Writing 6

Recently, I took a class of writing, and had to write some homework. After revising by Helen, I put it on the net to share with you.

2009/9/15 writing 6 --Spirit and the body (summary and translation)

Many people in the world do not know they have a spirit body which will be kept alive after their physical body dies. They live lives with their own minds and do whatever they want in the world without knowing the spirit will suffer forever in the future. According to the Bible, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, “may the God of peace himself make you holy in every way; and may your spirit and soul and body be free from all sin at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We know that as a human being, we have spirit, soul and body. God hopes we can learn how to live a righteous life and keep away from all sinful deeds in order to meet the second coming of our Lord Jesus.

Next, let’s talk about the body and the spirit. Our physical body is like a car and the spirit is like the person who is the owner. It means that the owner of the body is the spirit and the spirit is like the inner man. The Lord said, “Only those who are spiritual will receive me now and receive me at the time of the second coming. It is the spirit that receives me. People who receive me now will receive me at the second coming too.” It’s the spirit that goes to Heaven.

If we put apples, peaches, and various fruits in a bowl and leave them in a room, they will eventually rot. But if we eat them, then they will not rot. Instead, when they enter the body and are digested and absorbed then the key nutrients turn into flesh and bones. Once they become flesh and bones, they no longer rot. They are maintained for your lifetime. In this way our bodies are like the visible apples, peaches, and various fruits and foods. Once food is eaten it gets absorbed into our bodies and becomes flesh and bones. In the same way, when the body does acts of righteousness, the spirit absorbs that righteousness and transforms it into the spiritual body. The body changes every day like fruits left in a room becoming dry and rotten. The spirit must digest the body for the benefit of the spirit. Then the spirit will shine, become fat with grace, and become healthy. Therefore, the body must live for the spirit.

This world is a world where the body is valuable because we can't live without a physical body; while in the Kingdom of Heaven, it is the spirit that has value because that is a place we can't live without a spirit. Matthew 7:16-20 mentioned, “The Lord said that good fruits are produced by good trees and bad fruits are produced by bad trees. The body is like the tree and the spirit is like the fruits. The tree must be good, kind, and righteous, then the spirit becomes good and beautiful as well. The tree and the fruits are not separate from each other. They are one body. When a person dies, the mind and actions of their body are absorbed completely by the spirit's mind and body. And the spirit carries it away intact. It means all the nutrients absorbed by the tree go to the fruit. Therefore, the spirit absorbs the body's hard work, labor, actions, accomplishments, love and character, grows and matures through it, and takes them to heaven with it, but the body cannot go into Heaven. The Apostle Paul said, “Only the spiritual body can go into the Kingdom of Heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:31-53).”

In conclusion, both the body and the spirit are important; without the body, we can not learn the words from God and put them into practice and receive His grace. On the other hand, without the spirit, human beings are no different than animals; we can just eat, sleep and with no desire to upgrade or improve, because there is no hope, as the body perishes, everything ends. In a word, we need to pay more attention and make our physical body and spirit grow up to the point of God’s level and become a perfect being in order to go to the kingdom of Heaven.