The Nature of a Man

God is the Ancient of Days. He is never surprised, or overwhelmed. God is not religions; He loves relationships.

_{Ecclesiastes 12:13}

_{Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all.}

_{Anything you do outside the word, it will fail. It’s not a matter of if, but when they will fail. It is just a matter of time. Do not leave the word; if you do, you will fail.}

_{That said and done, let us now learn about the nature of a man, from the word of God.}

_{Who Am I?}

_{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 being.}

_{1 Thessalonians 5:23}

_{Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.}

_{You are three in one; just as God is 3 in One - God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit. You are spirit, soul and body.}

 _{A. The Body}

_{When God formed you first, He formed you from the dust of the ground. There was dew, for Him to shape the dust into a person. When Jesus spat on the ground to heal the blind person, He was re-playing the creation story of man (John 9:6). God bent down to form the body, which is made up of flesh, blood, and bones. The body is not where you are; it is where you stay. It is a tent, a house. When the breath of God slapped the body, a soul came into being. The Spirit from God was the breath that entered the body of man.}

_{The body of a man is a wrapping material, a packaging material, the coat that one stays in, the testa, the seed-pod, a tabernacle, a building that the spirit of a man resides in.}

_{Job 10:11-12}

_{Did you not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese, 11 Clothe me with skin and flesh, And knit me together with bones and sinews? 12 You have granted me life and favor, and Your care has preserved my spirit.}

_{Milk, in the word of God, represents the spirit. Cheese represents soul. Everything in creation is a class of spiritual lessons. The ears are your antennae, while your mouth is the gate of your body. Your bones are the fencing of your housing, your body. Your skin is your clothing. God does not abandon His creation. Everything God created, by nature, is eternal. He will operate within the parameters He created, retaining the spiritual laws He created.}

_{Study a tree; it does not bear fruit in three weeks; a seed has to fall to the ground and die, and takes years to survive the heat, wind and rain, and within time the shoot forms. Be patient, and understand that whatever word God has spoken over your life shall come to pass, as His word is as unto a seed, that has to grow, as long as it falls on good ground.}

_{Going back to our topic:}

_{James 2:26}

_{For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.}

_{The body came from the dust. To sustain that body, it must go back to where it came from, and get the product from its source, for it to stay alive. For the body to stay alive, it has to be sustained by that which is from the ground, which is vegetation and so on. God had created man to be sustained by only that which is from the ground, talking of plants (Gen. 2:16). It's only after the flood that God gave man the go-ahead to eat meat, and refrain from eating the blood of animals (Gen. 9:3-4). So we can clearly see that God's original purpose was for man's body to be sustained by that which was from the ground.}

_{The spirit came from God; for it to be sustained, it has to go back to God. God is Spirit, and the spirit of man has to remain attached and in fellowship with its source, for it to continue existing. The soul arrived courtesy of the spirit and body; for it to be sustained, it has to be fed by both the spirit and body. The devil, in the wilderness, was tempting Jesus to feed His soul only from the body (Matt. 4:3); Jesus responded by reminding the devil that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, meaning that soul shall not be sustained by the body alone, but also by the spirit (Matt. 4:4).}

_{The event that shook the Old Testament times and was repeated severally was the splitting of the red sea for the children of Israel to cross. The even that shook the New Testament times and was repeated severally is the resurrection of Jesus. On the cross, Jesus committed His spirit to God, and Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Jesus to bury it. The soul of Jesus was taken to Sheol. The body returned to its source, the earth, the spirit to its source, God, and the soul went to Sheol.}

_{When the demons saw Jesus, they could not pretend, though they could pretend with men. Jesus stepped into the world as light; demons could not pretend, having seen the light, when He went to Gadarenes, and met with the man with a legion of angels (Mark 5:1-20). Those demons were afraid of going to the bottomless pit, and begged Jesus not to be sent there. Demons are afraid of the bottomless pit. Human and animal bodies are rental places for demons, which is why they asked Jesus to be sent to the pigs. This is why the demons are always looking for a new rental place, a new body to occupy.}

