Search
Scripture Reading: Gen. 1:26; 2:7; Prov. 20:27; 1 Thes. 5:23; John 4:24; Rom. 1:9; 7:6b; 8:4b-6, 9-11, 15-16; 12:11; Heb. 4:12
I. Man was created by God in three parts — Gen. 1:26; 1 Thes. 5:23:
А. A body made of dust as man’s outward shell, the framework of man — Gen. 2:7a.
B. A spirit produced of the breath of the life of God breathed into the nostrils of man — v. 7b; Prov. 20:27.
C. A soul, the issue of the combination of the breath of God with the body of dust — Gen. 2:7c.
II. The functions of the three parts of man:
А. The spirit of man is the innermost part of man as the reality of man, highly ranked with the heavens and the earth in God’s creation — Zech. 12:1:
1. As the inner organ of man to contact God, to receive God, and to contain God for God’s expression in man — John 4:24.
2. As the lamp of God to contact, receive, and contain God as the light for God to shine through man — Prov. 20:27.
B. The soul of man is the inner part of man as the person of man in between man’s spirit and man’s body:
1. Under man’s spirit as its subordinate to carry out the desires and purposes of the spirit of man.
2. Above man’s body as its master to direct the move and activity of the body of man.
C. The body of man is the outer part of man under the soul of man to carry out the direction of the soul.
III. The spirit of the Old Testament saints in relation to their experience of God:
А. Elihu realized that there is a spirit in man, which is the reality of man before God — Job 32:8, 18.
B. David asked God for a willing spirit in the enjoyment of God’s salvation — Psa. 51:12.
C. The spirit of Mary had exulted in God her Savior, so that her soul magnified the Lord — Luke 1:46-47.
IV. The spirit of the New Testament believers in relation to the accomplishment of God’s eternal economy:
А. In their experience of Christ as life in the dynamic salvation of God:
1. To be regenerated by the Spirit in their spirit — John 3:3, 6.
2. To witness with the Spirit that they are children of God — Rom. 8:16 cf. 9:1.
3. To have the spirit of the sonship of God in which they cry, Abba, Father — 8:15.
4. To have the Lord with them in their spirit — 2 Tim. 4:22.
5. To become the dwelling place of God in their spirit — Eph. 2:22.
6. To worship God in their spirit — John 4:24.
7. To serve God in the newness of their spirit — Rom. 7:6b.
8. To receive wisdom and revelation with their spirit — Eph. 1:17.
9. To be strengthened into their spirit (their inner man) — 3:16.
10. To be renewed in the spirit of their mind — 4:23.
11. To be filled with God in their spirit — 5:18.
12. To set their mind on their spirit that they may enjoy the indwelling Christ, the pneumatic Christ, as the indwelling Spirit to be their life and peace — Rom. 8:6b, 9-11.
13. To pray in their spirit — Eph. 6:18.
14. To live and walk with God in and according to their spirit — Rom. 8:4b.
B. In their work to minister Christ for the producing and building up of His Body to carry out God’s eternal economy:
1. To be burning in their spirit — 12:11.
2. To fan into flame the gift of God in their spirit, which is of power, love, and sobermindedness — 2 Tim. 1:6-7.
3. The examples of the apostles:
а. Paul:
1) He served God in his spirit — Rom. 1:9.
2) He was provoked in his spirit by the worship of idols in Athens — Acts 17:16.
3) He purposed in his spirit to go to Jerusalem — 19:21.
4) He was going bound in his spirit to Jerusalem — 20:22.
b. Apollos was fervent in his spirit in speaking Christ — 18:25.
c. John was in his spirit to see the four great visions concerning:
1) The church — Rev. 1:10—3:22.
2) The destiny of the world — 4:2—16:21.
3) Babylon the Great (the Roman Catholic Church) and her termination by Christ’s second coming to establish His kingdom of one thousand years — 17:3—20:15.
4) The New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth — 21:1—22:5.
In this chapter we want to fellowship concerning the human spirit of the believers. In the previous two chapters we saw the truth concerning the Spirit of life. God’s move in His eternal economy is altogether wrapped up with the Spirit, and the Spirit is the consummation of the processed and consummated Triune God. Not only so, such a life-giving Spirit is the completion of God’s economy. Without such a Spirit, God’s economy has no way to be completed. So we must pay our full attention to the Spirit of life, who is the life-giving Spirit.
God’s economy is to gain man and make man the same as He is for the producing and building up of the organic Body of Christ. This is the goal: the organic Body of Christ. What God wants, what God desires, is only the organic Body of Christ in which God has constituted Himself with humanity. Do not care for today’s Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism. All these religions are counterfeit. They not only confiscate what God wants but also have become and still are veils upon people. Thus, people cannot see that the goal of God’s eternal economy is the organic Body of Christ. It is fully unveiled in the Holy Scriptures with sixty-six books, but Satan uses Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism to veil the teachers of the Bible.
