Week 10: A Word concerning the Human Spirit and Aspects of Christ Unveiled in Zechariah for His Move on Earth
In
the last message, we saw how the triune God was represented by the
lampstand. The triune God consists of three distinct persons, yet all
three persons are one. It is a great mystery. Likewise, our human life
also has 3 parts. The triune God created the tripartite man. Our life is
mysterious too. Let's explore together what the 3 parts of our life
are. This is essential to understand why God considers human spirit as
one of the 3 most important things that are mentioned in Zechariah 12:1.
Additionally, we are going to explore a portion of the vision in Zechariah 2 together.
The most important things in God's creation
The
burden of the word of the LORD against Israel. Thus says the LORD, who
stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms
the spirit of man within him (Zechariah 12:1 NKJV)
This is just a leading sentence of the chapter, but
it contains an amazing truth regarding God's creation. The prophet
explains a little about who Jehovah is by listing 3 great things in
association with Him. The 3 items consist of the heavens, the earth, and
the spirit of man. Wait a minute! Did the prophet forget about the body and the soul of man? Why did he mention only the spirit of man? By
no means. He did not forget the other 2 parts. He deliberately
mentioned only this part of man. The word of God reveals that the spirit
of man, not the body or the soul, is so important, even as important as
the heavens and the earth. In order to understand why the spirit of man
is so important, we need to know first what it is.
Man has 3 parts.
God, the Potter, created us, the clay, to be a vessel, either one for honour, or one for dishonour. (Romans 9:21 NKJV) Why the apostle Paul says that we are a "vessel"? Because God created us to contain something. God's will is that we become the "vessel of honour,"
which is the vessel that contains God Himself. And 1 Thessalonians 5:23
further indicates that this vessel is composed of 3 parts: spirit, soul
and body.
Briefly, the spirit of man
is the innermost part. Its function is to possess God-consciousness. We
use this organ to contact, receive, contain, and experience God. The soul
is the intermediate part, connecting between the spirit and the body.
It is responsible for self-consciousness, by which our personality is
formed. And lastly, the body
is the outermost part that possesses world-consciousness. We use this
part to contact with the material world. The body contains the soul, and
the soul contains the spirit.
Even
more complicated, each of the spirit and the soul can further
subdivided into 3 subparts. The spirit consists of conscience,
fellowship and intuition, and the soul consists of mind, will, and
emotion.
I'm so surprised to learn that most theologians nowadays are classified as dichologists,
concluding that soul and spirit are the same, and human is composed of
only 2 parts: body and soul/spirit. They explain that the word soul and
spirit are often used interchangeably in the bible. It is true that the
word "soul" is sometimes used
in the sense of "spirit". But I'm convinced that soul and spirit are 2
distinct parts with different functions, because there are 2 verses in
the Scripture strongly suggest that they are different parts: 1
Thessalonians 5:23 and Hebrews 4:12.
God sanctifies us from inside out: from spirit to soul to body.
"Now
may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your
whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:23 NKJV)
Please note that in the original Greek text, the word "and" is present between "spirit" and "soul," and between "soul" and "body."
This means that Paul emphasises the 3 distinct parts of human body that
need to be sanctified and preserved blameless until the second coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And interestingly, spirit comes before soul
and body. This further implies the importance of spirit. God transforms
us from inside out, not outside in.
Let
me mention a little bit about how we are transformed or sanctified by
God. The process starts when our spirit contains God's spirit. This
happens since we accepted our Lord Jesus Christ at our regeneration. The
more we exercise this organ by using it to contact God, receive God,
worship God, live God, fulfill God's purpose for God and be one with
God, the more we will be saturated with Him. As a result, our soul will
be gradually sanctified by being saturated with God and transformed to
be like the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29).
Our thought, intention, and feeling will be more like Jesus each day.
And the last part of our life that will be transformed is our body. This
fully happens when the Lord comes back again. Our body will be
transfigured at that time.
A
friend of mine once taught me to say a sentence. "The only one person
who is more handsome than Tony is the younger Tony." (This may be true
if I'm the only person who live in the world. To my knowledge, there is
only one person in the world who is truly convinced that I'm handsome.
