Let's discuss what makes us each different from each other and how that works.

There are three separate components to the existence of mankind.
1. The body...was created first (statue of clay)
2. The life (spirit)...was breathed into the body by the Creator (life is in the blood)
3. The soul...is your personality, your conscious "self"

The Creator came down and formed the first human body with his own hands. It closely resembles the physical form that the Creator made for himself. It is in his image. He called it Man. But the body is just a pile of basic earth elements like a clay sculpture. What is it good for without life? It can do nothing. Then the Creator breathed life into the man's body he created. And it became alive. But it was different than plants and trees with are also made from elements of earth, and they have a functioning life spirit that makes them thrive and grow as well. But plants and trees have no awareness. The Creator gave man a soul...a conscious awareness. But it was different than the conscious awareness that the souls of animals, birds, and fish have. This living conscious being called man was created in the physical (body) and spiritual (life essence) and conscious (soul) likeness of the Creator himself and it could communicate directly and consciously with its creator. In fact it was created to be the child and family that the Creator could love and share all his awesomeness with. Mankind was not a servant like the other beings that were created before. It lived like the other growing living things he had made. But this one was designed to be different from all of the other things. In fact all of the other things were created for Mankind. For mankind to care for, to build with, to enjoy, to share, to have dominion over. The body the Creator made was not designed to deteriorate or malfunction. It was intended to live off the elements of the world and rejuvenate itself perpetually forever. We also like the fact that we each look a little different from each other. Not like robots off the assembly line. That's what Satan saw.

Life is not just something that magically happens. It is not natural and cannot be explained by science. Plants, animals, fish, bugs, viruses, etc. have life. Mankind has figured out ways to stop life, but no way to create life. We know that life is given by the Creator when he chooses to do so. And life can be taken away by him at anytime. And life can be given back at any time. But mankind would be no different from anything else that lived if didn't have something special. Man needed the ability to be personal. To feel love, kindness, joy, and all emotions. Mankind was created to interact with the Creator. He created Man to be his family. The Creator wanted to be a part of the reproduction and growth and prosperity of his children. To experience the joys of love and emotional bonding. To communicate with them on a personal level. To do that man would need something more...a Soul. Man would need the ability to think logically, talk verbally, be creative, share emotion, and love. Animals just exist. They do what they do. They sometimes seem to be somewhat intelligent but we know that those things are really just survival instincts. Mankind is totally different from anything else in creation. Totally special.

The soul is not life. The soul is your personality. The soul is your "SELF". Each person has a separate distinct personality. We also have a mind with the ability to make decisions and express emotions, and we can remember, imagine, and dream. Each of us has a different very personal "self". And that is what is commonly called THE SOUL. It the essence of our thought and self awareness. It is what makes our human bodies more than just alive like other things.

But contrary to popular belief the soul cannot exist without a live body. (Just so you know...there are no ghosts and zombies). It has no functional ability by itself. It is like a DVD. It's nothing without the machine, and the machine is nothing without life (electricity).

If we go back to the beginning of the creation of the first man we find that there was a body, but it was not alive until the Creator breathed life into it. So it lived and breathed and walked, just like the animals did. But this creature, mankind, was going to have dominion over all the rest and would have the ability to communicate directly with the Creator.

So the question now is:  Where was that conscious soul before it entered the body? The answer is that it did not exist. The day is coming when some souls will receive eternal life (like angels) but some will simply cease to exist (perish). The body can live, but not function, without a conscious soul. And the soul is of no use without a living body. It doesn't matter what confusing hogwash you have been fed by other people. As far a human being goes the three go together. We were not created as spiritual beings.

There is no teachings in the Old Testament that promote conscious souls existing in a spiritual city. That concept is a mixture of bad Christian teachings and Roman mythology. There are no teachings in the New Testament either. The scripture has to be manipulated to make that ideology work.

David understood this and so did the smartest man who ever lived who was King Solomon. He said "who can worship when they are dead?"

No one remembers you (Yehovah) when he is dead. Who praises you from the grave?" (Psalm 6:5)  "The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing" (Ecclesiastes 9:5)  "In the grave, where you are going, there is neither working, nor planning, nor knowledge nor wisdom." (Ecclesiastes 9:10) 

The Apostle Paul tried to explain it in II Cor 5. He understood that the soul is nothing without the body, but this corrupt body we have now is not the body we want to have that will be eternal forever. Our soul aches for the perfected physical body it was designed for so we can live physically with our physical Messiah (he became human like us) on a physical earth.

But we know from scripture that the body dies and the soul is preserved. Waiting for the day that life and soul are joined again to the body at the resurrection. From Jesus we understand how this waiting will be. He told a parable of the Rich Man and Poor Lazarus. After they both died Poor Lazarus rested peacefully, but the Rich Man was having a restless nightmare of waiting and imagined he saw Father Abraham who refused to help him. Of course bad Christian teaching will totally distort this passage and use it to promote *phariceutical ideas of a spirit world existence for mankind or something else.

The Modern Christian church would like you to believe that you are judged instantly at death (Roman mythology). But the problem with that is that it conflicts with the resurrection of the body and final judgement. So what they usually do is sweep it under the rug and say "its a mystery".

When does the re-joining of the body and soul happen? We have a section on the Resurrection and judgement of Mankind. It actually takes place in two separate events. The bodies and souls of the follower of the Messiah are resurrected first when he returns to rescue Judah and establish his 1000 year kingdom on this earth. At that time they receive their gift of eternal life. All the other people who died since the beginning of creation will be resurrected at the end of the 1000 year kingdom and joined with their respective life/souls and will be judged at the end of that era. Many will die again.

So we know the body and soul go together. Now here we are...alive and living. What are we supposed to be doing everyday? Let's go see what to do.