For example, the term economy of God is clearly unveiled by Paul’s writing. In 1 Timothy 1:3-4 Paul urged Timothy to remain in Ephesus to do one thing. This was to charge certain teachers not to teach things different from the economy of God. Timothy was to charge them not to teach things about the law, genealogies, or myths fabricated by the rabbis. We are to teach just one thing: the economy of God. Whoever reads 1 Timothy 1:3-4 should ask what the economy of God is, because this is the top thing concerning which Paul exhorted Timothy. Thank the Lord that over the past thirty years, the merciful Lord has opened our eyes to see God’s economy.
Ephesians 1:10 speaks of the economy of the fullness of the times. Then in Ephesians 3 Paul says that he received grace, as one who was less than the least among the saints, to minister the unsearchable riches of Christ to people for the church to come into existence and to enlighten all that they might see what the economy of the mystery is (vv. 8-11). What a great light this is! The Lord’s servants should not be just teachers, teaching people the Bible, or pastors, pastoring a flock. But every one should be a minister, ministering not doctrines but the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel.
We need to realize that Satan hates the high peak of the divine revelation concerning the ultimate goal of God’s economy. He hates this one main point — that God became a man so that man may become God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead to produce the organic Body of Christ for the fulfillment of God’s economy to close this age and to bring Christ back to set up His kingdom. This is why we need prayer for fighting the spiritual warfare for the release of these messages. Today where is the Body of Christ on this earth? Today who understands and ministers and practices the Body of Christ? This is altogether something new. God purposely in His incarnation became a man that man may become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead for the producing of the organic Body of Christ to fulfill God’s economy to close this age and to bring Christ back with His kingdom. All these crystallization messages are for this purpose. They are for the producing of the church life, the Body life.
Today we have to know our mingled spirit and to exercise our spirit. This mingled spirit is the unique organ for God to bring forth and build up the Body of Christ. The center of God’s creation was His forming a spirit within man. Zechariah 12:1 and Isaiah 42:5 indicate that the spirit of man should be ranked with the heavens and the earth. According to the concept of the prophets, there are only three big things in the universe besides God. God, of course, is the biggest. Besides God there are the heavens, the earth, and the spirit of man.
The heavens are for the earth. The rain, sunshine, and fresh air from the heavens are for the earth to grow things. Then the earth is for man. The vegetable life, animal life, and minerals of the earth are for man’s existence. Man’s physical body is constituted with these things. Our body is made of the dust of the earth and is constituted with minerals such as copper, iron, and sulphur. For such a dusty body to live, the earth is needed. Thus, the heavens are for the earth, the earth is for man, and finally, man is for God. In order for man to be for God, man needs a spirit. Man is physical, dusty, but God is not. God is Spirit, so man needs a spirit to contact God. This is why God created man in a very particular way by making a spirit for man. For God’s fulfillment of His eternal economy, three things are the greatest: the heavens, the earth, and the spirit of man.
Man was created by God in three parts (Gen. 1:26; 1 Thes. 5:23). Man’s body made of dust is his outward shell, his framework (Gen. 2:7a). Medical doctors tell us that the study of the human body is endless.
Second, man was created with a spirit, not made but produced of the breath of the life of God breathed into the nostrils of man (v. 7b; Prov. 20:27). This is not the life of God but only the breath of the life of God. This is proved by Proverbs 20:27, which says, “The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah.” The word spirit here is the same Hebrew word for breath in Genesis 2:7. Thus, the breath of life breathed into man in Genesis 2:7 became man’s spirit.
Man’s body was formed of the dust of the ground; then God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life. Outwardly, man has a body of dust, and inwardly, his spirit was produced of the breath of God. When these two were put together, the soul was produced. The soul was the issue of the combination of the breath of God with the body of dust (v. 7c). The soul is neither dusty nor spiritual. The Greek word for soul is psuche, from which comes the word psychology. Our soul is the psychological part of our being.
The spirit of man is the innermost part of man as the reality of man, highly ranked with the heavens and the earth in God’s creation (Zech. 12:1). If you do not live by the spirit but live by the soul or by the body, you are not a real man. Man’s reality is his spirit.
Man’s spirit is the inner organ of man for him to contact God, to receive God, and to contain God for God’s expression in man (John 4:24). To do anything, we need the proper organ. To see, we need eyes. To smell, we need a nose. We also have a particular organ to contact God. That organ is our human spirit. If we deny our mind and turn to our inner being, we can sense God. But if we remain in our mind and try to figure out where God is, we will not be able to sense Him. There is God, but we must use the proper organ to sense Him. The spirit of man is not only for contacting and receiving God but also for containing God that God may be expressed through man.
