The spirit returns to God?

[Orion]

Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

What does God do with all the spirits when they return?

When are these spirits created?

Which part of us, is the spirit? Do we control it? Is it who we are?

 

[whirlwind]

Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

What does God do with all the spirits when they return?

When are these spirits created?

Which part of us, is the spirit? Do we control it? Is it who we are?

C.S. Lewis wrote....I don't have a spirit, I am a spirit, I have a body. :yes

 

[Paidion]

... then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Genesis 2:7

1."The LORD God" (or "Yahweh God") first formed a physical body from the earth.

2. Then He breathed into the body the breath of life. The word "spirit" means "breath" or "wind". God's own breath made the man alive, so that he became a living being.

At death, man ceases to breathe. The breath that he had goes back to God. That breath or "spirit" is NOT the individual consciousness of the man. The man is dead. And he will stay dead until God raises him to life.

 

[Orion]

I don't understand. What exactly is "going back to God"? Breath is just a function of the body.

Where IS the individual consciousness? Is it really just the chemical interactions of a brain?

 

[Adullam]

All life is from God.

 

[whirlwind]

I don't understand. What exactly is "going back to God"? Breath is just a function of the body.

Where IS the individual consciousness? Is it really just the chemical interactions of a brain?

We "go back" because we are from God. There was an age before this present age and all of us, in our spirit bodies...were there. That was the age in which Satan rebelled and he took many into that rebellion with him. We, the same spirit/soul from before, must be born into this age, or "be born again."

John 3:5 Jesus answered, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (7) Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

We are born into flesh (same spirit) and we are "born of water," the bag of waters from the birth process. Then...we must be "born of the spirit" to enter into the kingdom.

So when we read the following we understand....

Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."

Romans 8:29-30 For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be confomred to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.

 

[Free]

Where IS the individual consciousness? Is it really just the chemical interactions of a brain?

No.

 

[follower of Christ]

At death, man ceases to breathe. The breath that he had goes back to God. That breath or "spirit" is NOT the individual consciousness of the man. The man is dead. And he will stay dead until God raises him to life.

That idea seems to directly conflict with the parable of the rich man in hell being very aware while his brothers still lived.

But yes, we know...anything that conflicts with a persons views is handwaved away.

 

[Ret]

Which part of us, is the spirit? Do we control it? Is it who we are?

Orion...do you understand the 'WIND', how it works...where it comes from...can you control it...?

The WIND comes from God...it returns to Him...Likewise, it is with the SPIRIT!

 

[Paidion]

At death, man ceases to breathe. The breath that he had goes back to God. That breath or "spirit" is NOT the individual consciousness of the man. The man is dead. And he will stay dead until God raises him to life.

That idea seems to directly conflict with the parable of the rich man in hell being very aware while his brothers still lived.

But yes, we know...anything that conflicts with a persons views is handwaved away.

In nearly every thread in which you interact, you seem to predjudge the response before you read it. And then, having decided that it's invalid, you don't really read it with understanding. I make this judgment based on your responses in other threads.

Do you want to learn something? Or are you satisfied that you have already arrived at the truth about every theological subject, so that there is nothing more to learn? As from me, I have been in the process of learning all of my adult life, and I am still learning. Some of my beliefs are not remotely similar to what they were when I was in my twenties. I didn't invent them. I learned them from the Bible and from early Christian writers, who were in a better position to understand the apostles that we who live 2000 years later.

In any case, I am going to discuss the parable of the rich man and Lazarus to which you refer so often.
First of all, the rich man in the parable didn't go to Gehenna, the lake of fire, when he died. He went to hades ("hell", the original meaning of which was "a hidden place"). Originally a gardener didn't "hill" potatoes; he helled potatoes, that is, he covered them with earth to hide them from the sun. Lovers used to seek a hell, where they would be hidden from observers.

Lexicons tell us that "Hades" was originally the same name as "Pluto", the god of the under regions. But the word was used later to mean simply "the grave" and "death".

Nowhere else in the Bible, is "hades" used to refer to a place to which people go at death. However, the Jewish historian, Josephus, used the word in this way. In his Discourse on Hades he gives an even more detailed description of the place than Jesus did . So it seems that it was a common belief among the Jews in the first century, that all people went to hades when they died. Jesus used this common belief as the basis for his parable. His parable was intended to show that even if a person were able to return from the dead to testify, non-believers still wouldn't believe.

"But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’" Luke 16:31

 

[Paidion]

Where IS the individual consciousness? Is it really just the chemical interactions of a brain?

It's more than the chemical interactions of a brain, just as a bicycle is more than the sum of its parts. However, I would judge that it is a function of the brain.

If individual consciousness were some kind of "soul" or "spirit" separate from the body, then why would a blow on the head result in unconsciousness? How can striking a physical body render the immaterial part of a person unconscious? Or why, when a person worries too much and too long, do they get stomach ulcers? Why should an action of the immaterial part of a person cause a change in the material part? If the individual consciousness is separate from the body, why should it change when the body ages? Older people become forgetful, some develop Altheimers. Others become senile. If a senile person goes to hell immediately at death, does he lose his senility? And if so, why?

