Laying The Foundation
When Adam and Eve were first created, their flesh and soul were in perfect harmony, and they were in a place where they could live and communicate with God. In that position they were able to know God at an elevated state and serve Him in the Garden (Genesis 2:15). Adam and Eve lost that position by not following the instructions of God. The ‘Gospel Message’ is the path of correction that restores humanity back to our relationship with God the way it was intended from the beginning.
God originally gave Adam and Eve the ability to live in the same environment that He did, but He told them in order to stay in that place they had to follow His instructions; God made the choice of what was good and evil and what to do and not do. All they had to do was submit to Him, accept Him as King, and get to know Him more (Acts 17:25-27). By Adam and Eve choosing to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil – they decided not to follow God’s instructions, not to accept Him as King, and they decided what was good and evil for themselves. After their choice, they were lowered to a position where they had to distinguish between good and evil, and learn to rule over sin (Genesis 4:7). They also now had their personal desires interfering in the choice of good and evil. The tree exposed additional desires as it says in Genesis 3:6, “when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise…”
With that one bad decision, all future choices were now going to be heavily influenced based on their own desires (James 1:14). The Gospel Message is about all of humanity being able to repent because of what Jesus did; His death gave everyone a path to life. It is the good news about how we can make corrections in order to be prepared for the day of the Lord. It is a message about the 1000-year reign of the Lord and how He will teach all the Nations to follow God’s instructions, and in the end, the Kingdom of God will be here on earth (Matthew 3:1-3) and God will dwell with us (Leviticus 26:3-13). The Gospel Message is also about restoring the relationship Adam and Eve once had with God where He decided what good and evil were, where they followed His instructions, and accepted God as King.
What It Will Look Like When The Relationship Adam and Eve Once Had Is Restored
When all of mankind decides to obey God and accept Him as King, He will dwell with us again. At that time, all of mankind will know God, and all of humanity will be able to come back to the initial state of where Adam and Eve were when their flesh and soul were in perfect harmony. Jeremiah 31:34 says, “and no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord.” Another point of view regarding this can be found in Leviticus 26:3-12 where it says, “If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land. I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you. I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.”
It is God’s will to dwell with us and to allow us to know Him fully, but we must first repent, make corrections, surrender to Him, and learn and apply His instructions on how to get back to that environment (James 1:21-25).
The Ultimate Reward Is To Know God – Eternal Life
The plan was for Adam and Eve to dwell with God so they could continue to grow and know Him, however, the consequence of not being obedient to the Instructions of God was them not knowing God as He intended. Not following God’s instructions prevents our flesh and soul from being in harmony, and prevents us from being in a place where we can fully know God (1 John 2:3). Adam and Eve were still able to teach their offspring what they had learned from the time that they were able to dwell with God, and a few of them continued in the teachings. Even though ‘Man’ was able to communicate with God at some level, it was nowhere near the level that God had originally intended. Enoch was an exception. Genesis 5:24 says “Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.”
What man eventually came to understand about God was taught down the family lines from Adam through Noah and eventually to Abraham, and because Abraham obeyed the instructions of God, He made a covenant with him. Genesis 26:4-5 says, “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands … because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands …”
Harmonizing Flesh and Soul
The Rabbis teach there is a spiritual organ for every physical organ our body has. We have a spiritual mind and a physical mind, we also have a spiritual heart and a physical heart. We have a spiritual digestive system, and a physical digestive system. Think about this perspective when reading 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you,” or Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind”. Paul is speaking about bringing a harmony back between your flesh and soul. Every component of the human soul and every component of the human body correlates to one of the 613 commandments in the Torah. In the Hebrew language in the Bible Deuteronomy 18:13 says, “You shall be wholehearted before the Lord your God”. You are whole hearted when your flesh and soul are in harmony. The Gospel Message is all about the redemption process, and that process is all about bringing the flesh and soul back into harmony. When they are in harmony you can be led by the Spirit of God, and Paul says in Romans 8:14, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
Sin Prevents us from Knowing God and it Becomes a Barrier From Understanding He is Revealed in this World
Sin is a barrier to knowing God. The barrier is when there is such a disharmony between our soul and flesh, and we are out of balance that we cannot even comprehend the knowledge of God. The consequence of not knowing God is sin. The fact is, our soul and flesh have to be at some level of harmony in order to gain any wisdom of God’s existence. That harmony starts through humbling yourself for repentance, and is only possible because of what Jesus did. Repentance is the key to knowing God, and repentance is a lifelong journey of correction.
The Good News
The message of repentance is the same gospel message that was taught from long before Jesus died on the cross. As the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 4, “For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.” This was the repentance message Noah preached before the flood.
