This is a true/false test. When you look at your reflection in the mirror each morning are you looking at the real you? Now 95% of the people taking this quiz will answer “true” but they’d be wrong. Man has a dual nature which we all know. We have an eternal spirit on the inside of us from God; which is what I refer to as, “the spirit man.” We also have a human body from God that I’ll refer to as, “the physical man.” So which man is the real “us”? Is it the spirit man on the inside of us or is it the outside physical man? It can’t be both. Only one man can be the main man. And the answer is….the spirit man is the real us! Scripture says we’re to live by faith and not by sight so everything we see is not always as it seems. To find the real “us” all we need to do is study God’s word, become spiritually aware, and remember that God cannot lie. Since God made man he’s the final authority on who we are. God’s word is his wisdom so let’s see what the Bible has to say about the matter:
Genesis 1:26 – Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.”
So on the sixth day of creation God made man. In heaven at the time there was only God and the millions of angels God created to serve him. Angels do not create anything. Only God is the creator. So when God spoke in the above verse he was not addressing the angels. God the Father was addressing the other two persons of the triune Godhead, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. There is only one God but he exists as three distinct persons; God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the verse above the pronouns “us” and “our” are capitalized which is further proof that God is talking to a divine person. God is a real person who has a distinct personality. God has a sense of humor, he can laugh, he can love, and he can get angry. God is also invisible and immortal. So when God says he made man according to his likeness he’s saying he made man an immortal being, and an invisible spirit like God is. If God made man for fellowship in heaven forever then it makes perfect sense that man would also need to be a spirit that was also immortal and invisible like God. The spirit man inside us is the divine essence from the body of God himself. God is part of us and vice versa. It can’t be any other way.
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.
By Genesis 2:2 God had already completed the six days of creation, before resting on the seventh day. During creation week God created Adam as the first spirit man made in God’s image. It wasn’t until much later in Genesis 2:7 that God got around to making Adam the physical man. Notice in the above verse God said that he “formed” man (Adam). You can’t “form” a spirit because a spirit is by definition formless. Notice that God didn’t say that he created man because God had already done that in Genesis 1:26. The wording God uses is precise and important because it tells us a lot. The spirit man is the real us because God made the spirit man first, during creation week. The physical body of Adam was made by God afterwards and it was just an empty vessel until God inserted Adam the spirit man into the body of the physical man God had formed from the dust of the ground. God is a spirit and cannot be made of dust so when God says man is made in his image he was speaking of the spirit man only; the real us. In Genesis when God speaks about Adam and says he, “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life”, God’s referring to Adam the spirit man being inserted into Adam the physical man. The end of the above verse tells us that the lights didn’t go on in Adam’s eyes until after the spirit man arrived to give him life. For an analogy, think about the Marvel character Iron Man. Robert Downey Jr. represents the inner man, the spirit man, the real us. The iron suit symbolizes the outer man, the physical man, and is not the real us. Without our inner spirit man inside us our physical body is just an empty tent.
2 Corinthians 5:1 – For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens (our glorified bodies).
John 3:6 – (Jesus) – That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of Spirit is spirit.
John 4:24 – (Jesus) – God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
Genesis 2:17 – (God speaking to Adam and Eve) – But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
God made Eve the same way as Adam; as a fully grown adult; but every man and woman who came after Adam and Eve were born of a woman in the normal way because man produces after it’s kind by a decree of God, with the inner spirit man added by God at our conception. Genesis 2:7 tells us the empty skin suits that were the original bodies of Adam and Eve did not become living beings until after God added the spirit man and spirit woman, the real person. This verse also proves that a human being cannot live without their spirit man on the inside of them and once a person dies their spirit man also cannot remain inside a dead corpse. After death the spirit man must return to God for judgment. The souls of believers immediately go to heaven upon their death to be in the presence of Jesus forever. On the other hand, the souls of nonbelievers who die immediately go to hell within the earth where they’ll be in pain and agony for all eternity. These are the only two options available to us.
Hebrews 9:27 – And it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.
John 6:47 – (Jesus) – Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.
Romans 14:12 – So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.
