| CHAPLAIN'S CORNER |
The Essence of Who You Are
When we look into the mirror, we see a reflection of our physical body which shows us our physical identity. Do
you know that when God looks at us, he sees us on the inside? He sees us as the essence of who we are. What
is physically seen on the outside, Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:1 calls it our “earthly house” and verse 6 of 2
Corinthians 5 points out that while we are alive in our bodies we are absent from the Lord. The essence of who
we really are is denied the glory with the Lord while we are housed in our natural bodies.
The essence of who we are transcends physicality. Our physicality has attributes for our existence in relation to
this earthly world. We have hands, feet and mouth for the purpose of holding, moving and eating/speaking etc.,
respectively, for living on the earth. Those physical attributes aid and facilitate us to live on the face of the earth.
The earthly attributes are not the essence of who man is. Man was created in the image and likeness of God.
Genesis 1:26 expresses, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” God has no
physical attributes for God is Spirit according to John 4:24 Jesus himself said, “God is a Spirit: and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
Genesis 2:7 says with specificity how God formed man and what man became: “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 soul.” So we
are formed in our physicality from the dust of the ground. Our physical attributes were made of the ground but
when God breathed the breath of life into our nostrils we became the expression of that image and likeness of
God. Within the confines of our culture we relate image to physicality. But if God has no physicality then his
image and likeness have to transcend physicality to express the image and likeness of himself. All of the
attributes of God are eternal and not temporal, so what we became would be an expression of those eternal
qualities. The text clearly says man became a living soul. So that image and likeness is our soul.
The eternality of what we became predisposes us to live forever. There is therefore a distinction between our
souls and earthly body. The earthly body will physically die. Psalm 90:10 tells us, “The days of our years are
threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years...” Death is the ultimate end of
this body but eternity is assured for our souls under two pre-conditions:
Firstly: Revelation 21:4 says: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any
more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Revelation chapter 22 gives a
thorough detail concerning the eternal life with God in heaven.
Secondly: For those who are not of Christ, their eternal destination is sited as in the spoken to
his disciples words of Jesus in Mark 9:44“Where the worm dieth not, and the fire
is not quenched.” Revelation 21:8 informs us: “But the fearful, and unbelieving,
and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and
idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire
and brimstone which is the second death.
Hebrews 9:27 assures us that “… it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” What of us
stands before the judgment of God? Certainly not our bodies; but our souls. So Jesus proposed the question in
Matthew 16:26 to spur us to evaluate our choice: “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Our soul is our most valued
possession. The question prompts preparedness for that judgment before the Righteous, Holy Sovereign God.
God has provided a way of assurance to preserve our soul for eternity with him. He sent His only begotten son
that whosoever believes on Jesus will not perish but have everlasting life according to John 3:16. The actual
Greek word for perish is ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi) pronounced as ap-ol'-loo-mee and that has a metaphorical
interpretation “to devote or give over to eternal misery in hell.” So by reason of clarification, the text is really
saying: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever do not believe in him
shall perish and not have everlasting life.
Your soul is God’s sacred possession and it must be kept in righteousness. Jesus said as he delivered the
sermon on the Mound in Matthew 5:48“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is
perfect.” We are to strive for perfection and righteousness. The Prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 18:4 speaking on
behalf of God said, “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the
soul that sinneth, it shall die.” This is an explicit text of who owns your soul. “Die” in this Hebrew text is מות
pronounced mooth – and it means to suffer everlasting painful misery in hell.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:3“Know ye not that we shall judge angels? Angels are spirit beings and do not
possess souls. They were not made in the image and likeness of God as we are. They were made to be
ministering spirits for God. Hebrews 1:14 “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who
shall be heirs of salvation?” We are intended to be the heirs of salvation (us) not angels. Angels are not
redeemable because they do not have souls. We do have souls. That is why we can be
salvaged/redeemed and be reconciled to God. Fallen angels became demons to this day with no chance of
repentance or redemption.
Christ did not come to save our spirits. Christ came to save souls. James 1:21 instructs us: “Wherefore lay apart
all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able
to save your souls. Jesus came to save our souls. The question is asked: from what? The answer is, from the
wrath of God. Romans 1:18 tells us “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.”
Conclusion
In conclusion, I will bring to your minds the question asked personally by Jesus inMatthew 16:26; “For what is a
man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for
his soul? The answer is: nothing else is worth losing your soul for. Your soul is the essence of who you are. We
have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. That is why Jesus came to save us from the consequences
of our sins according to John 3:16. You are redeemable. Jesus said in John 6:37: “37All that the Father give me
shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.” The choice is yours.
