“the hidden person of the heart” (1 Pet. 3:4, NKJV)
Seen in overarching terms, we are still busy examining the characteristics of “the Spirit of the Lord” (Isa. 11:2), and to figure out what distinctive functions this first of the seven Spirits of God has.
It is now possible to get to an important part of our understanding of the inner man that is recreated through the Spirit.
When we are born-again an amazing mystery takes place – “the hidden person of the heart” (1 Pet. 3:4) takes shape. Thus, as 1 Cor. 15:44b simply makes clear: “There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” This distinction is of the greatest importance, and the source of much confusion. For a very long time we considered the two bodies as one person/body.
The natural man, we always noted, is subject to death since Adam fell, and his spirit died or became dormant. Throughout the centuries each person was thus born with only a physical body and a soul dimension, and a dormant spirit. We thus cast natural man in these simplistic terms.
But – with the creation of Man God blew life or breath into him, and that ruach is definitely the word spirit – thus he became a “living soul” (Gen. 2:7). All animals also have this breath/spirit of natural life (Gen. 1:30), or they would not be able to breathe or live. Thus all living animals also have living souls! We should then realise – the natural man has a natural, temporary body, a living soul and a living spirit. This spirit allows him to, like the animals, merely exist, it is not, according to our previous definition of spirit, the ability to be intimate with God.
The spiritual body comes into being when you are born again. Clearly this enigmatic, eternal body is now part of the Body of Christ! It is a distinctive glorified body, which is to say it is a body filled with glory, or: a body filled with grace and truth (John 1:17), but the body functions as a unity within the Body of Christ (Joel 2:7-8). This “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17) thus receives a living spirit (that became dormant with the fall), and a collective soul (of which we wrote in great detail in the teaching of Days 1416-1421). Now my born again spirit can also be intimate with the Holy Spirit, which I received through the laying on of hands. 1 Cor. 12:13 spells it out as follows: “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body … and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” And then this mystery: “But he that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit.” (1 Cor. 6:17, Darby).
Ponder this absolutely core teaching: every born again believer has an earthly tent dwelling, like all people (with body, soul and spirit) AND a building of God, a house that is not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens (2 Cor. 5:1), with body, soul and spirit.
- Selah: Explain this revelation to someone.
- Read: 10-12
- Memorise: 10:12
