It is said in the Bible that on the sixth day of creation, God created man in his own image. (Gen.1:27). He “formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living soul.” (Gen.2:7). And the Lord God said: “for dust thou art, and unto dust shall thou return.” (Gen.3:19). So, as the Soul is part of God – breath of the divine; and the body made of dust, it is concluded by many that the soul belongs to God and the body is the native of the earth.
Jane Schaible says in her article – Natives of Heaven – “we have been chosen by heaven’s maker to be born as a native of his very own homeland.” God had created Adam and Eve in a state of innocence and grace but when they were tempted to eat the forbidden fruit, as punishment for disobedience, they were driven from the Garden of Eden and subject to suffering and death.
The soul lives in the body which acts as a box of the soul. In its original state, the soul is a picture of purity, peace, love and truth because it is breath of God of which we are made of; and as the soul enjoys the God given freedom without any interference from Him; no matter what happens to us and no matter what we do, the soul gets associated with the mind to play various roles and gets tarnished with attachments; it becomes prone to physical desires and vices such as lust, anger, greed and ego. This influence of vices gradually increases and makes humans to perform unrighteous action that leads to pain and suffering which makes people to turn to God for salvation.
God did not abandon man, He had pity on man. As God created man to know Him, love Him, serve Him and be happy with Him forever in heaven, He sent Jesus to make amends for mankind – His children. Without the soul the body is lifeless – it is dead. The soul never dies and nothing can destroy the soul. After death the soul undergoes purification to achieve necessary holiness to enter heaven. The Church calls this state of life ‘purgatory’.
Many believe that at the time of death, it carries with it imprints of its existence of various imperfections and takes rebirth in another body; and thus it continues to purify itself by rebirth with the aim to finally end with the Supreme soul in heaven. Therefore, in this fallen world, we have to play our part and print our story on the sands of time by choosing the good and rejecting the bad if we want to win Divine Oscar in Heaven --- our native land. “Not wanting to be like everybody else, desire to be salt and light in a dark work,” according to Jane.
So, according to Jane Schaible, we are “‘distinctively different’ from the ways of this world, ... more like Christ ...more like a real, live native of Heaven, Aliens here – but natives of Heaven.”