern religious philosophy Buddhism and Hinduism and those kinds of things but this whole idea of reincarnation is used to describe that phenomenon where people seem to remember things from the past that happened before they were ever born and so the way to explain that some people believe is that your soul actually existed before you were born it just existed in some other form or some other body we say well what do you do about people who seem to definitely remember things that existed and happened before they ever were born and remember them vividly you know it is possible for demons to drop those thoughts in people's minds so wait a second John you're really getting spooky now Halloween was two days ago it is possible for demons who were around when those past events took place and knew all about them to to drop those thoughts in a person's mind you even a believer well remember what Peter said to Jesus in John or Matthew 16 when Jesus was talking about going up to Jerusalem will be taken and killed by those religious leaders and Peter said far be it from you Lord this will never happen to you and what did Jesus say to him get the behind me Satan you're not thinking the thoughts of God but the thoughts of man all right now what Jesus evidently is saying is that that thought was prompted by Satan himself and it was not a thought that came from the Lord it's not a thought that was generated by the moving of the spirit it was a seed thought that Satan planted in his mind so it is possible for Satan to drop thoughts into human minds and some of this can be explained in that way but there's a scripture verse that I think puts the lie to this whole idea of progressive reincarnation and it is Hebrews 927 Hebrews 927 says just as people are destined I still like the King James word appointed to die once and as it is appointed unto man once to die and after that to face judgment how many times do we die once according to the Bible now you say well but wait a second each human body does only die once but oh wait a second now the the real person is not just the body it's the soul connected to the body so if the soul has existed in other bodies that that personal existence that person has died many times and just has come back in different forms and the Bible says you only die once it's appointed it's destined done to man to die one time that's it so there is no such thing as reincarnation not biblically okay the fourth variation of this pre-existence theory or view is what's called the universal soul and this is the idea that each soul had a previous existence but rather than existing on its own it was a part of a greater hole a greater soul and some people refer to that greater soul as Adam and they'll give that greater soul that greater entity they'll give that soul the name Adam but really what they mean is there some big eternal soul out there that ties all of humankind together and each individual soul comes out of that okay sounds like some pretty wild views but they are well represented in major world religions today and in new age philosophy the idea of reincarnation and in the occult those ideas still surface constantly now let me quickly give you the refutation of these of this view basically none of these variations have any biblical support none of them even try to appeal to the Bible for support they don't even try to use scripture they are totally outside the realm of scripture some other problems with this view is that they all all of them obscure or muddy the waters of the essential nature of man that we've already seen which is a body and a soul together that's how God made us to be body and soul together not souls out there floating around somewhere for thousands of years and finally well there's a body I'll take that body got me a body no that's not the way the Bible presents things at all the Bible presents human beings as an essential unity it's the words we used before an essential unity of body and soul and that's why we will have a body in eternity a resurrected glorified body because God didn't make us even to be souls in heaven without bodies he made us in eternity future to have a resurrection glorified body and so we would not expect biblically that in the past we were some kind of soul out there without a body so the soul and body are tied together there's a sense in which this another way to refute this view is it doesn't make a clear distinction between mankind and angels because angels are spirit beings without a body and so the whole concept that we might have been something like that before before we've got into a human body that really confuses angels and mankind those two and then certainly there is in in normal human consciousness we are not aware of any previous existence again people who seem to be able to or say they can remember things from a past life that can can can either be a hoax or it can be a thought dropped into their minds by a demon by Satan himself but in normal human consciousness there's no awareness of some previous life that just doesn't happen so the existence pre-existence of the soul idea is obviously an unbiblical concept through and through now the next two views that we'll look at in the next couple of weeks have some biblical support for them and you have to try to figure out which one has the best biblical support did God create each individual soul at the moment of conception or was our soul passed down to us through our parents and those two are the more biblical concepts that we'll try to deal with later all right any comments or questions yes we will not turn into angels angels and men are entirely different kinds of beings so we won't turn into angels we will be ourselves in heaven but a soul that eventually will have a resurrected body afraid not sorry but you all of us will be a much better version of ourselves than we are now all of us you you will you'll be totally rid of all of that kind of thing just like I'll be able to get rid of my glasses and a lot of other things that are going on I'll be able to get rid of too that's on the other hand Robert that's a great point and we will actually get to that version Jeremiah one five when we talk about the next two views but but let me just let me just say quickly that that that has to do more with God's omniscience than it does with our existence it has to do with God knowing before we were ever born everything that would happen to us and what all would happen it has it's talking about God's knowledge but it's not talking about the fact that we existed back then yeah that's a great point because that verse is a key verse in those two other concepts we're talking about especially the traducian view all right good good any others real quick before we go okay the world series game just started so pray that we have a short deacons meeting tonight I'm sorry let's pray