In Part 1, we learned about our “soul” responsibility to wait upon God and maintain our souls. Now let’s see how God designed our souls to be the connection between our physical and spiritual life. We can receive information in our souls from either our body (five-senses input) or our spirit (God’s gift in us).
As I sat in the prison dining area, I scanned the room to see what was going on. Being the territorial public information officer meant that I was “inside” much of my day. Any prison worker will tell you that keeping your eyes and ears open may save your life. Several inmates were seated at metal tables in metal stools that were welded to the tables. Each was bolted to the floor so that they couldn’t be picked up and used as a weapon.
Looking around I noticed the three other officers at their posts and saw the inmates talking and interacting with each other. Everything looked and sounded fine. Using my body-and-soul abilities, I could not perceive anything amiss.
At one point while talking to two inmates about an upcoming project, I got a very clear idea. It wasn’t based on anything I saw, heard, tasted, smelled, or touched. As a normal human being, my “soul” (thought life) registers what my physical body (eyes, ears, tongue, nose, fingers) detects. That is how God designed our body-soul connection to work. But that day, the idea I got had nothing to do with anything my five senses told me.
Here was the thought: “In five minutes, Frank is going to go crazy and this room will be a dangerous place to be.” I looked over at where Frank was seated and he seemed just fine. However, I knew better than to ignore such a clear spiritual understanding. I got up, told the two inmates I was with to be ready for something, walked over next to the guard on my right, and waited.
Like clockwork, Frank slammed another inmate’s face into the metal table and things went wild. The officers were ready and stabilized the situation. I was thankful that I had the great “go between” that God designed for His children. I control my body with my thoughts (soul). And I also control my thoughts with the spirit that God gave me—whether by direct revelation, as in this case, or with His written and spoken Word.
When a person is born again of God’s spirit by confessing Jesus as lord and believing that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9,10), that person has a body, soul life, and God’s gift of holy spirit. The spirit within us holds the same relationship to our soul life (thoughts) as our soul life does to our physical bodies. In other words, when I am in fellowship with God, my spirit can direct my thoughts. Then my mind can tell my body what to do if necessary. Jesus Christ understood this.
John 6:63:
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Jesus Christ knew that God’s spirit quickens, makes us spiritually alive. He also knew that the words he spoke brought spiritual life. That is why we need to care for our souls each day by putting the truth of God’s Word in our minds. And we “walk by the spirit” as the Father reveals to us what He wants us to know.
God’s Creation: Body, Soul, and Spirit
God originally designed man as a complete being of body, soul, and spirit. He formed, made, and created him.
I Thessalonians 5:23:
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 43:7:
Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
God, as the Creator, says three times in Genesis 1 that He “created.”
Genesis 1:1:
In the beginning God created [to bring into existence from nothing] the heaven and the earth.
Genesis 1:21:
And God created great whales, and every living creature [living, breathing souls] that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:27:
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
What did God create in Genesis 1? First, He created all physical matter and energy. It is amazing that scientists classify everything around us as being composed of only about 120 basic “building blocks.” These elements are grouped in the periodic table according to their common properties and characteristics. 
Atomic theory shows an amazing order and beauty in God’s creation. The same elements that form the earth make up our human bodies.
Secondly, He created soul life. This gave sea creatures, birds, and animals (including man) the ability to breathe and think. Looking at the spectrum of this vast array of living creatures leads an honest person to see the amazing order and complexity of God’s design. Yet it is amazing that God uses the same basic components—a brain and a nervous system along with soul life—to give a fish the ability to react to its environment, and to give people the ability to experience life.
There may be “evolution” or adaptive changes within a species, but this safeguard to overcome one’s environment never crosses over or exceeds our heavenly Father’s beautiful design for life. Everything is “after its kind.”
Thirdly, God created man and woman in His own image. Jesus Christ explained what God’s “image” is.
John 4:24:
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
God is Spirit. That is why the Creator gave man what He is, His very nature. Man was a complete person with body, soul, and spirit.
Using What God’s Given Us
Whereas Genesis chapter 1 gives an overview of what God “created,” chapter 2 shows the mechanics of how God took the matter He created and formed man’s body. It also shows how He took the soul life He had created and made man a living creature with the ability to move, breathe, and think. That is why God says in Isaiah 43:7 “I have formed him; yea, I have made him.”
Genesis 2:7:
And the Lord God formed man [his body] of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul [with breath and thought life].
With the ability to perceive the things around him, and to listen to the spirit of God within him, Adam was given tremendous responsibility and privileges to enjoy the world around him.
Genesis 2:8,15:
And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep [put a hedge around] it.
Adam was taught to guard and keep what God had given him. That included his thoughts. Of course, Adam needed someone besides his Creator to love and care for. That is why Eve was the most perfect help from God that Adam could ever desire.
Genesis 2:22,25:
And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
To this day, God’s design for man-woman companionship and blessing is the best thing going on earth! They were not ashamed because God had given them body, soul, and spirit to live a rich and full life together.
Sadly, Lucifer—the magnificent angel who fell because of his pride and ego—attacked Adam and Eve as the serpent. The Devil thought that he was as good as or better than his Creator (Isaiah 14:12-14). As the serpent, he tried to convince Eve that she and her husband could also be like God, their Creator.
Genesis 3:4,5:
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods [as Elohim, God, their Creator], knowing good and evil.
Rather than staying focused on God and His truth, they stepped aside from their Creator’s goodness and listened to the Devil’s lies. What a great example of how important it is for us to keep our thoughts on our heavenly Father today!
The Conclusion of the Whole Matter
You may not be seated in a room full of prisoners each day, but you are living in a world that competes for your attention. Perhaps the final question we should ask ourselves is “Why am I here?” God tells us why. And that is the conclusion of the matter!
Ecclesiastes 12:13:
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear [love and respect] God, and keep his commandments [know and do His Word]: for this is the whole duty of man.
God Almighty designed your soul, your thought life, to work beautifully with every aspect of your physical body. Hormones, brain function, body metabolism, and the nervous system all work hand in hand with breath life and the thoughts it makes available. And He did all this so that we could love and respect Him for His goodness to us. That is why His gift of holy spirit is so wonderful. It also works with soul life to provide the information and guidance we need to please Him. Today is a good time to express our thankfulness for the beauty of God’s design.
II Corinthians 9:15:
Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
In Part 3, we will see practical keys on how to keep our souls.
