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One Who remains (Heb. 12: 27, 28; 13: 8), and they are in direct contrast with the
present creation:
"They shall perish . . . . . they shall wax old as doth a garment . . . . . they shall be
changed" (Heb. 1: 11, 12).
This was the character of the world into which Adam was introduced and over which
he was given dominion.
We read that man was "moulded" out of the dust of the earth (Gen. 2: 7), and that
upon breathing with his nostrils the breath of life, he became a living soul. While it is
true that the word translated "soul" is used of the lower creatures as well as of man
(Gen. 1: 20, 21, 24), yet in man it is associated with qualities and powers that are not
possessed by the lower orders of creation.
The word "soul", when used of man in the Scriptures, is often synonymous with
"self". Compare, for instance, an expression used by Job with a parallel one used by
Paul:
"Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul (self), I would despise my life"
(Job 9: 21).
"For I know nothing by myself"--or "For, to myself, I am conscious of nothing (evil),
yet am I not hereby justified" (I Cor. 4: 4).
Note also the way in which the Apostle, in Rom. 7:, speaks of his "flesh", his
"body" and his "mind" as Himself":
"I (ego) am carnal."
"It is no longer I (ego) that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."
"For I know that in me (emoi) (THAT IS, IN MY FLESH) dwelleth no good thing."
"With the MIND I myself (autos ego) serve the law of God, but with the FLESH, the
law of sin" (Rom. 7: 14-25).
Man is spoken of as spirit, and soul, and body (I Thess. 5: 23), but it is not strictly true
to speak of him as tri-partite, for in Mark 12: 30 we have "heart, mind, and strength"--
so that we might as reasonably speak of him as sex-partite. Man is a living soul, an
individual made up of spirit, and body, and mind.
The body.--In its present constitution the body limits man to the earth, gives him size
and shape, and endows him with the property of impenetrability--which may be defined
as that property of matter by virtue of which two bodies cannot occupy the same space at
the same time. In this respect man differs from "spirits", and his body differs from that
"spiritual body" which will be his in resurrection glory (I Cor. 15: 44).
Flesh, and "flesh and blood".--The present body is one of "flesh and blood", and
"flesh and blood" cannot inherit the kingdom of God (I Cor. 15: 50). We know, however,
that there will be a body, just as real, though not of flesh and blood, that shall inherit that
kingdom in the future (I Cor. 15: 44). Flesh and blood are the concomitants of corporeal