Rev Calvin Clarke Chaplain
When we look into the mirror, we see a reflection of our physical body which shows us our physical identity. Do
you know that when God looks at us, he sees us on the inside? He sees us as the essence of who we are. What
is physically seen on the outside, Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:1 calls it our “earthly house” and verse 6 of 2
Corinthians 5 points out that while we are alive in our bodies we are absent from the Lord. The essence of who
we really are is denied the glory with the Lord while we are housed in our natural bodies.
The essence of who we are transcends physicality. Our physicality has attributes for our existence in relation to
this earthly world. We have hands, feet and mouth for the purpose of holding, moving and eating/speaking etc.,
respectively, for living on the earth. Those physical attributes aid and facilitate us to live on the face of the earth.
The earthly attributes are not the essence of who man is. Man was created in the image and likeness of God.
Genesis 1:26 expresses, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” God has no
physical attributes for God is Spirit according to John 4:24 Jesus himself said, “God is a Spirit: and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
Genesis 2:7 says with specificity how God formed man and what man became: “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 soul.” So we
are formed in our physicality from the dust of the ground. Our physical attributes were made of the ground but
when God breathed the breath of life into our nostrils we became the expression of that image and likeness of
God. Within the confines of our culture we relate image to physicality. But if God has no physicality then his
image and likeness have to transcend physicality to express the image and likeness of himself. All of the
attributes of God are eternal and not temporal, so what we became would be an expression of those eternal
qualities. The text clearly says man became a living soul. So that image and likeness is our soul.
The eternality of what we became predisposes us to live forever. There is therefore a distinction between our
souls and earthly body. The earthly body will physically die. Psalm 90:10 tells us, “The days of our years are
threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years...” Death is the ultimate end of
this body but eternity is assured for our souls under two pre-conditions:
Firstly: Revelation 21:4 says: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any
more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Revelation chapter 22 gives a
thorough detail concerning the eternal life with God in heaven.
Secondly: For those who are not of Christ, their eternal destination is sited as in the spoken to
his disciples words of Jesus in Mark 9:44“Where the worm dieth not, and the fire
is not quenched.” Revelation 21:8 informs us: “But the fearful, and unbelieving,
and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and
idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire
and brimstone which is the second death.
Hebrews 9:27 assures us that “… it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” What of us
stands before the judgment of God? Certainly not our bodies; but our souls. So Jesus proposed the question in
Matthew 16:26 to spur us to evaluate our choice: “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Our soul is our most valued
possession. The question prompts preparedness for that judgment before the Righteous, Holy Sovereign God.
God has provided a way of assurance to preserve our soul for eternity with him. He sent His only begotten son
that whosoever believes on Jesus will not perish but have everlasting life according to John 3:16. The actual
Greek word for perish is ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi) pronounced as ap-ol'-loo-mee and that has a metaphorical
interpretation “to devote or give over to eternal misery in hell.” So by reason of clarification, the text is really
saying: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever do not believe in him
shall perish and not have everlasting life.
Your soul is God’s sacred possession and it must be kept in righteousness. Jesus said as he delivered the
sermon on the Mound in Matthew 5:48“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is
perfect.” We are to strive for perfection and righteousness. The Prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 18:4 speaking on
behalf of God said, “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the
soul that sinneth, it shall die.” This is an explicit text of who owns your soul. “Die” in this Hebrew text is מות
pronounced mooth – and it means to suffer everlasting painful misery in hell.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:3“Know ye not that we shall judge angels? Angels are spirit beings and do not
possess souls. They were not made in the image and likeness of God as we are. They were made to be
ministering spirits for God. Hebrews 1:14 “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who
shall be heirs of salvation?” We are intended to be the heirs of salvation (us) not angels. Angels are not
redeemable because they do not have souls. We do have souls. That is why we can be
salvaged/redeemed and be reconciled to God. Fallen angels became demons to this day with no chance of
repentance or redemption.
Christ did not come to save our spirits. Christ came to save souls. James 1:21 instructs us: “Wherefore lay apart
all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able
to save your souls. Jesus came to save our souls. The question is asked: from what? The answer is, from the
wrath of God. Romans 1:18 tells us “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.”
Conclusion
In conclusion, I will bring to your minds the question asked personally by Jesus inMatthew 16:26; “For what is a
man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for
his soul? The answer is: nothing else is worth losing your soul for. Your soul is the essence of who you are. We
have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. That is why Jesus came to save us from the consequences
of our sins according to John 3:16. You are redeemable. Jesus said in John 6:37: “37All that the Father give me
shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.” The choice is yours.
Rev Calvin Clarke Chaplain
Rev. Calvin Clarke
Chaplain
Chaplain