Your Spirit Is On A Journey
I read a quote the other day, that said; “We are not human beings on a spiritual journey; We are spiritual beings on a human journey.” And that’s absolutely true. Our spirits are all on the journey of a lifetime, right now. It’s the journey of a lifetime, because that’s how long this journey will last. Your spirit is on a physical journey. It began at the time of your conception, and it will end at the time of your death. The journey IS your lifetime!
We’re told in Genesis 2, verse 7; “Then the Lord God formed man of the dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils, the breath of life, and man became a living soul”.. or, “a living being”. That’s when our journey began.
We’re told in Ecclesiastes 12:7; “The dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” That’s when our journey will end.
I don’t have anything ‘earth-shattering’ to tell you today. I just want you to think about the journey that you’re on. I want you to think about what kind of plans you’re making, and about what decisions you’re making, while you’re on your journey. And I want you to think about where your real home is.
Let me tell you a little something about how God has equipped us for our journey..
First of all, we’re told in Genesis 1:27 & 28; “And God created man in His own image. In the image of God, He created him; Male and female, He created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them; Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Now you’ve got to admit, God equipped us pretty well. We’re made in the very image of God Himself. You couldn’t start off much better then that! And then He blesses us, and gives us the “rule” over all the earth. Again, that’s a pretty good start. But now, listen to this..
The bible says, in Ezekiel 28, verse 15; “You were blameless in your ways, from the day you were created..” God starts us out blameless!
Blameless “in your ways” can mean.. blameless “in your character”. But here’s something interesting. The phrase.. “In your ways”, also means.. “in your journey”. That’s a fact, that’s what the phrase “in your ways” means. “In your journey”.
When we’re created, we begin a journey; A journey through this physical life, and heading towards eternity. And we begin that journey, blameless!
But you know, a lot of people don’t believe that we were created “blameless”. They think that our God and Father, would actually place upon us, the burden of a sin that we never committed. Many people believe that God has judged every human being that has ever lived, to be guilty of sin, simply because the FIRST man, Adam, chose to sin. That’s actually disgraceful to think that God would do such a thing. Have they no respect for what the bible clearly says?
Here’s what the bible says in Ezekiel 18:20; “The soul that sins, IT will die! The son will NOT bear the iniquities of the father, nor will the father bear the iniquities of the son. The righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.”
Does that scripture say that a sin can be “inherited” from Adam? Of course it doesn’t. It says exactly the opposite! “The son will NOT bear the iniquities of the father, nor will the father bear the iniquities of the son!”
Psalm 25:8 says; “Beautiful and upright is the Lord.” Verse 9 says; “He leads the humble in justice.”
It would be neither “just” nor “upright”, to assign one person’s guilt, to another person.
The bible is as clear as anything can be. “The soul that sins, IT shall die!” No one else’s soul ever died, because Adam chose to sin. Yes, death FIRST entered into the world because Adam sinned. But death didn’t spread to ME because of Adam’s sin. And death didn’t spread to you either, because of Adam. And were talking about spiritual death here, not physical death. The scriptures say; “The SOUL that sins, it shall die.” Not the body that sins, but the SOUL that sins.
It’s quite obvious that Adam didn’t die physically when he sinned. Yet God had ordained, in Genesis 2:17; “But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat from it, you shall surely DIE!”
And Adam DID die that very day. He died spiritually, and was separated from God. But again, it’s quite obvious that Adam didn’t die physically that day. As a matter of fact, Adam didn’t die for 930 years!
Now, we know that our journey isn’t going to last 930 years, but aside from that, Adam’s journey was pretty much, just like our journey. God sends all of us on our journeys, blameless. But just like Adam, we sin. When Ezekiel said; “You were blameless in your ways, from the day you were created..”, he finished with these words; “..until iniquity was found in you.” Adam was blameless, until iniquity was found in him.
We’re told in Romans 5, verse 12; “Therefore just as through one man, sin entered into the world, and death through sin, so death spread to all men, because all have sinned.” That’s how spiritual death spreads. It spreads through the sin of each and every individual!
Romans 3:23 says; “For ALL have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.”
Let me say something else about the body. God designed the body for the sole purpose of taking our spirit, on it’s physical journey. Our body is the “vehicle” in which we travel. And all the while that we travel, we need to keep our eyes focused on eternity.
The scriptures are very plain about the nature of all physical things, including our bodies. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 18 tells us; “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For, the things which are seen, are TEMPORAL, but the things which are NOT seen, are eternal.”
The body is among those things which are seen. The body is temporal, it will only last a certain length of time, because that’s the way God designed it. But our spirit, that’s the part which is NOT seen, that’s the part that is designed to last eternally.
Here’s something very interesting, concerning the eternal quality of our spirit. Did you know that your spirit already existed, before your body was conceived in the womb? God says that it did. Listen to what God said to Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 1, verse 5; “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you..”
