The Soul: Past, Present and Future. WMSCOG

Do I Have a Soul?
Without knowing where you're from...
Do I have a soul? Perhaps you are one of the many people who have asked one of these fundamental questions about your existence: “Where am I from? Where am I going? What is my purpose on this earth?” Though many of us have yearned for answers to these questions, we have wandered aimlessly seeking answers, while ultimately life still ends in tragedy: death. Such is man’s fate. Because of this, some say that life is but a vain dream.

However, if understood correctly through the spiritual viewpoint of the Bible, life is not at all vain. Life is filled with meaning and purpose once we understand the fundamental truths about the spirit: what it is, where it is from and where it is going.

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

The above verse states that man is made of two elements: one is dust and the other is breath of life. One is flesh and the other is the soul coming from God. Regarding this, Solomon wrote:

Ecclesiastes 12:7 The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Here, the dust refers to the body, and the spirit is the breath of life from God. Christ called the breath of life, “the soul.”

Luke 12:20 (KJV) Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.

Hebrews 12:9 We have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the father of our spirits and live!

Apostle Paul, writer of Hebrews, described the difference between the spirit and flesh through the explanation of our human father and spiritual Father. God is known as the “Father of our spirits.” Then where is our spiritual Father?

Matthew 23:1-9 “Do not call anyone on earth father; for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.”

The Father of our spirits refers to the Father of the children of God. Our Father is in heaven where we once lived.

We can also understand that the death of the body is different from that of the soul.

Matthew 10:28 “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul.”

In this verse, it is clear that there is death of the body and death of the soul, which takes place separately. How does the Bible describe this?

Revelation 20:12-14 And I saw the dead… the dead were judged… they were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.

There is a death of the body and the second death reserved for the soul. Therefore, all men should seek after the salvation of their souls. In some cases, people might have a difficult time believing that they were in the Kingdom of Heaven before or that they have a soul. But the Bible testifies through the prophets about this in more detail.

Job 38:1-21 Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?… Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?… Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!

In this instance, Job had forgotten that he existed from before the creation of the world, but God reminded him of his former home in the spiritual world.  How did Job exist then? In bodily form? No. Job could not be physically as old as the earth.  God was referring to his spiritual birth. Even the forefathers of faith longed for their spiritual home.

Hebrews 11:4-16 By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did…By faith Enoch…by faith Noah…by faith Abraham…Isaac and Jacob… All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on the earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one.
All these people refer to the forefathers of faith who longed for their country. However, it was not the physical land they were waiting for—rather, it was the spiritual world where they were once with God.

 They were like wandering people on this earth, waiting to be led back to their true home. This is why Jesus referred to His own people as the lost sheep.

Luke 15:4-7 Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it…I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Here, the lost sheep represents the one sinner who once lived in the Kingdom of Heaven but was sent to this world and became lost on account of sin. This is why Christ said, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). Christ’s purpose in coming to this world was to find those He loved from the Kingdom of Heaven and take them back to their former place. To confirm why we were lost from heaven, it is explained:

1 Timothy 1:15 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

The “lost” once again are those whom Christ came to find and save: the sinners. Therefore, whatever Christ taught as the way to lead His people back to the spiritual world in heaven, that is what sinners need to be redeemed to their former status. Because it was sin that caused all men to come to the earth, only forgiveness can lead men back. Through the Bible, there is only one fundamental truth that Christ preached to grant the forgiveness of sins.

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins…

Forgiveness is connected to the blood of Christ in this verse, but what is the way to receive it?

Luke 22:8-20 Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “God and make preparations for us to eat the Passover… And he took [Passover] bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this [Passover] in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup [Passover wine] is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

Only the Passover has the power to grant sinners forgiveness and through the very blood of Christ, men can re-enter the Kingdom of Heaven to be with God again in the spiritual world.  Let us therefore celebrate the Feast of Passover with thanksgiving!