Third Part: The Spirit, The Life:

When Adam was formed out of the dust of the ground, he had no life in him yet. How then did he become a living being? Going back now to (GENESIS 2:7), we read. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the Breath of Life . . .

Therefore, in order to give life to the body. God breathed into the man's (Adam) nostrils the Breath of Life. Herein then is wisdom: Who hast breathed?

Whose Breath? GOD breathed, and GOD'S Breath. Where was it breathed into? Into the Nostrils of Man.

But What is God? Is not God a Spirit, a divine Spirit? If therefore God be a Spirit, is not all the part of His Being a spirit too?

Now, the Breath of Life came from God and was taken out of His own Bowels, from deep inside of Him; thus the Breath that went into the nostrils of man Which gave him the life is that spirit of God in man. The SPIRIT giveth Life, for The SPIRIT is LIFE Itself.

As the prophet Job saith. All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils. The Spirit of God hath made me, and the Breath of the Almighty hath given me Life (JOB 27:3/33:4).

So then, the breath that is in our nostrils is the spirit of God in man, which maketh him live for as long as it dwells in his body. And why does the spirit of God giveth life? Because as we already know that God while being a Spirit is Life itself too.

For let us ponder over this, brethren: The God that created the first man Adam thousands of generations ago, is the same God who made a covenant with Noah, then Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, and spake also unto the prophets that followed after and unto His Christ, Jesus in the New Testament time.

He is the same God The Father that Jesus and his apostles were praying to. And up to this present modem time of ours, He is the same Almighty God, and besides Him there is no other.

So how long is the Life of God? Is He not the Eternal or Everlasting Life? As was seen by John in the spirit at the Kingdom of Heaven, there were four heavenly beasts surrounding the Throne of God in the Kingdom, and they rest not day and night, saying. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Which was, and is, and is to come. And when these beasts give glory and honour and thanks to Him that sat on the Throne, Who liveth for ever and ever, the twenty four Elders fall down before Him and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the Throne, saying Thou art worthy, 0 Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created (REV 4:8-11).

For as God then is the Everlasting Life, the Great Life, and Life itself, when He breathed into man a part of Himself did man beget life in himself. And thus the Lord Jesus saith. For He is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto Him (LUKE 20:38).

Again, our Lord Jesus said. For as the Father hath Life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in himself (JOHN 5:26). This is what the Lord Jesus was testifying unto all men, that the spirit or the life in man is the offspring or the seed, the sonship and that which relates man to his Source of life, God The Father of Life.

As the Scripture further saith. And I shall put My spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I The Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith The Lord (EZEKIEL 37:14).

And again, Jesus saith, It is the spirit that quickeneth (make alive); the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (JOHN 6:63). For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also (JAMES 2:26).

The TRUTH, therefore my brethren, is GOD HIM­SELF, the ETERNAL SPIRIT and EVERLASTING LIFE; and this Truth or Spirit of the TRUTH has He given unto Man From the Beginning when He created him in His own image and likeness through His Breath of Life.

For out of His great love for Man has he destined him for eternal life with Him when He created him; However, this eternal life would not come unto man through the First man, Adam, the earthy one but by and through His Firstborn Son in Heaven, Christ Jesus who was the beginning of His creation and unto whom and for whom He purposed all His won­drous and great Works from beginning to the end; Who is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of every creature, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

For it pleased The Father that in him should all fulness dwell (COL 1:13-19). And this spirit of Truth or the life that is destined by God which He has given into man from the beginning is the Testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ when he came into the world and was manifested in the flesh as a Son of man for our sake and glory.

As the life in man is holy and precious, being a breath or spirit from God, thus we are taught and commanded by The Lord to love and respect our neighbor or fellowman, regardless of his stature in this world - having been created equal in the eyes of God.

And that we may truly value life, He gave the commandment, Thou shalt not kill, for our life is not our own but His; and we have no power over life for it is lent unto us by The Father of life. As it is written, For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.

For whether we live, we live unto The Lord; and whether we die, we die unto The Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living (ROMANS 14:7-9).

As God is holy, the spirit He gave unto the First man was holy; and as He is Power and Wisdom, that spirit which he gave unto man gave him the power and wisdom to rule and govern the whole earth. But tragically, the first man Adam through the woman Eve has sinned by disobeying God's commandment and believing the guile and deceit of the devil; and likewise their children that came after them have committed iniquities and wickedness before The Lord.

Thus, the eternal life in the flesh was removed by God from man, as it is written. And The Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years (GENESIS 6:3).

Because man has sinned and committed evil, did God confirm that the flesh, the earthy body, is weak and easily tempted; so He has decided, according as He has planned before, to limit or shorten the time of indwelling of His spirit in man, that its purity and holiness be not desecrated or profaned any longer.

And because the wickedness of man abounded upon the earth, He shortened the length of life in man. For in the earlier times, when the world was still young and men's heart were not yet full of evil, the lifespan of our forefathers was a hundredfold longer than ours now; as it is written, And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died (GEN 5:5, 27).

