John 3:3-5 “Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (4) Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" (5) Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
There are certain truths revealed to us in the New Testament that cannot be understood unless we have a clear understanding of the nature of man. It is only in the New Testament that our Lord Jesus reveals to us the full make-up of God’s creation called man. In the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord revealed for the first time the fact that it is the spirit of man that is born-again. Because Nicodemus had no understanding of the make-up of man he couldn’t grasp the truth that our Lord was trying to teach him. This is just one illustration of why it is important for us as believers to have a clear understanding of just how God has created us, for without that understanding we will be like Nicodemus and miss out on spiritual truths as revealed to us in God’s word. In this series of teachings we examine each part of man as revealed to us in the scriptures and the role each part plays in our walk as believers.
2 Corinthians 4:16 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.”
There is a lot more to man than that which we see in the natural, i.e. the physical body of man. In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul teaches us that there is an inward man and that there is also an outward man. Our outward man consists of our physical bodies, which includes the physical organ of our brain. This is the part of man that is mortal, and so this is the part of man that is growing older day by day, which is why the scripture states that our outward man is perishing.
2 Corinthians 5:8 “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”
It is the inward man which is the real person and it is the inner man that is an eternal being, for it is our inward man that leaves the earth when we die. The inner man of believers departs to be with the Lord Jesus in heaven, while the inner man of unbelievers departs to Hades where they are held in torment. The apostle Paul teaches us in the above quoted passage of scripture that as far as believers are concerned to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, referring to our inner man leaving our earthly bodies to ascend into heaven.
Psalms 139:13-14 “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. (14) I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.”
In scripture, the inward man is sometimes referred to as the “soul”, i.e. when Noah and his family were saved from the flood the Holy Spirit tells us that eight souls were saved (1 Peter 3:20). The inward man is also sometimes referred to as the “heart”, for the Holy Spirit also speaks of the hidden person of the heart (1 Peter 3:4). And so just as the outward man i.e. our physical body, is made up of different parts which all have different functions, so our inward man is also made up of different parts which also have different functions. In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit reveals to us that God has formed our inward parts (plural), thus indicating that the inward man is made up of more than one part. In that same passage of scripture we read that God covers us in our mother’s womb, which speaks of the physical body (our outward man) that God prepares for our inward man to dwell in. To more clearly understand the concept of our inward man being made up of different parts we can look at the natural. In the natural the physical body of man is a complete whole. But our bodies are made up of different parts and each part of the body of man has a different function. For example the brain has one function and the heart another. And so just as in the natural, so the inward man also has different parts and each part has a different function. Nevertheless just as all the parts of the body make up the whole body, so all the different parts of our inward man make up the whole man.
Michael E.B. Maher
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