You Are Not a Wise Ape: Recover Your True Identity!

By Justo Lopez, MD;PhD

Man has decided to live apart from God. As a result, he has exchanged his identity of a child of the Almighty by a miserable identity of a wise ape. The complex structure of man as a tripartite being composed of body, soul, and spirit, has been simplified by science, which has denied his spiritual components and has reduced him to a body, just like any animal.

This book will guide you to discover and recover your true identity. You will be amazed as you realize, through its pages, that you are a privileged creature much more complex than you could ever imagine. It is important for you to recover your true identity because you are a child of the Highest God, and now is the time for you to claim and grab hold of the heritage that belongs to you as such, which includes living with physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. I urge you to give yourself an opportunity to know a wonderful spiritual world, which you belong to.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 12, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512736472

Justo Lopez, MD;PhD

Dr. Justo Lopez graduated as a Doctor of Medicine at the University of Havana, Cuba, in 1976. He did postgraduate studies at the National Center for Scientific Research in Havana, Cuba, where he earned a degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Biomedical Sciences. Dr. Lopez worked as a scientific researcher for twenty years in the field of Biomedicine. He is currently Adjunct Professor of Human Anatomy and Physiology at Miami Dade College and Broward College in Miami, Florida. Dr. Lopez serves as an Elder and Bible teacher in the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church of Kendall in Miami, where he lives with his wife.

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Copyright © 2016 Justo Lopez, M.D., Ph.D.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-3648-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-3649-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-3647-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016905419

WestBow Press rev. date: 04/12/2016

CONTENTS

Introduction

Part 1: Our Identity

Chapter 1: Identity upon the Sand

– Seeking an Acceptable Identity

– Consequences of the Lack of Identity

– Our True Identity

– Our Identity Depends on a Decision

Chapter 2: Identity upon the Rock

– Recovering Our Real Identity

– The Importance of Identity in the Kingdom of God

– Our Identity Implies a Commitment

– The Importance of Knowing Ourselves

Part 2: Our Body

Chapter 3: The Complexity of the Human Body

– Microscopic Structure of the Human Body

– The Book of Life

– Macroscopic Structure of the Human Body

– The Circulatory System

– The Lymphatic and the Immune Systems

– The Nervous System

Chapter 4: The Human Body in the Bible

– The Physical Body Is a Temporary Room for the Soul and Spirit

– Inhabiting Temporarily in a Mortal Body Is Not a Curse

– Why Do We Get Sick?

– We Are Responsible for the Care of Our Physical Body

– The Fear of Physical Death

– What Is the Flesh according to the Bible?

Part 3: Our Soul

Chapter 5: The Soul

– What Is the Soul?

– Beware of Psychiatry and Psychology!

– Why Is It So Important to Know about the Soul?

– Can the Soul Exist apart from the Physical Body?

Chapter 6: The Thoughts

– Where Are Thoughts Produced?

– How Are Thoughts Produced?

– The Spiritual World Influences Our Minds

– Satan Creates Strongholds in Our Minds

Chapter 7: Emotions and Feelings

– How and Where Are Emotions Produced?

– How Are Feelings Produced?

– Influence of the Spiritual World in Our Emotions and Feelings

Chapter 8: The Will

– The Free Will

– Thoughts and Feelings Determine the Will

– Why Should We Surrender Our Will to God’s Will?

Chapter 9: The Soulish Heart

– What Is the Soulish Heart?

– Relationship between the Soulish Heart and the Brain

– The Subconscious and the Soulish Heart

– God Is Especially Interested in Our Soulish Hearts

Chapter 10: Character

– What Is Temperament?

– What Is Character?

Chapter 11: Diseases of the Soul

– Importance of the Diseases of the Soul

– Diseases of the Soul Go Unnoticed

– Demonic Influence in the Diseases of the Soul

– Depression

– Panic Attack

Chapter 12: Healing and Transformation of the Soul

– Jesus Is the Healer of Souls

– Why Must We Heal and Transform Our Soul?

– The Soul Must Be Fed Properly

– Renewal of Our Minds

– Renewal of Our Feelings

– Cleaning of Our Soulish Heart

Part 4: Our Spirit

Chapter 13: The Spirit

– What Is the Spirit?

– Why Most People Ignore or Deny That They Have a Spirit?

– The Spiritual Senses

– The Spiritual Heart

Chapter 14: The New Birth of the Spirit

– Why Must We Be Born Again?

