In my previous post Understanding Adam and the Kingdom of the Earth, we talked about the ways that Adam was created in the image of God. We stated that he was God’s first earthly son, created to act as God’s reflection in the kingdom of the earth and given ruling authority over this kingdom. We talked about how he was created to be a father with the ability to procreate sons after his own image through his seed, and how he originally possessed eternal life. We also talked about how the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of earth were originally integrated, meaning that from their inception the two kingdoms were meant to interact and intersect with each other. These things all represent attributes that are associated with the external nature of Adam and the realm of earth.
But there is yet one more important aspect about Adam that made him like God, and this has to do with the internal aspect of Adams nature.
We learn from studying the scriptures that God is a triune being- meaning that He is three in one. Within the unity of the Godhead is three distinct Persons- that of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. These three do not represent three different gods, but three elements of One God.
In a similar way, Adam was also created tripartite– or three parts that make up one being. He was created of three distinct elements; of body, soul and spirit, and these three parts comprised the whole of his being.
Let’s take a close look at these three elements and discover what they are and how they work together.
As a man, Adam was created with a physical body created from the organic elements of the earth, or as the bible states it, of “the dust of the ground” (Gen 2:7). His body was made of tangible matter; of flesh and blood. The body acts as the external dwelling, or vehicle, for the internal elements of his being. It gives us physical presence and identity.
God imparted the breath of life into Adam and the bible says he became a living soul (Gen 2:7). The soul animates or brings life to the body. The body and soul combined made Adam a living being. The body and the soul are intrinsically united, meaning that they do not act or survive apart from one another. What happens to one innately affects the other. The bible refers to this body and soul combination as “the flesh”. The flesh is the life that is uniquely of the earth.
But the body and soul combination are so much more. It is literally who we are as a child of our biological parents, as the offspring of their seed. It makes us the unique and individual person that we are, unlike any other person on the earth. 1 Corinthians 15:38 says that “God gives a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.” It is the spring of our personality, our gifts and abilities, our character, our intellect and our emotional nature. These things give us our personal identity.
There is one more aspect of man’s internal nature that causes him to be made in the image of God and that is that he possesses a spirit.
There can be much confusion as to the difference between the soul and the spirit, but I have found a very easy way to understand it.
As the soul is the life force of the earthly realm, spirit is the life of the heavenly realm.
Beings created to inhabit the earthly realm possess the life force of the soul, and beings created to inhabit the heavenly realm possess the life force of spirit.
The life of the Spirit of God within Adam gave him the identity of God’s son.
Man, in his original form, was created with the life of both; of heaven and of the earth, because men were originally created to one day enter and dwell in the kingdom of heaven.
And as the external kingdoms of heaven and earth were united in the beginning, so were the internal realms of Adam. Adam possessed within himself the life of both kingdoms.
Now as confusing as all of this may seem at the moment, (and believe me when I tell you that I am trying very hard to make it as simple as possible), it is very important for us to understand ALL of who Adam was and what he had.
One more thing before we close.
We know something that Adam didn’t know. You and I know what death is. We understand that if any one aspect of a man’s constitution is separated from another aspect, a death occurs. Death at its core is separation. If a part of a man’s body becomes “cut off”, either completely, or by lack of blood flow, that part dies. When the soul is separated from its body, the whole body dies. And when the spirit separates from the soul, spiritual death occurs.
And now we begin to understand why the man Adam was such a strategic target for the Adversary. To cut off Adam from the life of God, would be to sever the two kingdoms as well. Adam and the kingdom he ruled would be the Serpents domain. It is true that the devil cannot create, but he could transform and corrupt all that God had created.
But you and I know something the devil didn’t know. And that is that God had a strategy of His own, prepared from the eternal ages, to undo all the devil had purposed in his darkened, evil heart to do.
Stay tuned, friends. We are just getting started unfolding all the wonders of that glorious and marvelous plan that even the devil couldn’t have seen coming!