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Body, Soul, and Spirit We are all certain that we exist in a physical body. The bible tells us that God created our bodies out of the dust of the earth. Even science agrees that we come from dust - star dust. Genesis 2:7 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. We see from this scripture that when God breathed into man's lifeless body, he became a living soul. So, the equation of our existence is a body plus the breath of God equals a living soul. Man (both male and female) was created in God's image. This point seems so obvious, but allot of people do not understand this concept at all. Take my friend, for example. He was a wonderful person in many respects. He was also an atheist. We had a conversation about this and he laughed, "Ha, ha, ha, that is ridiculous! I am sure that God does not look like me. If He exists, He surely does not have arms and legs like me!" My response was, "Of course not, God does not LOOK like you, nor do you LOOK like Him. God is a Spirit!!!" Your life, your breath, your intellect, your ability to choose, your ability to love or hate, your spirit is in God's image - not your arms and legs. My friend looked at me and he was totally dumbfounded. That was the first time he had ever heard such a thing. Likewise, I was dumbfounded because I could hardly believe that such an intelligent person, a Cornell graduate, who was also a successful and astute business man, (the only self-made millionaire that I know) had such limited understanding of a simple concept. My friend died a few years after that conversation. For several days before he died, he pleaded with his wife to help him. He was afraid because as he put it, "the dark side is coming to get me" the "darkness is trying to take me away" and "the dark ones are out to get me!" He was on oxygen at the time and had suffered a heart attack. Whether he was hallucinating, I do not know for sure. However, I do find his words interesting (and scary) because the dichotomy of light and darkness is all throughout the bible. It speaks of walking either in light, or in darkness. Also, the bible speaks of heaven as a place of light and hell as a place of darkness. In any case, my atheist friend did not understand even the basics: There is a God - He is alive - and we are created in His very image... Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness... Incidentally, notice here that God refers to Himself in the plural - Us and Our likeness: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is interesting to note that the account of God's creation of the animals of both land, sea and air in Genesis does not say that God created them (animals) in His image. I would conclude that man is a "special" creature, set apart from the animals. Unlike the animals, man was created IN GOD's IMAGE. Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Definition of Body In Hebrew, the word "body" means the person whether alive or dead - a body, carcass, or corpse, a carcass whether of man or beast, that which dies of itself. In Greek, it means bodily, as in handling the body surface or skin, and also a slave. Definition of Soul In Hebrew, the word "soul" means to be breathed upon, vitality (vital means life), breathing creature, used to refer to bodily or mental state, lust, mind, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion, that which breathes, the breathing substance or being, soul, the inner being of man, living being, living being (with life in the blood), the man himself, self, person or individual, seat of the appetites, seat of emotions and passions, activity of mind, dubious activity of the will, dubious, activity of the character, dubious. In Greek, it means breathe, spirit, vitality or life, heart, mind, and soul. Definition of Spirit God is The Spirit with a capital "S", Genesis 1:1 "the Spirit of God moved..." In Hebrew, the word spirit means wind resembling breath, accept, perceive, make of quick understanding, of a rational being, inspiration, soul, spirit, its expression is a whirlwind, a blast, anger, tempest. In Greek, a current of air, breath, a (human) rational soul, mind, mental disposition, and it refers to angels and demons, and to the divine spirit of Christ, and the Holy Spirit of God. The words Soul and Spirit are often used interchangeably. These scriptures lead me to believe that man has a body and the combination of his body and breath (life) makes him a living soul. It seems that the spirit is closely identified with the soul, but it goes beyond that to include rationality and understanding. So, our soul is our life force, our breath, and our spirit is our understanding, our rationality, both of which exist together. All three parts of our existence: body, soul, and spirit, come from God. Our body was formed of the dust of the earth and our life, breath, and ability to think and reason "came out" of God's being and therefore are in the likeness of God. Body = Our corpse, our surface, our shell Soul = Our breath, our life Spirit = Our being that includes our mind, reasoning and perceptions In fact, our body and spirit are in conflict with one another. The body has a sinful nature that is in conflict with our spirit. We are told to live by the spirit and not give in to certain bodily desires. Galatians 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other... Are Animals Souls? Animals have a body, they also have life and breath, so I would conclude that they are souls. What? Animals are living souls? Don't freak out about my statement because I came to that conclusion from the following