SPIRIT

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole SPIRIT and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” – 1 Thessalonians 5:23

The Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, refers to the SPIRIT, soul and body; inferring that man is a triune being, one with three primary components. We’ll examine all three, beginning with the SPIRIT of man. Humanity – man and womb-man – was made in the image and likeness of God (Gen.1:26). Remember, God is a Spirit (Jh.4:24). Therefore, man is a spirit.  Of all the creations of God in the earth, only man was created a spirit being. All human beings are first and foremost SPIRITS, not bodies. On the inside of every living human body there is a human spirit – the real person, the one created in God’s image to look like God and after His likeness to function like Him: “But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding” (Job 32:8). There is a spirit being on the inside of every living human body.

We’re not like animals; we’re spirit beings. The Genesis account of creation shows how all animals and plants came into being by God’s Word. But in the creation of man, two distinct words are used: “created” (Gen.1:27) and “formed” (Gen.2:7). When God “created” man in His image and in His likeness, no one could see the created man, because this had to do with the human spirit. When God formed man from the dust of the ground, this referred to his physical body. After He formed man, He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, thus introducing the spirit-man He had created into the physical body that He formed, and man became a living soul. That’s what makes us different from all the other animals. We are not some sort of higher mammal. You’re primarily a spirit – a living soul – not a physical body!

God is a Spirit. He functions in the spirit realm. It is through the spirit of man that He communicates with us. He doesn’t communicate through our souls as He doesn’t operate in the soulish realm; and not through our bodies because He doesn’t live in the physical realm. It is your spirit that is " Born Again" when Christ becomes your Savior, not your body. The "New Creation" occurs in the human spirit, not the soul or body (2Cor. 5:17). Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (1Cor. 15:50). At the New Birth, you become brand new in your spirit, not in your body. At the moment of physical expiration, the spirit of man – the real person, departs the body and heads for Heaven or Hell: “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2Cor. 5:8). Thus, we have absolute assurance of seeing our Born Again departed loved ones again. The human spirit can actually vacate or depart the body, which for the Christian is “far better”: “To depart and be with Christ is far better” (Phil. 1:23). 

Just as the human body require physical food, the real food for the human spirit is God’s Word: “…Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matt.4:4). Your spirit will develop only through the Word. You – your spirit – is built, edified, nourished and sustained through the Word: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Pet.2:2). Beloved, it is important for you to realize that you and every other human being ever birthed into this Earth are spirit beings. This revelation will affect the entirely of your life and destiny!