_{Anyway, going back to the issue of Jesus' soul being taken to Sheol... There were 6 compartments below the earth; paradise, the gulf, hell, tartaras (where those who disobeyed in the days of Noah are), the bottomless pit, lake of fire. Hades and Sheol are the lower parts of the earth, which is where Jesus went and took the keys of life and death; He disarmed the principalities and powers. He then went to paradise, and unlocked the saints who had fallen asleep. This is why the saints arose and started walking around the earth, when Jesus arose (Matt. 27:52-53). Paradise was relocated and went up, which is why those who die now in the Lord go up, not down. Because of the resurrection, death cannot retain you down in Sheol anymore.}

_{The word of God is what has longevity, that will take you long, for years. This is why you need to study the word.}

_{The resurrection is so important.}

_{Ecclesiastes 12:7}

_{Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.}

_{This is what happens to man when he dies. The body returns to dust, and the spirit returns to God, as Jesus also showed us. The foundations of the earth are dust, and this is where the body of man came from. This is why men walk on the material that formed them, that is dust. People in heaven do not walk on dust; they walk on glass, rubies, gold, jasper, silver, so they are walking on the materials that make heavenly bodies. The Bible explains sardius, topaz, diamond, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire etc. as the covering of the body of Lucifer. Your resurrection body will be made of gemstones, made of glass, a body that cannot see death. In heaven you will no longer walk in dust, as that is not the material that will define your heavenly body, but rather on glass, gemstones, gold and so on, which define your heavenly body.}

_{Daniel 10:5-6 also talks of a body like beryl, arms and feet like burnished bronze in colour. As the man on earth steps on dust, the man in heaven walks on glass and gemstones, the material that makes him. You are not a cheap material. When you kneel, you connect with the power of resurrection. Resurrection is important for us for many reasons, one of them being that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.}

_{We said that the body of a man is made up of blood, flesh and bones. When a person is buried, it is the bones that can remain forever.}

_{2 Kings 13:20-21}

_{Then Elisha died, and they buried him. And the raiding bands from Moab invaded the land in the spring of the year.} ²¹ _{So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.}

_{Between verse 20 and 21 is 43 years. It takes years for metamorphosis to happen, for the body and blood to dry up, and be eaten up, for the bones to show up. This is why the bones of Elisha were accessible to the dead man who was thrown into Elisha’s tomb. Your bones are the archives of God’s word. The more you spend time in the word, the more it permeates in and dominates your bones. The more you spend time in the word, the more the word will ensure that even diseases do not harm your body.}

_{God had sent Jeremiah to preach to the children of Israel, but they could not listen, actually they mocked him. Just like any normal human being, it reached a point that he got discouraged, and felt like giving up:}

_{Jeremiah 20:7-9}

_{O LORD, You induced me, and I was persuaded; You are stronger than I, and have prevailed. I am in derision daily; Everyone mocks me.} ⁸ _{For when I spoke, I cried out; I shouted, "Violence and plunder!" Because the word of the LORD was made to me a reproach and a derision daily.} ⁹ _{Then I said, "I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name." But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not.}

_{Proverbs 3:1-8}

_{My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands;}² _{For length of days and long life and peace they will add to you.} ³ _{Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart,} ⁴ _{and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man.}⁵ _{Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;} ⁶ _{In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.}⁷ _{Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil.} ⁸ _{It will be health to your flesh,
and strength to your bones.}

_{God’s word, after it has been meditated, goes and sits in the bone marrow, so that when you die, flesh and blood rot, but your bones are waiting for the resurrection. This is why in Ps. 103:14 God says that He knows our frame. Your resurrection body will look exactly like you.}

_{Psalm 103:14}

_{For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.}

_{Your frame is your anatomy, your bones. This is what God will use it to form your resurrection body, which is why He says He knows it. The way you were formed is how you will look like, eternally. This is also why the soldiers could not break the bones of Jesus, as they were needed to create the resurrection body of Jesus:}

_{Psalm 34:19}

_{He guards all his bones; not one of them is broken.}

_{John 19:32-36}

 _{Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him.} ³³ _{But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.} ³⁴ _{But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.} ³⁵ _{And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.} ³⁶ _{For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken.”}

