Did you know that our species has changed? Were you aware that human beings have mutated?
I'm talking about a mutation that has taken place within man as the result of a decision that our earliest ancestor made in a garden at the base of a tree you may have heard about.
Hear me out and I'll explain what I'm referring to.
First, we must examine how we are designed. In Genesis 1:26-27, God created man in his image and likeness. This is the original intent; there is a proper order and alignment to how He created us.
Everything God Creates is Perfect
God is a triune (three-part) being; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In Genesis 2:7 we read that we are formed up of three parts as well: the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
God forming man of the dust of the earth references our physical human body. God breathed into our nostrils the breath of life and at that moment in time man became a living soul. So God, who is spirit, breathed into man and when He did, He imparted His spirit life which birthed a human spirit within man.
When the spirit life of God met within that flesh and blood body, we became a living soul. The soul of man was the connection point comprising the mind, will, and emotions.
You Are a Spirit, You Have a Soul, and You Live In a Body
So what we see in Genesis is that Adam, the original man, was a creature of two realms, interfacing with the spiritual and the natural at the same time.
We were the only hybrid being God created, and we lived within two realms in this place known as the Garden of Eden. It consisted of the spiritual and the natural. And we have elements of both; the spirit mirrors the natural.
For example, we have five senses in our physical body like Adam, and we have five spiritual senses as well. Throughout Scripture we can find verses for each one of these spiritual attributes that mirror what we experience in the natural realm. Adam could experience the material creation around him as well as experience God through his spirit.
We know the story and what happens next; God creates man for dominion, places him within the garden which shows us the plan, purpose, and the original intent that God had when he first created man and the human race.
Then Came a Cataclysmic Fall
But when man falls and sins, he chooses to act in disobedience to God's command for him. God had told Adam and Eve not to eat of one tree that was squared off in the garden but when they did it anyway, and when they did, sin entered the world and had permanent effects on the social order and the material universe.
Physical death entered the world and that sin affects his body. Sin did not just enter the world; sin penetrated the innermost part of Adam's being— his spirit which was the meeting place of God and man. As a result, death entered not just his spirit but also entered the human race.
How does this death manifest?
As mentioned already, Adam and all of mankind are made of three components. The spirit part of Adam is now dead to God. And when his spirit dies, he's now cut off from the spiritual realm, too.
This Is a Mutation!
As a result of Adam's sin, his body is now changing. His body now would get old and start to decay. With sin in the world, the earth is literally shaking and changing under the weight of death that has now entered into this realm that God has created for man.
And not only that, we see man's spirit become deadened toward God.
So now Adam has a physical body and a soul, but his spirit is dead.
That part where the connection with God took place, is cut off.
According to Scripture, the original alignment for how we are created and how we relate to God and walk out our existence was spirit, soul, and body, which is why Paul tells the church in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 that the Lord would sanctify them entirely; spirit, soul, and body.
After this decision, Adam’s act of disobedience and death enters the world and the order is now changed; it's no longer spirit, soul, and body. Rather it shifts and mutates.
Man was designed with a human spirit meant to be in union with God, ruling over his soul and his body. And when he sinned, the spirit died. And what happens next is that the soul enlarges.
The Mutation Takes Place In Absence of the Spirit
As a result of the fall, you could say the spirit shrunk; the spirit was deadened. As that spirit retreats and that part of man goes dead, there is an enlargement and a mutation of man's soul. We will notice later in Genesis that we no longer see men being made in the image and likeness of God; we now carry the image and likeness of Adam.
We become an entirely different species than what God intended; instead of the spirit governing, the soul has enlarged and is now in a place of governance.
The key to understanding this is found in the name of the tree that Adam and Eve ate from; the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:15-17). As a result of that tree, man will now become a knowledge seeker. Not only that, it tells us there's evil involved, so we’ve inherited a sinful nature.
So we know the tree contained the knowledge of evil, and that can be observed with a propensity in man to sin. We now live in a fallen world and we see the results of sin echoing through the earth as a result of sin and death entering the world.
All men are born sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23).
But there's this other side of the tree, which will also now be a propensity to want to do good apart from God that lies within man. So we will see this knowledge of good and evil, the fruit of this tree, evidenced in the earth by man doing evil and then feeling bad about it. Leading to shame, despair and trying to do good, only to fall again and go through the same cycle of perpetuating sin and then trying to make up for it with good deeds and good works. And this is a result of eating from the wrong tree; the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
How Does This Mutation Affect You?
We need to ask this question. For the unbeliever, the spirit of man is deadened to God and you inherit this nature. This is why Jesus said you must be born again (John 3:3). And when he said this, he was referencing new life, regeneration, a new birth, and that new birth occurs within your spirit. The part that went dead at the fall is now becoming alive unto God at the moment of rebirth.
So what about the believer?
What about you and me who are following Jesus as a disciple?
You've been born again, but maybe you still struggle; you still identify with that vicious cycle of wanting to do good, of tripping, falling down and entering into despair, becoming ashamed and wanting to pick yourself back up again and try over.
How Does This Vicious Cycle Show Up in Your Life?
When you understand the history of man, the drive you have, the cravings of your body -- what will be referenced as the old carnal man and your flesh throughout the pages of the New Testament -- you will see that even for a believer who is regenerated, your spirit comes alive.
But the human spirit, that spirit within you that is now alive, must enlarge. It must come into a place of ascendancy because as a result of the fall, or this mutation, our soul has been governing and our soul is currently in ascendancy over our spirit. And this has many implications on us as a human race, as believers and disciples of Jesus.
Do believers still have to deal with these carnal impulses?
The answer is yes.
This is the Christian life. There is a free gift of salvation that's offered to all of us. We can't work for it. We can't earn it. And salvation can be thought of as the door; when you receive Jesus Christ and you decide to follow Him, become His disciple and walk the same path that He walks, that is just the entrance. That is just the door; it’s just the beginning of your Christian walk!
What ensues next is a progressive relationship with God where we follow Jesus and lay down our life, that old nature, the carnal and fleshy impulses. But those desires and appetites don't disappear at the moment of being born again.
This is why Jesus says, 'if any man will follow me, he must pick up his cross" (Matt 16:24, Luke 9:23).
Sin Mutated Man
As a result of the fall, the soul became enlarged, the spirit became deadened. And even at the point of new birth and regeneration, when you give your life to Jesus and when you pledge your life to follow Him as a disciple, you are going to walk this progressive path of dying to your self-life.
That process of your soul coming under submission to your human spirit in union with God. Salvation is free! The blood is for salvation, the cross is for your flesh.
