Man a three Dimensional being And the lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7 When God made man, He made him a three dimensional being which comprises of the spirit, soul and body, the Godhead decided to create man unlike the other creatures that was before him. No other creatures of God had the features of man which makes him very unique; though frail in nature, he was a wonder to behold when he was created, for there was great rejoicing in Heaven and amidst the angels in Heaven when he was created. Man is a spirit who have a soul and lives in a body, the bible says God created man in His own image and likeness and when man was eventually created, the bible continued, man was formed out of the ground (body), and God breathed into him the breath of life (spirit), and man became (conscious) a living soul (soul). We can see clearly right from the beginning that man is a spirit just as God is a Spirit, because He said to the Godhead let us create man in our own image and in our own likeness. So it is only reasonable that God created man a spirit because He is a Spirit, but forming him out of the dust of the ground makes him have a body and physical, and breathing in him makes him conscious having a soul. Man is a spirit who has a Soul and lives in a body which makes him a tripartite being. Man as a spirit And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life…………………………………….. Genesis 2:7 The bible says that God is a Spirit and dwells in an unapproachable light, which no man has seen or can see. When God the father was discussing with the Godhead, which comprises of God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Spirit (Holy Ghost), He said let’s us create man in our own image and likeness, what He was saying was that let us create man as ourselves, let them have our attributes and be as Spirit as we are; the Godhead agreed on creating man as a spirit. The intention of God in creating man was for fellowship, He wanted a new kind of relationship with His creatures, so He created man a spirit to have relations with Him. God dwells in an unapproachable light in which no man has seen or can see, man as just a body can not approach Him, because the body makeup does not have the capacity to have relations with God, which was why when man lost his place in the spiritual in the bible times sees God (Angels) he would think he’s going to die, as in the case of Samson’s parents just to mention a few, Judges 13:22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. But our spirit is created for far much more, we are created to have fellowship with the Father in the Spiritual. God created man as Himself so that he would be able to approach Him. God is a Spirit and it takes a spirit to fellowship with a spirit, man can’t fellowship with God through the soul, and neither can he fellowship with God through the body, so man needs a spirit to be able to fellowship with God properly as he his created a spirit originally. Though the soul and the body is also very important (this we will learn more about as we continue in this chapter), for as we worship and fellowship with the father, we use the soul to process what we are receiving from the spirit, send the message to the body and the body expresses it physically and we take different forms in worshiping and fellowshipping with the father physically. This makes fellowship complete on this side of eternity, but when we get to the other side of eternity and are perfected, its going to be something entirely different, because we are all going to possess spiritual bodies and our mind will be improved or permanently renewed, so to say. The spirit is the actual man, man is a spirit who has a soul and lives in a body. The spirit is what God is actually concerned about, because the spirit is the real man. The spirit sometimes called the inner man in the scriptures, it is so called because spirits can not be seen which is the most important part of man, not that the other parts of man are not equally important or that God care less about this other parts, no, the spirit being the real man and the most important part has great influence on the other parts, which is why God is most concerned about the spirit. Man was not created to die or to be destroyed but to live forever, the original intention of God was for man to live forever when he was created, this is why the real man is the spirit, as we all know Spirits do not die, they are immortal existing forever and for all eternity. Spirits also have the ability not to be limited, spirits are not limited to time or space, which is also why God created man as a spirit not to be limited to time or space. We are created to rule and have dominion on earth according to Genesis`1:28, and in order for us to be able to do this we need not be limited nor subjected to the elementary things of this world. Genesis 1:26 And God said, let’s make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. God created man a spirit not to die or be limited, but to rule and have dominion on earth over all He had created, even though the purpose was once interrupted, life in Christ brought all (Spiritual authority) back. The spirit is the real man which is why it has tendencies that other parts do not have, the spirit is the most active part of man, but the unfortunate thing is that, it is the most underutilized. As a result of the fall, man tends to operate more in the other parts than he does in the spirit. The spirit is the part we use in contacting the spiritual realm, it is impossible to do that with the other parts, we get to fellowship with the father in the spirit. After so many years of not understanding this (though this is who we are), Jesus shed light to it in a simple way in His discourse with the woman at the well in John chapter 4:24 for God is spirit and those that worship God will worship Him in truth and spirit, for the father is Spirit. We are spiritually begotten and can not but live like that, the devil knew this which was why he did all he could in the Garden of Eden to bring Adam down from that realm to the realm of the flesh, he is still doing this today by always trying to make us function in the realm of the soul (mental) and physical, because he knows that at this level we are always powerless, subjected and will not operate at our full potential. