There is a crucial truth in the Bible related to three lives and four laws. If we desire to clearly understand the condition of our inner spiritual life or if we desire to be freed from sin so that we can lead an overcoming life, we must have a thorough understanding of this basic truth. There are three lives within every saved person. First, there is man’s life, which is the created life of man. Second, there is Satan’s life, which is the life man received because of the fall. Third, there is God’s life, which is the life man receives at his salvation. These three lives—the life of man, the life of Satan, and the life of God—exist simultaneously within a saved one.
These three lives originated in three great events that happened to man: creation, the fall, and salvation. Before his fall in the garden of Eden, Adam was created by God; thus, God’s creation was the first great event. Tempted by Satan, man then ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and became fallen; thus, he received Satan’s life. This was the second great event. These two great events—creation and the fall—are part of the history of every person. A third great event, however, happened to the believers; this great event is salvation through which God’s life enters into the believers.
These three great events within a believer have brought in three different lives: the created human life, Satan’s life, and God’s life. The created life of man comes from the breath of God (Gen. 2:7), Satan’s life comes from Satan, signified by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (v. 9), and God’s life comes from the Son of God (1 John 5:12). When man received the breath of God, he obtained the created human life. When he received the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he obtained Satan’s life. When he believed and received the Son of God, he obtained God’s life.
Coming forth from the creating hands of God, we were created; thus, we have man’s created life. Passing through Adam, we became fallen; thus, we have Satan’s fallen life. Entering into Christ, we were saved; thus, we have God’s uncreated life. The three prepositions—from, through, and into—in these three simple sentences involve many complicated stories.
In the garden of Eden there is a picture of three parties: man, represented by Adam, God, represented by the tree of life, and Satan, represented by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. With Adam standing before the two trees, the three parties were in a triangular situation. Both God and Satan want man. God desires man for the accomplishment of His will, and Satan wants man for the fulfillment of his evil intention. God’s way is to gain man through life. This is also Satan’s way. God’s intention was for man to eat the fruit of the tree of life and thus obtain His uncreated life and be joined to Him. However, Satan enticed man to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, causing man to obtain his fallen life and be mixed with him instead. Hence, the garden of Eden is a story of the conflict between God and Satan.
The created life of man is in man’s soul, the fallen life of Satan is in his body, and the uncreated life of God is in his spirit. When man was created, God breathed the breath of life into him, and man became a living soul (Gen. 2:7). Therefore, man’s created life is related to his soul. When man fell, he ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which signifies Satan, and received it into his body. Strictly speaking, Satan’s life came into the human body and caused the body to become flesh. When we believe in the Lord, we receive the Lord as our life in our spirit; thus, the Spirit comes into our spirit, and we have the life of God in our spirit.
In order to clearly understand the three parts in which these three lives are located, we must look at the consciousness of the three parts of man—the spirit, soul, and body. The body as the outer, physical part of man is visible and tangible, and it enables us to contact the external, physical world. Hence, the consciousness associated with the body is called physical consciousness. The spirit, the deepest and innermost part of our being, is the part of our being associated with a consciousness of God, and it enables us to contact God and have fellowship with Him. Hence, the consciousness associated with the spirit is called spiritual consciousness or God-consciousness. The soul, situated between the spirit and the body, is our psychological part, which includes the mind, emotion, and will, and it enables us to contact the psychological world. Hence, the consciousness associated with the soul is called psychological consciousness or self-consciousness. Physical consciousness enables us to sense things outside the body, self-consciousness enables us to sense ourselves, and God-consciousness enables us to sense God. The body has physical consciousness to contact things outside the body, the soul has self-consciousness to sense the things of the self, and the spirit has God-consciousness to deal with God and sense the things of God.
The physical body includes five sense organs related to seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching. The spirit has two sense organs—conscience and intuition. Although the spirit consists of the conscience, intuition, and fellowship, fellowship is not related to a sense. Only conscience and intuition are related to sense. Therefore, the spirit has sense organs related only to the conscience and intuition. Although the soul also has three parts, consciousness is related only to the mind and emotion. Hence, the soul also has only two sense organs. The created life is in our soul, having sense organs related to the mind and emotion, which are known simply as self-consciousness. Satan’s life is in our body, which includes the five senses of seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching. These senses are called physical consciousness. God’s life is in our spirit, which has sense organs related to conscience and intuition. The sense associated with these two is called God-consciousness. The three lives are located in these three parts.