scripture that demonstrates that even sea creatures are souls. Revelation 16:3 ...and every living soul died in the sea. Even some of the Hebrew words for "soul" are defined as any living thing that has breath or breathes. Animals = Body + Breath Thus, they are living Souls Humans = Body + Breath + Spirit (intellect) Thus we are living Souls and we have a Spirit created in God's image The mind of an animal, their rationality, and their mental disposition is much less than that of man, therefore, I believe that they have a soul, but it is a "lesser" form of the soul of man without the spirit. Although they both breath the same air, they eat, they sleep, they suffer disease, and they die, they are not our equal. Man is special, a higher being with reason, the ability to "choose" good or evil. Animals do not have the conflict of body against spirit because they have no spirit! God is a Spirit Man was created in God's image, animals are not created in God's image. That is not to say that we (our physical bodies) look like God. No, it is not our physical bodies that are in created in God's image, but rather our spirit is created in God's image! After all, God is an immortal spirit and is one that no one has ever seen or can see! He resides in light that is so brilliant that we cannot see Him! Consider this scripture: 1 Timothy 6:15-16 ... God... the King of kings, and Lord of lords, Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see... We, both you and I, have never SEEN God. John 5:37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. The closest we can get to "seeing" God is to see Jesus. Luke 10:22 All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. If you "see" Jesus then you will "see" the Father. John 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, ...he that hath seen me hath seen the Father... Some other characteristics of God's spirit in you are... Isaiah 11:2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD... Can Our Spirit Live After Our Body Dies? Now, we know that eventually our bodies will die, but what about our spirit? This, my friend is the reason that I get so excited about the bible and the good news of Jesus Christ! Yes, yes, yes, the spirit has the capacity to keep on living after the body dies. Hundreds of years AFTER they died, Jesus proclaimed that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, are still "living". This statement shocked the people at the time because Jewish leaders had been teaching that when a person dies, they cease to exist. Matthew 22:32-33 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob... God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine. Does that mean that we ALL continue to live after our bodies die? According to the bible, the soul that sins will, in fact, die! Ezekial 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. We are all certain of that statement. Our soul (body and breath) will absolutely die. But What About Our Spirit? Jesus talked about the first death (body and soul) and the second death (soul and spirit). The first death is the one that you are absolutely certain of, but the second death is a subject that causes confusion. The second death is the one that will occur on the Day of Judgment. I will discuss that in detail in another study. For now, I want to stress that you can choose to have eternal life. It is possible to live forever. Search the scriptures to find eternal life. John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. Deut 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life... If you search the scriptures, and do as they instruct, then on the day of the resurrection (Judgment Day) your spirit will be given eternal life. You will live forever, even after your body dies! Yes, you will have eternal life in the spirit, just like an angel. There will be no body, so there will be no male or female - just a spirit. Matthew 22:30 Jesus said... For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Does this mean all spirits go to heaven? Certainly other scriptures indicate that SOME people will be cut off or separated from God forever. Some souls/spirits will be in darkness while others will be in light. Therefore, I think that it is not wise to look at only ONE verse and draw a conclusion or to assume from this one verse that everybody's spirit goes to heaven. We will live in God's presence, in His brilliant light. Rev 22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. Wow!  Unlike my atheist friend, I am excited about dying. In his last moment, he was surrounded by what he perceived as darkness and he was afraid. In a book on the last words of famous people, there are many examples of people who speak of either light or darkness. For example: the infidel, Edward Gibbon's last words were, "All is dark." While the last words of Augustus Toplady, the author of Rock of Ages said, "All is light, light, light!!!" (From the book "Why I Believe" written by Dr. James Kennedy) For me, death will be the beginning of a beautiful experience. I do not plan to be in darkness, but a beautiful light...and that is only the beginning. I created a visual example of our choice... With God Light Color, beauty, you will be able able to explore places more fantastic than you can imagine! Without God Dark Eventually just blackness, you will be stumbling around, you will be totally blind! Eventually, without the light, all that will be left is total darkness - just blackness. Now, if you would rather be part of the light, then please continue to read the other short studies on my web page. Click Here for the next study Are the Dead Asleep?