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:16&25 This is the reason the New Testament teachings is always about our walk in the spirit, the bible says walk in the spirit that you might not gratify the lust of the flesh, also, if we live in the spirit, let us therefore walk in the spirit. We are spiritual beings and can only function properly in the spirit; any other thing aside from this will mean we will only struggle and never fit in to the perfect will and plan of God for our lives. As a result of being created a spirit and spiritually begotten, we crave and yearn for the spiritual. Our longing for the spiritual and not knowing how to actually do that had made the devil corrupt so many, they have delve into the spiritual realms without the Holy Spirit which is spiritual suicide (eternal separation from God). The devil understanding our needs in the spiritual and that our potentials can be maximized in this realm, seizes the opportunity by leading many into the spiritual realm without the Holy Spirit. He uses this to be able to use man to fully perform his (Demonic) enterprise, this is the reason we hear all sort of things this days on how we can attain spiritual heights without God. He knows that without God we will always misuse it, and thereby give him the opportunity to fulfill his lusts. This is what is going to happen at the end after the rapture (during the dispensation of lawlessness), the devil will succeed in deceiving all men that were left behind (though not all but all that eventually accepted the mark of the beast), to attain the spiritual realm without God. The same old lie to Adam and Eve that they will be god will be repeated, so everyone will want to be God at that time; though no Christian will be on earth at the time. This is what is going to happen to us all too as Christians, we are all going to be changed too, spiritual body and all, and we will be able to fully worship God after the rapture in truth and spirit. Having an understanding of the spiritual gives an edge to anyone, and we believers most importantly against the devil and his cohorts. Man is a spirit (the real man), who has a soul and lives in a body, and the spirit is what he uses to contact the spiritual realm. Man as a soul ………………………………and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7 After man was formed out of the dust of the ground, God breathe in him the breath of life and this breath made him conscious of himself and environment, thereby having a soul. Though we have concluded that the spirit is the real man and the most important part of man, the soul is equally important. Man contacts the spiritual realm with the spirit and the soul is what he uses in contacting the intellectual realm. The soul is sometimes known as the mind, which is where the mind (Where we have the intellect and senses), emotions and will (the faculty by which a person decides on and initiate actions) rests. We look at these in details. Mind The mind is where we have the intellect, which is the faculty of reasoning and understanding objectively, it is also known as man’s mental power. This is the faculty man uses to reason his way out when he is faced with a difficult situation or wants to make a rational decision; he tries to understand the situation he is faced with objectively and make an informed and rational decision. Also when man tends to be innovative, it is this faculty that goes to work. The mind is closely related to the will because the will is what man uses to decide and initiate actions; also control or restraint deliberately and exerts a desire or intention. The mind is the power house of the soul; it works far more than the computer. It is said that the most intelligent man to have lived used just a fraction of the brain (the mind controls the brain) and yet did so much exploit, so come to think of what the mind of man is capable of if all the capacity is utilized. Though our mind is so powerful, the Lord do not intend to fellowship with us through the mind or the soul alone because it has been tainted by the fall, and tend to be abused, so it is relegated to the intellectual realm. Though it was not meant to be so, because at creation our mind was strongly connected to the spirit and not meant to do otherwise, but as a result of the fall the mind now tend to go contrary to the spirit. Formally at creation the mind and the spirit move in the same direction, but the fall awakens the consciousness of the mind to go contrary to the spirit, invariably against God. This is why the bible enjoins us to constantly renew our mind with the word of God. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2 As a result of the fall, the mind had been tainted by the world (the realm of senses), and also because we have been in this world and like this for long, we can not naturally connect to the spirit. Now that we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and personal savior and have become new man and spirit quickened, it is imperative that we constantly renew our mind with the word of God, so that our mind could stay connected to the spirit and can only reason according to the spirit and not go contrary. Senses Man’s senses which is the part of the mind is directly attached to the sensory organs which comprises of the eyes, nose, tongue, ear and the skin, we use our eyes to see, our ears to hear, our tongue to taste, our noses to smell and our skin to feel. When any of these organs gets a message, it sends it to the brain and the mind is able to decode the message that each organ sends to the brain. The sense realm is the realm that man naturally adapts to after the fall, and he has been sensed ruled for long. This does not mean that our senses is meant to be useless, for if God had created it there is definitely a need for it, so imagine that man does not have this faculty, man will be useless and would not be able to function properly on earth. Emotions Emotions are man’s feelings, which also determine and differentiate the different kinds of feelings a man has. Man can feel different kinds of feelings because he was created just like God and thereby can feel all the feelings God can, though not as intense. So all the feeling that could be man has the tendency to feel it, to mention just a few of this feelings, man feels anger, hatred, love, disappointment, joy, rest, peace, excitement and many more. The emotion is the part of the soul which is the most visible, and invariably the expression of the soul; however a man feels it will be expressed through the emotions. The emotion portrays the soul, and it is equally directly connected to the body, whatever happens to the body can be easily seen from our emotions. The spiritual too is sometimes expressed through emotions, but many abuse this, whenever anything is happening in the spiritual, they tend to look for emotions because they can easily relate to the senses. Our emotions are good and meant to serve a good purpose, but it is most of the time abused, especially when it comes to the spiritual. When we feel things and there is no way to express it, then it will be some worth difficult, but thank God we have emotions and can express what and how we feel. Sometimes too, God allows