Dear Christian brothers and sisters:

The Bible says that we are three part beings.  Both men and women are alike in this respect.  These parts are body, soul, and spirit.  We are made in the image of God , that is we are a three part being as He is, yet we are one in essence, as He is one in essence.  His three parts are called Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Jesus became a man, had flesh, blood, and bone, just as you and I do.  His life was in the blood, just as our life is in our blood.  The difference is that His Spirit was Holy, and His blood unstained.  He lived a perfect life while in the flesh, being tempted just as we are, yet without sin.  He died in our place as the only perfect, holy, without spot of sin, Lamb of God.  His death was awful, just as the wages of sin is awful.  His resurrection was glorious, just as our resurrection and/or rapture will be glorious.  We cannot save ourselves in God’s economy.

You all know this.  It is basic Bible.  But think on these things:

In gematria, the numbering of the Bible words, the name JESUS, in both Hebrew and Greek (Joshua in Hebrew, and Yeshua in Greek, thus Jesus in English) has a value numerically of 888.  Conversely, the number of the most evil man of sin in the Bible has a value of 666.  The number of man is 6.    

888 – 666 = 222.  

The number 2 means “division”.  It is said that we “fall short of the glory of God”, but by how much?  Try 222.  If this is so, are we all numbered the same as the antichrist and false prophet?  Are we 222 somethings short?  No, and here’s why, I believe:

When a baby is born, it has been conceived in sin, but born innocent.  It is not accountable at birth and for some time afterward.  The infant’s makeup would logically number like this:

6 for the body, born in sin and under the curse.  It will die some day.
8 for the soul which is innocent for awhile at least.
8 for the spirit that has not sinned, yet.

At the age of accountability, whenever that is, the child’s makeup would logically change to:

6 for the body
6 for the soul because it has now knowingly sinned.
0 for the spirit, as the spirit died when sin entered.

If a person goes all of his life without accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for his sins, he will die a 660.  He is imperfect for heaven and will find his home in hell.

If a person meets Jesus and is truly born again, the story is different.  He now becomes a child of God and he is eternally redeemed.  Now he is changed to:
6 for the body as it remains under the curse of physical death.
8 for the redeemed soul, now a citizen of heaven.
8 for the reborn spirit which interacts with the Holy Spirit inside of him.

He is now 688.  He can never be 666, or even 660.  He is “saved”.

When the rapture occurs, and the body is changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, instantly he is changed for the final time to:

8 for the body, as it is now like Jesus body, glorified.
8 for the soul, redeemed for all eternity.
8 for the spirit, which cannot die again.

He is finally, and for all eternity exactly like His Savior in the respect of everlasting life and that is, that he is:

888, just like Jesus.  “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is”.  

This does NOT mean that we become “gods”, as some people like to think,  although one scripture seems to say something like that, but it does mean that we are elevated to heights that we cannot imagine in Christ’s Kingdom and for all eternity.

“Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard; neither has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him”.

Sadly, there is one man who can be a 666.  He is known familiarly as antichrist.  He will arrive there only this way.  Right now he is a 660, a hell-bound, unrepentant sinner.  If he were to die, say by assassination, or even by accident, and at that time Satan were to be cast down to earth, as one day he will be, the dead man would be a ripe target for entrance of the wicked one in his soul and body.  Since Satan cannot rise above the number of man, this “resurrected” one would be a 666.  

I tell you this, dear Christian brother or sister, I believe with all of my heart that the prize is worth the fight.  The crown is worth the race.  Our Apostle Paul knew it and tried his best to tell us so.  He said that he. Himself, was “reaching for the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus”.  We will not be sorry if we do the same.

Maranatha

Gerry Almond