That one is my mom!) But this statement teaches me something. Our body
is deteriorating with time. The ageing change is inevitable. A cheerful
heart may help slowing the process, but cannot stop it. Nevertheless, I
have a good news for you. If you are in Christ, you have hope. When
Christ comes, our body will be completely transformed to be a perfect
one. At that time you will see the most handsome and glorious Tony. You
will see the best-looking people you have ever seen, including you and me,
with the brand new bodies, when we all will be transfigured by Christ's
life power. We will be perfectly conformed to Christ's glorious body.
"who
will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious
body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all
things to Himself." (Philippians 3:21 NKJV)
Use your heart to love God.
"For
the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints
and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart." (Hebrews 4:12 NKJV)
Another
verse that suggests that soul and spirit are different is Hebrews 4:12.
The word of God is living and powerful. It can divide soul and spirit.
And this verse mentions another organ - heart. The heart includes all
three parts of the soul (mild, will and emotion) and conscience, which
is the first component of spirit. It is not a distinct organ, but the
word is used for describing a composition of soul and conscience. And
its function is to love God.
Therefore let's use our heart to love God. Let's treasure God above all
other things, because where our treasure is, our heart will be also.
Use the right organ for the right function.
Brothers
and sisters, it is so important to know about the different parts of
the tripartite man. We need to use the right organ for the right
function. We cannot use our brain, our feeling or our intention to
contact God. They are not created for that function. As the apostle Paul
mentioned about 3 types of people: the spiritual man, who can discern
spiritual things (1 Corinthians 2:15-16); the natural man (soulish man), who cannot accept the things of the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:14); and the man of flesh (carnal man), who is secular (1 Corinthians 2:1). And to be a spiritual man, we need to be ruled and controlled by our spirit, not by our soul or flesh.
Some
theologians can write wonderful Christian books, but do not know God.
Some people are zealous for God, but they do not have personal
relationship with Him. To be touched by God, some believers need a
preachers who is using a fantastic teaching style, or a great music band
which plays their favourite hymns, because they use their emotion or
feeling to contact God. These things alone are not bad, but our
relationship with God should not depend upon these
emotionally-influencing factors. If we use the right organ, which is our
spirit, to contact God, we will be able to enjoy Him anywhere anytime
regardless of the circumstances. Therefore may we use our spirit to contact,
receive, contain, and experience God, and use our heart to love Him. By
this means, we will enjoy Him more each day as we are being conformed
to the image of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Another
thing I want to add is that, from time to time, we may have some
troubles concerning our relationship with God. Sometimes one may doubt
if God exists or if God really loves him. I sometimes fear something,
e.g. examination or presentation, because of the lack of faith. Brothers
and sisters, these are not signs of losing salvation. These problems
result from the dysfunctions of our soul which has not been completely
transformed yet, and needs to be further transformed by God in our
spirit. They are the problems with our mind and our emotion. Therefore
when you experience these things, come back to God immediately. Exercise
your spirit, and let God transform your mind, your will, and your
emotion. By this means, you will be delivered from the troubles you are
facing.
Christ as centrality and universality of God's move on earth
The other point that I enjoy appears in Zechariah 2.
Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. So
I said, "Where are you going?" And he said to me, "To measure
Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length." (Zechariah
2:1-2 NKJV)
'For I,' says the LORD, 'will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.' (Zechariah 2:5 NKJV)
This
vision says that a man, who is Christ Himself, came to Jerusalem with a
measuring line. His intention is to measure the city. The aim of the
measuring is to possess it.
One
brother once shared at a fellowship about his father who was looking
for a new house. His father wanted to buy one to use it for God's move
in the city. And he went to many places with his measuring line. He
measured the houses, to see which one would be suitable for the
ministry. He aimed to possess one!
Brothers
and sisters, Christ is measuring us, who are His people. He is testing
us and examining us, in order to possess us for His kingdom. And He has
already bought us at a high price. He bought us by His precious blood.
He died on the cross to redeem us, so that we can be His.
Moreover,
verse 5 also says that God Himself will be both the wall of fire around
the city and the glory in her midst. This is another imagery showing
that Jehovah as Christ is our center, being the glory of the church, and
also our circumference, being the protection of the church. Christ is
the center and circumference; hub and rim; and center and everything. He
is the centrality and universality of God's move on earth. And we will
clearly see this picture at the New Jerusalem, where Christ will be the
glory at its center which shines through the transparent wall of the
city to be its protection of fire (Revelations 21-22).
Further readings
- The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallisation Study of Daniel and Zechariah Volume 2, week 10.
- The Holy Bible Recovery Version.
No comments:
Post a Comment