God knew Jeremiah, BEFORE He formed his physical body in the womb. And if God knew Jeremiah, then He knew you and me also. Sometimes people debate, as to exactly when a fetus becomes a human being. Think about what God is saying here. God is saying, that even before He forms the fetus in the womb, He KNOWS the very spirit that is going to inhabit that body. Is that not amazing?
Since God knows the very spirit, that’s going to inhabit each physical body, it wouldn’t make any sense at all, to think that He wouldn’t join that spirit to the body, immediately upon it’s conception.
It’s like your spirit is just waiting for your body to be formed, and then when God joins the two together, you’re ready for your journey.
So, if you ever have the opportunity to discuss with anyone, when a fetus becomes a human being, try to remember Jeremiah 1, verse 5.
Do you know what’s interesting about the journey we’re on? God, through Jesus Christ, made the very same journey that He sent us on. So then God isn’t asking us to do anything, that He Himself wouldn’t do.
Jesus was God in the flesh, wasn’t He? That’s what John says in John chapter 1. Verse 1 says that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS God!” Then verse 14 says; “..the Word became flesh and dwelt among us..”
Therefore, when God took on the role of the Son, who was embodied in Jesus, He made the same journey that we’re making, right now. And do you remember what it says in Philippians 2:6 & 7? It’s speaking about Jesus, and it says; “Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God, a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking on the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men..”
One of the things that Christ “emptied Himself” of, when He became flesh, was eternal life. Jesus, being human, didn’t actually possess eternal life while He lived in the flesh. He did however, still possess the promise, that He would once again, possess eternal life, when He returned to heaven. That may sound strange, that Jesus didn’t possess eternal life while He lived on the earth, but I’m going to show you a scripture that reveals that to be a fact.
But before I show you that scripture, think again about our journey here on earth. Our spirits existed somewhere with God, before we began our journey. And since we were still blameless when our journey began, then we were also blameless while we were with God, and so we must have had the promise of eternal life back then. But something happened on our journey, we sinned. And when sinned, we gave up the promise of eternal life. And that’s where Jesus comes in, isn’t it?
God, through Jesus, made the same journey that we’re making, so that He could once again offer us the promise of eternal life, that we willingly gave up, when we sinned. And Christ also, willingly, gave up the eternal life that He possessed, not because He sinned, but because we sinned.
Now, Let’s look at the verse that tells us about Christ, “taking back” the eternal life that he had as God, before He “emptied Himself”, on our behalf.
The verse is Acts 2:33, And I’m going to break this verse up into three parts, so that it will be easier to understand. You might want to turn to that verse in your bibles and follow along.
Acts 2:33, The first part of the verse says; “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God..” That refers to when Christ ascended back into heaven. So that’s pretty simple. That’s WHEN He took back, eternal life. Now here’s the second part of the verse..
“..and having RECEIVED from the Father..” When Christ ascended back into heaven, He received something from the Father. And here’s what is very important to understand. The word translated “received” in this verse, specifically means.. “to take back, that which was formerly yours”. What Christ received from the Father, was something that He had previously possessed, but He gave it up, when He emptied Himself.
So then, here’s the last part of the verse; Here is what Christ received from the Father, when he ascended back to heaven; “..the PROMISE of the Holy Spirit..” Do you know what the promise of the Holy Spirit is? The promise of the Holy Spirit, IS eternal life! That’s what John tells us in 1 John 2:25; “And this is the promise which He Himself has made to us; Eternal life!”
It’s the same promise that all people receive, when they become a Christian. It’s the promise spoken of in Acts 2:38 & 39, when Peter said; “Repent, and let each one of you be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the PROMISE is for you and your children, and all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God calls to Himself.”
Christ received what was promised, when He ascended back to heaven. And we’ll receive what is promised to us, when we finally ascend into heaven on the last day. Our journey will be over, and we will be recompensed for the deeds done in the body. The deeds done while on our journey. Do you see why this journey is so important?
Compared to eternity, our journey is a very insignificant period of time. Even if we live to be a hundred or more, our “life is but a vapor, that appears for a while, and then vanishes away.” James 4:14.
But even though the length of time is so insignificant, the journey itself couldn’t be more important. God has sent us on a journey, and He has sent us off, made in His image, and blameless. And then, God took the very same journey Himself, to show us how it’s done, and to even further equip us with exactly what we would need. Namely, God knew that we would need Jesus Christ, and His forgiveness.
You want to arrive home safely don’t you? Then make the choice today, to believe in Jesus, and to repent of your sins, and to confess His name, and to be buried in baptism for the forgiveness of your sins. And then, for the rest of your journey, remain faithful unto death, and receive the promise of eternal life.
May God bless you on your journey!
