The Spirit of Man

It is commonly reported that man is a complexity of spirt, soul, and body. The body is the physical housing which moves about in the earth, while the soul is the seat of his emotions used to interact intimately with his fellows. The spirit is not so easily defined, and perhaps the lack of an adequate definition speaks to the level of understanding of the spirit.

The spirit is the highest order of communication within man. It is the government of the life of the individual and it exercises authority over the soul and the body. In the book of Genesis, God gave dominion to the spirit of man so he could subdue the earth. Physically, man cannot conquer and control earth entirely, it is the spirit of man that gleans knowledge of strategies and devices from greater than himself, which he implements to divide and conquer.

Where is this knowledge found? After God formed man from the dust, He gave man an element from the Creator, breath – and man became a living soul. Without the breath of God, man is dead. Therefore, the spiritual functioning component of man’s strength, lies within his capacity to breathe the breath of God. Dominion is spiritual and the ultimate power of dominion is words. Man’s dominion is the power to use words as the manipulative control which subdues the world around him.

The earth then is man’s playground. The sooner the child becomes a man, the more time he spends on the playground. Children are spiritually immature and need to be protected from the real world, so we send them to their own playground which we have labeled, school; so that they may develop spiritually and later join the ranks of full-time manipulators.

Sounds so harsh. But it is. Show me, tell me, who has not manipulated his world? Who has not ruled his spirit? No, the question is, who has not ruled his spirit well? We have all made deals and devised schemes in the earth which have determined the sum of life?

That discussion is endless, because after much wrestling we come back to the simple truth that the playground of this life has invisible aliens. Not the robotic, outer space, nasal sounding, abducting, television caricatures; the playground of life is surrounded by the forces of darkness, whose visit is not to play, but to steal dominion – the substance of man.

Forces are all around us. They are the uncontrollable desires that break the spirit and lead to unwanted outcomes. They express themselves in man as  the pressure of frustration, and depression – the inability to cope. The forces of this world crowd our minds and throws a pity-party of negatives while pointing to the fear of doom and gloom as the only possible outcomes; then they supply a solution of destructive control over our world, and if we are not careful, the strength of our spirit becomes the cloak of poor judgement.

The final question is, and will be, “Who rules your spirit?”

Proverbs-Solomon: He that has no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.

Joshua: And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Corinthians-Paul: I die daily.

Exodus-Moses: If Your Presence go not with us, carry us not up hence. For how shall it be known here that I and Your people have found grace in Your sight?

St. John-Jesus: The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do: for whatever the Father does, these also does the Son likewise.

Every great leader came into the revelation of the quickening spirit, the born again experience that made them impermeable to the aliens on the playground, and with the power of words, exercised their dominion that lunged them into greatness. Not the greatness of this earth that carries the nauseating stench of evil; greatness of eternal value– true greatness.

Your spirit knows. Your spirit communicates with higher orders and governs your life from its source of knowledge. Your spirit knows truth. Your spirit knows the Almighty God.

Why then is my spirit weak? Why does it become so hopelessly broken? Compromise of the spirit comes through lust. The weakness of the spirit is not just the caving in to the pressure of the aliens; the ultimate weakness of the spirit is its desire for companionship and self-worth. If the soul has lost its value, it begins a trail of desperate search, which, without true love, can lead to all kinds of baggage.

However, the true purpose of man is to worship and fellowship with his Creator. The moment we realize this inescapable truth, we will enter into the companionship of true worship with our Father God, and there discover – the only way to escape the corruption that comes through lust, is to partake of the Divine Nature, to be born again. Are you born again?

…Jacqueline Johnson