The Living Soul

Passages for today

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.

Genesis 2:7

 

King James Version

24 “The God who made the world and everything in it . . . gives everyone life and breath and everything else. . . .
28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

Acts 17:24 – 28

 

New International Version

Sun 2025-06-08
In loving and cherished memory of my daughter-in-law's dearly beloved father, the Late Foo Check Ping who passed away on Sat 2025-06-07. These thoughts from two passages of scripture came to mind during the funeral wake service that Sunday evening.

(1) The Living Soul gets life from God

Adam got his life from God. He became a Living Soul after the LORD God breathed into his nostrils. Since that day, God's breath became Man's breath. Likewise, all of us today who descended from Adam has the same breath of God in us. Like Adam we also are Living Souls who get life from God.

(2) The Living Soul has life in his Body

When we take a closer look at Gen 2:7, it was after the LORD God breathed into Adam's nostrils that Adam became a living soul. God did not just blow some breath over his head, nor on his hands, nor upon his feet. Instead, the LORD God breathed into his body through his nostrils. Adam received God's life in his body. This life remained in him throughout the years, from young until old.

In Acts 17:28, the Apostle Paul told the Athenians that it is in God that we live and move. Without this God-given life in our bodies, we will not be living souls anymore. We will probably be just like any of the other creatures that God has created, without the breath of God in them.

(3) The Living Soul lives life for God

After Adam became a Living Soul by the breath of God, the Lord God commanded him to go forth and multiply and have dominion over all the other creatures on earth. That was the whole purpose of life prepared ahead of Adam. Adam the Living Soul was given one task — to live his life for God.

Conclusion

Brothers and Sisters in Iesus the Anointed One, as Living Souls who have received the breath of life from God, the same breath that was in Adam, let us live our lives for God everyday until the day of our Lord's return

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Love is patient and kind

Passage for today

4 Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; 5 it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.
7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13:4 – 7

 

Revised Standard Version

Last Sunday during morning worship service in Kampar Wesley Methodist Church, I was reminded of an old gospel song based on this well passage about the Love of God, recorded in 1 Corinthians chapter 13.

During my undergraduate days at Universiti Pertanian Malaysia in the 1980s, we used to sing a song using the lyrics from the Revised Standard Version, quoted above, with a few minor adaptations. Today, I'd like to post the lyrics of this song below. Sadly, I'm unable to locate any audio or video recording of its tune. I shall come back here and post a link should I manage to come across one in future.

Love is patient and kind
It's not jealous or boastful
Not arrogant or rude
It does not insist on its own way

It is not irritable nor resentful
Does not rejoice at wrong
But rejoices in the right

Love bears all things
Believes all things
Love hopes all things
Endures all things

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Since you have been raised . . .

Passage for today

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Colossians 3:1 – 4

 

New International Version

These notes were first written on Sun 2024-08-18

This well known passage from the Epistle of Paul to the Colossians tells us that we who have been baptised in the Name of Iesus the Anointed One have gone through three changes:

1. We have died with the Anointed v.3
2. We have been hidden with the Anointed in God v.3
3. We have been raised with the Anointed v.1

We are also told in v.4 that we will undergo one more change at the Second Coming of Our Lord Iesus

4. We will also appear with Him in glory v.4

The teaching of being buried with the Anointed in baptism, and of being raised with Him is also written in an earlier passage in Colossians chapter two:

having been buried with him in baptism,
in which you were also raised with him
through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

Colossians 2:12

 

New International Version

Verses 1 and 2 in this passage tells us what we must do with our lives in this world while we look forward to appear with Our Lord Iesus in glory on the day of His return:

. . . set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things

As children of God, we who have died, buried, and raised with Our Lord the Anointed One, let us look forward to appear with Our Lord when he returns in glory. Let us set our minds on heavenly things above us, at the throne of God where Our Lord is seated at the right hand of God. Let us beware of the tempations of many things around us in this world.

Finally verses 5 to 10 of Colossians chapter three teaches us to "put to death", to get rid of our old ways and practices.

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[b] 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Colossians 3:5 – 10

 

New International Version

Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Iesus, since we have been raised with the Anointed One, let us set our hearts and minds on things above, where our Lord is seated at the right hand of God. Let us also get rid of our old ways and put on our new selves in the Anointed One.

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I have previously written on similar passages in the following posts:

• How shall we continue living? (2016-03-05)
• Three Spiritual Laws (2021-08-04)