In order to fix my broken life, God had to change the way I thought about Him and the way I thought about myself and others. He had to reintroduce Himself to me as a God of love. First John 4:16 tells us, “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” The trials in my life pushed me to Him; it was there I began to understand and accept His love for me. And as I accepted His love, I began to understand Scripture differently.
In the Garden of Eden, when God created man, He said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him” (Genesis 1:26–27).
God made us like Him because He wanted someone to love and to share Himself with. Mankind is God’s most treasured of above all creation. We are uniquely designed to appreciate the fullness of God. He put Adam in the Garden to tend and care for the rivers, trees, birds and animals. Through Adam, He gave us dominion over the earth because He wanted us to share with Him in caring for the world He had made. God created man, and man only—not animals, not angels—in His image.
God is Three in One. He is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And mankind also is three in one: we are spirit, soul and body. First Thessalonians 5:23 says, “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.”
Scripture tells us of God creating man: “And the LORD God formed man [1] of the dust of the ground, and [2] breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man [3] be- came a living being” (Genesis 2:7). God shaped Adam’s (1) body from the dust of the ground. Then He breathed into that body His Spirit-breath of life so that Adam’s (2) spirit came alive. And with that Spirit-breath from God, man became a living (3) soul. In God’s design, the soul receives life through the Spirit.
God gave us a body so we could live on earth. Our body is made up of our bones, muscle and organs. We interact with the physical world through our body. We see, smell, hear, touch and taste. Our body is like a house for the hidden parts of spirit and soul. “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you”(1 Corinthians 6:19).
After God shaped Adam’s body, He breathed into it His breath of life. Our spirit comes alive when God’s Spirit gives it life. When we believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died for our sins and rose from the dead, the Holy Spirit comes and lives in our spirit. By “accepting Jesus into our heart,” we let God have a home on earth—in our spirit. Our spirit connects us with God and is a resting place for His Spirit. Just as our body connects us to the physical world, our spirit connects us to God. “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God”(Romans 8:16).
Upon receiving the breath of God’s Spirit into his body, Adam became a living soul. He became a living being with thoughts and feelings. The soul is the place of our mind, will and emotions. It is like a “bridge” between the spirit and the body. Our mind, will and emotions—not our spirit directly—determine the actions of our body. Our behaviors, speech and feelings are expression of our soul. The world sees the contents of our soul expressed out through our body.
The diagram below illustrates how God made us three in one.
Spirit and soul together form the hidden core of man—the heart. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” God knows the heart, He knows what is of the Spirit (originating from Him) and what is of the soul (originating from us).
In God’s design, the soul is meant to be like the steering wheel of a car. How the wheel is turned determines the direction the car takes. But a wheel is not made to steer itself and our soul is not meant to steer us. God, in our spirit, is meant to be the driver. With His hand upon the wheel, all is well. His love directs us.
Each one of us is meant to receive God’s love in our spirit, know the reality of that love in our soul and then let that love flood out of our body to the world. In His great design, God planned that we would have dominion over the earth as guided by our love-relationship with Him.
But Satan had other plans.
Reflection Questions:
- What do you think it means to be made “in the image of God”?
- What does it mean to you to receive God in your spirit?
- In what ways are you experiencing the reality of God’s love in your soul?
- In what ways is God’s love expressing itself through your body to the world?
- How do all three parts (spirit, soul and body) work together to express God’s love on earth?