2 Timothy 4:1-2 – I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing (the rapture) and His kingdom (the second coming): Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve and put them in the Garden of Eden. The world was without sin back then but Satan was in the world. Adam and Eve had eternal spirits from God on the inside of them (the spirit man). God gave each of them immortal, fully grown glorified bodies that would never grow old or get sick (the physical man). This dual nature of man was perfect in God’s eyes and he called it “good”. Adam and Eve walked with God in the Garden of Eden and they were in perfect fellowship with God. That is, until Satan crashed the party. Satan caused Adam and Eve to sin against God by disobeying the commandment God gave them, which was not to eat the fruit from a certain tree because they would gain the knowledge of good and evil. Through the disobedience of Adam and Eve sin entered the world and Adam forfeited the control of earth to Satan. One of the spiritual laws of heaven is the wages of sin is death. A just God had no other choice but to sentence Adam and Eve to physical death on earth followed by a sentence of eternal spiritual death in hell. Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden for the rest of their lives.
Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 3:36 – (Jesus) – He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.
Romans 5:12 – Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.
Romans 5:17 – For if by one man’s offense death reigned through the one (Satan), much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
Adam and Eve’s glorified bodies were corrupted by their sin and their bodies were changed into mortal bodies like we have that will eventually grow old and die. Adam and Eve lost their physical immortality but not their spiritual immortality. The sins of Adam and Eve not only stained their physical bodies it also stained their eternal spirits which meant they were destined to reside in hell for all eternity upon their physical death. However, after Adam and Eve later repented of their sin God was merciful and credited Adam and Eve with having “righteousness” before God so when they died they went to Paradise within the earth instead of to hell. After Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross, and during his three days within the earth, Jesus went down to Paradise and took Adam and Eve and all the saints who lived before Christ to heaven because Jesus had finally arrived on earth to pay their sin debt to God by his death on the cross. All men born after Adam carry the sin of Adam in their bodies and in their spirit.
Only the blood of Christ can wash sin away from the spirit man, the real us, but not so for the physical body which must perish because it’s not the real us. Our body is merely a vessel our spirit is using temporarily. As believers we’ll see Adam and Eve in heaven one day. The point I’m trying to make is every person has both a spirit man and a physical man that cannot be separated except by death or until Jesus comes in the air to rapture the saints to heaven or his second coming to judge the world. As human beings, we can only see the outer physical man who is withering away. When God looks upon us he sees our heart, the eternal inner spirit man which is the real us. God takes no notice of the outer physical man because he is just a temporary tent, here for a only a brief moment and is no more.
Romans 8:11 – But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Luke 19:10 – (Jesus) – For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Romans 8:9 – But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
Genesis 3:19 – (God speaking to Adam and Eve) – In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.
What people don’t seem to understand is that when a believer is saved unto eternal life in heaven by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior God will then immediately replace their sin-stained eternal spirit with a new sinless spirit. It’s the exact same spirit we had before but without the sin. God does an instantaneous swap so we’re the same spirit man. The Holy Spirit only indwells the believer after the inner spirit man has been cleansed of sin because God cannot abide sin and certainly will not abide in our bodies alongside a sin-stained spirit. With our sin-filled physical body from Adam’s fall we’re not so lucky. Our corrupted physical body has to die but don’t worry; Jesus will one day give believers a new glorified body like he has and like Adam and Eve had. In the meantime, our saved eternal spirit man will have to reside inside our corrupted body until our death. Satan is still the god of this world so believers will still continue to sin, but hopefully we’ll sin less and less over time as God sanctifies us and as we become more like Jesus during our walk with God. When believers do sin their sins will be forgiven by God if we ask it of him in prayer because we have God’s promise.
Matthew 21:22 – (Jesus) – And whatever things you ask for in prayer, believing, you will receive.
1 Corinthians 1:18 – For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Romans 10:9 – That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 – He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Nonbelievers watch believing Christians like a hawk because they expect our conduct to be perfect. Nonbelievers readily point it out when believers sin and they say we must not be saved, that God doesn’t really love us, and that we’re hypocrites. That is Satan talking so don’t listen. I’m a believer and I know for certain I’m going to heaven. That doesn’t prevent me from sinning and when someone throws it back in my face that I’m a sinner my standard retort to them is, “I’m not perfect, but I am forgiven.” One of the problems we face is a majority of people who call themselves Christians aren’t really saved unto eternal life. They attend church but do not abide in Christ. Another problem is that nonbelievers can’t grasp the concept of a believer consisting of a sinless inner “spirit man” and a sin-filled outer “physical man.” They simply don’t get it. They don’t understand that the invisible “spirit man” inside us is the real us and if we profess belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior then God will wash away our sins so we will have a clean “spirit man” who will go to heaven one day. All nonbelievers can see is the corrupted physical man on the outside of the believer and they cannot see the inner “spirit man.” Nonbelievers cannot fathom what God has done. They are fools, which God confirms in the Bible.