Behold therefore that the oldest man who ever lived, Methuselah, has reached the age of 969 years but today lasts a maximum of 120 years only, that the word of God may come to pass. And since God has limited the time of the dwelling of His spirit in man so as to shorten his days on earth, man now in this body of flesh cannot inherit eternal life. And because of sin even from the first man. God hath appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgement (HEBREWS 9:27).

If therefore it has been appointed unto men once to die (for Christ himself once has to die in the flesh for Sin), what is there left of man to be judged if he has returned to dust after death?

The answer again, brethren, is that other body, the heavenly one which is the soul. It is the soul that shall be judged either unto the second death or unto life eternal with God and Christ. Those who have believed the Testimony that God hast given to His Son Jesus Christ shall not be judged of the second death but inherit the promise of eternal life; but unto them who believed not will suffer the second death, meaning the casting into the Lake of Fire of the soul and the ultimate removal of God's spirit of life from that soul. And the spirit shall return unto God and would be cleansed as it was, through the Eternal Light, and there shall be no more remembrance of the former life.

(This, my brethren, is an inspiration or understanding given by the Holy Ghost, which consider for your own selves). But as pertaining the appointment unto men once to die, but after that the judgement: Have we not consid­ered. my brethren, that this 'dying once' of men have we already 'met' in Christ Jesus when He died for the sins of the world?

As the apostle Paul said. For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again (2 COR 5:14-15).

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death9 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of The Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin (ROMANS 6:3-7).

And so, brethren, if we have truly believed in Jesus Christ and by faith have died with him and likewise have been raised with him in the spirit. What judgement after this "dying once' or first death still awaits us?

Is it a judgement unto condemnation or unto life? As Paul further saith. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death (ROM 8:1-2).

Blessed be God for this amazing grace He has given us in Christ Jesus! And finally, our Lord Jesus himself testified unto Martha when her brother Lazarus died, saying. Thy brother shall rise again. Martha said unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I AM the Resurrection, and the Life: He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this? (JOHN 11:23-26).

My brethren, let us now test our faith in Jesus Christ: Do we and can we really believe beyond the shadow of doubt, that we now, who profess to believe in him, shall no longer die according to his words? Is it not a hard saying, yes?

But then it is faithful and true, only that Jesus was again speaking in the spirit and in truth; meaning, that he who has died with him by the operation of God through the baptism in his death, shall live again, and that in like wise, he who now lives in the spirit through baptism in his resurrection from the dead will not die anymore.

Thus they who are in Christ and had died literally in the flesh, are no longer called 'dead' but only 'sleeping in Christ', as it is written. When Jesus knew that Lazarus died, He told his disciples. Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.

Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead (JOHN 11:11-14).

And in another time and place, when Stephen was stoned unto death by the Jews who could not receive his testimony for Jesus Christ, it was written. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep (ACTS 7:59-60).

And again the apostle Paul wrote, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words (1 THES 4:13-18).

And as for the Lord Jesus Christ's Testimony, saying, I AM The Resurrection and The Life, he was not speaking of himself only as the Son of God or the Messiah, but above all he was testifying of God The Father Himself, Who hast sent him to testify of the Truth, and by Whose power and glory was he risen from the dead.

For The Lord God Himself has declared of His being called 'The I AM THAT I AM or I AM THE LORD (EXODUS 3:13-15). For God is truly LIFE, the Eternal Life, and through His Spirit or Breath of Life did Men become Alive even as from the beginning; and This is the same I AM of God The Father which dwelleth in the Man Jesus, and unto Whom he testified, saying, If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in Him (JOHN 10:37-38).

Again, Jesus cried and said. He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on Him that sent me. (JOHN 12:44). And then again, he said, He that rejected me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of myself; but The Father which sent me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that His command­ment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as The Father said unto me, so I speak (JOHN 12:48-50).

Of a surety, my dear brethren, this Man Jesus, is the Faithful Witness and True Prophet, the Messiah or Christ and the Real Son to his Father, the Living and Almighty God. Amen.

My dearly beloved, I shall now conclude the first chapter of this epistle to you concerning the glorious mys­tery of the Gospel of Christ. In the second chapter, I shall endeavor through the same inspiration of the Holy Ghost to continue expounding on the Testimony of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ unto the Truth and The Word of God.

We shall also touch on the Commandments and Righteous­ness of God which Jesus taught to his disciples that they may likewise abide in the Way and remain in His grace.

And finally, God willing, I shall culminate our study of the Truth of the Gospel with the Revelation of the Holy and Ineffable Name of God The Almighty Father, which shall be thoroughly discussed in the third and final chapter of this epistle.

Meanwhile, may the Love of God The Father, and the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Comfort and Joy of the Holy Ghost be with you always. Blessed be His Name for ever and ever. Hosanna unto the Highest and peace on earth. Maranatha. Amen +