– Consequences of the New Birth

– The Healing of the Soul and the Body Depends on the New Birth of the Spirit

– Where We Will Spend Eternity Depends on the New Birth of the Spirit

– The Spiritual Growth

Chapter 15: The Fruit of the Spirit

– Love

– Joy

– Rivers of Living Water

Epilogue: Get up and Walk!

Dedicated to

Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Thank You, my Lord and friend, for the privilege to serve You.

To You be all of the glory and the honor!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank Ivy, my wife of more than thirty-three years, for her faithfulness, persistence, and prayers so that God’s will is done in our lives.

Thanks to her and my daughter Yili for supporting me in moments of discouragement and for never doubting that this book would be published.

I would like to thank my family, friends, and brothers and sisters in Christ who have prayed for the publication of this book. A special thanks to the members of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church of Kendall and Bethel Evangelical Church of Cuba for their prayers.

I would also like to express my gratitude to my sisters in Christ, Aymet Ramos and Teresita Miglio, for their assistance in the editing and proofreading of the manuscript.

INTRODUCTION

I n November 1966, student Robert Smith entered a beauty salon in Mesa, Arizona, and shot four women and a three-year-old girl, all strangers to him. I wanted to get known, just wanted to get myself a name, he told police as they walked him away from the carnage. ¹ In January 2009, a seventy-four-year-old businessman named Adolf Merckle, desperate because of the poor state of his companies, committed suicide by throwing himself under a train. ² By December 2008, Forbes magazine had estimated Merckle’s assets as more than nine billion dollars.

In the first case, a young man eager to emerge from anonymity tries to be noticed in an extreme way, with dire consequences for him and others. In the second case, a man who built his identity on the basis of his wealth, when he lost it, due to a global economic crisis, he not only lost his identity but his life as well, since life, according to him, was no longer worth living.

The above events—a crime and a suicide—both independent and seemingly inexplicable, have the same origin: the crisis of lack of identity affecting humanity apart from God.

If someone asks you what your identity is, you would probably respond by saying your first and last name. However, that would be the correct answer to the question What is your name? The name, in modern times, does not describe the identity of a person. Identity involves more than a name; it is the set of traits or qualities that identify an individual or group of individuals. Your identity must answer two questions. Who are you? How are you? So which is the identity of a human being?

According to science, man belongs to the kingdom Animal, phylum Chordata, class Mammalia, order Primates, family Hominidae, subfamily Hominini, genus Homo, and species Homo sapiens. Our closest relatives, scientifically, are the chimpanzees. These animals share with humans the kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, and subfamily. Man only differs from chimpanzees in genus and species. Chimpanzees, along with orangutans, gorillas, bonobos, and humans, are called great apes. In summary, according to science, man is a great ape, with the distinction of being the wiser one of this big family.

While reading this book, you will be convinced that you are not an ape. You will discover your true identity, and you will realize that man has not been so wise by trying to live apart from his Creator.

If you think this book is not for you, because you lack faith and do not believe in the existence of God, I can assure you that you do have faith. All human beings have faith, to some extent. For example, if you are a professional, you have faith in the abilities and the knowledge you have acquired through your studies. If you’re an athlete, you have faith in your abilities and physical condition. If you are a successful businessperson, you have faith in your ability to do business.

On the other hand, if you are a person who has gone seriously wrong in life and have no hope because you think you’ve lost faith in everything, I can tell you that you have not lost your faith. What you have lost are only those things in which you mistakenly placed your faith. Faith is still in you, but you need to deposit it in the one person who will never fail you: your Creator.

Even if you do not believe in the existence of a Creator and do not practice any religion, you will benefit from reading this book. I urge you to give yourself an opportunity to learn about a wonderful spiritual world we all belong to. I can assure you that you also belong to the spiritual world, because as a human being, besides your physical body, you have two spiritual components: the soul and the spirit.

This is not one more book about religion, because religion has consistently failed to bring man to God. This book focuses on the study of man as a tripartite being consisting of body, soul, and spirit. Furthermore, it explains how, through our spiritual components, we can interrelate with the spiritual world, especially with God.

PART 1

OUR IDENTITY

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

—Romans 8:16

CHAPTER 1

IDENTITY UPON THE SAND

Seeking an Acceptable Identity

A ccepting an ape identity is only a small part of the price mankind has paid for living separated from God. Of course, fully identifying with a family of chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas cannot satisfy the expectations of any man. Therefore, a person who believes he belongs to the ape family is forced to add other things to his identity in order to satisfy his self-esteem. These additions may include academic qualifications, political positions, material wealth, or fame through an extraordinary artistic or sporting activity.

