Steve Marlowe, Evangelist
How did the human soul come into existence?
The creator of all things (Christ, according to Colossians 1:15-18), who created the human soul, is identified as the (preeminent One of the) “Elohim” in the Hebrew language. From the Hebrew Scriptures, which Christians call the Old Testament, the word “God” is really “Elohim”. Therefore, Genesis 1:1 is actually telling us: “In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth.” Then God (or El of the Elohim) said (El is Christ the preeminent Son of the sons of God, the elohim, and Christ says to the elohim), “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness (the likeness of the sons of God, the elohim); 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 on the earth.’ So God (Elohim) created man in His (Christ’s) own image; in the image of God (elohim, the sons of God) He (Christ) created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:26-28). “And the Lord (YAH over the Elohim) God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” [soul] (Genesis 2:7). The dust represents matter, and breath from God represents Spirit, the very Spirit of life, and thus man became a living soul (Matter plus Spirit equals soul). Because Adam, the first man, was given dominion over the earth, this makes him, “Adam, son of God” (Luke 3:38), as he, Adam, became the first living soul.
How does Christianity, mainly Trinitarians, view the Elohim as God in Trinity?
And why that is not true.
Scholars identify “Elohim” as “the plural of majesty.” In Hebrew a word ending with “im” (“im” makes it a plural in the Hebrew language), which identifies “Elohim” as “Gods.” Trinitarians view Elohim as one God and an expression of the Triune God. They define the Triune God as: The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Ghost is God, and yet not three gods (Elohim), one God (El or Eloah). Since Trinitarian doctrine has all three divine Persons as one God, it cannot be identified with Elohim, but rather El or Eloah meaning God singular. They believe that the Trinity although not explicit (that is, not taught in the Bible) is very much implied, which means a mere suggestion. However, the Trinitarian dogma cannot rightly identify Elohim as part of the Trinity equation in that the Trinity is not three Gods but one God, and since Elohim means Gods, Elohim cannot in any fashion represent the Trinity. Further, according to Trinitarianism, it is important to remember: The Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Father, neither is the Holy Ghost the Father or the Son, and this according to the Trinitarian dogma. The Trinitarians use of this equation: 1x1x1=1 (El), which does not mean 1x1x1=3 (Elohim ?).
The Bible is consistent, and it is consistent in its use of Elohim. For example: In Psalm 82:6, we read, “I said, ‘You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High.’” If we translate from the Hebrew and hold to Elohim, as found in Psalm 82, we literally have this: “I said, ‘You are elohim, and all of you are sons of the Most High.’” The Bible is telling us that elohim are sons of the Most High. Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And YAHSHUA walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ YAHSHUA answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one (does He mean one in purpose, or one in essence?). Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. YAHSHUA answered them, ‘Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?” “The Jews answered Him, saying, ‘For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.’ YAHSHUA answered them, ‘Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, ‘You are elohim’? If He called them elohim, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.’ Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand” (John 10:22-39).
YAHSHUA is the creator, the very Head of the Elohim [the sons of God]. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:15-18).
Truly YAHSHUA is declared preeminent, “When He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name {YAH} than they. ‘For to which of the angels did He ever say: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You’? And again: ‘I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son’? But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him...’ But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions’ [sons of God]. And: ‘You, Lord [this is the Tetragrammaton, this is the name of the God of the old testament, and the father is calling the son by this name}, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands” (Hebrews 1:3-6, 8-10). YAHSHUA is declared to be LORD who created the heavens and the Earth, indeed YAHSHUA is declared as the God of the Old Testament by the Father.
In Deuteronomy 10:17, “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome...” Our God YAHSHUA is God of gods, as in God of the Elohim, the sons of God, to the glory of His God and Father.
“For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: ‘I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.’
And again: ‘I will put My trust in Him.’
And again: ‘Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.’ Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted (Hebrews 2:10-18).
The apostle Paul spoke of Gentiles being grafted into Israel, eligible for the blessings of Abraham, “For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.”Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins” (Romans 11:13-27).
How does the Bible define the human soul?
The soul is a composite of Matter and Spirit united forming a human soul. When the soul dies it ceases to know anything. The body goes back to dust, the ground, and the spirit goes back to God, who gave it abiding in a sleep state. It is believed that after the Cross, the saints go spiritually directly to Christ awaiting the end of Satan’s illicit kingdom, but unlike the faithless, the faithful in Christ, after the Cross, are conscience. The dead in Christ are alive, but those who died without Him are in a state of sleep, unconsciousness. “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten” (Ecclesiastes 9:5). In Ecclesiastes we read, “The dead know not anything”. Certainly we all agree that a dead body has absolutely no consciousness of any thing. Christ referred to this state as “sleep”.
In Ecclesiastes 3:20-21, “All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knows the spirit of man that goes upward, and the spirit of the beast that goes downward to the earth?” The answer is after the Cross, those in Christ go upward, while those not in Christ go downward, as the animals. “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. The creator of the human soul is the Elohim” (Daniel 12:2-3).
The New Testament verses make it clear, that those who died after the Cross in Christ are conscious having eternal existence. Those considered to be faithful saints prior to the Cross will awaken, and so it shall be the graves were opened; and many bodiesof the saints which slept arose (Matthew 27:52). Please notice how the Holy Spirit says that the “bodies” slept. YAHSHUA said, “These things He said, and after that He said to them, ‘Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.’ Then His disciples said, ‘Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.’ However, YAHSHUA spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. Then YAHSHUA said to them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead’” (John 11:11-14). In John 11:25-26, YAHSHUA said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” He truly is the God of the living (Matthew 22:31-32).
YAHSHUA speaks of the work His Father gave Him to do:
“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me...And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and YAHSHUA the Messiah whom You have sent,” (John 17:3, 6-8).
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us,” (Romans 8:18).
“For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance,” (Romans 8:22-25).
Let us continue in the hope of what YAHSHUA brings.
