The Value of a Soul
Speaker: Pastor Darin Browne
Billy Joel once sang, “All About Soul” and he was right! We tend not to speak about the soul these days, except when referring to music as a blend of jazz, blues and gospel. In times past, especially in maritime circles, they would talk about a ship sinking with 1500 souls lost, or about someone loving you “heart and soul.”
The Bible talks a lot about the soul. I want to start a series on the value of your soul. A person is made of three parts, body, soul and spirit, and the Word of God rightly divides the soul and the spirit. Jesus said…
Mark 8:36-37
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?
Jesus valued souls, and so should we…both our own, and the souls of others.
THE TEMPORAL SOUL
I was always taught that a human being is a body, what we physically see, a soul, the mind, will and emotions and a spirit, the part that lives forever. The word soul in Scripture has both a temporal and an eternal meaning, and this eternal meaning sometimes seems to overlap with the Spirit.
Genesis 2:7
then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
Watchman Nee suggests that, when God breathed His Spirit into the body of man the soul was created. The soul is the free will part of us, and in it the Spirit and body are merged. If the soul, your mind, will and emotions, chooses to obey the Spirit, then we can be connected to God. When the soul chooses not to obey, we are disconnected. The breath of life in Genesis 2 is the same root word used for soul, for example used by Moses…
Deuteronomy 4:9
“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life.
THE VERY BREATHE OF LIFE
We know from these and other verses that the soul is the very breathe of life, Hebrew NEPES, which means a soul, a breath, heart or mind. The temporal meaning is seen in…
Deuteronomy 4:29
But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Later the same word is used of a close, emotional relationship…
1 Samuel 18:1
the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
We see the word soul being used for life, heart, closeness, and in Job and Psalms…
Job 7:11
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
In summary, God dwells in the spirit, self dwells in the soul, while senses dwell in the body. A person is a combination of these three. So often we try to take care of the body, and even self (soul), but we neglect the Spirit, the eternal part to which the soul is linked.
THE ETERNAL SOUL
The same Hebrew word (NEPES) used for an eternal meaning. The human soul connects the body and the Spirit. This is part of the reason that Arthur Stace, scratching one simple word on the pavements of Sydney, affected so many people.
Job 33:28
He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the light.’
Ezekiel 18:4
Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.
WHAT THE NEW TESTAMENT SAYS ABOUT THE SOUL
In the New Testament, Jesus also uses the word for soul, Greek PSYCHE, from which we get English psychology, for both a temporal and eternal meaning, overlapping if you will with the word for Spirit. In the garden Jesus used the term in a temporal way…
Mark 14:34
And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.”
Matthew 10:28
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Clearly their souls is used in an eternal way, but it is the same word in Greek. Paul and Peter use the same double meaning for PSYCHE or soul. So, let’s pull it together…
PULLING OUR SOUL TOGETHER
Your soul is your mind, will and emotions, and these are good windows into the state of your eternal spirit. The soul then is your personality, and what you as a person wills in your soul affects both body and spirit. We cannot ever satisfy our Spirit outside of a relationship with God, be we can attempt to satisfy our souls in this life with money, fame, achievements, family, etc. However, ultimately these matter zero in eternity. If I have a nice life, then spend eternity in hell, it’s a poor bargain!
This is illustrated by Jesus in the parable of the rich man…
Luke 12:19-21
And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”‘ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Most people are right where this rich man was. Accumulating riches, fame, wealth, comforts, joys. Most people never think about what happens when they die, but the Bible teaches that your soul is eternal, it lives forever. That’s why Jesus said…
Mark 8:34-37
calling the crowd to him with his disciples (to believers), he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?
WHY IS YOUR SOUL SO VALUABLE?
1: OUR SOUL IS CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD
Our souls are made in the image of almighty God, and this makes us distinct from all the other creatures on this planet. When I look at you, I see your eyes, but behind them is the real you, your eternal soul, made in the image of God Himself.
Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Male and female, both in His image, neither a mistake. God did not create 72 genders, He created only two, and these are in His image, His likeness. This means we have the ability to think, to understand, to love and importantly to choose whether to be good, or evil. We can choose to sin or not, but we cannot choose the consequences of our sin.
2: OUR SOUL IS UNIQUE
Matthew 10:29-31
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
God knows every aspect of you, body, spirit and soul. He knows your unique personality, your talents, your desires, your sin, and He loves you anyway! He desires to know you intimately and love your soul forever.