_{You are very eternal. The grave cannot stop who you are. This is also why God hates cremation, as it messes up with His creation pattern.}

_{B. The Soul}

_{The soul is made up of your mind, emotions and your will. All your behaviours are in your soul.}

_{Ecclesiastes 9:3}

_{This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.}

_{While alive, people think the unthinkable. The spirit and soul are the internal part you cannot touch. When the Bible talks of madness, it’s talking about the soul, not spirit. This is where madness of man resides in; the likes, dislikes, emotions, preferences, prejudices and son on, are in the soul. Your soul is trained to think, speak and do. Imaginations and thoughts arrive in the soul, and the mind forms the part of your soul. This is why someone has to be renewed in the spirit of their minds. Your mind has grooves and patterns, and until they are broken and the imprint of God’s word penetrates your mind, you are still a slave. The spirit of a man hosts the gifts of God, e.g. the prophetic gifts, teaching gifts, etc. The character lies in the soul. So the same person with amazing God-gifts can have a rotten character; the problem is not the gift, but the soul. Until the soul is brought down with fasting and prayer, and the mind delivered, the man with the gift of God will be in trouble.}

_{You cannot know the good, acceptable and perfect will of God until you present your bodies to the Lord as living sacrifices, refuse to be conformed to the patterns of this world (the way this world functions and does things), and be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Rom. 12:1-2). You will never know why you are still alive until you stop thinking like your grandfather, or the way the world thinks, and start thinking in line with the word of God. If you know you have a problem in your soul, seek help.}

_{Deuteronomy 23:18}

_{You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog to the house of the LORD your God for any vowed offering, for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God.}

_{If you are living in sin, and conforming of the patterns of the world, quit pretending in church. The dog is a spirit of immorality. Holiness must come back to God’s house, the way God designed it. Pursue holiness and peace, without which no man will see God. Get God to work on your soul, to search it lest something in you, a character may hinder you from inheriting the kingdom of God.}

_{Emotions and feelings need to be in line with God’s word. Whatever it is that is causing your emotions and feelings to be out of line with the word, leave it. Be it facebook, twitter etc. that is misleading you and causing you to be out of line with your life, you need to quit it. Your soul lives in the blood (Lev. 6:11).}

_{Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; cry out for your soul (Phil. 2:12b-13). This is why this happened:}

_{Luke 23:27-31}

_{And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him.} ²⁸ _{But Jesus, turning to them, said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.} ²⁹ _{"For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!'} ³⁰ _{"Then they will begin 'to say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!"'}  ³¹ _{"For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?"}

_{Cry out for your soul.}

_{Ezekiel 16:44 says, 'Indeed everyone who quotes proverbs will use this proverb against you: 'Like mother, like daughter!'}

_{Jesus gave His blood to deliver your blood; His soul to deliver your soul.}

_{Every sin a man commits is outside the body; but every sexually immoral act is sin against your own body. If you have slept with 6 men, you have been spiritually and in the soulish realm connected with 6 men, and been tied with them, in a marriage set up. There is nothing like casual sex; it is always a network creation. This is why it is hard for people to be married today, as they are already married in the soul realm to someone else. Cry out for your soul.}

_{God formed the land, which is what receives grow that can grow, as you cannot plant seeds on the rock for them to grow. The ground represents a woman, the rocks represent the men. The work of men is to build, protect and stand firm, which is why they are rocks. Women are fragile, who receive seeds, and reproduce. The church is called the bride; we are the bride, and Christ the Groom. We are yet to be married to Christ. The picture of husband and wife is the picture of Jesus and the church. The bride is supposed to bear fruit, and the Groom to provide the seed. Us being the bride, are the ground, Jesus the groom, and His word the seed. We are supposed to guard our hearts, the ground in us, against any other wild seeds growing in us. As in the parable of the sower, the woman is the ground, and the seeds that fell by the wayside and were trampled by men is a picture of a woman giving herself to multiple men. As a man, there must be some soil/earth in a man. This is why Jesus is both the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and still the Lamb of God. It is the Lamb side of Him that was nailed on the cross; it was the soft part of Him that was crucified. The Lion must be firm.}