No, our great hope is in the resurrection. Paul said that if there is no resurrection, we may as well eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Both the righteous and the unrighteous will be resurrected without their present bodily deficiencies. But the righteous will have a resurrection of life, and the unrighteous a resurrection of judgment, where they will receive lasting correction until they repent and submit to Christ.

 

[Benoni]

Yes God created us in His image, on the six day; but then on the seventh day God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

The soul is the mind the intellect and the reason. The spirit is that part of God in all of us for we were made in His image and his likeness

Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them

Later in Genesis 2 (seventh day) God made man a living soul
Gen 2:7And 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.

Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Our spirit returns to God; our soul is in need of change.

 

[Orion]

Which part of us, is the spirit? Do we control it? Is it who we are?

Orion...do you understand the 'WIND', how it works...where it comes from...can you control it...?

The WIND comes from God...it returns to Him...Likewise, it is with the SPIRIT!

Are you speaking metaphorically? I hope so. The wind doesn't "come from God" anymore than "hail stones being stored in heavenly storehouses to be used for the day of battle".

If you ARE speaking metaphorically, then why have something in us (our spirit, not affected by natural means) that we don't control? Seems pointless.

 

[Benoni]

Yes God's hidden Word/Spiritual word is not literal.

1 Corin 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world (age) are come. example

Example: NT:5178 a : Strong’s: tupikos (toop-ee-kos'); an adverb related to NT:5179; found only in 1 Cor 10:11: as a warning, by way of example, typologically (i.e. figuratively, as a prophetic type, a typological interpretation of Scripture)

Which part of us, is the spirit? Do we control it? Is it who we are?

Orion...do you understand the 'WIND', how it works...where it comes from...can you control it...?

The WIND comes from God...it returns to Him...Likewise, it is with the SPIRIT!

Are you speaking metaphorically? I hope so. The wind doesn't "come from God" anymore than "hail stones being stored in heavenly storehouses to be used for the day of battle".

If you ARE speaking metaphorically, then why have something in us (our spirit, not affected by natural means) that we don't control? Seems pointless.

 

[ProphetMark]

Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

What does God do with all the spirits when they return?

When are these spirits created?

Which part of us, is the spirit? Do we control it? Is it who we are?

Here's my dictionary's definition of spirit: "the mind as distinct from the body; the soul; a person's nature."

 

[Benoni]

I think we are better off to look at the facts of God's Word to receive understanding then some man made dictionary.

Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

What does God do with all the spirits when they return?

When are these spirits created?

Which part of us, is the spirit? Do we control it? Is it who we are?

Here's my dictionary's definition of spirit: "the mind as distinct from the body; the soul; a person's nature."

 

[Bick]

Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

What does God do with all the spirits when they return?

When are these spirits created?

Which part of us, is the spirit? Do we control it? Is it who we are?

MY COMMENTS: Good questions, Orion. Are you interested in doing a word strudy on "spirit"?
It takes work, but it is rewarding.

I can give a short summary of my research, and hopefully you can do more research.

Indeed, "the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath (neshamah--Hebrew) of life, and man became a living soul." Gen. 2:7
NOTE: "neshamah" is "breath"; "ruach" is "spirit" or "wind, etc" depending on the context.

Man's SPIRIT may be defined as his life force, and is related to breath.
(Don't think of man's Spirit as if it were a separate entity which lives on after he dies).

As long as man is breathing, his life force exists; when he stops breathing, his life force ceases to exist, and is said to return to God who gave it (Eccl. 12:7)

In Zech. 12:1 we are told it is "the Lord... who forms the spirit of man within him."

This is true of all air breathing creatures:

"I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it." Gen.6:17 NIV, etc.

"All in whose nostrils was the breath (neshamah) of the spirit (ruach) of life, of all that was on the dry land died." Gen. 7:22

"In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of mankind." Job 12:10

"If it were his intention and he withdrew his spirit (ruach) and breath (neshamah), all mankind would perish together and man would return to dust." Job 34:14-15

THUS: we see that man's spirit (life force) is related to breath---not that his spirit is only his breath.

I would say our spirit, our life force, is in our whole body, for as we breathe the oxygen is carried to all our parts via our blood.

Answering your other questions, hopefully: NO, we are not "spirit" or "a spirit". We are living sensate beings, thus 'living souls'.