As you repent and start to apply God’s instructions in your life, and you begin to learn who God is and what He expects from you, through faith you will begin to recognize His instructions producing eternal life in you. James 1:25 says, “But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” You will recognize how the process of obedience to God’s instructions is bringing harmony between your soul and your flesh, and the result will be that you know God more.
Jesus said in John 17:3, “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” 1 John 3:5 says this about Jesus, “But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.” A person who knows God does not sin. 1 John 3:9 says, “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.” The more you seek God and the less you give into sin will by default cause you to know God better.
1 Corinthians 3:9 states, “For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.” In Isaiah 26:12 it says, “Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.” Even John testifies about Jesus doing the work for us in John 1:29 when he says, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Even though we are God’s field and He is working in us, we have work to do also. Growing our relationship with God is a process and every level takes effort from us. It has to be understood this process is a collaboration with God through the merit of Jesus. Our job is to repent and work on ourself. As you grow, your soul develops an eternal identity.
The Resurrection of Jesus is the Perfect Harmony Between Soul and Flesh – the Revelation of Spiritual and Physical Organs’ Harmony
Jesus taught “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is near” (Matthew 3:2). Jesus was promoting a movement of repentance, and through the life He lived He brought the harmony between the soul and flesh back into its correct place as it was intended from the beginning. After His resurrection, the Apostles were able to spend time with Him. Just as Adam and Eve had a short time to dwell with God in the Garden of Eden, the Apostles had 40 days to learn about Jesus living in a resurrected state.
1 Corinthians 15:14-15 states, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God …”
The Repentance Process Starts with: #1 Confession of Sin, #2 Stopping the Sin, #3 Regretting the Sin, and #4 Making the Wrongs Right. (Leviticus 26:40-45)
1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” A person must begin the repentance process to have some level of harmony between the soul and flesh to even begin to discern the things of God. Repentance is a choice and as we live it out and continue to make corrections towards the Kingdom of God, our natural desires for sin becomes less and less. As we stop the sin and regret the sin in our life, our desire to know God becomes our motivation for living. This is all a part of making the wrongs right by redirecting our fleshly desires for evil, and turning it into flesh that desires to know God.
The Gospel Message is to repent and make correction, to know God, and be prepared for the return of the Messiah (the Anointed King of Israel). Repentance involves applying God’s commandments in your life in a practical way. (Matthew 3:8-10 / James 2:14-26). A life of repentance is working out your salvation (Philippians 2:12), living what you believe by faith, and continuing to grow in your understanding of God. It is something every person should be doing every day of their life. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Repenting and making correction in your life is your responsibility, and is the process that allows you to understand what God’s perfect will is. Without repentance we are lost and hopeless. Repentance is a resource God gave us to know Him.
Repentance is a part of life as a disciple of Jesus. It is used to make corrections in every step of growth in a person’s life. It is a tool used to grow closer to Jesus, and to know God better.
You Will Be Known How You Know God Here, and Knowing God Here is Dependent on How You Repent
There are 5 parts of your Soul and all of them have something to do with knowing God:
1. The “Nefesh” – the lowest level of consciousness that is aware of the physical body and the physical world.
2. The “Ruach” – which is the next level of soul that is the level of revelation of Godliness. (Ephesians 1:16-18)
3. The “Neshama” – is in the conceptual grasp of the intellect and is the level of which you gain understanding of God.
4. The “Chaya” – is the level where you commune with God.
5. ”Yechida” – corresponds to the level of soul called Adam Kadmon (it reflects the original Infinite Light). This is who you really are and how you will be known eternally.
We Get This Life to Take Part in The Repentance Correction Growth Process
Here is the growing process from the perspective of the Soul:
1. Your first job is to learn who you are. (Nefesh)
2. You recognize you need a savior and need help. You confess your sin and start the repentance process. (Ruach)
3. God gives you a piece of understanding of His truths, and as you are faithful and act on those truths, He gives you more. You begin to know Him better as you are obedient with the knowledge and understanding He gives you. (Neshama)
4. The truth that God gives you, that you are faithful with, begins to become eternal life in you. (Chaya)
5. The eternal life that is in you becomes your identity of who you are, and how you are known by the King. The King assigns you your position in the Kingdom. (Yechida)
You continue to repeat these 5 steps in the process at every level.
Understanding and Being Faithful and Obedient to God’s Commandments is the Process of Knowing God More – The King Will Validate How You Did
2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” In 1 Corinthians 3:12-13 Paul says, “Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw — each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.”
The most important goal in life is to be known by the King. Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23, “… On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
To know Jesus better and understand more about repentance go to HowDoIRepent.org