In furtherance of our study on spirit, soul and body, we will look at the human spirit, the real man.Last week, we learnt that God is spirit and that man was made exactly like God. Remember that during creation, in the Garden of Eden, The LORD God commanded the man, saying, From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die (Gen 2:16-17).
In Chapter Three of Genesis, we understand that Adam did eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil — He transgressed, and the consequence of his transgression was death… for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.
The word surely is used to emphasize the speaker’s firm belief that what they are saying was true or must come to pass. The Lord God, who is the speaker, said to Adam: make no mistake about this, you will die if you transgress.
But Adam did not cease to exist or expire physically after he transgressed. He died spiritually — his spirit became estranged from the life of God. His spirit lost contact with God, thus inferring that when God said “You” in above text, he was not speaking about Adam`s physical body, but his spirit, the real man.
Adam was made exactly like God, a spirit being; he was in God’s class. When he transgressed, he became a partaker of Satan’s nature. Since he is a spirit being, it was his spirit that partook of Satan’s nature.
Prior to the fall in the Garden, during Adam’s fellowship with God, his spirit ruled him and his senses were subject to his spirit.
But once his spirit received the nature of the adversary, it became subservient to his senses. His spirit became prisoner of his senses.
This is the reason the psalmist cried Bring my soul out prison that I may praise thy name (Psalms142:7).
From the original rendering, the Hebrew word should have been translated “spirit” not soul. It was a cry of the human spirit for freedom.
Man spirit became estranged from God; he lost contact with God. His spirit came into harmony with Satan. His body became mortal and subject to death.
However, this cry of the spirit as narrated by the psalmist was remedied by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus — who gave himself as ransom for all and made the new birth a reality.
Scriptures declare…If any man be in Christ he is new creature (2Cor5:17). Just like Adam’s death was spiritual, the New Birth is also spiritual. It is the recreation and impartation of God’s nature into the human spirit. Contact with God is re-established.
This is why Paul, in his letter to the church at Ephesus, labels the believer God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] (Ephesians 2:10).
At the new birth, it is the spirit that died due to Adam`s transgression, that is recreated. Contact with God is reinstated. He becomes a New Creature or Brand new species of being.
You see, the spirit is the real man. The body is not the real man; it is simply the house in which the spirit lives. Neither is the soul the real man. We cannot contact God with our soul. Neither can we contact God with our body. We can contact God only with our spirit.
All through scriptures, the words ‘heart’ and ‘spirit’ are used interchangeably. For instance, Ezekiel looking in the future, foretold of the new birth, saying, A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
Note that Isaiah distinguishes the body from the spirit, saying. I will remove from your body, the heart (spirit) of stone (nature of the adversary), and give you a heart of flesh.
Also, Romans 10:10, states, For with the heart (Spirit) man believeth unto righteousness. New International Rendering declares, For it is with your heart (Spirit) that you believe and are justified. “We believe God with our spirit, the real man.”
Before I continue, it is worth mentioning that the conscience is the voice of the human spirit. Every man’s spirit has a voice, whether he is saved or unsaved.
For the spiritually dead (unsaved), his conscience does not object to wrongdoing simply because his spirit is in harmony with Satan. His spirit has the nature of the adversary: …”He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
But for the saved, his spirit has the life and nature of God in it; the Holy Spirit dwells within him. His conscience, which is sometime called intuition or inner voice of guidance, objects to wrongdoings. The believer’s conscience, the voice of his spirit, becomes the voice of God. Hallelujah!!!
By Emmanuel Emeke Asiwe
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