Certainly, man is a complicated creature. As to "controlling our spirit", there are passages which seem to indicate such, for they describe feelings to man's spirit:

Bitterness of spirit (Gen.26:35).
Pharoah's spirit was agitated (Gen. 41:8).
The spirit of Jacob...revived (Gen. 45:27).
Anguish of spirit (Ex. 6:9)
Being filled with the spirit of wisdom (ex. 28:3).
A willing spirit (Ex. 35:21).
God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate (Deut. 2:30).
Their spirit was abated toward him (Judg. 8:3).
Hannah...a woman of hard spirit (1 Sam.1:15).
The broken of heart, and the crushed [bruised] of spirit He saves (Psa. 34:18).
Renew a right spirit within me (Psa. 50:10)

There are many more. I see the relationship of man's heart and spirit.

Here are a few from the Greek Scriptures:

Happy in spirit (Mat. 5:3).
A willing spirit (Mat.26:41).
Paul's spirit was stirred within him (Acts 17:16).
Apollos...fervent in spirit (Acts 18:25).
The Spirit... is testifying...with our spirit that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16).

There are many more, but you can look them up.

I hope this helps.

 

[Benoni]

Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

What does God do with all the spirits when they return?

When are these spirits created?

Which part of us, is the spirit? Do we control it? Is it who we are?

MY COMMENTS: Good questions, Orion. Are you interested in doing a word strudy on "spirit"?
It takes work, but it is rewarding.

I can give a short summary of my research, and hopefully you can do more research.

Indeed, "the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath (neshamah--Hebrew) of life, and man became a living soul." Gen. 2:7
NOTE: "neshamah" is "breath"; "ruach" is "spirit" or "wind, etc" depending on the context.

Man's SPIRIT may be defined as his life force, and is related to breath.
(Don't think of man's Spirit as if it were a separate entity which lives on after he dies).

As long as man is breathing, his life force exists; when he stops breathing, his life force ceases to exist, and is said to return to God who gave it (Eccl. 12:7)

In Zech. 12:1 we are told it is "the Lord... who forms the spirit of man within him."

This is true of all air breathing creatures:

"I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it." Gen.6:17 NIV, etc.

"All in whose nostrils was the breath (neshamah) of the spirit (ruach) of life, of all that was on the dry land died." Gen. 7:22

"In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of mankind." Job 12:10

"If it were his intention and he withdrew his spirit (ruach) and breath (neshamah), all mankind would perish together and man would return to dust." Job 34:14-15

THUS: we see that man's spirit (life force) is related to breath---not that his spirit is only his breath.

I would say our spirit, our life force, is in our whole body, for as we breathe the oxygen is carried to all our parts via our blood.

Answering your other questions, hopefully: NO, we are not "spirit" or "a spirit".

Certainly, man is a complicated creature. As to "controlling our spirit", there are passages which seem to indicate such, for they describe feelings to man's spirit:

Bitterness of spirit (Gen.26:35).
Pharoah's spirit was agitated (Gen. 41:8).
The spirit of Jacob...revived (Gen. 45:27).
Anguish of spirit (Ex. 6:9)
Being filled with the spirit of wisdom (ex. 28:3).
A willing spirit (Ex. 35:21).
God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate (Deut. 2:30).
Their spirit was abated toward him (Judg. 8:3).
Hannah...a woman of hard spirit (1 Sam.1:15).
The broken of heart, and the crushed [bruised] of spirit He saves (Psa. 34:18).
Renew a right spirit within me (Psa. 50:10)

There are many more. I see the relationship of man's heart and spirit.

Here are a few from the Greek Scriptures:

Happy in spirit (Mat. 5:3).
A willing spirit (Mat.26:41).
Paul's spirit was stirred within him (Acts 17:16).
Apollos...fervent in spirit (Acts 18:25).
The Spirit... is testifying...with our spirit that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16).

There are many more, but you can look them up.

I hope this helps.

I see man's spirit as that part of God in Genesis 1:26 when man was made in God's image; seeing God is a spirit. Waht is the Hebrew for the word spirit in Ecclesiastes 12:7?

 

[Ret]

I see man's spirit as that part of God in Genesis 1:26 when man was made in God's image; seeing God is a spirit. Waht is the Hebrew for the word spirit in Ecclesiastes 12:7?

Compare Gen 1:26 with ....

1 Corinthians 15:45-46
45 And so it is written,
The first man Adam was made a living soul;
the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural;
and afterward that which is spiritual.KJV

The ADAM that was formed out of the ground per Gen 2 is symbolic of the second Adam.
Gen 1:26 is Jesus Christ...the last Adam made a quickening spirit...spiritual!

 

[Benoni]

Amen... Deep.

I see man's spirit as that part of God in Genesis 1:26 when man was made in God's image; seeing God is a spirit. Waht is the Hebrew for the word spirit in Ecclesiastes 12:7?

Compare Gen 1:26 with ....

1 Corinthians 15:45-46
45 And so it is written,
The first man Adam was made a living soul;
the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural;
and afterward that which is spiritual.KJV

The ADAM that was formed out of the ground per Gen 2 is symbolic of the second Adam.
Gen 1:26 is Jesus Christ...the last Adam made a quickening spirit...spiritual!