The spirit of man is the lamp of God to contact, receive, and contain God as the light for God to shine through man (Prov. 20:27). A lamp needs oil. Then it gives light. The lamp itself has no light. The light comes from the oil burning in the lamp. The oil is God the Spirit, and our spirit is a lamp. God the Spirit is the oil that burns into light to shine within us.
The soul of man is the inner part of man as the person of man in between man’s spirit and man’s body. The soul was meant to be under man’s spirit as its subordinate to carry out the desires and purposes of the spirit of man. Furthermore, the soul was meant to be above man’s body as its master to direct the move and activity of the body of man. Thus, according to the order of God’s creation, the spirit is the “boss,” whereas the soul is the body’s direct “boss.” The body should be the servant. The soul as a person has two organs. The inner organ is the spirit; the outer organ is the body. Yet the spirit is the “boss” of the soul.
Elihu realized that there is a spirit in man, which is the reality of man before God (Job 32:8, 18).
David asked God for a willing spirit in the enjoyment of God’s salvation (Psa. 51:12). In the Old Testament, David realized that in order to enjoy God’s salvation, we need a willing spirit.
Mary was in the New Testament, but she was an Old Testament saint. The spirit of Mary had exulted in God her Savior, so that her soul magnified the Lord (Luke 1:46-47).
For us to experience Christ as life in the dynamic salvation of God, we must know our spirit. Our first experience of Christ as life is our regeneration by the Spirit in our spirit (John 3:3, 6). Then our spirit witnesses with the Spirit that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16 cf. 9:1). Now that we are saved, something within always helps us to realize that we are children of God. That is our human spirit.
We have the spirit of the sonship of God in which we cry, Abba, Father (8:15). After we were regenerated, it became sweet to cry, Abba, Father, because our spirit has become a spirit of sonship. We have the Lord within us in our spirit. Second Timothy 4:22 says, “The Lord be with your spirit.” The dwelling place of God is in our spirit (Eph. 2:22).
God is Spirit, and we need to exercise our spirit to worship Him (John 4:24). Only spirit can worship Spirit. Furthermore, we must serve God in the newness of our spirit (Rom. 7:6b). In the church, if you serve God by your body or by your soul, you are old. People can sense this oldness. The newness in God’s service is in our spirit.
Ephesians 1:17 shows that we receive wisdom and revelation with our spirit. Paul prayed that God would give us a “spirit of wisdom and revelation.” In 3:5 he says that the New Testament revelation concerning Christ and the church was revealed to the apostles and prophets in their spirit. He also prayed in 3:16 that we would be strengthened into our spirit, our inner man. Then he says in 4:23 that we are to be renewed in the spirit of our mind. The mind needs to be filled with the spirit. Also, 5:18 indicates that we need to be filled with God in our spirit. Paul says that the believers should not be drunk with wine but should be filled in their spirit with God. To be drunk is to fill up our body with wine, but to be filled in our spirit is to be filled with God.
We need to set our mind on our spirit so that we may enjoy the indwelling Christ, the pneumatic Christ, as the indwelling Spirit to be our life and peace (Rom. 8:6b, 9-11). We have the Spirit of God as the pneumatic Christ in our spirit but not in our mind, so we must set our mind on the spirit. Then the Spirit of God within our spirit will come to fill up our mind, and we will enjoy the indwelling Christ as our life and our peace.
Ephesians 6:18 says that we need to pray at every time in our spirit. Ephesians has six chapters. Every chapter has a verse concerning our human spirit:
If you take these verses away from Ephesians, it becomes an empty book. This shows that we need to live and walk with God in and according to our spirit (Rom. 8:4b).
In our work to minister Christ for the producing and building up of His Body to carry out God’s eternal economy, we need to be burning in our spirit (12:11) by fanning into flame the gift of God in our spirit, which is of power, love, and sobermindedness (2 Tim. 1:6-7).
We can see this by the examples of the apostles. They worked by exercising their spirit. Paul served God in his spirit (Rom. 1:9). He was provoked in his spirit by the worship of idols in Athens (Acts 17:16). He also purposed in his spirit to go to Jerusalem (19:21). He made this decision not in his mind but in his spirit. He was going bound in his spirit to Jerusalem (20:22). Apollos was fervent in his spirit in speaking Christ (18:25). John was in his spirit to see the four great visions concerning the church (Rev. 1:10—3:22), the destiny of the world (4:2—16:21), Babylon the Great (the Roman Catholic Church) and her termination by Christ’s second coming to establish His kingdom of one thousand years (17:3—20:15), and the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth (21:1—22:5). This is the entire book of Revelation. Revelation covers these four big visions. We too need to be in our spirit to see the visions in this book. It is a matter not merely of mental understanding in our mind but of spiritual realization in our spirit.
