The Spirit of Man

The spirit of man is actually the primary part of the inward man and as we have already seen, it is this part of the inward man that is born-again. The apostle Paul confirms this truth when he teaches us that the saints become new creations in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). The spirit of man is located in the centre of man i.e. the area of the abdomen, for it is from this region of man i.e. the belly of man that the rivers of living water flow out of the man. The Lord Jesus taught us that truth when He spoke about the baptism if the Holy Spirit while teaching in the temple (John 7:38).

The Sprit of Man

Mind

Spirit

Spiritual Understanding

Holy Spirit

The above diagram is an illustration of the various parts of the spirit of man and how they function in relation to the rest of man’s makeup. As we can see from this diagram, the spirit works through the mind of man in order to exert its influence on both the will and the body of man. This concept will become clearer as we discuss the spirit in more detail in this series. We can also see from this diagram that the spirit can actually be divided into two separate parts i.e. the spirit and the understanding of the spirit. These two components of man’s spirit will be explained in detail in the section that deals with the born-again spirit. I have shown the Holy Spirit in this diagram just to highlight the fact that the Holy Spirit resides in the spirit of the born-again believer.

The origin of man’s 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 being.”

So what is our spirit? In order to answer that question we need to see exactly where man’s spirit originates, which means that we need to go back to the beginning when God created man to see how the spirit of man came to be. As quoted in the above passage of scripture we see that God first formed the body of man i.e. the outward man, from the dust of the ground. We then see that God, who is Spirit (John 4:24), breathed man’s spirit into existence through His breath of life. And so we see that man is primarily a spirit being, for God created man in His image and according to His likeness (Genesis 1:26). As man’s spirit entered his body the body of man came alive, for the spirit gives life to the body (James 2:26). This is the moment that man’s heart began to beat for the first time, his blood began to flow through his veins, and his lungs began to breathe air for the first time. And for the first time man’s mind began to reason and experience emotions, for God was able to converse with Adam from the moment He created him (Genesis 2:15-16). We also know that the will of man also came into being at that time, for God had given Adam the command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17), and initially Adam obeyed the command of God as an act of his free will. And so we see that man became a living being because of the spirit of man that God imparted to him.

Numbers 16:20-22 “And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, (21) "Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment."  (22)  Then they fell on their faces, and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the congregation?”

Every human being born into this world is primarily a spirit being. In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit through the prophet Moses reveals to us that God is the God of the spirits of men. But I want you to notice that Moses refers the spirits of all flesh. When he refers to all flesh he is talking about men’s physical bodies, and he is in effect saying that every physical body has a spirit living on the inside of that body. Mankind knows a fair amount about the body, mind, will and even conscience of man, but mankind knows little or nothing about the spirit of man, which is actually quite astounding considering the fact that the spirit of man is where the life of man emanates from. And so this series is written to inform us about the most important part of man, i.e. our spirit.

Hebrews 12:9 “Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?”

 Just as when God created Adam, the spirits of all men come directly from God, for the passage of scripture quoted above clearly reveals to us that God is the Father of spirits. The spirits that God is the Father of are the spirits of men, for in the context of this passage of scripture the Holy Spirit is teaching us as believers to be in subjection to God our Father. And so, because the spirits of men come directly from God, the spirits of all men have the divine nature of God when they are born into the earth (John 1:8-9). Sadly, although the spirits of all men start out having the nature of God, as we will see in this series, there comes a time when the nature of the spirits of men change and they no longer reflect the nature of God. Nevertheless when men are initially born into the earth their spirits come directly from God and thus have the nature of God.

The function of the human spirit

James 2:26 “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” 

 As we have seen in the previous section one of the main functions of the human spirit is to impart life, for it was only after God breathed His breath of life into the body of Adam that he became a living being. This truth agrees with what the apostle James wrote about our spirits and our physical bodies, for in the above quoted passage of scripture he teaches us that the physical body of man requires a spirit to reside on the inside of that body in order for the body to be able to live. In other words when the spirit of man is inside the body the body is alive, but when the spirit leaves the body then the physical body dies. I want you to notice that all the body of man requires in order to live is to have a human spirit living on the inside. The condition of that spirit does not determine whether the body lives or not, but rather it is purely the presence of the spirit that determines whether the body lives or not. The reason I mention that is because as we will see in this teaching, the spirits of men have two distinct conditions.

2 Peter 1:3-4 “as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, (4) by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

 Another role that the human spirit plays is in determining the nature of the man. In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Peter teaches us that as believers that we have become partakers of the divine nature. In other words believer’s spirits have the nature of God because they are born of God. To contrast that statement we can look at what the Lord Jesus taught about the condition of the spirits of unbelievers, when He said that they were of their father the devil, and the desires of their father they wanted to do (John 8:44). Clearly scripture teaches us that it is the spirit of the man that determines the true nature of the man.

Michael E.B. Maher

The Spirit of Man

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