that which we are experiencing in the spirit to be expressed through emotions, but it’s not all the time. Our emotion is simply the picture or expression of our soul. Will The faculty by which a person decides on and initiates action, also known as will power. This is the part of the soul by which man controls or restraint; deliberately exert a desire or intention. Man is a rational being, God created man to think, He did not just create a vegetable but a complete man. When man is faced with a difficult Situation, he has the ability to think his way through and come out with a reasonable solution. The will is directly connected to the mind because it is the mind which works when man is engaged in reasoning, and the will decides on the necessary action to take. We are meant to think right, make rational decisions and take corresponding actions, which is why we have a will. The will power is the strongest and most powerful part of the soul; even God can not tamper or force our will. When we were created God gave us freewill, the power of acting without constraint of necessity or fate and the ability to act at one’s own discretion. Our will is the most important thing we have as humans, because nothing can force us against our will, though it sometimes look like we are forced against our will in some certain situations. Even as we concluded that nothing can force us against our will, our will could be greatly influenced to the extent we loose our will. Our will can be influenced depending on who we give it to, either we give it to God and be influenced and led by the Holy Ghost, or we refuse to give it to Him thinking we will do our own thing our own way and be ruled by no one. Not deciding for God is a decision itself for the devil because you will be sensed ruled, gratifying the lust of the flesh, thereby being influenced and led by sin which invariably is the devil. So in other words, your will is not influenced because it is all about who you gave it to at first. The soul is as well important part of man as the spirit, because if there is no soul there will be no man, looking at all the characteristics of the soul, which is same as that of God, we can not but conclude that the soul is an integral part of man and as much man as the spirit. Though it is an integral part of man, he is very limited by the soul. If he function in the soulish (the level of feelings and reasoning) realm alone, then he will be limited to the natural or and intellectual level alone. The natural and intellectual level is the level of the senses and logic, which is a lower level as compared to God’s best for our lives. This is the reason that God can not relate with us at this level alone, those that remain at this level are babes in the Christendom and will never experience the supernatural, because they will always want to see, hear, or feel every thing before they can relate with it. This set of people can not live by faith also, because you need to see into the Spirit in order to walk in faith, and the bible says without faith it is impossible to please God, and also that we set our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen, for what is seen is temporal but what is unseen is eternal. Faith nullify the senses, it is seeing and believing the impossible, which those at this level find difficult to do. The soul is an equally important part of man; we use the spirit to contact the spiritual realm and the soul to contact the intellectual realm. Man as a body And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground……………………………… Genesis 2:7 The Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground; this made him have a flesh and physical. Though the actual man is the spirit and has a soul, he is made from the dust of the ground which makes him have a body and physical. This is the least important part of man, but it is equally very important, because without the body, man will not be positioned on earth. Even though it is the least important part of man, it is what the carnal man (the man that remains at the soulish level and refuse to move to the spiritual level) takes care of the most. Earlier on, we said the spirit is what we use in contacting the spiritual realm and the soul is what we use in contacting the intellectual realm, so the body is what we used in contacting the physical realm. The body keeps us here on earth and gives us a shape, without the body we will not be able to stay on earth or be seen, because spirits can’t be seen, save with spiritual eyes. Without the body man will not be confined to a place, he will not be limited. Most importantly the body is what enables us to be able to perform the duties we are placed here on earth to accomplish; thus the body enables us to fulfill purpose. There are different kinds of body according to the scripture, the spiritual and the physical body, the physical body limits us but when we all shall have received the spiritual body we would not be limited but fully manifest our potential in the spiritual. The physical body gives us the ability to fulfill purpose while we are still on earth, so also will the spiritual body give us the ability in the spiritual to be able to function to the fullest in the spiritual. The bible says in Ephesians 2:10 we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God had prepared before time that we should walk in. It is the body that gives us the ability to do the work of God on earth, the body also helps in discernment, because the sense organs are placed on the body, so without the body the soul will not function properly. The body also provides us with temporary residence on earth, so that when it is done away with, we can have a permanent resident in Heaven with God in our spiritual body. Finally without the body there is no complete man. In conclusion, man is made up of the spirit, soul, and body. The spirit is what we use in contacting the spiritual realm, which enables us to be able to properly fellowship with God, the soul is what we use in contacting the intellectual realm, which housed the mind, emotions and will, and the body is what we used in contacting the physical realm, which keeps us here on earth to be able to fulfill purpose. For man to be complete or for man to be a man, he must posses a spirit, soul and body. Man was created unique, though frail, his uniqueness is in his frailty, the other creatures in the Heavenlies tend to be stronger and more powerful but not as unique as he is. The angels are powerful and stronger but they still wonder at the uniqueness of man, the truth is that man is a small God and has all the attributes of God which other creatures do not have.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:42:10 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015