21/7/2016

I am giving a quick snapshot view of this. It won’t cover everything but it will give some understanding of the real issues of spiritual identity and operation we face.

What are the pictures you have of the makeup of man? (spirit, soul, body?)

Why do we think about ourselves like that? (We are naturally focussed instead of spiritually focussed)

What are the eternal parts?

Spirit, soul- identity, self.

3 eternal parts to a son.

How many of you experienced a point where you surrendered to Jesus and felt a new freedom afterwards?

Until we are set free by Jesus taking up residence in us we are pretty much tangled up with the self or flesh part of us. (“The flesh” in scripture is not the body. It is the selfish bit.)

That’s the first freedom we feel. The freedom to choose to connect with our spirit without self getting involved. We can connect up and feel Jesus' warmth and peace.

Our spirit

God gives “a bit“ of Himself to us when we are made, as part of our eternal unseen being. This “part” of Him is a piece of Him, pretty much unchanged. He then takes up residence there in our spirit when invited. The spirit part of us will return to Him, and whether or not we go with Him to Him, depends on whether we become involved/enmeshed with our spirit and through our spirit, with Him.

Enmeshed with Him we go with Him to Him and all that means. (Like gears properly in mesh in a gearbox)

Spirit of man is from God – Zech 12:1 The burden of the Word of the Lord for Israel, says The Lord, who stretches forth the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit (rûach-breath) of man within him.

God forms the spirit of man, so it is of God and is the part of us that connects to Him so He can reside in us, for everything else in us that is Spirit is God.

Genesis 1:26. And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creepers creeping on the earth.

Genesis 2:7. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed (imparted from himself) into his nostrils the breath (puff of inspiration) of life (aliveness); and man became a living soul.

The part of us that is in His likeness is spirit because He is spirit. It is in two parts, the spirit and the soul, which are made to be connected. When they are connected we feel fulfilled, righteous and at peace. When our soul is connected to self, we feel agitated, lacking and selfish.

Our soul

There are 3 Greek words translated soul:-

1) psuchē which means breath, that is, (by implication) spirit, abstractly or concretely and is most used.

2) pneuma which means wind, moving air or breath is mostly used of spirit

3) zoe which is vitality, even of plants and means life. E.g. John 14:6. Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (zoe); no one comes to the Father but by Me.

Matt 10:28. And do not fear (revere, be afraid of) those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul (psuchē). But rather fear (revere, be afraid of) Him who can destroy both soul (psuchē) and body in hell.

‘Soul + body (dust) in hell’. In your patience, gain your souls. The body is separate from the eternal Identity part of man, clay, temporary (time dwelling) until transformed into an eternal resurrection body.

Luke 21:19. By your patience (gk. cheerful endurance) you will gain (acquire) your souls (psuche gk.-breath-spirit).

The Greek words show that both soul and spirit are made of the same stuff, but are different in performance or function. In other words each is made from a piece of Him that He has taken and formed into us. Our Spirit is pretty much an unchanged piece of Dad and our soul is a piece of Him that He has transformed into our identity and emotions and will

The picture I have is of human spirit and soul forming two halves of a wholeness intended by God in our design. When they are aligned as we reconnect with Him, we then function in the wholeness of that design, and the more we surrender to Him the better it works. John 4:23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit (pneuma) and truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him.

Self

You don’t have to put up with self forever. The good news there is that when you graduate from the planet, you don’t need self any more so it is stripped away.

Our attitude toward self is important and Jesus was talking about this when He said in Matthew 16:24 to deny (disown) self , count it as crucified and follow (accompany) Him.

(Enmeshed with Self I go with Self to the Lake of Fire. Matthew 7:22; 25:41)

Personal Spiritual growth

John 6:63. It is the Spirit (pneuma) that makes alive, the flesh (self not the body) profits (gk-useful for) nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit (pneuma) and are life.

Spiritual muscle and depth comes as He reveals Himself to you. Being open to Revelation is how to continue to become totally involved with Jesus Life on the inside of us.

John 15:1-17 Here Jesus is talking about abiding in the vine as a parable of spiritual survival. Abiding just means continuing. The sap or life flow of the vine here is Life directly from Him to you. That comes as revelation, quickenings (powerful aha moments) and inspiration (quieter aha moments).

To maintain our openness to receive from Him, we can spend our days speaking with Him (communing), waiting on Him in internal Being Still quietness (even though working hard) and conscious of His being thereness, reading the scriptures.]

So there are three eternal parts

(a) Self – necessary to survive in this world only

(b) Identity + Soul – the part of us that decides what we will get involved in. Emotions or not etc.

(c) Spirit – connected with God in all His Infinite Goodness. Being involved in/with Him is all that is important (and is what is totally important).

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