_{Some seeds grew on thorny ground. Thorns grow from soil, and are a picture of rebellions children, who have not been raised up well. Some seeds fell on good ground. When the word of God is allowed to grow up in you, it bears much fruit, the fruit of righteousness and holiness.}

_{The will is a part of your soul, the part that decides. There are people who cannot make decisions. Jesus says that we let our Yes be Yes, and our No be No. We must have a will that decides. Anything between No and Yes is not of God, but of the devil.}

_{Matt. 5:37}

_{But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.}

_{When Adam and Eve sinned. The spirit of a man is God’s airport. When God wants to speak to you, the first place He arrives at is the spirit of a man. The only place heaven recognizes in your life is your spirit man. If the present of Rwanda comes to Kenya, he has to go to the State House first, this is where he is befitted, and does not go to Ruai first.}

_{Prov. 20:27}

_{The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all the inner depths of his heart.}

_{Job 32:8}

_{But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.}

_{God searches you from your spirit. When man sinned, demons got a dwelling place. Demons do not occupy the spirit of a man; they occupy the soul of a man. The house is the heart of a person; the bedrooms compartment; the kitchen where the emotions boil. Tears open up a person’s heart; this is why God cannot despise a broken and contrite heart, as such opens itself up to God. This is why we cannot mourn as those who do not have hope (1 Thess. 4:13-18).}

_{Ezekiel 18:4}

_{“Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die.}

_{Immediately a man dies, the soul departs the body, and they see themselves. Cars, lands and money are not what the soul of a person that has departed the body thinks about; it is whether they were saved or not. When a man dies, the soul departs from the body, and the demons depart the soul. About 5-7 minutes, the demons come back to drag the soul back to where they came from. This is why people kick when they die as they try to resist being dragged to hell.}

_{1 Timothy 5:24}

_{Some men's sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgment, but those of some men follow later.}

_{Sin is a living thing, that lives with someone, and proceeds someone when they leave earth.}

_{Isaiah 14:9-11}

_{"Hell from beneath is excited about you, to meet you at your coming; It stirs up the dead for you, all the chief ones of the earth; It has raised up from their thrones All the kings of the nations.} ¹⁰ _{They all shall speak and say to you: 'Have you also become as weak as we? Have you become like us?} ¹¹ _{Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the sound of your stringed instruments; the maggot is spread under you, and worms cover you.'}

_{As people are holding a funeral on earth, there is a meeting in hell to receive someone. Hell stirs up the dead to help receive someone when they die. There is no middle ground; it is either heaven or hell. Everybody in hell is weak, as grace and mercy and truth is all gone. You have hope because you are alive. Anybody that has God’s word in him has strength. Sin makes you very very weak and vulnerable to attack. Sin makes one useless.}

_{The bed sheets in hell are called maggots and the duvets are worms, which is why the Bible says that hell is where the maggots do not cease. The pain one feels when they are deeply hurt is just a flash of the fire that will be in hell. Wake up your spiritual man; the truth on the other side is painful. Every day you wake up you are moving further from the womb and closer to the tomb.}

_{Ecclesiastes 7:17}

_{Do not be overly wicked, nor be foolish: why should you die before your time?}

_{Dying before your time is termed as wickedness.}

_{The only thing that matters when you die is not your tribe or anything else, but the blood of Jesus, holiness and whether or not you fulfilled God’s calling over your life.}

_{A lot of dead people try to get back to their bodies, which is why you see dead bodies kicking; they desire for only 3 seconds to claim salvation.}

_{The time of salvation is now. Surrender your life to Christ, so that you can be made a new creature, and be recreated in Christ, receiving a new spirit, recreated in Christ Jesus.}

_Amen.

_{-- Teacher Sammy Nyanjom}

(28/09/14 Sunday Service Sermon, Teaching Transformation Ministry.)

Teacher Sam is a friend of Teaching Transformation Ministry. We are located along the Thika-Ruai Flyover Junction (at the Thika Rd./ Bypass intersection), Next to Eastgate Restaurant.