Our Human Spirit

Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Zech. 12:1b … the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.

John 3:6b … that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

1 Cor. 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

John 4:24 God is Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

1 Thes. 5:23 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.

Romans 1:9 … I serve with my spirit …

Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

1 Cor. 2:11b For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? ….

Last evening I viewed a PBS TV program whereby Bill Moyers interviewed an English atheist bioscience scholar, who said, because God could not be substantiated, and creation of man could not be substantiated by physical tests, then they are not to be believed. This only demonstrates the foolishness and arrogance of man. They do not see that there exists a spiritual realm in which the physical is superseded, being a last consideration in judging what is real.

The book, the Bible, we have the answers, so long as we have a spirit by which we may genuinely “see” and interpret Scripture. The word “spirit” in Greek is “pneuma,” which also may be translated “breath.” In Genesis 2:7 we see God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life that the man of clay, Adam, would thereby have a human spirit (Zech 12:1, “spirit of man”) to be the recipient organ for man to literally receive God (John 1:12). This was necessary since God is in Christ (John 10:30), and they are now available to be received by man, as the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:2), in spirit form.

Man’s human spirit is the specific organ made to contact God and for man to be consciously aware of spiritual things (Rom 8:16). The human spirit in man is as the receiver in a radio; it is necessary for receiving the invisible God, just as the radio receiver is needed to receive the invisible radio waves.

Our body is our outward container, for relating to the physiological world, within we are a soul to relate to the psychological world, and yet deeper, “in the midst of our being” (Dan 7:15), we possess a human spirit that was specifically made by God for man to receive God. By means of our human spirit we may contact spiritual things. Being equipped with a human spirit, we can relate to God who is Spirit (John 4:24). “Now the Lord Jesus Himself is the spirit” (2Cor 3:17, 1Cor 15:45b). When we receive the Son, as Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, we become a literal child of God the Father. The first most important things a man can do is “receive” the Lord as Savior and as that man’s literal new life.

Physically, I can contact a blackboard with my hand. I can contact odors with my nose and colors with my eyes. I substantiate sounds with my ears. All these material things can be substantiated by the senses in our physical body. In the universe there are also spiritual things. There is God in this universe, and God is Spirit. We cannot substantiate Him through our physical senses. I must use the proper organ, my spirit, by which I can touch and substantiate God, who is spirit.

It is foolish to deny the existence of God because we cannot substantiate Him in a physical way. To say that something does not exist because we cannot sense it is foolish. Although there are many radio waves in the atmosphere, we cannot substantiate them without a receiver. Likewise, we cannot substantiate God without the proper receiver, our human spirit. If our spirit does not function well, we will be unable to sense God. We need to tune our spirit. Man, who is “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph 2:1) has a dysfunctional spirit, receiver. His spirit is as being dead to the realm of the Spirit of God, much as we might say a phone line is dead. It is there but not functional. Yet, when we receive Christ as new life, we are fully made alive in our spirit (Col 2:10), fully functional. We thus gain a new sensitivity to the Spirit of Christ who now indwells our human spirit. Then we are spiritually aware, Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

After regeneration, we Christians, we need to exercise our spirit to contact God. Within us there is such an organ called by the Bible the spirit of man. Proverbs 20:27 The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the innermost parts of his being.

Many endeavor to earn money, primarily to satisfy your physical needs. Eventually you acquire a good house, fine food, excellent clothing, and the best transportation. Once your physical needs have been met, you begin to desire music, sports, and amusements. These gratify the psychological needs of your soul. Although you can afford every amusement, as you sit alone in your home at night you may have the sense that deep within you are empty. You still need something. You tell yourself, "You have everything. What more do you want? You have a car, a fine home, a good wife and children, every amusement and entertainment." Nevertheless, deep within you something says, "I still have a need." Deep within you something is demanding, requiring, and even begging to be satisfied.

What is this? It is your spirit desiring the satisfaction of fellowship and union with God. This part of your being, your spirit, needs God. We have three kinds of needs, material needs, psychological needs, and spiritual needs, because we have three parts to our being. In human society, people take care of the first two needs and neglect the third – their spirit. Although you may have the finest material enjoyment and the best psychological satisfaction, you are still short of satisfaction. You need spiritual enjoyment, peace and rest, you need God. You need to be satisfied deep within.

Once we have been satisfied within, we do not care as much about the outer things. Our spirit is satisfied with God, for our human spirit was made to contain Him.

For more on this subject see a lengthy paper “The Anatomy of Man” by Arthur J. Licursi

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