Romans 10:17 – So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Ephesians 2:8,9 – For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Romans 3:28 – Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.
Matthew 28:19 – (Jesus) – Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The real problem is that many believers also question their faith for the same reasons. Many Christians simply lack faith in God; primarily because they don’t abide in God’s word. Their faith is superficial; only skin deep. Most believers only think about God on Sunday. They don’t pray to God regularly and they don’t read their Bibles daily to maintain their fellowship with God. The sad truth is that less than ten percent of Christians who attend church regularly have read the Bible in its entirety. Even fewer still have taken the time to actually study God’s word for knowledge, understanding and wisdom. No wonder some Christians are tentative about their salvation and their standing before God because they haven’t taken the time to get to know God, his salvation plan for man, and the part they play in it. All the information you need to live a successful life is right there in the Bible in black and white so why haven’t you read it? Nothing is more important than deciding where our eternal destination will be, which is either heaven or hell.
Mark 16:15 – (Jesus) – Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
John 17:17 – (Jesus) – Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
Luke 21:33 – (Jesus) – Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
Don’t wait until you’re on your deathbed before you broach the question of heaven and hell because by then it could be too late for you. Choose to serve God, sooner rather than later, if you want to go to heaven. Look, you can’t “do” God’s will if you don’t “know” what God requires of you. You can’t “know” God’s plan for you if you don’t read, hear and speak God’s word. God gave man the Bible so we’d know what to do and how to do it. It’s imperative that man abides in God’s word to have the best life, the happiest life, and the most successful life God has to offer. Woody Allen once said 80% of being successful in life is just showing up. Make sure you show up for God! For the believer, God has done 80% of the work for us but the remaining 20% is left for us to do. When we stand before Jesus Christ on the last day we have no excuse for our disobedience.
Romans 1:16 – For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek (Gentile).
1 Thessalonians 2:4 – But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.
1 John 5:11 – And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
The spirit man in each of us is unique, like our fingerprints, and no two eternal spirits are the same. The Bible says Jesus Christ the man is the express image of the spirit of God the Father. In like manner, our bodies are the express image of our inner spirit man. When believers receive their glorified body from Jesus Christ it’ll look much like the body we have now, only better. We’ll be recognizable to friends and family. If you look like Danny DeVito now don’t expect to look like George Clooney once you get your glorified body. We are who God made us to be and in heaven we’ll all be happy in our own skin because there won’t be any pride, jealousy, and envy. We’ll have a smile on our faces forever because of the joy in our heart caused by being in heaven in the presence of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. In summary, know who you are, who you belong to, why you’re here, and where you’re going. The Bible has all the answers you seek.
John 14:9 – (Jesus) – He who has seen Me has seen the Father.
Luke 6:17 – (Jesus) – And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.
Matthew 16:27 – (Jesus) – For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his work.
Aggressively defend the faith against all comers because we’re in the end times and naysayers and false witnesses will increase exponentially going forward. Witness for Christ at every opportunity because you know a secret every nonbeliever needs desperately. You’ll be persecuted for your faith but so was Jesus. Persevere in your walk with God. Work tirelessly in God’s harvest field because the harvest field is great and the workers are few. Every child of God is priceless in his eyes and therefore God’s number one commandment to believers is to share the gospel message of Jesus Christ with all nations and all people (the Great Commission) in order to save at least one more for Jesus; one more lost soul for the kingdom of God. In our walk with the Lord we’re to save as many people as we can for as long as we can in order to build up treasure in heaven, which Jesus Christ will give to us on the last day.
1 Peter 2:15 – But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.
2 Timothy 2:15 – Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
1 Timothy 2:5-6 – For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
Romans 1:20 – For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
Hebrews 1:1-3 – God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sar down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.