Accepting an ape identity is only a small part of the price mankind has paid for living separated from God.

An identity that depends on what we possess or what we do is like a house built upon the sand. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand (Matthew 7:26). The first problem of an identity upon the sand is that not everyone manages to amass enough sand to build his identity. In other words, not all people can attain academic qualifications, political positions, or the fame and wealth required to support a socially acceptable identity.

The second issue of an identity built on academic qualifications, political positions, fame, or wealth is that they can be lost overnight, resulting in a collapse of the identity that depended on them. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall (Matthew 7:27). We have an example of this collapse of identity with university graduates who have lived for decades in their countries of origin and have immigrated to countries where their academic diplomas are not valid or recognized. Suddenly, these people see that their identities, which had been sustained all their lives by their careers, crumble.

Another example is when immensely wealthy people experience financial ruin in a short time and lose their identity built on riches, sometimes leading to suicide, as in the example cited before. Jesus warned us about an identity built on the accumulation of things. And He said to them, ‘Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses’ (Luke 12:15).

It is sad to see how many people have wasted their lives and made great sacrifices for the sole purpose of seeing their names written in some book or record of famous people, in order for them to be immortalized. Unfortunately, many persons who were immortalized according to world standards are suffering eternal death in hell, separated from God forever, because they did not seek to have their names written in the most important book of all: the Lamb’s Book of Life. The Creator of the universe has established that only those whose names are written in that book will reach eternal life. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light (Revelation 21:23). But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 21:27).

While people are busy and engaged in accumulating possessions or in achieving success in a sport, the arts, science, or politics, they come to realize that the great emptiness they have inside is not being satisfied. Then they think that maybe they are not doing enough or need a little more. They strive every day more and more, and when they reach the pinnacle of success, they realize that the emptiness is still there. That is when a decision can transform their present and future lives, for better or worse.

If the person decides to seek God, He will come to dwell in that place reserved for Him in the spiritual heart of every human being. Then the emptiness disappears and he or she begins to live a full life in communion with the Creator, recovering his or her true identity as a child of God. Since then, the person will no longer be focused on propping up a false identity, but he or she will be focused on fulfilling the specific purpose for which God brought him or her into this world. On the other hand, his or her name will be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life for everlasting life.

On the contrary, if the person persists in trying to fill the emptiness of life with other things like alcohol, sex, or drugs, he or she may end his or her earthly life prematurely and go to eternal spiritual death.

Consequences of the Lack of Identity

The main and most serious consequence of a lack of identity is idolatry.

As a result of the above, a lack of a true identity is one of many serious problems that mankind faces in these times, which has terrible consequences. The main and most serious consequence of a lack of identity is idolatry. Man not only ignores who he is but also completely ignores how he is. He ignores that he has a soul and a spirit that need to be nurtured, just as the body needs food and water. When the spiritual components of man cry to be nurtured and fed, the person seeks to satisfy these needs in various ways.

Those who believe in the spiritual world adhere to some kind of religion and start practicing false worship, of which there is a great variety to choose from since mankind has been creating the most varied forms of religious idolatry through thousands of years of history. Consequently, because of ignorance, many sincere people who desire to know the only true God never get to know Him.

People who do not believe in the existence of the spiritual world are unaware that they too create their own idols, since idolatry not only refers to the spiritual worship of false gods. An idol is anything, material or spiritual, that tries to take the place of God in the life of a person. These people make idols of money, material possessions, their professions, and everything upon which they try to construct an acceptable identity to be recognize by society.

Those who have succeeded according to world standards, that is, they have reached wealth and fame, become idols of the youth that is devoid of values and identity. These young people wake up one day with the surprising news that their idol, who they had considered the happiest person in the world, has been found dead from a drug overdose or has committed suicide. They will now have to find a new idol to follow.

Lack of identity leads to loss of self-esteem, with consequences ranging from depression and other psychiatric disorders to dangerous behaviors, such as suicide and murder.

On the other hand, the lack of identity inevitably leads to loss of self-esteem, with consequences ranging from depression and other psychiatric disorders to dangerous behaviors, such as suicide and murder.

According to the World Health Organization, over 800,000 people commit suicide every year, and there are many more who attempt suicide.³ The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention reports 41,149 suicides in the United States in 2013, making suicide the tenth leading