3: OUR SOUL HAS POTENTIAL
God creates unique individuals who have unique gifts and abilities to fulfil His purpose. Our soul has potential, from before birth right into eternity.
Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
The Greek for workmanship is POIEMA, which means fashioned, authored, handmade by God to do what He has chosen, predestined us to do for His purposes. Are you living up to the potential God has placed in your soul?
4: OUR SOUL IS ETERNAL
Old Testament prophet Daniel speaks about the end times, the times we are living in. He speaks of a great tribulation, and then he writes this…
Daniel 12:1-2
everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Solomon, the wisest man to have ever lived, wrote this…
Ecclesiastes 12:7-8
and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.
He was saying that your spirit is eternal, and all the pleasure, treasure and leisure your soul strives to attain in life is complete vanity, in other words it is worthless! Whatever we say, or do, or however we live, our Spirit, our soul will be required to stand before God.
Based on that encounter, we will either spend eternity with Him or separated from Him.
>That’s why Jesus asked, what profit is there in investing in your temporal body, mind, will and emotions, but losing the eternal part of you that will live forever in hell, or heaven? Why do people frequent the gym more than the church?
Matthew 25:46
And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
5: OUR SOUL IS PRICELESS
Any product is only worth what people will pay for it. In real estate, people say, I want, say $1 million for my house. But if the public think it is only worth $800,000, doesn’t matter what you think! If you want to make a sale, it only happens when someone is prepared to pay the price. And God was prepared to pay the full price for you!
John 3:16-17
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
2 Corinthians 5:21
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
OUR SOUL IS OF INFINITE VALUE
We are body, soul and spirit. We live a physical life now. Until we accept Jesus’ sacrifice and give our lives to Him, we are living lives of death. We are dead men walking.
Mark 8:36-37
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?
Your soul is so valuable, to God, and should be to you, because one day it will separate from your body and then you will face almighty God, with eternity hanging in the balance. Imagine you had two businesses. One was a small, run down, barely surviving, hole in the wall corner shop. The other a multinational corporation producing a product that positively changed the lives of millions. Would you pour all your time, energy and resources into the failing corner store, or into the successful corporation? What is more valuable?
Why then pour time, money and effort into your failing body and neglect the most important thing you have in the world, your soul? Why feed and clothe someone, and neglect their eternal souls? In affect we say, God bless you, be well fed, be comfortable, but go to hell!
Psalms 146:3-4
Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.
When you die, it’s all over for you if you don’t know Jesus. No matter what your life was like, the only question that matters when you stand before God is, “What did you do with my son?” Jesus paid for your soul, and all you need to do is accept His grace, His payment for your sin.
MY STORY?
Some years ago, I had an anaphylactic episode and was rushed to hospital. On the table I died for several minutes, and during this time I underwent an out of body experience. I could see down a long tube and could see doctors and nurses working on my body. I felt like I was surrounded in liquid love. Then God spoke to me, before I floated up to be surrounded by the panic of the doctors. Afterwards, He gave me this verse…
Deuteronomy 33:27
The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.
I know that our soul exists beyond death. I’ve been there, I’ve fallen into His eternal arms. I’ve experienced just a glimpse. I know that my soul is in the hands of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, the perfect payment for my sin. Maybe you don’t want to take my word for it? Try dying for yourself, but the trouble is by then it is too late!
YOUR SOUL, YOUR CHOICES, YOUR DESTINY
Your soul is the most valuable thing you have. It never ceases to exist, either in eternal death or eternal life. Have you committed your soul to Jesus Christ? If you die tonight, are you absolutely sure your soul will be with God in Heaven?
If you are a believer, entrusting your soul to Christ is not a one-off action. Many of us suffer in this life, we struggle, we strive, we try and remain faithful. Peter wrote…
1 Peter 4:19
let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust (commit) their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
Entrusting your soul to our faithful Creator, taking up your cross, serving and fellowshipping with God, is a daily commitment. Don’t think, “I once committed my soul to Jesus, so I am done.” You’re not done at all, it’s a journey, a daily recommitment of your soul. The Bible teaches that the spirits of believers are safe, but that every believer will still stand before the Judgement Seat of Christ. Our souls will suffer loss if we do not live for Him.
2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
What is the state of your soul? What are you living for?
Mark 8:36
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
Are you investing into your soul, that your soul might prosper as James says?