Where Are You

When God created man, "He created him in His own image according His likeness." (Genesis 1:27) This has nothing to do with mans body, for it was "formed from the dust of the ground" (Genesis 2:7) It wasn't until God "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; that man became a living being." (Genesis 2:7) The Holy Spirit reveals through the apostle Paul that man is composed of "spirit, soul (mind, will and emotions) and body." (1 Thessalonians 5:23) However, when we consider that man was made in Gods image and likeness, "God is Spirit..." (John 4:24) we then come to understand that the real man is a spirit, with a soul who lives in a physical body.

The body possesses the five senses, touch, taste, feel, hear and see and until one is "born again, born of the Spirit" (John 3:3-8) the senses are the educators and teachers of the brain. However, if the senses are impaired then the brain cannot assimilate knowledge properly. For instances, if a person is born without hearing, then trying to listen to an announcer at a baseball game is meaningless. If a person is born without sight then taking them to view the magnificence of the Grand Canyon will have very little benefit. In other words, the brain is totally dependent upon the five senses. Without them in full operation, not only is knowledge limited, but the body and soul are limited also.

Looking back at the Garden of Eden, Adam's act of treason brought death to all mankind resulting in condemnation (Romans 5:17-18) The moment Adam realized what he did, both he and his wife hid from God, "And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden." (Genesis 3:8) Naturally, they could not really hide from God. However, the instance that Adam fell, his spirit lost it dominion and he now had to rely on his senses. His spiritual prowess had now become enveloped by his flesh,"And the LORD said,"My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh..." (Genesis 6:3). Although Adam was created with the five senses, I believe that his senses did not play a very large part of his life prior to the fall as they did after. Prior to the fall his spirit dominated his body as well as his soul. His spirit governed his reasoning faculties and was the avenue in which his mind received knowledge. However, once he fell, he would be fully dependent on his senses to survive because he (his spirit) had lost contact with God, his body was now subject to death and all the knowledge that he would acquirer would come solely through his senses.

All the knowledge that one acquires through the senses is dwarfed when compared with the knowledge that comes through the spirit. Saul of Tarsus, who we know as the apostle Paul was a highly educated and intelligent religious leader, yet he said, "But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.  Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." (Philippians 3:7-8) The knowledge that he had received prior to his conversion was through his senses. However, now he boasts in the knowledge of Christ Jesus because it far exceeds sense knowledge, it is spiritual. It is revelation that comes by the Holy Spirit through the recreated (born again) spirit. Paul also tells us, "...We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up..." (1 Corinthians 8:1)
He is saying that it is sense knowledge that causes people to become filled with pride. Now we can understand why the natural, sense knowledge person has trouble understanding the things of God, "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14)

When people operate in sense knowledge only, their reaction to God (spiritual things) becomes much like Adam and his wife. In a sense (no pun intended) they hide from God. The sad thing is, many in the church today, especially church leaders, depend on their senses to obtain knowledge which directly opposes the kind of faith that pleases God (Hebrews 11:6). If what they believe cannot be assimilated in their mind by what they have learned through their senses, then it must not be true, ego why we have the doctrines of man superseding the Word of God in the church today. However, their is some wonderful news.

First, for the non-believer, simply by "confessing with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.' (Born Again) (Romans 10:9) The moment this takes place you become, "a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17) Your recreated spirit can now give revelation knowledge of spiritual things to your mind. Secondly, for the believer, the apostle Paul prayed, "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened;" (Ephesians 1:17-18) The believer can have revelation knowledge which supersedes sense knowledge. However, in either case revelation knowledge comes through a steady diet of reading, studying and most importantly, meditating on the Word of God. This in turn builds our faith (Romans 10:17) which will ultimately bring believers to the place where our spirit, the real you and me, dominates the soul and body as it did with Adam prior to the fall.

So, where are you? Are you living out your Christian life believing because your senses make it believable, like the apostle Thomas (John 20:24-29) or do you believe because the Word of God says so, period? The first will cause us to hide from God because we do not truly know His will, nature, character, purposes and plan, but the latter will cause us to walk on this earth as super people "walking by faith and not by sight"
(2 Corinthians 5:7)